From Dec 27th - Jan 2nd we spent a wonderful week with wonderful people. Even though we're across the world, we felt welcomed and at home at Tiona. There were over 200 people registered for the church reunion and we tried to meet as many of them as we could. I think we met about 80% of those attending. It's awesome how many of the songs and skits and testimonies were similar to what we know in Oregon, but of course there were some awesome differences to a reunion at Lewis River campground too.
The first thing is the location. Erik and I got up early one morning to see the sunrise over the Pacific Ocean. Gorgeous! There are many rip tides along the beach so we only dipped our feet in the water, which was quite cold this year. We saw the sunset over the lake every evening because one of the worship services is called Sunset Reflections. This is held in the Green Cathedral, which is an outdoor chapel surrounded by palm trees and overlooking the lake. Sunset Reflections is a worship service that is the highpoint for many at Tiona, no one misses it! There was always beautiful music, readings, prayers or testimonies and at the end a chance to go to the edge of the lake to watch the sun set. One afternoon two youth were baptized there.
Another difference is that the campgrounds are owned by the church, but it's a caravan park and during the week there are other people there tent camping as well. So it's tricky to know who's part of reunion and who's not.
We all fixed our own breakfasts, but then a caterer fixed morning tea (banana bread and carrot cake etc), lunch, dinner and supper (evening snacks). Yum! We had a New Years Eve concert (talent show) where Erik and I taught the Llama song and May the Longtime Sun Shine on You. Another fun event was the annual Beach Carnival. There was great participation from all ages. Erik and I got 4th or 5th in the Egg Toss. A funny race was the Yelling Race. A person started yelling and then ran as far as they could on one breath. The winners were two women who went about 300 yards, both are singers! There was a sandcastle building competition, the theme was prehistoric. Erik was buried as part of one of the creations as he was the most "prehistoric" of those watching. The finale was the Booti Booti Run. Runners would race down the sand to the mountain/hill at the end of the beach and back. It was over a mile, in loose sand on a hot day. I was impressed that over 30 people of all ages ran. One was a boy about 4 years old and a girl about 6 and the oldest was a man in his late 70s. Impressive!
We met so many wonderful friends, got to hear about their vision of building a permanent chapel, sang lots of songs and learned many new Aussie sayings! We were so impressed with the large number of youth and young adults and the leadership they brought. It seemed like everyone there was very talented at singing or playing instruments or art or ..... Thanks for a great week.
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