Together Again!

An amazing first few days for me in Fiji. I had a good flight over minus a baggage scare, but everything turned out fine and I made it to Nadi at about 5:30am. Tim was there to meet me and we greeted with tears and as much joy as I think I have ever felt. We were given 2 days on our own while Ray and Laura took over the team. They were wonderful. Tim was excited to show me everything so we didn't exactly rest(which we are kind of regretting now!). We spent the days in the water and sun and reconnecting with each other. We agreed that we are going to avoid spending that much time apart again if we can help it.
After our break we took a long bus trip to meet up with the team at Homes of Hope. This place was absolutely incredible. We were only there for a couple of days so far, but my first impressions were very powerful. The organization is right outside of the capital of Fiji but you wouldn't know it because it is on 40 acres of tropical rainforest. Extremely lush with parrots and fruit bats flying above. There are currently about 25 single mothers there with their children. All of these women have heart wrenching stories of how they reached this place in their lives. Most of them come from broken and abusive families and/or trafficking and rape situations. They come to HOH desperate and with nowhere else to turn. There they can be taken in, housed and fed, and if they choose, change their entire lives. I can explain more later as we get to know these women and their children.
Our first team of students just left to catch their flight. A wonderful group of people. We were blessed to have them as our first team. We had a lot of kinks to work out as far as transportation and sleeping accommodations and they were very easy going and cooperative as we worked everything out. They loved the ministries and fell in love with all of the Fijians that they met. I think HOH and the women and children there will stay in their hearts for a long time.
We had a fun day on Saturday and were given use of a boat to head out to snorkel island. A day full of sun and snorkeling and kayaking and magnum bars. A great way to say goodbye. I was only able to spend a few days with this team but loved it.
Our next team arrives in less than 9 hours and is also a team of 8. This group is from a church in California and has a range of ages. It will be fun to work with different kinds of teams with different dynamics. Pray for these next couple of weeks that the Momi site can get finished for the 3rd team, that transportation issues will smooth out, and that our energy will hold in there. We have both been very tired and being with the teams 24/7 never lets us rest completely.
Overall, Fiji is wonderful and I am loving it! We will post more pictures soon.