Those Conversations

I was up a little later than normal today, but that didn’t stop it from being productive. One of the hard parts I have found while here in Fiji is that I haven’t been given a structured form of ministry. This makes it especially hard to know how to spend my daily hours to effectively perform ministry. Because I am only here for three months, visitation is not really an option unless I go with someone else.
Unfortunately, I don’t think anyone actively performs visitation here. I am certainly not free to move about and preach at will, as that has been disallowed. So what do you do with your time?

There aren’t any real easy answers to that question. If I were back home, I could plan effective ministry programs. I could prepare sermons. I could get to know the people that are around me to build relationships leading to conversations. Very few of these things are an option while I’m here.

So I read. I read the books that I brought with me, I read the Bible, I read whatever articles I can find while I’m on the internet. I have to structure my time around these things, and it really doesn’t feel like effective use of my time… but I’m learning lots!

Around noon I went into town to get onto the internet. My beloved Grandma is visiting my sister, which means we can get online and talk via webcam. Normally this isn’t an option because she lives in small town Saskatchewan, so it was wonderful to see her. Carys, of course, was enjoying the sound of her own voice and looking infinitely cute! Can’t wait to get back and see my family again!

This afternoon, I went with Sebastien to the Nadi Sports Club. They have Tennis and Squash Courts, a Swimming Pool, Lawn Bowling and a few other activities. We went today for the Squash courts. Ended up spending almost 3 hours, playing for about two thirds of that. It’s a great workout, and fun when you can play games consecutively against someone and actually give them a challenge. I’m still learning, which means I have to make up for my poor play by lots of running, but I’m learning quickly.

The intriguing part came after the games of squash though. We went to the ever native Fijian restaurant, McDonalds, and had a good chat. We talked about the ministry that I am doing here, the responsibilities of it, where Sebastien and Mimi will be going after their time here in Fiji, and about theology. One thing that Bible college is good for is offering you an environment that allows you to produce and challenge your own ideas against other people, the Bible tells us, “As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.” This could not be more true! We discussed a variety of topics, from the theology of ministry to assurance of salvation. It was good to have conversations like that once more and see where I am at in my own beliefs.