After we bid an extremely emotional farewell to Sabeto Youth Camp, we embarked on a hair-raising bus trip to Suva (the bus driver fell asleep several times " while the bus was moving!). By God's grace we all arrived in Suva safe and well, if two hours late. Yet another experience of Fiji Time!

My first impression of Suva was the lack of traffic lights, and the way that Fijians tend to bend the road rules. All I can say is, I'm glad I don't need to worry about driving here.

Within a few hours of arrival, the group had split into two, and my group was heading down to the bus stop to catch a bus to St. Christopher's Home (an orphanage). We rounded a corner, and I felt like I had been hit in the face " the smell from the markets was that intense.

We then spent a while hanging around the bus depot, which was an interesting experience. As with any city, Suva becomes a lot more threatening after dark, but God kept the whole group safe. We ended up catching kamikaze taxis to St. Christopher's " an especially frightening experience without seatbelts! A late dinner and a late night followed, and we were ready to start our formal ministry in Fiji.

The next two days were spent sanding, scraping and undercoating the chapel of St. Christopher's, hanging out with the kids for a few hours after school, staying up late playing mindless games and watching State of Origin on the big screen at the Holiday Inn.

It was really good to help out the orphanage in that way. Although it wasn't really an evangelistic ministry, it was a serving and encouraging ministry, which I think is just as vital.

We said yet another sad farewell, this time to the kids and sisters at St. Christopher's, and had a crazy minibus trip back to the centre of Suva (100kmh in a 50 zone!). We arrived at Colonial Lodge, a B&B, and were promptly told to get out into the markets and start chatting with people. It was great " we had the whole afternoon (interrupted by an incredibly useful, enlightening trip to the museum of Fijian history) in which we could go around the markets, get a sense of the place and talk with people about our faith.

The Fijian people are so open, it's amazing! Even though I'm not an incredibly outgoing person, I found it easy to talk with almost everyone I was able to have a conversation with. It was incredibly encouraging for me to see how God was working in Fiji, especially among the youth, and how this was clear to the Fijians as well. Although I didn't actually talk to a non-Christian person, I am confident that my conversations were mutually encouraging. I felt really comfortable in the markets, I didn't feel too much like a white tourist, which was great.

We started our final day in Suva with a visit to a mosque, which was an informative experience, and a great chance to talk with a Muslim man about the differences between Islam and Christianity. The rest of the day was spent in the markets again, which was again an encouraging experience, seeing how God is working in people's lives all over the world. By the end of the day, I really was used to getting around in the markets, buying a good lunch for $3, not acting like a tourist and chatting with people about Jesus.

Overall, my time in Suva was great, an opportunity to begin ministry and an encouraging time for me personally.