December 16, 2007

Greetings and Bula to all friends and family!

This concludes our fourth week of ministry in Fiji. On Monday we will be leaving Lautoka, heading back to our humble abode in Nadi. We hope to be spending a week working with the Shiloh International Church doing children’s Vacation Bible School. We will also be spending our Christmas holiday in Nadi.

As the Christmas season creeps upon all of society back home, and as people are rushing to do their holiday planning, YWAM Chico students are making their way through the homes and streets of Fiji Islands, sharing with them the true meaning of Christmas… the love of their Creator.

Over this past week we have continued to work with Pastor Maikeli and the youth at his ministry house. We have stepped out in street evangelism and moved forward in our home visitations to Fijians and Indo-Fijians, sharing the different things God has done in our own lives. People have been very open to hear about the Lord, as well as open to receive Him into their lives.

A testimony from one of our DTS students:

“One morning during intercession, the Lord showed me a picture of a lady dressed in lime green, with lots of jewelry on. I felt like she had a lot of material things and I prayed for her to find Jesus and not look to other things. Later on that day we were doing house-to-house evangelism. We met a woman and as we shared with her, she began showing me a small stack of pictures. One of the pictures of her was the same as I had seen earlier during prayer. She was wearing the green dress and had a lot of jewelry on. I thought it was cool how God showed me that picture, and that I was able to pray for her in person. It showed me that God was speaking to me and encouraged me to not ignore the things He shows me.”
                                                                                                ~AnaLisa Broderick

We also visited several cell groups in the area. We have not only had the opportunities to share what God’s done in our lives, but we have also been able to listen to the Fijian’s hearts and hear what God has done in their own lives. What a blessing it has been to hear testimonies from those we fellowship with!

Fiji is a highly relational culture.  Almost everywhere we go, people have shared their lives with us through fellowship and their hospitality through opening their homes, tea and bread. We were encouraged about our ministry here when Ed shared the following scripture with us from Acts 2:46-47:

“So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people.  And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.”

It’s funny to think that while family members and friends at home may be trudging through snow and rain, we have been walking the streets in the hot sun, sitting on woven mats, having tea, breaking bread, fellowshipping, and playing volleyball with our new friends in Fiji.

We also drove about an hour away and spent the day in a town called Ba. We visited some homes and then went to a prison down the street. People were very responsive to the message and the testimonies that were shared.  We also spent some time this week doing service work, pulling weeds and raking. It reminds me of a quote, “Preach the gospel always, and sometimes use words.” He has called us here to share His love with people and has given us abundant opportunities to do so. In our stepping out in faith, He is blessing people through us.                                                                 

It has been a tremendous blessing to work with Pastor Maikeli, the youth and YWAMers these last two weeks. It will be difficult to part from their outstretched arms. We thought we were coming here to reach out and bless people, yet it’s hard to believe we could be any more of a blessing than they are to us. Each day we fall more and more in love with the people and this beautiful land!

We hope that everyone back in the States and in Europe are well and safe. We want to wish you all good holidays and a Merry Christmas! Thank you again for all of your thoughts and your prayers. Know that you are a part of what God is doing here, simply in those prayers. God is faithful and He hears us when we call.

God bless!

Fall 2007 DTS and BLS
YWAM Chico

Sunday, December 2nd 2007

Greetings from Lautoka Fiji! We arrived in Lautoka yesterday afternoon, and are staying with Pastor Maikeli and his wife Va. All is well.  

Since our last update we have been keeping busy through our neighborhood in Nadi. Last Sunday we were able to participate in a service at Heritage Family Centre International Church in sending off missionaries to different parts of the world. The YWAM Fiji DTS students were there as well, anticipating an outreach to India. We were able to pray for them with the church and be blessed by some of their own dramas. After the three and a half hour service we had a curried lunch together with the church community. It was a great time of fellowship.

Some friends of ours, Robert and Menani have blessed us by cooking dinner for us throughout the week.  We had an assortment of fish, Fijian stew, and chop suey.  The food has been quite different from what we are used to, but it has been fresh and essentially, gourmet.  We’ve been well fed.

Tuesday we had a “free day,” in which Ed and Kelly took us to a nearby beach, Wailoaloa. We walked along the beach to a nearby resort. We all had a nice time relaxing and swimming for the few hours that we were out. It ended up raining, so we headed back to the house. Despite the clouds and shy weather, a majority of us ended up pretty well sunburned. All in all, it was good for us to have the day to relax, catching up on our journals and laundry.

