Our Time in Vanuatu

  Monday here and Tuesday (because it is Monday on the other side of the world) was my birthday.  Last time to enjoy two days of birthday.  I am thankful for all the love I received these two days. The week started with the miracle of returning our seven Tongan missionaries to Tonga.   The fact that there was a repatriation  flight from Port Vila to Tonga was the first miracle.  Then an angel, Lucy, who is a pilot who is originally from Tonga and lives here in Vanuatu was asked to be in charge to organize that repatriation flight. She took care of all the details of getting approvals from the Tongan government and the Foreign Affairs here plus arranging the testing of COVID to be done within a day.  Permissions were granted, tests were done Monday morning and received at 1:30 as promised.  We were at the airport at 1:00 am Tuesday as required by Air Vanuatu and the check-in finally opened at 3:00 am. They went through customs and we were...

  I just love Sundays.  A peaceful time to recharge. It was an upside down week at the mission home as painters came every day to paint inside.  Yesterday, Saturday, we moved everything out of the pantry and removed boxes of old curtains and chairs from the little office in preparation for Monday, the last two places to paint in the house.  We have been waiting for a company to come and remove those chairs and curtains. The painters will also put some varnish on the ceilings in 4 rooms (living room, entry, dining room and sun room)                                                    At the same time, we had electricians working outside where they had dug trenches all around the pool to repair the wiring for the lights outside.  It looks like a disaster area, but the lights are working and I imagine the dirt will be put back in its plac...

  We saw this beautiful rainbow going to Church this morning. We are trying to take it all in even more as our return home is getting closer. We still do not have the exact date we are leaving.  Still waiting for flight to be organized.   We did however receive the wonderful news about the visa of the next Mission President and his wife.  We have all the documents and it is now in the hands of Church Travel to make their arrival a reality.   They told us they will be set apart on Wednesday 15 June.  We may have some news on the next blog. 😁 Could not resist to take another snap shot of the mission home's backyard view one more time. This week was zone (mission) conference.  It may be the last one.  For this reason we asked all the missionaries to write their testimony for us.  We usually ask the missionaries before they leave.  I make a copy for us and they keep the original.   We discussed 3 easy tips to easily keep...

The shoes of a missionary finishing his mission.  Elder Kema from Tanna, served 17 months in Côte d'Ivoire Mission and the last six months in his home country. It was a transfer week.  One missionary out of five was able to return home and we welcomed three missionaries, all from Vanuatu.  Elder Lui is Elder Nanua's trainer Sister Singo is Sister Wilson's trainer Elder Philip is Elder Nalin's trainer Life in Vanuatu: Rod sefti (road safety) When it is a dirt road, rocks will replace painted lines.           But it can be confusing. Especially when it does not stay in a straight line. The sticker on the back of this truck, I was following reads " HEMI KIVIM RAET"  Translated "It gives right of way"  Following it for a while, I can attest that it did, even when it had the right of way.   It is not just a sticker, it is fully, above and beyond, respected. 😊 Waiting at the immigration offices         ...