Embrace The Adventure

Well, it's New Year's Eve. This day can be full of incredible anticipation for some -and apprehension for others -for what the new year will hold. Maybe these feelings get jumbled together for most and it's why we bring in the New Year with noise makers, just to let off some steam. Maybe we make the noise in the face of fear just to say, "Bring it on!" Maybe we're celebrating just having survived another year of life.
Last spring, I was in the middle of a pretty difficult time. It seemed that nothing was working out and discouragement was settling in. During that time, Aimana, Sindy and Taimoana were in town for a quick vacation. As they were packing for the airport, 5-year-old Taimoana noticed a little present someone had given me that hadn't been opened yet. He brought it to me and told me to open it. I was ironing a shirt and needing to leave for church so I told him I didn't have time right then. But this little guy persisted until I could resist no longer. When I opened it, I discovered that someone had given me a little plaque with these words on it:

Jeremiah 29:11 "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."


I recognized that God used little Taimoana to get my attention that day. This new year is a gift to us that is unopened as yet. As we open it, let's recognize that it is given to us from God Himself. He wants to give us a hope and a future. Don't focus too much on your feelings. They change like the seasons. Put your trust in the One who never fails, never lies, and never leaves or forsakes us. Then, embrace the adventure.

Car Dieu Est Si Grand

I'm so thankful to God for granting me my heart's desire for an adventure. Do you know that He's listening when you pray? He really is.
I've now posted a lot of pictures along with many of my blogs about my time in Tahiti this year. Now you can see I've got proof to back up what I've written! So you may want to take a look at some those.
I am humbled and incredibly grateful to the Jamet family- Yves and Mirella, Aimana and Sindy and Taimoana, Tama and Herehia and Hauareva, and Toimata for their incredible hospitality, generosity, sense of humor, and, most of all, their love. I feel that I have been grafted into their family. But that happened 11 years ago on my first trip to Tahiti.
I think the world could learn so much from Tahitians. They value people more than things. Their thoughts aren't fixed on how soon they can run out the door. They love people and their actions show it. They spend time just enjoying each other. That sounds like the Trinity to me.
Thank You, God, not just for the beauty of the islands, the delicious food, the exciting journeys, but for a place where I can see Your love overflowing from the hearts of Your people.

Youth Camp In Tahiti-Iti

Well, there was one last adventure for me in Tahiti. And if you can believe it, I wasn't even sure I wanted to go. The last time we'd been to this location, I'd cut my foot on corral and had to deal with the lemon. Also, it just seemed odd to go to the other side of the island to sleep in a tent the night before I was going to get on a plane to go home. But I was SO GLAD that I went! It's funny how I've desired the adventure and yet the predictable, routine, comfortable thing is still tempting. All through my time here I felt that God just kept whispering, "Embrace the adventure." So I did...one last time.
We drove until the road ended. Then we boarded a boat. When we arrived at the camp site, we set things up and then huddled under canvas as it rained for a few minutes. When the sun came out we had some free time just to kick a ball around. Then they divided the camp up into 4 different teams. That night they played game after game that involved learning other people's names. It was so cool -except that I still have an incredibly hard time with some of the Tahitian names. It was kind of a relief to hear a "Victor" and "Peter". It was amazing how quickly this group bonded together. They had my heart in no time.
The next day we had breakfast. It was fish, cooked on beach fires, and bread. There was a devotional and then we were off to hike in a valley. This hike included a stop at a burial site and an altar where human sacrifices were made many years ago. Later on, we rested at a beautiful place along a river where most of the Youth went swimming. I took a walk deeper into the woods -as I knew I'd be leaving soon. These woods were filled with beautiful green-moss-covered trees and sometimes vines and jungle-type terrain. The camp had an Indiana Jones theme and it couldn't have been in a better location. I half-expected a native to jump out with a spear.

What really struck me though is the difference in sound that day that one heard in the valley -compared to what must have been 200 years ago. I could imagine the screams of loved ones horrified with the sacrificial ritual. And then I thought of how awesome it is that today -laughter is heard there -from the children of God.
After a lunch of New Zealand corned beef with beans and lemon, we headed back to camp. It was time for me to go and suddenly I realized that Thierry Albert, the camp director, had gathered the whole camp together to say goodbye. They all started to sing a beautiful Tahitian song and I couldn't help but cry. Then they gathered around me and prayed. They followed us to the boat as I was saying my goodbyes to Toimata and Yves and Mirella. Then they waved as we pulled away from the dock. It was Mario's boat, the same one we'd taken to Hawaiki Nui, and suddenly he was putting my hands on the wheel. As I pulled the boat around the island, the Youth had run to the beach and were waving from there. I was glad to be distracted from the huge lump in my throat by the need to steer the boat.

