Blessed by Island Hospitality

The verse the Lord gave Josh and I as confirmation to run the IES in Fiji is Acts 28, paraphrased “the islanders showed them great hospitality”…..and yes indeed they have. Island hospitality is an interesting thing because as a people, Fijians, really honor their guests by giving them their best....even though they don’t have much.
Just the other day during a corporate worship time I was reading Acts 28 again. Just as I read “the islanders showed them great hospitality”, Eta, the owner of a spa walked up to me and handed me a voucher for free Pedicure. Eta, an ex-ywamer turned spa owner, said she felt like the Lord told her to give me the voucher earlier in the worship time. I was so stoked….because my feet really needed some TLC and I had not taken the time to take care of them myself. I felt like God was putting an exclamation point on the verse that I had just read too. I love it when God does that.
When Josh and I got home that day, we found we had presents waiting for us. What a surprise! Vinni, our friend, and one of the best cake makers in Fiji (she operates a bakery out of here home and even makes cakes for the President and other VIPs), had left us little gifts. When I opened mine I found a beautiful black pearl anklet (Josh got deodorant…which gave us all a good laugh). God defiantly knows how to show us love.

Why we are in Fiji.....

Today, I want to give a shout out to God and testify that He still speaks to his people today. I realized that some of you reading this blog have no idea why Josh and I decided to come to Fiji to facilitate the Impact Evangelism School. Fiji is a challenging environment in the natural, and it is not a normal environment for a couple from the west to spend their first year of marriage. However….
When Josh and I were made aware of the need for school leaders for the IES, we went round and round talking about it, and pretty much decided we were not comming to Fiji. We had a wonderful little beach batch to live in, and a fulfilling job helping to get the Tauranga House of Prayer of the ground. There was no reason to leave New Zealand…however we kept praying about it.
Then one morning while I was in the Tauranga House of Prayer studying the book of Acts, I began reading Acts 28. It is when Paul gets shipwrecked on the island of Malta. Several verses really stood out to me, especially verse 2, “The islanders showed us unusual hospitality”. Then at lunch Josh said to me, “I really need to show you what God showed me this morning in the THOP”. He pulled out his bible and turned to Acts 28 verse 2.
That was pretty much it for us, what a great confirmation. We knew we were going to spend some 3 months in Fiji. When God separately shares the same scripture to both husband and wife on the same day, you know He is trying to get your attention. When God does that with scriptures talking about the islands, when husband and wife are praying about going to the islands....well it is pretty clear…you should go to the islands! So we came, and we’re here, and that is the story!

Curry, Lemons, and a Computer Geek

Well we’re into another week here! Aaron left us on Friday night, after an incredible week with the students and even some people from the local churches who heard word of what was happening, and wanted to come and sit in. Jenny Mollison is up this week, so it should be good.

On Friday lunch time we had the most amazing chicken curry with Roti, made especially for us by an Indian lady named Kathy, who was blessed by Aaron during the week and wanted to feed us. It was the real deal!

Josh and I had a very relaxing weekend hanging out at home….with the 27 DTS students living above us. Since getting married I have been on this quest to become a good cook and having 27 hungry teenagers living above us, 7 Fijian students with larger than average appetites in class, and at least one guest with us at all time, is as good an excuse as any to cook. This weekend I got inspired to do some baking, and a couple hours later we had white and dark chocolate chip cookies and a banana cake complete with lemon icing. Making Lemon icing with lemons straight off the tree from the backyard was a new experience.

The best news of the week so far, is that it looks like Josh’s computer will be ready to pick up this afternoon according the Vijay, the local HP geek! So we’re crossing our fingers…..

Lovo

Tonight, we are having a Lovo. Our students and the New Castle DTS students decided we needed to hang out more...so what could be better than hanging out over a traditional Fijian feast. For those of you that have no idea what a Lovo is, it is basically a big smoke out. You put chickens, kasava (which is a root plant kind of like potatoes), and anything else you want in a pit in the ground, filled with coals. You leave it to slow cook for about half a day...and Bingo, you've got a Lovo. Pretty cool, huh?

To bad it is taking longer to cook than we thought and presently we are all getting hungry.

