Indiana Jones Speaks French Poorly

Last Saturday we had a birthday party for Yves and Mirella. Their birthdays both fall in the same week. It was really cool to see some familiar relatives and to meet some new ones too. I got to visit with Hirohiti -who was 6 years old the first time I met him. When I brought Lauren over here -he was quite an entertaining tour guide. Now he is 17 and joining the army in January. Wow do I feel old. He's shaved his head already. Those Army people just hate hair, don't they?
That night I had another practice with the youth choir. They are sounding terrific! And they knew the tune of "Joy To The World" -but not the words. That's wild to me when it's such a standard in America. But they all study english in their schools -so learning the words went quickly. We're doing a chorus of that along with "How Great Is Our God" for their Christmas program.

Last night we went to Thierry Albert's home to watch Indiana Jones -the 1st & 3rd films. They are preparing for a youth camp that will be held in December with an Indiana Jones theme. I've seen the campsite and it couldn't be more appropriate. They've even put an add for the camp on one of the church's websites. www.ADDTAHITI.com
They had the DVD on the french-speaking version. So it was pretty cool to see Indy speaking in french. But they had made some mistakes too. When he says, "Dad!" throughout the 3rd film, they translated it as "Pere!" -which people just don't say like that. Also they used the formal way of speaking -as you would to a stranger -when speaking to family members. To say, "How are you?" -one says to a stranger, "Comment allez-vous?" But to a family member, one says, "Comment vas-tu?"
I'm not sure what one does when speaking to a strange family member.

Funny Little Things

One of the things I enjoy so much about my Tahitian family is their sense of humor. There is a lot of laughing to be done here and I guess I'm the man for the job. I've always appreciated funny people.
We were playing poker with some pretty professional looking chips -although with no money. Aimana proceeded to do an impression of an American doing an impression of a French person. Talk about complex! But when Americans try to sound French, they tend to just put a "Z" sound in between all the words. For example, "Ze cardz are on ze table." Actual french says, "Les cartes sont sur la table." Not a "Z" sound to be found there. But he was quite hilarious doing this impression, keeping his pinkie finger on his chin, as he dropped one chip at a time into the pot. When he'd win the pot, his eyes would move back and forth crazily as his arms surrounded his winnings, drawing all the chips to himself. At one point, Tama and I couldn't hardly breathe from laughing so hard.

Aimana's little 5 year old boy, Taimoana, did another impression yesterday that really made me laugh. He was laying in a hammock and told me he was a person watching TV. He then had an incredibly bored expression on his face and proceeded to lift his hand every 2 seconds and make a little beep sound like he was changing the channel. He is truly an observer of life. He doesn't speak english. But at one point he almost fell and my automatic response was, "Careful!" Now he walks around saying, "Careful!" And he does it when it's appropriate. He is beyond his years. We went to the Immigration office to get my visa and he went along. When the lady helping me with the paperwork stepped out of the room for a moment, he whispered into my ear, "Do you want to marry her?"

Tama is also quite funny. You may have heard the old song, "Only You". Tama sings it, "Only Me". He seems to always have a song to sing. We were swatting at flies today and he started singing, "I believe I can fly..." It is really cool to see him interacting with his 4 month old son. He's got that little guy laughing all the time. Tama gave me a fruit to taste that I'd never seen before. He told me to be careful because it's got a nut inside. I said, "Just like your house." Wish I could post here a picture of his face when I said that. Today I noticed a keepsake box in the shape of a turtle. They used to have a pet turtle that has since died. I asked him if he has that box in his house in memory of his pet. He said, "Yes, we keep his ashes in there." :)

Sometimes I've thought that it would be a good idea to keep a journal of all the funny little things that happen to us throughout the week. I saw a movie once that was incredibly sad. But at the end the narration said, "Sometimes laughter can take you by surprise too." (and not just the painful things in life) God sends a lot of funny things our way. It's good to take notice!

Sur La Radio...Encore!

Well, it happened again. We were on our way to church this past Sunday morning, listening to the Christian radio station, and suddenly Bonnie Flores started singing. It was a reggae-flavored song titled, "Think On These Things". I couldn't help but laugh with excitement about it. Tama told me, "They play this one all the time." I thought they might like that one. You hear reggae music often here. So, thanks again Bonnie! Your voice continues to bless my life and many other lives as well.

