23 August 2006 - Vanuatu

We went to the lake yesterday. It was an 8 hour round trip from the airport. Only got bitten by a few ants and stung by one small piece of nungalut (stinging plant). The lake is the only lake on the island, and is at about 600m above sea level. It lies in the crater of the volcano which formed this island. And we went for a swim! We also lit a small fire to warm up afterwards, thanks to Jared's bush survival skills. The local people are lots of fun to be with. Quite clever when it comes to the bush and making things from wood with their bush knife, hacking their way through the bush, finding bush foods, and getting places. We couldn't make it to the volcano itself, as the canoe was not there. We saw the highest point, Mt Garet, at 800m above sea level, and on top of that is the volcano. We saw smoke coming from the volcano, but no noise, or red lava or anything like that. Was a great trip though.

Two days til we fly out of Gaua back to Vila! I took my last Bible class today. The topic was the return of Jesus to earth, followed by the re-creation of the new earth. The students are so keen to learn. It was quite a special time. We sang a song at the end, and enjoyed a nice meal afterwards. There were about 20 to 25 students. Last night I spoke at the "Voice of Youth" program. I spoke about Joshua and how he lead the Israelites across Jordan river. God worked a miracle and stopped the waters while the river was in flood, so that they could get across to the promised land. The message was "Be strong and of good courage".

I'll be speaking again tonight and tomorrow night. Also doing music lesson tomorrow and Friday mornings. Fly out Friday and get to Vila. I'm looking forward to meeting some people at the Vila SDA Church on Sabbath, and can't wait for the Le Lepa tour.

Must go and prepare for tonights meeting.

Peace to you all. Brad.