Speedy Sheep

The morning after Orovini's Christmas program was La Bonne Nouvelle's Christmas program. Taimoana, Aimana and Sindy's 5 year-old boy, was going to be in the program. So we were all excited to see what would happen there. He did not disappoint.
His particular scene opened with three adults dressed as shepherds standing and calmly speaking to each other with microphones. At their feet were Taimoana and 2 other kids with sheepskins on their backs crawling around them in a circle. Well, I guess they thought they needed to spice up the scene a little bit because suddenly the sheep turned it into a race. I couldn't stop laughing as these kids went faster and faster as the shepherds did their best to ignore them. At one point, Taimoana even attempted to cut a little girl off on her turn. (He likes the movie "Cars".) After many laps, the scene came to an end. As the curtains were closing, Taimoana straightened up on his knees and waved to the audience.

That evening, the Orovini church started a choir. Pastor Coucou invited me to do some warm-ups with them and speak with the choir members. I was very honored to do so and was so excited that they were starting a choir. It seemed that there were anywhere between 40 to 50 for this first practice. Once again, Toimata helped me with the translation. She has been incredibly helpful to me!

Orovini's Christmas Program

When I first arrived in Tahiti and went to the Orovini church, I happened to notice in the bulletin that there would be a Christmas program the evening of December 13. My first thought was how cool it would be to be there to catch that. My second thought was, "Dummy, you'll still be in town!" I've never stayed in Tahiti for nearly 2 months before so it took some getting used to. This time we were able to make some more far-reaching plans.
One of those plans was that I was invited by Teremu and Toimata to work with the Youth Group to sing "Car Dieu Est Si Grand". ("How Great Is Our God") We sped it up a little bit, added a chorus of "Joy To The World", and then sang it for the end of the Christmas program at Orovini. The Youth fell in love with "Joy To The World". In fact, when they started singing it that night, we went acappella for a bit and the congregation loved it too.
The program was filled with a terrific variety of things -including the Children's Choir, a Pastor's ensemble, skits, beautiful Polynesian-flavored dances, Teremu's group, Kades, (which is a Greek word meaning "consecrate") and the Youth Group. At one point the youth group dressed completely in black and wore white gloves. They turned out the lights and lit up a black light on the platform. Then, along with a song about the cross, they formed shapes and words by putting their hands together. It was incredible. Toimata choreographed and danced a beautiful dance to "O Holy Night" with several girls.
Christian, the host of the program, asked me to close the night in prayer. I felt honored to be able to do this and, in fact, gave the call of salvation with Toimata by my side to translate. Several hands went up and we all prayed together. Often, at Christmas, you can get more folks in the door than at any other time of year. It's a great time to hold out hope to everyone who comes. I also heard stories about others who rededicated their lives to God that night. Is there any greater gift one could receive than inviting Jesus into their heart? Jesus has come to bring joy to the world. There was a lot of joy in Tahiti that night.

Tahitian Political Upheaval

There was an interesting development in Tahiti today. Two members of the current political majority party resigned -suddenly making it the minority party. So now, in spite of the elections that were just held 6 months ago, the President of Tahiti must step down and the new majority party will elect a new president.
When Yves and I went to Huahine, I actually saw the President and was, in fact, just a few feet from him at the airport. He was all smiles that day. But today I saw him on the front page of the newspaper -as well as on the news, and he didn't look happy at all. Yves and Mirella told me that in the past 4 years they've had 6 presidents. When people vote here -they vote for a political party -not a specific candidate. If that party loses their majority status, no matter when the elections were held, you get a new president.

Diadem

Tuesday morning of this week Yves and Mirella took me up to one of the highest places in Tahiti. We took a dirt road that just kept ascending. At one point we saw an elderly Chinese couple working in a garden. Yves stopped to talk for a bit and asked them how old they were. The woman was 75 and the man was 81. Then he beamed and said, "I'm young!" There is such a mixture of cultures here and for some reason it's just fascinating to me to hear a Chinese couple speaking French.
Onward and upward we went with some amazing glimpses of the ocean far below us. But what really took my breath away was when we turned inland and then saw one of the most beautiful mountain ranges I've ever seen. They are a tropical green color and one of them looks like a crown -which they refer to as "Diadem". At that spot there was a little ramp that just stretched into space. It's where you can take a parachute- or actually something that looks like a parasail -and jump off -gliding down through one of the most beautiful valleys I've ever seen. However, I was quite happy just to stand there.
We went further on up until you could go no higher. We walked the last part of the way picking raspberries as we went. We passed an Air Traffic Control Tower -and then at the very top was a huge antenna servicing phones, I believe. By this time it seemed that we had actually walked into a cloud. We weren't able to see the 360° view but I sure hope to go back one day. If I worked for Disney, I would definitely suggest a Soaring Over Tahiti ride.