My first Saturday night in Honiara, I was invited to the home of the pastor of our church in Honiara.  Our daughter Emily and his daughters and niece were close friends.  A small feast had been prepared!

After we ate dinner, we squeezed into the vehicle I was driving and delivered a niece to the wharf, where she boarded a ship going to Noro in the Western Solomons where she works for a tuna canning company.

Then we went up to the house where I was staying so we could connect to the internet and the family had a chat with Emily back in Dallas thanks to Skype.  It was 4 am for Emily, but she didn’t mind.  This family provided a second home for Emily a few years ago.

I’m sorry for not doing a better job keeping up with my blog. The internet in the Solomons is much slower than the USA and I found it hard to upload. As soon as I get connected to the internet with a good connection, I will catch up with the blog!

The main reason I came to the Solomon Islands was not to eat tropical fruit and enjoy amazing views of the Pacific Ocean.  Instead it was to meet with my friend, Dennis, who is the Artistic Director of the 2012 Festival of Pacific Arts.  Dennis and I got to know each other when we served together on the the Solomon Islands 30th Anniversary of Independence Committee back in 2008.

The Solomon Islands is hosting the Festival of Pacific Arts in July of this year.  This event will draw thousands of artists from 27 countries around the Pacific. The festival features a wide variety of art forms; dance, music, storytelling, etc.  Dennis and I have been corresponding about how our organization might be able to serve the festival and be a part of this event.

My colleague Cynthia and I had a very productive meeting with Dennis on Wednesday.  On Thursday he asked us to return to meet with other members of the organizing committee and the Festival Chairwoman.

The meeting Thursday morning was very productive.  Our suggestions for involvement were met with a positive response.  At the end of the meeting, the chairwoman thanked us for coming and expressed appreciation for our interest in helping the Solomon Islands.  We are excited to have had such a positive response and are moving ahead with plans to be involved.

We are staying in the village of Ajalvir, just a few miles NE of Madrid.  It’s small, and rather quaint, with rolling fields just a few minutes’ walk from our hotel.  I really enjoyed walking around the farm country and getting ‘up-close’ views of olive trees, with a few ripe olives still on them.

When I got out of the car and started walking toward the house, I heard a screech of “Marthaaaaa” from the other side of the house.  Around the corner came Betsy – our dear friend who worked for us.  There were hugs and tears.

She works for SITAG now and had brought these beautiful flowers to decorate my table.  The red flowers were from a plant she took from our house and nursed until it now produces these beauties.

Later I showed Betsy a video message from Emily on my iPad.  More tears.

Wednesday night, I had dinner at the home of good friends, Sarah and Ivan.  Lucky for me, they were celebrating their niece’s 16th birthday!

After settling into the house where I was staying and taking a much needed shower, the “SITAG Family” (Solomon Islands Translation Advisory Group) gathered for a potluck dinner together in the new Dormitory.  A number of years ago when Tim was director, he signed the paperwork for the purchase of the piece of land near our offices where the dorm now sits.  When we left there were only cement posts and the start of the building process.  The building is amazing and is being used a lot for workshops and training the national translators.

What Tim has been up to in Spain…

Monday
First day of the meeting.  We spent the whole day reporting on each other’s situations around the world.  What a diversity of contexts!  Each region, and even sub-region has it’s own unique challenges, and yet we all face similar challenges as we seek to help bring more effective education to the minority children of the world.

Tuesday
We’ve finished our second day.  Mostly discussion of issues and how to work together more effectively.  I lead a short discussion to look at ways to share information with each other more effectively as we are scattered all over the globe.

On the way back from the airport, we stopped at a shopping center where there is a grocery store to pick up a few things.  It wasn’t long before I began to see people I knew.  A schoolmate of Emily’s from the International School, the Filipino grocery store manager who was Emily’s friend and a link to her Filipino heritage.

Another friend – Honourable David Day – Member of Parliament and friend of our family.  He served with the Solomon Islands Bible Society before running for Parliament.

There were other friends, too.  And I ‘happened’ to bump into 3 committee members of the Festival of Pacific Arts.

It’s good to see these friends again and I look forward to meeting many more.

The next step in the hop across the Pacific was the country of Vanuatu.  This beautiful neighbor of the Solomons was once ruled jointly by the French and British as you can see by the airport sign, the influence remains.  We sat on the tarmac in the capital city of Port Vila for about an hour before resuming our journey to the Solomons.

Flying high above the ocean the sky blends into the sea making for a blur of shades of blue dotted with fluffy white clouds.  Miles and miles of nothing but sea and sky is a reminder of the size of the Pacific Ocean.  After an hour or so, I started searching for signs of land and evidence that we had reached the Solomon Islands.  Soon I was rewarded with the view of the end of an island which turned out to be Makira – the place we lived for our first year in the Solomon Islands.

Across the aisle, it was fun to watch the Havenga Family looking at the land that will be their new home as they begin serving as translation advisors to a language group in the Solomon Islands.

At last we landed in Honiara.  Colleagues were waiting on the observation deck with signs and leis.   I don’t have more pictures of that because I was carrying bags and camera. This not so great photo was taken through the airplane window…

Customs went fine and my luggage arrived.  (The Pierces were not so lucky with one missing bag.) We left immigration and were welcomed by the SITAG (Solomon Islands Translation Advisory Group) Family and started our way back to the offices/homes.

The little screen on the seat in front of me tells me that we have crossed the international date line and Fiji is not far away now.  The man in the seat next to me wanted to use my shoulder as his head rest. He patted my shoulder and said it was ok, he just wanted to rest his head. Hmm.  It gives whole new meaning to giving someone the cold shoulder!  In spite of trying to dodge being his pillow, I did manage to get some sleep.  It’s 8:30 on Monday morning in Dallas, but when We deplane in Fiji in a couple of hours, it will be 5:00 am on Tuesday.  Who needed Monday anyway?

Beginning in security in LAX,I began to see faces from the Pacific. No one I knew of course, but there is that general recognition that these are the peoples of the Pacific – and a heart warming recognition of the familiar is stirred within me. It’s only hours now until i see the faces of Solomon Island friends who we love so much.

Bittersweet emotions punctuate my building anticipation. I can’t forget Tim, Emily and Sarah. They long to be winging their way to the Pacific, but it’s not yet their time. In the meantime I will be the family ambassador who will enjoy the sweet reunions with friends, smelling the salty Pacific Ocean, tasting tropical fruits while bringing the love and well wishes of the family.

Probably only an MK would know how my girls are feeling at the moment. I know this trip isn’t easy for them. But I salute their selfless release and blessing to make this trip. I love you, Emily and Sarah. Since you were little, you understood the sacrifices of this lifestyle and have freely allowed us to go. Thank you for making it easy to make this trip even when it hurt to see me go be where you can only dream of being here at the moment.

There are actually two other Wycliffe families on this same flight. One is returning after their furlough and the other just arriving for the first time. We didn’t plan on being on the same flight, but here we are.

Nadi, Fiji

We landed in Nadi in the early hours Tuesday under a full moon. Getting off the plane, the warm humid air felt comfortable. Then I reminded myself that it was only 5 am. It will get warmer.

While we waited to go through transit, we were serenaded by a Fijian quartet playing guitars and ukulele.  Traveling with the other two families has made the time go faster. Between the two families they have two small children. I’ve been able to help carry kids or bags. The kids have been good, but it’s a challenge for them and their parents.

We are on the plane now waiting our departure to Port Vila, Vanuatu where we will have an hour in transit before going on to the Solomons.