A Message from Andrew...

Our ferry ride was only about an hour and a half, but to Josh it probably felt like an eternity due to his looming sea sickness. Luckily he was a trooper and pulled through without us having to clean the top deck of a three story ferry. As we pulled up to shore, we were greeted with a mountain greener than we’ve ever seen before. We passed by a long line of locals that were lined up outside waiting to board the ferry we just departed as well as children roaming the dock selling local snacks. Allen was the first one to buy a pack of “Samoan Twinkies” and share them with the rest of us who were less adventurous at first. Our bus ride would be around two hours, but it was our first passing glance at the island of Savai’i. The bus began to follow the road that outlined the shape of the island as we passed by different villages.

Before we knew it, we arrived at the village of Matavai to a warm welcome from our host village. Children were lined up on both sides of the road waiving mini Samoan flags. As we ushered off the bus and into the “fale,” we were treated to a Samoan welcoming ceremony. The first recession was the Kava ceremony where they soaked the roots of a Kava plant into a bowl of water during the ceremony. They then proceeded to give a cup to the chiefs as well as Rob, Katie, Dr. Brad, and Dr. Cecile who said a few words before drinking the cup. After this, one of the neighboring villages honored Jack, the head of South Seas ministries, by presenting a whole cow to show their respect for him and what he has done for them and the neighboring villages. The last portion of the celebration was a feast and was our first taste of Samoan cuisine. After unpacking the medical supplies, we had a light dinner, jumped in the pool to “bathe,” and crashed after nearly 27 hours of travel that day.

Although we slept on mats and in mosquito nets, we all slept like rocks. We woke up and took a morning plunge in the pool next to our houses to jump start our day. The men changed into our formal lava lavas, white button downs, and ties while the women changed into their all white dresses to get ready for church. The Samoan pastor spoke in both Samoan and English during his service, but the hymns were sung in Samoan. Every single one of them sung the hymns really well with even more gusto than Greg Green in the back of a Journey service. Lastly, the Sunday school children had practiced a dance for us to conclude the service.

We had a short period between services that we were able to used to rest and prepare for the second service of the day that we (mainly Rob) were in charge of running. We all practiced a worship song and the girls practiced their hula dance they nailed at the end of the service. After Rob spoke and the girls performed, the teenagers had a few more dances to perform for us. Almost everyone was more than willing to swap our subpar worship song for their exciting dances. Chuck was a little bummed we didn’t get to perform but we made sure to console him afterwards that we’d get more opportunities to sing later in the trip.

After service, we began sorting supplies for the medical clinic that would be starting the next morning. Normally, the village does not do any work on the Sabbath, we were willing to let us get sort and sent up tents that night due to the amount of work that needed to be done to be ready for the morning. With a tentative game plan in mind, we all went to bed trying to rest up for our big opening day here in Samoa!
- Written by Andrew Stalboerger