I woke up this morning feeling like I had hardly slept. Last night I feel a sleep quickly and easily but woke around 2 am to feel vibrations coming up from the floor. Somewhere not far away – probably at a nearby club, loud music was blaring and the base sounds were causing the floor to vibrate with the sound. I tried hard to ignore it, but with little luck. Sleep evaded me for the rest of the night except for short snatches here and there. It wasn’t until sometime after 8 am that the music finally subsided.
The tasks for the morning included the fore mentioned visit to see the Catholic Sister at the communications office. Colin the radio broadcasting student and I arrived bit early and read through the newspapers on the table. Someone brought in today’s paper and we were pleasantly pleased to see an article that was the result of our stop at the newspaper office the day before. It wasn’t entirely accurate, but will still help to spread word about the workshops that are being held.
The visit with the Sister from Samoa was delightful. She wanted to help us as much as she could and we got into an interesting discussion on the importance of reading God’s Word in your own language. She shared with us about Samoa and the children being taught in Samoan as well as English. When I asked her which language she used to read her Bible, she quickly told us the Samoan one. Joe, the recording studio manager showed us around the recording studio.
Next stop was the national radio station. We wanted to check on the price to use the studio there and to see if Colin might be able to help them with a project. We found my friend Joseph in the newsroom and after a warm welcome and a few minutes of hearing what we were doing in the country, we were ushered into a recording studio to be interviewed for a later radio program.
We stopped to say hello to my friend, Bart, who continues to produce the two minute twice daily Pijin Bible readings. The 5 day a week program has been extended to 7 days and the Pijin Bible on Bart’s desk attests to it’s frequent use!
Then we went up to the college campus where a Bible storytelling workshop was being held. This was the last day and students told their stories and received certificates. The 13 participants have enjoyed the experience and learned a lot about crafting and telling an interesting story. As part of the graduation program, the daughter of one of the instructors. The family came from New Zealand to help with the workshop and they sang a beautiful Maori worship song while their daughter danced.
While at the college, I saw my friend from our church, Roselyn who is a professor. She asked about the family and I showed her a video clip message that Emily had prepared. It was a bit noisy in the room so she held it close to her face so she could hear Emily’s voice. You can see the delight on her face as she listens to Emily’s message (twice).
Last stop of the day – checking on the place where we will set up the “Languages of the Pacific” display. It’s all supposed to get cleaned out tomorrow so we can set up on Saturday. As you can see we will have a bit of work to do to get it ready!
Throughout the day, I listened to the national radio station in the car. The broadcasters gave live reports of the arrival of the various delegations. Excitement is mounting as the beginning of this much anticipated event comes closer!