Face to Face 2010 This annual programme ran successfully from 17th May to 2nd July. There were 12 participants from England, Barbados, Guyana, Pakistan, India (3), Samoa, Zambia, Fiji, Germany and Kanaky. This year we were very pleased to bring in as a local (Pacific) participant a member of the church in Kanaky. Although language was a big issue, the use of a translator during the first week, the help of our French speaking German participant and the enthusiasm of our Kanaky participant made communication possible and it was a great learning experience for all participants including GPP staff. We thank the Eglise Evangelique du Nouvelle-Caledonie et aux Iles de Loyautes for being willing to send a participant to the programme to aid our mutual ecumenical cooperation and development. Despite the difficulties it was an exciting venture and we greatly appreciated the contribution of our Kanaky participant. This year for the first time we keep the group together in the same areas for each placement: Viwa, Suva and Cuvu. This contributed to a strong sense of fellowship among the group and enabled more effective oversight of the group and more useful interplacement reflections. The orientation was felt to be very valuable in all aspects as were the inter placement reflection sessions. New to the orientation programme were two sessions on the how of Bible study in a new context. These were highly valued by participants and will be continued in the future. |