On one of our youth mission trips we went to East Ambae to a village called Nanigama. Myself and the teachers came back by boat so we didn't miss too many days of school. The youth from our village walked from East Ambae to West Ambae by passing through the South as well. While in the South they stayed for a week at an extended family members house. The group worked together to lay the foundation of this villages new church. When it came time for the youth of West Ambae to come back a few members of South Ambae joined them and came to visit us. During their month stay in Tavala village they lived in the church house and helped work around the village during the days. They helped to build the new market stall, helped in family gardens, and even cut the grass at school. Before they headed back home we had a big send off for them and chance to say thank you to them.
We called it a love offering and members of the community came and gave each of them clothing, money, toiletries, etc. One of the young boys was also preparing to go to Bible school so he was given gifts that would help him in his studies as well.
I have seen my community support each other many many times. However, this was an amazing display of gratitude towards these visitors. They were showered with gifts and given a ceremonial laplap called "kworo."
The leader, Joseph (in the red shorts), said thank you on behalf of the group and they sang a goodbye song that they had composed. It was a fun night and was a wonderful reminder of how generous this culture can be even without a lot of income or extra materialistic things.
Afterwards we enjoyed tea and bread together and had a little time to play!
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