The song is based on Philippians 4:8 "Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - think about such things."

I'm very thankful for this scripture. It reminds me that the responsibility lies with me. We can't just sit around waiting for heavenly things to come floating into our minds. We have to make an effort to dwell on the good things. It's up to us. And more and more I'm realizing that it's actually possible to take every thought captive and make it obedient to Jesus Christ. God has given us the ability to do this. And more than just sheer will power, I think it's love that motivates the muscles of our thought life to grow. If it's a..."Oh, ok, I guess I'd better do this..." kind of thing, it doesn't usually last. But when you're in love -it changes everything. And that's part of the greatest commandment...to love Him with our minds.

Here's a line from "Think On These Things"...
It's time to go to God's Word and feast your eyes on heavenly things
Anytime or place, take a flight above the clouds, and think about "whatever"...

On Tahitian Airwaves

I just had a bit of a surreal experience. I was enjoying lunch with the Jamets on the deck of their home. They had the radio on in the background. We were talking and without taking much notice I began to think that the song playing was familiar to me. Then I suddenly realized it was Brandi Parson and she was singing a song I wrote- "I Will Wait". I was thrilled!
The last time I was here they told me that the Christian station had played "For All Time" quite a bit on the radio. I thought they might like that one because it features a lot of percussion. Apparently they've been playing quite a few of the songs from my worship CD. The station seems to play an even mix of french worship songs and english worship -with even some Tahitian songs. How awesome to think that our CD is touching people's lives in ways we aren't even aware of. I sure hope Brandi hears that she's been on the air in Tahiti. :)

Ministry In Tahiti

Pastor Richardson, from the Assembly of God church in Faaa, La Bonne Nouvelle, called and asked me to speak at his church. A few years ago he had expressed this desire and I was happy to accept his invitation. So I spoke for their Friday night service -as well as their Sunday morning service. I'd noticed someone taking pictures of me during Friday's service. I was then surprised to see a picture of me in Sunday morning's bulletin!
Pastor Richardson was out of town speaking at the church in Raiatea so his Associate Pastor, Greg, translated for me. Pastor Greg was terrific. I found out he'd just flown in after spending 2 months in Switzerland with family. I'm sure he had jet lag -but he spoke -and interpreted, with passion. We had a wonderful time of prayer with many people afterward. Sometimes I get concerned about the language barrier and if I'm connecting or not. But God knows how to connect the dots. :)

Saturday, Toimata, (Yves's daughter) asked me to work with the youth from their church. They'd been having a camp at the church for the weekend. She wanted me to teach them "How Great Is Our God" for a Christmas program they are preparing. It turns out I'll be here for that! So I gave them -kind of a typical choir practice. But since we were only learning one song, I took a little time to talk with them about worhip. Then we did some warm-ups. I wasn't sure how they would respond to some of those silly-sounding warm-ups, but they sang along. I also spoke with them about some singing techniques. I found out later that they'd never had someone do that before and were happy that I'd taught them some things. They were also teaching me -as I'd never sung "How Great Is Our God" in french before. I had dinner with the youth and then they had an awesome worship service that night. Teremu, the youth leader, led us and it was beautiful.

When Life Hands You Lemons

When we went to the little island with nothing but trees, we had to stop the boat before getting too close to the island. So we walked through waist-deep water -which is difficult for me when wearing sandals. Yves was very kind to help me get to the shore because I kept losing my balance. But on one of my stumbles, I actually cut my foot a little bit. (Yes, Sheri, sorry I forgot my swim-shoes. I regretted it!)
It really wasn't a bad cut. I was walking fine the rest of the day. But when we got back to the house it felt like it had swollen up a bit. That's when they told me -if you've been cut by corral, you will need to have lemon squeezed into the cut. Otherwise it will get infected and then you'll have real problems. I winced at the thought and wondered if they were teasing me. Sometimes I'm not sure if Aimana and Tama are serious. But then suddenly, here cpmes Yves with a lemon. Aimana had been headed out the door but then was excited to stay and watch the proceedings. In fact, he and Tama found my growing concern quite entertaining. It sounds cruel but I was glad to have them there to distract me during the surgery.
Yves worked the lemon over my cut. I think I sang a little song. Maybe not so little. But he did it very quickly. I thought it would take much longer. Then he bandaged me up with a little medicine. But they said that Tahitians have used lemons for years for this purpose. How awesome that God made this natural cure. I've been tempted to hate lemons after this because of the pain. But it spared me from something much worse. I love lemons now.

