Savo
To be honest I was a little nervious about this part of the trip. Jimmy and John Ama had told their terrifying stories about their last boat trip there - slow, big seas, slightly overloaded, arriving in the pitch black of night. And my bottom remembered the last plastic boat trips.
Actually the trip out (1.5 hours) was pretty uneventful. Nearly two weeks here has hardened my up more than I thought. Our boat had been organised by David Raurau's (Savo Chaplain) wife, Florida. I discovered she is studying Early Childhood Education in Honiara and does not have the money to travel home to see her family very often. It was good we were able to pay for her to come with us to her home.
We were met and warmly welcomed by David Raurau and other Tertiaries. Staying on Savo was challenging, and yet very good. Savo has no electricity, no piped water, no sewage system. Aus Aid had come to this village a few years ago and put in a solar panel and provided batteries for each of the houses, but over the next two years all the batteries had died, and no-one had the resources to replace them. Aus Aid had never been back to check. But these people were no concerned. they have all they need. They have access to fresh running water. Some houses have solar panel in the roof. lost have battery powered lights. They have a hot water stream to wash in. They have good land to farm.
We spent a lot of time sitting around talking. My busy European brain wondered at this for awhile. In fact everywhere I have been we have spent a lot of time sitting around talking. And as I look around I not a lot of people do sit around talking a lot of the day. I am reading Susan Pitchford's "Following Francis - The Franciscan Way for Everyone", and her chapter on simplicity challenged me about this observation. She talks about how our lives have become so busy and we have so little time to pay attention to the world we live in, the people we love, and the God we follow. I realise that I have been sucked in by the notion that vicars work 50 hours plus a week. We are to be busy, busy, busy. Why? What most of my parishioners want is for me to sit around and spend time talking with them. The best time on Savo was sitting around listening.
On Saturday David took John Ama and I up the volcanoe behind the village. Only 3,500 ft., so technically not that hard. Except it is over 30 degrees and we were walking next to a hot water stream that slowly turned the air we were walking in into a sauna. You don't climb hills in saunas. You sit still. It was a great walk, but I was pretty stuffed when we got back down.
That night I led a reflection, again looking at why we follow Francis, and what it means to be Franciscan first. Most of the time was spent in small group conversation and plenary. So most of what happened was in pidgin, which was what I hoped.
The next day, Sunday, I preached and presided. There is no senior priest in Savo, so they do not get a communion service very often. They are very Anglo-Catholic, like all of Melanesia, and still want the priest to preside with his back to the people. It has been a long time since I ave done that. Much of the service is sung, which was beautiful, but what threw me was that many of those responses were in "language". So there were long gaps while I made sure they had actually finished the response. At the end of the Great thanksgiving is a sung response, and then the Lamb of God, also sung, during which the priest beats his breast three times, while a bell rings. The question for me was, "are we still on the response, or are we now in the Lamb of God?" I guessed right! I really enjoyed using the thurible, genuflecting at various points, and trying to remember everything the priest in Kira kira had done. After I preached I also admitted a new novice, and prayed for two new postulants, which was grand. It was a humbling experience to serve these people in this way. I will cherish it for a long time.
The journey back was choppy, and several of us staggered out of the boat with very sore backs. My bottom however was fine, even though we sat on a pallet on the way back, which was not that comfortable. Savo was hard, but I would not have missed it for anything. I did rejoice when i returned to Agnes House and fell into a cold shower, and lay down on my soft bed with the fan on and snoozed.
Actually the trip out (1.5 hours) was pretty uneventful. Nearly two weeks here has hardened my up more than I thought. Our boat had been organised by David Raurau's (Savo Chaplain) wife, Florida. I discovered she is studying Early Childhood Education in Honiara and does not have the money to travel home to see her family very often. It was good we were able to pay for her to come with us to her home.
We were met and warmly welcomed by David Raurau and other Tertiaries. Staying on Savo was challenging, and yet very good. Savo has no electricity, no piped water, no sewage system. Aus Aid had come to this village a few years ago and put in a solar panel and provided batteries for each of the houses, but over the next two years all the batteries had died, and no-one had the resources to replace them. Aus Aid had never been back to check. But these people were no concerned. they have all they need. They have access to fresh running water. Some houses have solar panel in the roof. lost have battery powered lights. They have a hot water stream to wash in. They have good land to farm.
We spent a lot of time sitting around talking. My busy European brain wondered at this for awhile. In fact everywhere I have been we have spent a lot of time sitting around talking. And as I look around I not a lot of people do sit around talking a lot of the day. I am reading Susan Pitchford's "Following Francis - The Franciscan Way for Everyone", and her chapter on simplicity challenged me about this observation. She talks about how our lives have become so busy and we have so little time to pay attention to the world we live in, the people we love, and the God we follow. I realise that I have been sucked in by the notion that vicars work 50 hours plus a week. We are to be busy, busy, busy. Why? What most of my parishioners want is for me to sit around and spend time talking with them. The best time on Savo was sitting around listening.
On Saturday David took John Ama and I up the volcanoe behind the village. Only 3,500 ft., so technically not that hard. Except it is over 30 degrees and we were walking next to a hot water stream that slowly turned the air we were walking in into a sauna. You don't climb hills in saunas. You sit still. It was a great walk, but I was pretty stuffed when we got back down.
That night I led a reflection, again looking at why we follow Francis, and what it means to be Franciscan first. Most of the time was spent in small group conversation and plenary. So most of what happened was in pidgin, which was what I hoped.
The next day, Sunday, I preached and presided. There is no senior priest in Savo, so they do not get a communion service very often. They are very Anglo-Catholic, like all of Melanesia, and still want the priest to preside with his back to the people. It has been a long time since I ave done that. Much of the service is sung, which was beautiful, but what threw me was that many of those responses were in "language". So there were long gaps while I made sure they had actually finished the response. At the end of the Great thanksgiving is a sung response, and then the Lamb of God, also sung, during which the priest beats his breast three times, while a bell rings. The question for me was, "are we still on the response, or are we now in the Lamb of God?" I guessed right! I really enjoyed using the thurible, genuflecting at various points, and trying to remember everything the priest in Kira kira had done. After I preached I also admitted a new novice, and prayed for two new postulants, which was grand. It was a humbling experience to serve these people in this way. I will cherish it for a long time.
The journey back was choppy, and several of us staggered out of the boat with very sore backs. My bottom however was fine, even though we sat on a pallet on the way back, which was not that comfortable. Savo was hard, but I would not have missed it for anything. I did rejoice when i returned to Agnes House and fell into a cold shower, and lay down on my soft bed with the fan on and snoozed.
Comments