One adventure after the other
- Jüjü Juillard
- 1 day ago
- 4 min read
Hello friends
As always: When you haven’t heard from me in a while it's because a lot has been happening. Since the last update, I’ve led an 8-week outreach, finished the DTS that I was leading, spent a week in Fiji for a workshop, started an open ended commitment to our base and much more. But maybe it’s better to start from the beginning. And I’ll do my best to keep it short and to the point. I promise 😁
Content:
Second half of lecture phase
6 weeks Fiji outreach
2 weeks New Zealand outreach
In the next newsletter:
Nick
Finishing the school & holidays
Fiji DTS workshop
My future in New Zealand
Second Half of Lecture Phase
It’s actually quite hard to put into words everything that’s been going on. On one hand, there aren’t that many specific events or standout moments that would be particularly exciting to tell or read about. On the other hand, so much happens here—and every week (often every day!) is new and exciting. I just haven’t quite found the best way yet to put that onto paper.
I love telling you about events and highlights—but what really defines this work for me are the people, the closeness to God, the everyday adventures, and the breakthroughs in the lives of each student and staff member. And there are plenty of those! Stories ranging from “aha” moments in class, to forgiveness towards parents, all the way to deliverance from demons. And not to forget the slow—but over five months, truly massive—growth in the life of each individual student.
That’s why I do and love this job. And I’ll try to highlight these things a bit better in the future—the moments in between the events and the exciting trips to other countries.
6 Weeks Fiji
We had a very full time in Fiji! Full of joy, full of amazing encounters, full of testimonies—but also full of challenges and a packed schedule. On average, we changed locations more than once a week. Here’s a quick overview:
Even more than on other outreaches, our plans kept changing constantly—or we didn’t have any at all. But the Lord always led us. It already started on our way to Fiji: our flight got delayed nine times over a span of 24 hours. At some point, we started asking what God might be trying to tell us through this. All that waiting and praying led to us sitting on the ground in a courtyard at 11pm, singing worship songs, apologising to one another, repenting and asking for forgiveness. That airline delay turned out to be the best thing that could have happened to us, because that’s where we really became a team. From that point on, neither the heat, nor bedbugs, nor all the traveling or uncomfortable sleeping situations could shake us. Well… almost.
Usually on my outreaches, we spent most of the time on a YWAM base and then maybe one or two weeks in a village, staying in a church. This time, we mostly slept on church floors, in pastors’ homes, or somewhere else in a village—and then had two separate weeks on a YWAM base. You can imagine that it wasn’t always comfortable, and that it sometimes led to conflict. But you can probably also imagine that this way we got to know a lot of people really well in a very short time—and were able to be a blessing, while also being incredibly blessed and encouraged ourselves. For example, a childless couple in Lautoka basically adopted us. We call them Amma and Appa—Hindi for mum and dad—and they call us their children. They are the sweetest people ever!😊
For our last week, we had no plan at all until Monday morning. The only thing God had given us was a village name: Vunitogoloa. We had actually been there the Saturday before, but weren’t allowed to enter the village without a Sevusevu, the Fijian welcome ceremony. So we just went to the bus stop at the main road and prayed for open doors and favour with the chief. On Monday, we set off again for Vunitogoloa—no plan, no confirmed place to stay, and unsure whether the people in the village were even expecting us.
First, we went to the chief’s house for the ceremony, only to find out that he wasn’t expecting us until three days later and therefore hadn’t arranged a place for us to stay. All the more surprising, then, when he offered to host us in his own home. So wild! We prayed for favour with the chief, and suddenly we weren’t just staying in his village, but in his house. God is so good! And our time there was so good. Yes, with countless bedbugs—which was pretty challenging for most the team—but we were able to build a really good relationship with the family, especially with his daughter. We did house visits, children’s programs, a youth service—and when we left two days later, there were quite a few tears. There are so many more stories like this of encounters with new friends, reconnecting with (for me) old ones, and of how God’s plan is always better… especially when it shows up last minute.
2 Weeks New Zealand
Back in New Zealand, we spent a few nights in Kaitaia before heading to Paihia—the place where we usually have our Cross-Cultural Missions Week. For five days, we helped with the preparations and setup for “Waitangi Day.” We were mainly responsible for waste management for the stalls, but also had a number of opportunities to evangelize.
In the days that followed, we mostly did street evangelism and one or two smaller ministries. It was a really great time—on the one hand for us as a team, but also very important for our base. We want to invest more into our region, and through this trip we were able to build good connections and take some first steps in that direction. So even in the long run, very valuable.
This newsletter is already long enough, so I’ll share the rest in the next update—probably in about two weeks or so. I still have one more story from the outreach, plus some news for the coming months and even years!
Sota tale👋🏻
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