Week 2- New Faces, New Language, More Changes!

Hey! How’s everything and how’s your week been? For me, so much has happened that I would like to share but I’m going to share the peaks and the pits of my week.

This week has been induction week, there are 14 of us all together, 12 are Fijian and one is from Hong Kong but lives in Sydney. I share a room with 7 other women and that is a big change for me because I’m used to having my own space. Back in university, I shared a house with other students and had my own room. When I moved back home I shared a room with my little sister but now God has taken me to another level. He has placed me in a room with women from a different culture to myself. 

A major issue I have been having this week is the language barrier! Although Fijians do speak English they prefer to speak the Bauan dialect, which is one of the Fijian languages. When we are in the dorms they will all be speaking in their dialect which is a bit annoying at times. Even church oh my! I truly miss my church back in London :( today at church praise and worship was in Fijian. I was literally standing there observing how much everyone was in the Spirit and there I was struggling to lift up my hands or even clap. In the end I couldn’t handle it, I sat outside, put my headphones in and spend some alone time with God whilst I waited for church to finish. Next week I plan to speak to my base leader about me finding a English speaking church.

New Routine!

I feel like my body has finally adapted to a new time zone and also to a new routine. Everyday I wake up between 5 and 6am. By 7am we are expected to be in the dining room for breakfast. 8am is quiet time with God and at 8:30am it’s praise and worship (which also tends to be in Fijian -___-) and then we say our morning prayer. At 9:15am lectures begin and they go on till about 1pm and then its lunchtime. Between 1-2pm its break time and then we have to do house duties. House duties are split so every day I am either sweeping or moping the lecture room, cleaning the kitchen, bathroom or bedroom or preparing dinner. For the boys it includes cutting wood and working on the fields. Did I mention over here there are no washing machines, so I hand wash my clothes.

New Experiences!

On Wednesdays we have kids club, it’s at this time we spend a couple of hours with children from the village. We encourage them, teach them how to pray, speak to them about following Jesus’ footsteps and play a few games and sing songs with them.  7 of us went to visit the children and little did I know we would be walking for more than an hour! By walking I mean we were trekking through massive puddles, stepping on rocks and marching up mountains. God definitely stretched me that day. At one point my braids got stuck in a stingy nettles trees, how awkward!

When we got there I thought to myself “the walk was worth it”! The kids were full of life, they have less than the children in the UK, yet they had so much joy within them. The smile of their faces was priceless. Seeing them reminded me of the scripture in Luke 18:17 where Jesus said “most certainly, I tell you, whoever doesn’t receive the Kingdom of God like a little child, he will in no way enter into it”. As disciples and followers of Christ we must come to Him like children. Children have faith, they believe whatever you tell them and that’s the kind of faith we should yearn for when it comes to believing God’s Word.  Children are meek and humble, if they fall out with their friends or make mistakes they are quick to apologize, make up and forget what happened. Children are joyful, thankful and have such excitement in their faces. They don’t carry their burdens or problems, that’s what their parents are there for. We have God, our heavenly Father who is forever calling for us to cast our burdens onto Him. I’m sure you can also add examples of the characteristics of children.

I got home to find both of my feet were itchy and swollen with rashes all over it, my body reacted to one of the plants I touched. The life of a missionary aye?! To add to it, I have been bitten by bed bugs, I have it all over my body. God is currently teaching me to trust Him and to continue to praise Him despite my troubles. Why must I become discouraged when although my physical body is decaying, my Spirit is being renewed day by day.  After all the small and temporary troubles we suffer will bring us tremendous and eternal glory, much greater than the trouble (2 Corinthians 4:16-17).

On Thursday morning we had intersession, this is a time we stand in the gap and pray on behalf of others and for the nations. We have been learning about the importance of interceding for our friends, family, the government and the nation.
According to Joy Dawson, the 7 principles of intersession are: 

*Praise God for who He is (2 Chronicles 20:21)

*Make sure your heart is clean before God because sin blocks us from 
  entering His presence (Psalm 66:18)            

*Acknowledge the Holy Spirit and invite Him to dwell with you (Romans 8:26)
*Deal aggressively with the enemy (James 4:7)

*Place your own desires to one side, God can’t speak to you if you already 
  have your own desires, burdens and topics to pray about (Proverbs 3:5),   
  (Proverbs 28:26)

*Praise God for what He will place in your heart (Psalm 81:11-13)

*Wait upon the Lord, focus, do not doubt what God has placed on your heart, 
 be passionate in prayer.

One of the members of staff Ranadi had it laid on her heart to pray about India. We were each asked to go away for 10 minutes and seek God and listen to Him with regards to what He had laid on our heart to pray about. When we came back some of us came back with a scripture from God and others came back with water or milk for example and were praying for clean water supply in India. Others put down money praying for those living in poverty. It was overwhelming and emotional for many of the students.

New City!

After intersession I went with Ranadi to Suva which is the capital city of Fiji. We went there as I had to register with the British Embassy. Suva was about 4 hours away on the bus from Nadi, it's such a beautiful city I felt like I was back in London only the weather was better lol. On that evening I ate CHICKEN curry and rice lol. Did I mention I ate chicken. It's been sooo long since I have eaten meat, thanks be to God lol. The following day I registered at the embassy and also took a trip to the museum which was fascinating.

I really enjoyed learning about the Fijian culture. On that evening one of Ranadi's cousins friends came to the house. They were on their way out to go drinking and clubbing. The spirit of God led me to speak to the girl and ask her a few questions about herself. Many of you that know me know how direct and straight to the point I can be at times lol. I asked her what she was planning to do after she finished school as well as her 5 year plans and so on. In the end I started asking her about her relationship with God and so on. She was looking at me like "oh my goshh who is this girl" but I continued. I looked at her and saw a lost girl who needed saving, it was like I could see that she was wasting her life away. I said to her don’t you realise you are worth far more than rubies, why do you keep allowing all these guys to touch you like this (the Holy Spirit was speaking through me about things I didn't even know about her). I brought out my Bible and asked her to read Psalm 139 out loud. This scripture speaks about how God knows us inside out, nothing is hidden from Him. After reading it she started to cry and realised that something in her life needed to change and then we prayed together. I thank God for ministering through me so that I could be a vessel for His glory. 

That's all for this week folks, I hope you're well. Thanks for taking the time to read my blog.

My email address is: josieagyeman@gmail.com, I would love to hear from you. 

Miss Josie Jo 
Xxx