God is good!

Hello again from Fiji. We are having an amazing time here already. We arrived on Tuesday, and spent Wednesday and Thursday adjusting to the time and to our new surroundings. We had a few meetings scattered about in there, but other than that we pretty much had time to ourselves. We are getting to know the staff at the hotel, and enjoy talking to them. They are very fun loving and really enjoy talking to our children.

Thursday night we joined a cell group from the Emmanuel Worship Center (EWC), one of the churches we will be working with while in Nadi. In was a great time of worshiping with our Fijian brothers and sisters. There was a message given by one of the men in Fijian that they interpreted for us. We met outside one of the cell group member's home. It was a three or four room metal shack with the kitchen in a separate little shed to the side. The poorer people live in the metal shacks, while those a little better off live in concrete block houses.

Friday morning we split up a little bit and six of our group went to the local hospital to minister to the people there, five were dressed as clowns. Four others went on a prayer walk through the city of Nadi, one went to visit a local orphanage, and 4 stayed back at the hotel due to a little sickness. Chick, Lynda, Robin, Tavita and Caleb O. were dressed up, and Caleb D. decided to go unclowned. We received lots of smiles from the people on the bus, especially from the children. The hospital group was joined by the Youth Pastor from the EWC, Uate (pronounced Watā). While there the group prayed over people that were sick and their families that were visiting. They were well received, and only one Muslim man refused to be prayed over. While there a woman who the team prayed over received healing from the asthma that she was suffering from. After that she received Jesus as her savior. Another woman, Jhatika an Indo-Fijian, that was prayed over was in the hospital for drinking a whole bottle of weed killer trying to commit suicide. She was experiencing a lot of hardship at home with her family, and couldn't take it any more. Uate lead her through renouncing the Hinduism in her life, and lead her to Jesus as her Lord and King. She also forgave her family for what they had done to her. She also forgave her one child who had died.

Dan, Bill, Joshua and Nathaniel went through town on the prayer walk. We had the opportunity to pray over a young Indo brother and sister who were looking for rent money that was due. We also ran into the DTS team, and had a great time ministering to them and lifting their spirits. They were especially excited to see Josh and Nathaniel.

Frank went to visit an orphanage right down the road from the hotel. He spent some time there praying over the staff and talking with the children. He fell in love with about a half dozen of them. From there he visited a local village and talked with the people there. On his way home he had the opportunity to talk with a man for just a few minutes while waiting for the bus. The man told Frank that he must have been “sent” because the man was so lonely.

Denise, Micaiah, Israel and Isaiah stayed behind at the hotel. Israel and Isaiah were not feeling well, hopefully just a little jet lag.

Friday night we surprised the DTS and met them at the airport and said goodbye to them for a while. They are going to Samoa for about three weeks. They were excited again to see us all. We got a chance to pray over them and send them off. Also Friday night Caleb D. had the opportunity to go to Uate's youth group. The theme of that night was that the people are seeking God's hands and not His face, meaning that we are all looking for the things that God provides for us, but not the greater blessing of truly knowing Him.

It has been and amazing time already, and we look forward to more amazing things that God is going to do through us.

Arrival

Bula, bula, bula! (Hello, hello, hello) We made it to Fiji!! After a pretty uneventful, but long, day of travel we arrived at Nadi (pronounced Nandi) airport. The trip through customs was easy. The people here are so incredibly friendly. They are easy to talk to and eager to hear about you and where you're from. Our CDTS group is made up of 15 people, and at least one gecko, who is living in our room with us. The Derushas are Frank and Denise and their five children Caleb, Tavita, Micaiah, Israel, and Isaiah. They are from Arizona. The Munfradas are Chick and Lynda, they are from Colorado. Bill Cheney is from California. The Oosterhouses are Dan and Robin and their three boys, Caleb, Joshua and Nathaniel. They are from Michigan. We are still in the process of getting settled and accustomed to the time change. One of the Derusha kids was up at 3:30 this morning, he was still on California time. All of the kids are doing great they are loving the pool that is at the hotel. It's a great way for them to expend all the extra energy that has been built up after a 10 1/2 hour flight from L.A. We already had a meeting with Pastor Mike, one of the pastors that we will be working with in Lautoka. He gave us some insight into some specific areas that we can minister too. One of the areas he spoke about was the area of relationships, both in the church and in families. He was glad that our team was composed of couples both with and without kids. He said that we would be examples to the people of good relationships. Pastor Mike also explained to us about how the tourism trade in Fiji has caused the Fijian people to have preconceived notions about western people. They assume that all Americans are Christians. When they see Americans doing wrong things, they see it as Christians doing them,and they have a hard time believing that Christians can do such things. That is also true between the Indo-Fijians and the Fijians. Most of the Indos are Hindu, but they see all of the Fijians as being Christians, even the thieves and such. Why would they want to become a Christian if that is what Christians are doing? One of the most important things that Pastor Mike said, was that the people are sick of hearing about Jesus, they need to see Jesus. We have to give them a positive view of Christianity. One of our speakers, Dean Sherman, said that we need to show people the treasure we are, so that they will want to sell their fields (religion) and buy ours. Matthew 13:44 says: "The Kingdom of Heaven is like a treasure that a man discovered in a field. In his excitement, he hid it again and sold everything he owned to get enough money to buy the field" We have to show the people around us that we are not like the world. We have been set apart by God as His treasure. If the world doesn't see us as any different, we have a problem. We hope that we can be a light to the people of Fiji, and that we can show them the treasure that God has made us.