I have never been so humbled in my life as the day I met the chief Fiji. He heard about us ministering around the islands and invited a few of us over to his village to meet him. Our contacts knew this was a rare occasion so we made him a beautiful cake (a custom of Fiji to show appreciation) along with each of us bringing a gift special to us to give to him.
Even though we knew the island was impoverished, he spared no expense on us. Upon entering, the villagers welcomed us with song and lined us with flowers, we felt like celebrities. We were lead to the chiefs hut were we were to pay or respect and share in a brief lunch. The hut was beautifully lined with decorative flowers from their garden and various leaves. In front of the Chief, on the grass mat, a spread of fresh cakes, sandwiches, and tea welcomed us. We knew it was a custom to bow to the chief so we each entered, bowed, and took a seat on the ground infant of him, I was too scared to make eye contact.
He welcomed us in his native language and our translator translated. We found out the Chief was sick that day but still wanted to meet with us before we left his island. We thanked him for allowing us to come, spend time with his people, and share Jesus with them. He smiled. We then took turns bowing down, shaking his hand, and exchanging gifts. We offered him gifts of plates, books, and other American items, he offered us gifts of hand crafted necklaces, bracelets, and hats. The chief gave me a beautiful grass hat and a necklace with a Christian scripture written on it!
After the ceremonial stuff the Chief asked us if we could worship so we gladly accepted and sang with him. We were blown away that the chief wanted to sing about Jesus, and it wasn’t just to appease us, he seemed genuinely into it! Afterward, we had the opportunity to pray for the chief and his family, took some pictures, and thanked him once again. It was such a special time to be able to share Jesus with such a powerful man, God is good.
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