The Real Fiji

Today we woke up at 5:30 only to discover that there was absolutely no water in our house. Of course that means no shower and no flushing toilets, which is literally stinky. On the plus side however ….it also means no washing dishes! It’s kind of funny to think that we are living in the most modern city in Fiji and on a normal basis we lose power and water…. but it is true. So pray we can get water soon….other wise it will be a smelly situation.

Last weekend we took a day and went to the closest beach to Suva, Pacific Harbor. On the hour long drive to get there, we saw the villages that most of the population lives in. Here are a couple pictures of the villages. One incredible cool village we saw was built into a hillside.

Diwali, A Weekend Long Party

This weekend was the Hindu celebration Diwali. Diwali is the celebration of lights….so they celebrate with tons of fireworks. I mean tons, like from dark at 6pm till 1am. It actually seemed like there was a war outside. It was constant cracks and booms. Children of all ages were literally playing with fire. It was crazy.

The outreach team living above us decided to have a party and invite everyone they have met since arriving…..so instead of fighting the noise coming through our roof…we went up and joined the party. Here is moment of the celebration captured on film.

Grossness!

Okay this is the last time I write about this but....Over the weekend this article appeared in the local Fijian paper. Gross, huh?

It felt like I was in Kansas City

This morning we had the YWAM DTS team that is living above us come join us for worship (Our house kind of feels like a college dormito. For over an hour people from different countries worshiped together. A skater dude from Kauai, Hawaii lead us in worship. It was an amazing time of worship where spontaneous ministry just broke out. At one point I actually felt like was in the middle of an Tuesday Fasting meeting at the International House of Prayer. For those of you who have been at the International House of Prayer in KC, you know what I am talking about. The presence of GOD was just thick as we worshiped and prayed for Fiji. God loves unity and when many people of many ages and cultures comes together unity….well Jesus blesses us with his presence. It’s awesome.

Attached is a picture of the skater dude's guitar. I thought it was pretty cool!

Elephantiasis??? Who Knew??

Have you guys ever heard of Elephantiasis? Being from America, I’d heard about the disease that causes body parts to swell up for a lifetime, but I’d never really given it a second thought…until last night. Last night we all went to one of our students (Vika’s) birthday party and we got on the topic of Elephantiasis and worms. Apparently in Fiji, some of the mosquitoes are currently spreading Elephantiasis (mostly on the outer islands). As soon as I heard that, I immediately freaked out as all the Fijians just laughed.

Apparently the Fijian government is trying to eradicate the disease and is giving out medicine for free. The medicine makes you really tired, but it prevents Elephantiasis and as a bonus kills any kind of worms you might have living inside of you. Isn’t that terribly exciting and just plain gross? So, this morning the first thing on our agenda was you guessed it, sending someone to get the medicine for Josh and I, our students, and the DTS team that is living above us.

What an adventure Fiji is…we go from singing happy birthday to talking about real disease threats. All I can say is “Praise the Lord for the medicine”. I don’t mind a little bit of tiredness if it keeps us from becoming deformed.

My new friend Taylor and the Community Gathering

Friday night the IWT staff and 13 member DTS outreach team gathered at the IWT office here in Suva. We had a great hang out time, and I really enjoyed watching our Fijian students mix and mingle with the team consisting mostly of Canadians, Australians, and New Zealanders. It's amazing that 3 of 13 are Kiwi's - that is a big % for a country of 4.2 million.
Following local protocol, one of the local pastors came and officially welcomed us all into the nation of Fiji; declaring that Fiji welcomed us into the land to do the work of Jesus. After this we had two of our student stand up and “practice” public speaking by telling the overseas guests information about their nation. They did a great job instituting everything they had been learning all week long!
A spicy curry dinner was served soon after the speeches. Then we went into recruiting for IWT staff and students for the next IES. I have to say I really enjoyed myself. I spent most of my time talking to a young Californian named Taylor who is really seeking the Lord about her future. I’m glad the DTS team has come. They live upstairs from us and are really loud. Overall though, having young people around who love God is just plain encouraging. I’m sure many more conversations and random acts of craziness will occur with 13 under 25 year olds living above us, in a one bathroom house.

