SPA Mission Corp HOPE project in June-July 2019.

It was such a pleasure to have the SPA Mission Corp participants here and the Kalekana community was very impacted as I'm sure were the participants themselves.  

The kindergarten project was started two weeks prior to the SPA Mission Corp participants arriving in Fiji, with brothers from the Suva City Church working full time on the renovations.  They managed to get it to the point where the participants could come in and finish with the painting and decorating.  

During the time our brothers were working they had help from boys in the local community and it was a great time to build relationships in the community.  

Kalekana Kindergarten

 Project which was a huge success

When the SPA Mission Corp participants came they served for four mornings at the settlement cleaning and painting the kindergarten classroom.  A group also spent some time with the children as well as sewing curtains and cushions. 

On the final day of the project the children and teachers along with their families invited the participants to march from the top of the settlement down to the kindergarten where they shared a Lovo lunch in appreciation for the work that the volunteers had done for them.  

The kindergarten project in Kalekana has opened doors for us as a fellowship and for HOPE worldwide to have even more of an impact in the community.  The manager of the kindergarten and his wife attended church last Sunday and their children loved our kids kingdom program.  They have expressed interest in doing the parenting classes that we have been doing as a church in Suva.  

Our next step would be to host the parenting classes in the settlement (in the kindergarten classroom), as well as literacy classes.  In a settlement that is below the poverty line, with a reputation for crime and drugs, the impact that HOPE worldwide can have by running programs for the children and parents can be huge.  If we can change the families, giving them hope through God's word, we can change the community. 

As well as the serving project the SPA Mission Corp participants also spent time reaching out and sharing God's word in both Nadi and Suva.  The participants along with our local disciples ended up with a list of nearly 130 contacts of people in Nadi, Lautoka and Suva who ether expressed interest in studying the Bible or interest in attending a church service.  A few people on that list have already started studying the Bible here in Suva.  

Great relationships were also built between our local disciples and those from overseas.  

We have to say a big Thank you to HOPE worldwide and to the churches in Australia and New Zealand for your support and generosity.  Without the funding from HOPE and the hearts of the volunteers that participated in the Mission Corp this would not have been possible.