Tahiti-iti

If you've ever looked at a map of Tahiti you've probably noticed that there's the bulk of the island -and then there's a small piece that just barely seems to be attached to it. They are linked together, in fact, by one small bridge. This little piece is known as Tahiti-iti.
Yves invited me to go with some people from the church to check out a few campgrounds there. They'll be having a camp for the youth in December. I'd been to Tahiti-iti before -but this was a side of it I'd never seen. From the car I could see multiple waterfalls. When we parked the car, I got out and saw a boat propped up on the ground -that looked to me just like the boat from Gilligans Island. Maybe this is where they were all that time.

We toured the campgrounds and one tiny island -with really nothing on it but trees. A man was pulling up in a boat to fish -and Yves knew him. At times it seems that Yves knows every-other-person on the island! The man lived near-by and took us to his home. He'd been speaking French pretty fast -which made if pretty much impossible for me to follow. But suddenly he started speaking to me in perfect english. He used to work with Air France as a flight attendant but is now retired at the ripe old age of 51! He inherited this incredible piece of land and took us on a tour. At times I wondered if it had been Eden. Along the way Yves broke open a few coconuts for us to munch on. The trees were just beautiful.
It turns out that he is actually Mirella's cousin. He seemed very appreciative of what he has there. He said that -that area is a great place for Tahitians to vacation because it's so secluded. He, in fact, has his own water tower -a smaller version of what you'd see on Petticoat Junction.
I guess I've got old TV shows on the mind today.

Bora Bora

Once the competition ended, we had one final meeting to celebrate with the team over lunch. They had many stories to tell and relive of their experience. And then Yves and I took off to go visit his sister, Desirée, who lives on the island. Mario took us in his boat and as we were on our way -we saw one lone pirogue still coming in long after all the others had made it to the finish line. I admired their perseverance.
When we pulled up to dock at Desirée's home, I saw that it had a stunning view of the main mountains of the island. She was sweet as can be -allowing me to shower at her home. (Or maybe that was to keep the flies away.) Then she loaned Yves and I the car to take a little tour of Bora Bora. We passed through the main town -which was incredibly small for a place of such world-wide fame. But I guess you don't go to Bora Bora to hang out in the city. :) This island looked incredibly small to me. Also, I didn't see that many hotels -which I knew were there from pictures I've seen.
Later Yves told me that the surrounding little islands were also part of Bora Bora. Those had hotels -which had rooms or living areas -some of which go for more than $3,000 a night. I suppose that's not a problem when you're Vince Vaughn.

When we got back to Desirée's home, she must have noticed that I looked tired. She encouraged me to take a nap in a lawn chair in her yard. So I tried. But it's difficult to close your eyes when you're in such a beautiful place. At first my chair faced the ocean. But then I turned it to face those beautiful green mountains and just drink in the beauty. Then, lo and behold, Desiréé brought me a cup of coffee. I began to wonder if I had died during the race -and was now in heaven.
Then Yves and I talked about the goodness of God. I really felt -almost overwhelmed in that moment by the blessings of God. It has been a year of many tears. But suddenly I didn't have the words to express how blessed I felt. If you persevere long enough, seasons actually do change.
Then, as it was getting dark, we went to take the boat to the airport. The boat ride was just about 15 minutes and Yves pointed out some of those fancy hotels along the way. But I was honestly convinced that I'm having a much better experience here than an actor would -filming a movie. They may have a simulated adventure -but I was having the real thing.
Once at the airport, I discovered that Yves and Mario were on a different plane than I was -flying back to Tahiti. But mine flew out just 20 minutes later -and many of the team members were on my flight. When the pilot announced that he was glad to have them on the flight, the plane cheered -especially the team members. :)

