SWIM

SWIM (Short Workshops In Mission) base is going to be my home for the next 2 months. SWIM is involved with a bunch of different things, but one purpose is to act as a place where groups, both local and foreign, can come to do training workshops. This week, there are about 18 pastors who have come to receive training on how to better read the Bible in depth so they can better teach and preach by only consulting their Bibles (as most of these pastors have little or no access to other resources).  And that is why the three pastors from Australia are here now.

As for me right now, I am staying with a young couple, Jair and Lauretta and their daughter Theresa who is 15 months old. This is a pretty exciting time for them as just of last week, the papers had officially gone through and Theresa was officially adopted!  I'm staying here because all of the houses are full right now for this conference, but after that I will be staying the "leaf house," where a few of the girl's who work on the base will be staying as well.

So far, I haven't done too much. Just been getting to know some of the people here. I went into Honiara and got to see a bit of the city and the markets, which is always interesting! Everyone on the base has been very welcoming to me. And of course, I have been 'forced' to play lots of sports-which is terrifying- but I'm starting to get over it!

Tomorrow, I will be going to Bethesda, which is an offshoot of SWIM. This center is about 20 minutes away and teaches skill such as sewing, gardening or basic building to people with physical disabilities. They want to be able to teach these people some basic business skills so that they can effectively use the new skills they have learned when they go home to their villages. Right now the material they have is much to advanced for these people to comprehend as they haven't grown up with exposure to even the most basics of money management, so my task will be to see if we can simplify the material or to create new material so that it can be more practical and effective.

So! We shall see what happens there, and hopefully that works out well!