Julia reports on our day at school on Epi Island.
After two days and two nights on a small island in the middle of the Pacific one starts to notice things that are missing more strongly than one expected to.
For me it was chairs. I really missed sitting on a chair. Pathetic, I know! I normally don’t balk at sitting on the floor. But hour after hour, day after day… Aching bones! For others it was plumbing, or power points, or a well-stocked fridge… We could all sympathise with the pain of the others but each had a definite list topper.
But what’s the big deal about a chair or an inner spring mattress when you’ve been invited to Nikaura Primary School, brimming with beautiful, smiling children? We had the opportunity to spend most of our day there last Wednesday, enthusiastically welcomed by the teaching staff.
We started the day under the trees with the Sunday School lesson that we had already taught the previous weekend about Zacchaeus.
After recess, we joined the 5/6 classroom and helped them with their English lesson. They had prepared questions for us and when they had overcome some of their shyness we had a lot of fun. Luke attempted a kookaburra laugh and when Ed was asked how old he was he foolishly told them to guess – 55!
After lunch, we observed a Scripture lesson where the children were being taught by Lyndal to use their brand new Lewo New Testaments – they were learning the Lord’s Prayer. The day finished with the team running sport for the whole school. It was a great success with screams of delight all round while the teachers enjoyed the spectacle.
What a fantastic opportunity to speak freely about Jesus to school children. Quite unusual! And just as a bonus, they provided chairs for us to sit on.
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