I'm pretty much becoming a pro at making normally awkward situations ever more awkward here in Fiji :) So it's usually pretty awkward or uncomfortable to call someone to meet with you that you have never met/seen before, but then I take it a step further and the following is a common occurrence on campus these days: I am expecting a student to come at any minute for an appointment I set up the previous day to talk about the Lord. I have already texted and tried calling this student a few times to remind her, but have not heard back. At this point I am looking all around me for a student who looks nervous and shy as she scans the tables for "the white girl wearing a blue shirt" (as I often describe myself!). Then it happens! I see a student walk up to another group of girls and ask for Mary...well that's what I thought I heard. She then looks towards my direction and I yell, "MiJee!!!" (the student I was supposed to be meeting)...no response...she walks past me and I call out to her again! This happens about three more times before I surrender and take the advice from my teammates who have been laughing at me during this entire escapade, to assume she is not MiJee. Two minutes later a young student walks up to me, and I assume it's MiJee! Well...it was Soohyun, Miee's friend! After a bit of an awkward introduction (sometimes my joyful laughter is taken the wrong way, but it ended up being fine! haha) I headed off with Soohuyn to find MiJee! The three of us sat down beneath a huge tree on campus and I spent some time getting to know them. Both of the girls are Korean, Soohyun had just returned to Fiji from Korea to go to school at USP. They both told me at different times that hearing about Student Life and going through a Bible Study with me is exactly what they had been praying for! What an incredible encouragement for me to hear! I absolutely love these girls and their teachable hearts! Please be praying that as we begin to go through the 4 follow up Bible Studies together, the girls will be challenged in their faith, and grow deeply in their relationships with God! I told the girls how incredible our God is to bring a girl from Korea, Fiji and America together to learn more about Himself!
After this meeting I had the opportunity to go through the first follow up Bible Study with Lavonne (she accepted Christ with me last week!). She was so excited to learn more about the Lord and to hear the truths that she is now a child of God, her sins are forgiven, God will never leave her, and so on. She got the biggest smile on her face when she realized that she can be 100% sure that she is a child of the Lord and gets to spend eternity with Him in heaven! Sometimes experiences on campus can be frustrating, especially when students continue to miss their appointments, but I have been learning again and again that God is faithful and in control. He has been preparing the hearts of the students He desires to meet with me and my teammates, and His plan will not be thwarted! What a mighty God we serve! Thank you for your prayers, and please keep it up!
PS: I'm getting better at recognizing students on campus! Imagine meeting over 50 students in 1 1/2 weeks, who all have names that I am not familiar with, and who I rarely get to spend more than 15 minutes with, and be expected to remember all their names! It especially breaks my heart when I'm walking on campus and see a group of students walking towards me, and one gets a huge smile on her face and yells out, "Mary!" My mind starts racing to remember her name as a big smile comes on my face and I respond with, "Hey girl!" Sometimes I swallow my pride and ask her name...again...but sometimes I try to pull out the old, "Hey! Do I have your phone number? How do you spell your name?" hahaha...very sneaky, but doesn't always work. I've been praying that the Lord would help improve my memory as I continue to meet students, and He is being so faithful in this! But it's definitely a humbling experience!
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