Throughout the week, the DTS and BLS team spent a substantial amount of time working on new dances and dramas. We have completed two dances (a worship dance and a pop dance) and one drama. It’s been a lot of work, but everyone has been faithful in his or her participation, and in making this something that can be effective in our ministry.

We have also had the opportunity to be under the submission and guidance of one of our BLS students, Elaine. She did an amazing job and was very natural about her leadership. She took over Ed and Kelly’s position up until we left for Lautoka on Saturday.  

We also were able to visit a nearby orphanage. We took a bus just down the road to Treasure House, where there are about five orphans living. The orphanage has five other girls, but they are older, and in school. They also live at a different location.
While we were at Treasure House, we helped with the five younger boys and girls. The orphanage operates as home and has a very healthy environment (both physically & emotionally). The women that minister to the children are a genuine blessing, compassionate.  They have a great measure of patience and unconditional love.  It was good to see the children receiving the love and affection they need.

After our first day at the orphanage we decided to go back the following day. We divided the team into two groups and sent one half to be with the children, and the other half stayed at the house to work on Chapel talks and create a drama.

The team participated in a lot of different acts of service in our community. We were able to spend an afternoon picking up trash all throughout the neighborhood and later burning it in our backyard. We also went to our neighbors and asked them what we could help with. Some of us raked, some did laundry, and others did different things to help serve. It was such a blessing to be able to bless people in that way. We are still in the process of building relationships and simply being a light to the dark places. We try and do this through serving, as Christ did.

People are very relational here and there is no way past that. It really is a blessing to connect so easily with people when they are this open and willing to share their lives with you.

Sports are a constant happening in Fiji. Va told us they love Rugby so much that even if they don’t have a ball, they’ll play with a coconut. While the boys are running each other over on the fields, a lot of the girls are on either sides of a volleyball net.  We were invited to play volleyball with some of our neighborhood youth. They play everyday for a few hours, so we stopped by to play on Monday. It was so exciting to be a part of their games. Most of us had the opportunity to play and take turns with the Fijian boys and girls. I think that playing volleyball was one of those moments where I felt part of. I felt like there was this natural connection between the YWAMers and the Fijians, like we were playing with friends that we met with regularly. That’s just how they make you feel – as if you are one of them. Welcome. We have been back since then to play and it was just as much fun.

Friday night we were invited to the Shiloh International Church for the youth service. You have to understand that youth in Fiji can pretty much be up through age twenty-five. We had a time of worship with the church and shared a few testimonies, dramas, and chapel talks. We were very blessed to see a group of teens that showed up from our own neighborhood (they were the girls we met playing volleyball). After our service, we had a time of fellowship with cake and juice (what is known here as tea).

This Sunday we returned to Heritage Christian Church and met up with some of the Crossroaders. Seeing them again was like seeing family members. They shared a drama during the service, and we also shared a few, as well as a few testimonies from Liv and Gratia. Va shared from I Samuel during the service. It was very encouraging.

Later Sunday evening we had another chance to be a part of Pastor Maikeli’s ministry. We went to a village that was actually the first place the Fijians came to on this island. It is also the village that the Fiji President is from. We had a few tours by some of the boys that are a part of the cell group. The village is right on the West coast, so we were all able to watch the sun set, right alongside the ocean’s salty waters. It was beautiful! What a creative Creator we have! The tour was actually very helpful because we have heard many things about the Fijian villages, but it was nice to finally see it for ourselves, and to gain understanding of some of the traditions, history, and the way that the community functions.
 
After the tours we had a time of fellowship with the boys in the cell group. We were able to speak into their lives what we felt God was sharing with us, and one of the boys was especially called out. He was brought to tears as some of our DTS students shared with him what words of knowledge the Lord was giving to them about his life.

We are so blessed by what opportunities the Lord is giving us during our time here. The relationships are still growing and we very much look forward to the time that we will be spending with Pastor Maikeli. They have so humbly and willingly opened their home to us. We are very honored by their generosity and their hospitality. Pastor Maikeli has a lot planned for us during our two and a half weeks stay, so we look forward to coming alongside what God is doing here.

