Navua, where to start? Friendly faces, scorching sun by day and strong storms by night; Aeroguard as our new deodorant; sunscreen as our new moisturiser; and the backs of Utes as our new "pimping" ride " Navua was an experience we will never forget.
On July 5, we left good old Suva for Navua. The one hour bus trip was so relaxing but that didn't last too long! Upon our arrival we were immediately swept off our feet and were back in action. Learning our timetable for the five days ahead of us, all I could think of was "intense!" With no time to rest we were moved from our meeting place (St Timothy's Methodist Church) straight to a prayer meeting for a funeral.
[A not-so-great welcoming service]
We then moved into our temporary Navua homes, which I must say was very interesting, especially when it came to the food. Some of us ate and ate and ate! Others found it difficult to continually stomach curry whilst others were fine with the food choices made by their home stay families. Each family attended St Timothy's Methodist Church and participated openly and daily in our devotions. It was very encouraging to see that they wanted to participate in things with us, especially devotions.
As part of our ministry in Navua we were constantly dragged along to prayer meetings and were constantly reminded about how great it was that we were there. It was so nice to be thanked continually for simply being present. They really taught me to be thankful even for the littlest of things and prayer meetings reminded me that we could take absolutely everything to the Lord in prayer; he listens to everything and answers everything, according to his mighty plan.
It then came to the ministry side of things, which suddenly got very" well, complicated! Most of the houses we visited were either non-English speaking, already "Christian" or had hardened hearts when it came to hearing the word of the Lord. This made door-knocking ministry very hard. But we tried our best to plant seeds in their hearts, which hopefully as you read this, God will be watering and helping to grow.
It was a little disheartening when it came to visiting houses and seeing that people were so content with their lives without the Lord, which was totally un-cool! It then became even harder when we shared "2 Ways To Live" with Hindi families. They just nodded their heads and smiled. It was nice that they gave us the chance to share with them, but when they started talking to each other in Hindi, all I could do was worry that they didn't even want to listen. Knowing that they would not be in heaven and have eternal life, was sad. But what was sadder was how they absolutely did not want to change their lives and live for God.
Our final night in Navua was great! We had an Australia night where we shared our love for God and they shared theirs. The night was filled with laughter and joy! It was a great note to end on! Our work in Navua, although seemingly fruitless, was very important. We were able to share the joy God brings to our lives and if that reaches just one person, Amen to God!
God is good, all the time and all the time, GOD IS GOOD!
