Friday 1 October 2010

Sunday – Service at the Village Church

This morning we took a boat around to Nacula Village to join the locals for  Sunday Service.  It was part of an organised trip allowing you to learn more about local village practises and traditions.  We felt very privileged to be invited into the Methodist church by the locals, and allowed to share their Sunday morning.

The Methodist church stands on the shores of the South Pacific, opposite the village hall, with the Chief’s house to the south, and the Preacher’s house to the north – forming a perfect cross.

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The Chief’s house is pictured below, with ceremonial bure in front, where the village welcome in a new chief when the old one dies.  The Chiefdom runs down the family line.

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As we entered the church we were welcomed in and sat at the front.  In front of us were several pews with young boys, and opposite them sat the choir.

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As the service started with a song from the choir, you couldn’t help but appreciate how beautiful their singing was.

The entire service was in Fijian, however nothing could hide the passion that flowed throughout the church.  One thing you couldn’t miss though was the Fijian sense of happiness; as you looked around during the service, the young boys played (and were awarded a clip around the ear for their antics) and choir, when singing were jubilant.

It was truly a beautiful service.  We left with our guide and journeyed back to the resort.

After lunch we thought we would give the sandbar another try, and started walking along the beach to get to it, exactly at low tide. It was a slightly perilous journey, as we had to walk barefoot across quite a few stretches of exposed rocks.

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In the small rock pools we crossed we saw large crabs and small octopus’s.

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When we reached our destination the sight before us was stunning, the sandbar reached a fair distance out into the south pacific.

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We walked out onto it, and enjoyed the solitude it offered, with no noise apart from the lap of the waves on the bar.

We were even lucky enough to see an unusual sea snail.

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