As much as we feel led to be a blessing, serve, teach, disciple, and make a difference in our time in Fiji, we are the ones really being blessed, discipled, and changed. Everyday I see how much more Fiji has to teach me about relationships and hospitality, about having a passion for Jesus and a heart for the nations, about honor and value. The people of Fiji truly are a beautiful people. We are so blessed to learn, grow, and to walk along side of them.

We hope you are all well back home and we send our love. Thank you again for your thoughts and prayers. We appreciate all that you do for us. Thank you for your willingness to open your hearts and hands to what God is doing through us in Fiji, as well as in our own lives.

God bless,

Fall 2007 DTS and BLS
YWAM Chico

Saturday, November 24th 2007

After twenty-four hours of travel time from the Chico YWAM base, the DTS and BLS students and our staff have arrived safely in Nadi Fiji. It was such a blessing to see Dale at the airport!  We have made ourselves at home just outside of Nadi in a three bedroom house that YWAM Chico is renting.  Dale also spent some time with us and helped us get set up in our new home.  Vinaka Dale!

Things seem to be moving a little slowly, but God is providing many opportunities for relationship building just around our neighborhood. There is an emphasis on building relationships and on crossing over to the Fijian and Indo-Fijian cultures. We want to reach the people where they are, and to do so are we are engaging ourselves in the day-to-day lifestyles of the Fijians. Which is, in essence simple. The Fijians are beyond friendly. They are very relational and willing to open both their homes and their lives to us Americans. You will not pass by more than three people without a cheerful “Bula!” (meaning hello) and a smile.

The first day of being here, the students went into town for a few hours. The shops were mainly owned by Indo-Fijians.  We walked around observing the culture and the people living in it. We talked to a few people about what we were doing in Fiji, and some new about YWAM Chico.

We met up with our leaders and Dale at a McDonalds just a few miles down the road from where we are staying. We later met up with the Crossroader’s team and went to dinner together on a Port. After dinner there were a number of native dances and fire shows. It was nice to see a glimpse of the culture in that way.

The next day we started the morning with worship and a team meeting. Pastor Maikeli and his wife Va came to speak with us about the culture and Evangelism. They told us how grateful they were to have us come and be an example to their culture of what daily being a Christian looks like. They also encouraged us that even though we may not see the fruits of our time here, God is doing many things and has used many of the DTS ministries to minister and help change Fijian’s lives.

We will be working with Pastor Maikeli and Va for seventeen days doing an assortment of ministry. He has a church in Lautoka and we will be able to come alongside what God is already doing there to help serve and love on people.

Our second day of being in Fiji we also had an opportunity to go to the YWAM Fiji base to have dinner and fellowship with the staff and students there. They served us a traditional Fijian meal… fish cooked in coconut milk, casava, tarot root, muscles, and corned beef cooked in tarot leaves.  It was an all around good time. The Fijian dinner was amazing and the company was even better.  Everyone was so talkative and such a blessing to be around. They were very open about their lives and about what God has done and is doing in them.
 
After dinner they performed a few cultural dances for us and we all sang a few worship songs together. We left their company very blessed and encouraged. God is doing work in Fiji and in people’s lives all around the Eastern world.

It has been pouring rain the majority of our time here, but we hear that it will be getting warmer. The landscapes are beautiful and full of tropical delight. Our back yard has a banana, mango, and coconut tree. We also are blessed by the tropical plants and flowers that surround us daily.  I cannot express enough how much warmth is found in these people. I sometimes feel as though they are blessing us more than we are them. It is simply the Fijian way.

Yesterday and today we spent some time walking through the neighborhoods praying and getting to know the people. We met a local pastor from Shiloh International Church and were invited to come and visit their services. Everyone is so overwhelmingly hospitable, inviting us over for dinner and for friendly conversations.

We plan to take a trip into town today and visit the “Bula Festival” (a local carnival) in Nadi. We have hopes of emerging ourselves in the community a bit more, as well as whatever it is that God wants us to do.

Much of our time has also been spent in intercession and prayer for whatever it is that the Lord wants us to do. When we don’t have a set schedule we ask for guidance and the Lord is faithful in directing us. We have had many pictures and directions in our prayer times. God is sharing His heart with us, giving us the opportunity to work with Him rather than by our own understanding.

It is an honor for us all to be here and to be a part of what the Lord is doing throughout Fiji. We appreciate all of your prayers and your thoughts. We are excited for what awaits us over the next eight weeks. Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving!
As the Fijians say, “Moce!”

God speed,
 
Fall 2007 DTS and BLS
YWAM Chico