Hawaiki Nui Va'a: Day 3

Well, the evening of the 2nd day was much more upbeat with the team. They went around the circle and everyone spoke. They even gave me a chance to say something -which was unexpected. I was really just there to observe. But I told them, "Je pense que Air Tahiti est incroyable!" They got a kick out of that. To me -these guys were world champions in this sport. Toward the end, they asked me to pray for the team. Later I found out that one of the team members had referred to me as "Father" when he found out I'm a pastor. Also, Yves told me that they were actually a little surprised at how well they did -and they gave glory to God for that. They said they were glad to have Yves and myself with them. :)

That night back at the vacation home -with Pero and Anna was incredibly tranquil. We sat by the bay and looked across the water and gazed at the stars -which you can see so clearly here. Pero mentioned that the actors from Hollywood had actually been staying close by because Bora Bora gets crowded. They were probably attached to the two huge yachts we'd passed in our little boat. In fact, Pero said that he prefers Tahaa to Bora Bora because there are hardly any people in Tahaa. We woke up at sunrise to the sound of roosters. There are a lot of them here! Yves said they were praising God with their song. Indeed. I imagined -instead of "cock-a-doodle-doo", they were saying, "Merci Seigneur!" (Thank You, Lord!)

We got to the boat and back around to the team. Then the final race was on -and I felt certain that it must be the most difficult. We were back to around a 5 hour journey going from Tahaa to Bora Bora. This time the pirogues seemed to get much more spread out. At times I even wondered if we were still on course. But you could look ahead and see boats with big yellow flags helping to keep us on track. The closer we got to Bora Bora, the more amazed I was all over again to be here. I wish I could post pictures with this -but I won't be able to until I get back to my own computer.

Bora Bora has some of the bluest, clearest, beautiful water I've ever seen. It was like looking at Never Never Land with the island and the aqua water. We cheered the guys on. You could tell they were getting tired and a few boats passed them. toward the end. Mario yelled out that there was only 2 minutes to go and the guys really poured on speed. Actually there was more like 15. :) They ended up coming in 21st place that day. When they pulled in they were greeted by cheering fans. We all jumped into the water to congratulate them. They were all smiles and we celebrated with some watermelon. There were hundreds of smiling people just celebrating in this beautiful place. It was an awesome way to end the competition. Overall in 3 days of racing, they came in 19th place in the most intense competition in this sport. I thought they were "incroyable".

Hawaiki Nui Va'a: Day 2

Before the competition, Yves and I flew to Huahine and stayed with the Assembly of God pastors on the island. They believe the island has around 6,000 people, but they are the only Assembly church. They were incredibly hospitable and we went to a service at their church that night. As the people were leaving, the Pastor had us stand with him at the back door to give the traditional greeting/departure...a kiss on both cheeks.

At the end of the first day of the competition, we were now in Raiatea. Our little boat pulled up to a house with a dock. This belonged to some family members of Mario's. They were incredibly gracious people. Then we explored the town a bit -having steak frite for lunch. (steak and fries) The main town wasn't very big but there was alot of activity because of the competition. Later on we met with the team for a pretty subdued meeting exploring what went wrong and what needed to change. Yves shared a DVD with them about Olympic champions who were Christians and gave their testimonies. Then we prayed together. It was pretty cool.

That night I woke up in the middle of the night hearing something in my room. At first I thought it was outside but quickly realized it was crawling under my bed from one side to the other. I thought it might be a mouse but it sounded too big. So I turned on the light, crept around the bed, and noticed next to my luggage ...a crab! I think it was trying to borrow my shampoo. There was no broom to move him out and I figured I was in his room anyway so I just left him alone.

The next day's competition was closer to 2 hours. We started from Raiatea and headed toward Tahaa. It's amazing to see the race start -there are so many pirogues and people in the water. The guys were incredible that day. But they did have to take one out and send in another person.

At one point, I turned around and saw the most incredible sight behind us. There were probably hundreds of yachts, small boats and large boats, all churning up the beautiful aqua-colored water. Many of them had flags of the teams they were supporting. It was a wild moment because I remembered that about 6 months ago I saw a picture of this exact view. I didn't know what it was at the time -but just seeing the picture caught my breath. I thought, "Wow, where is this -because I want to go there!" It was stunning to now see it 'live'. Sometimes the blessings of God just unexpectedly take your breath away.

Well, our guys did awesome that day coming in 17th place. I could tell Mario was much happier. When we docked in the small town, they made arrangements with the team. Then we went out and followed a competition for ladies that went about 2 hours. Then Mario took Yves and I in the boat all the way around to the other side of the island. He went pretty fast and it was a blast. The whole time you're seeing these beautiful green rocks and mountains -but then we rounded the corner and drove into a bay. There were two huge yachts we passed at one point but that was about it. Up ahead were these incredible mountains that just made you wonder if they were real. As we got closer to the dock, we saw Yves's friend, Pero, waiting for us on the dock. He and his wife, Anna, were vacationing there and we were staying with them for the night.

Hawaiki Nui Va'a

Mario, a man in the Jamet's church, invited Yves (Aimana's father) and I to go to Hawaiki Nui Va'a with him. This is the first and largest-scale pirogue (canoe) race in the world. They told me we would be following the pirogues during the race. I had no idea of the scale or popularity of this event when I accepted this invitation. In a way it's their World Series and there is much coverage on the evening news. People come here from all over the world to participate or witness this event. I was amazed to discover that none of the Jamet family had ever been able to do this before. They'd always watched it on television with everyone else. But suddenly, we found ourselves in a boat with Mario, who was a coach for one of the teams. Incredible! We had a front row seat! Even the other boats had to keep their distance more than us.

Mario's team was Air Tahiti -made up of employees from an airline here that flies from island to island. The first day this team of 6 men rowed for over 5 hours from Huahine to Raiatea Island. Mario would yell out instruction and encouragement. We became cheerleaders also yelling, "Allez! Allez!" (Go! Go!) They were amazing to me to keep rowing hour after hour. They had little tubes from which they'd drink water. When they'd run out, they would toss the water container high up in the air to the ocean. Then a support boat would pick it up, fill it with more water, go way out in front of the pirogue, and then 1 or 2 people would jump in the ocean to hand it to the team members as they passed by.

At one point Mario could tell that the lead man in front, who sets the pace for the others, was becoming too fatigued. Later I asked him how he could tell and he told me that he had just begun to sway from side to side rather than dive into the rowing. So he yelled out for the lead man to change places with someone farther back in the pirogue. They both jumped out and did so. Later on we had a scary moment. The pirogue actually tipped over. This was several hours into the race and the last thing we expected to see. Mario was instantly in the water helping to right the boat and get everyone back inside.

They came in at 27th place that day. To me that was pretty amazing considering there were 85 pirogues in the race. But I could tell Mario was disappointed saying, "Dommage, dommage". On one of my visits to Tahiti several years ago, I remember Mario giving a testimony in church about participating in this race. He was in the winning pirogue.
So that was the first of three days of the race. More to come.

The Arrival

Well, the flight to Tahiti was great. I sat next to a man who works for the Royal Opera in London. He is taking a year off to travel -and was actually considering taking another. (!) He says anyone can do it. You just have to make your money work for you instead of working for it. So I told my money to go out and mow the lawn today.
At LAX, they asked if I was from Universal Studios. When I arrived in Tahiti, the customs agent asked if I'm an actor...maybe the brother of Vince Vaughn. I thought that was funny but then later found out that Vince Vaughn is here filming a movie in Bora Bora with Cameron Diaz. Guess I should've said yes. My friend Aimana is a pilot and actually flew Vince to Bora Bora.

It has been so awesome to reunite with my Tahitian family over here -the Jamets. (pronounced "Jamay") They are some of the most loving, hospitable people in the world. The most recent addition is Haureva. He is 3 months old and is the son of Tamatarei and Herehia. Tamatarei (or Tama for short) is Aimana's little brother and actually stayed at my house in Lakewood for 2 months to improve his english. The first time I met him he was 14. So it was wild to see him get married last year (for which I was a witness and signed the marriage certificate) -and now to see him as a father. It's the circle of life...

Well, practically as soon as I arrived, I was invited to go on a pretty incredible adventure. In fact, my first week here has already been one of the most amazing weeks of my life. Don't mean to sound melodramatic but it's been a WOW experience. We followed the largest pirogue (canoe) race in the world. It stretches for miles from island to island. Don't want to turn this blog into a book. So I'll expand on the race soon. We got back from Bora Bora late last night and now a nap is calling my name. :)