My Friend, Luke

Today I am sad, or as my husband would say “gutted”. One of my best friends from the International House of Prayer, Luke Simmons, died. He had brain cancer. He got healed once, and then it came back. As a community that prays for the fullness of God to be shown through healing, I know we are all grieving and have questions. At least now though, Luke is in a place where there is no more death, sorrow, or pain. He is with the man he lived his life for, Jesus. I am thankful for getting to be his friend. His love for the Lord, continuous belief in his goodness, and complete trust in Him through his illness, taught me more than many other things ever will.

Misty on Discipline

Almost every morning at 5:30 am, since landing in Fiji, I have been waking up, pulling myself out of bed and turning on my computer. There are a lot of demands on a YWAM Fiji IES school leader ..…you have to get time with God, host people continuously, prepare for classes, take time to be a wife and a girl, cook, and manage a house that seems to be continuously crawling with ants.

In addition to that….you also must maintain your physical health….and this is the one responsibility that has gotten me out of bed at 5:30 am almost every day. In Fiji, you can not just throw on your running shoes and a pair of shorts and go for a run…at least a white, blonde, female can’t. Thus, I would like to salute my computer, my Pilates DVD, and my amazing yet totally surprising show of discipline. I also want to recommend this video (shown in picture), Crunch Pilates, and my good friend and instructor Ellen.

A Long Weekend Full of Surprises

QUESTION: What do blackouts, fish, candles, card games, coconuts, strategy meetings, a national holiday, missing New Zealand, a tea kettle, chocolate, and Richard Betts landing in Fiji equal?
ANSWER: Our long, relaxing, chilled out weekend.

After a long day of listening to teaching on leadership and fundraising, Thursday night we had our first “community dinner”…and found out that Monday was FIJI DAY, a national holiday. In Fiji, national holidays are kind of like Thanksgiving in the USA. All the stores and restaurants close down and there are military parades. Apparently there used to be fireworks too…but the government stopped putting it on a few years ago. So we had a longer weekend than we anticipated.

The weekend started with a power black out, leaving us in the dark with our three little candles. Saturday was filled with preparing for Richards arrival, lots of pre-cooking and walking back and forth to the store. Sunday our friend, and the speaker for the week, Richard landed. He brought with him our kettle (so we can make coffee and tea without a lot of work) from New Zealand, gigantic chocolate bars, several card games, and a wealth of knowledge about living in the islands. It is really good to have him with us. Here is a picture to help you put name to face!

Monday was spent getting caught up on life in New Zealand with Richard, playing cards, and eating coconut fish and chocolate. I have to be honest and say that both Josh and I are missing New Zealand and are looking forward to Christmas! To be back in our own home (not that we know where that is right now), to be with friends, and to be able to exercising in the beauty that is New Zealand just sounds wonderful. We know we are supposed to be here for this season though…and we like being effective training up these 7 guys. Anyway, enough rambling….it is morning tea time…and Fijians make the best tea!

A Great Week and A Sad Goodbye

We have had a great week in Fiji with Dave Cole. It is so nice to work with your family. Suddenly business meetings become family time! The students really loved listening to Dave, he is so inspiring. I must say, I’m pretty inspired too. We are sad to see him go.
Fijians in general are a very quite humble people…and while the students have kept that humility…they are beginning to get loud. It’s been so cool to see the student come out of there boxes. Confidence is building, and as they set there eyes on a goal of nation wide evangelism, I believe they will really begin to soar.
This is a picture of Vili, one of our students, intently focusing. Quite cool, huh?

Did you know that 30% of the population of Fiji is unemployed? Isn’t that amazing? A lot of people are under the impression that Fiji is “transformed” – a nation in the throws of revival. While revival and transformation is happening in some small villages and pockets throughout the islands of Fiji; I would like say that Fiji is not totally “transformed” as of yet. There are still hundreds of thousands of Fijians who need to encounter the Lord!

Today in class we talked about what a transformed nation would look like here in Fiji. It would be a place with no abortions, bars, prisons, mosques, or Hindu temples. There would be no violence, no corruption in the government, no divorce, and no drug abuse. There would be no murders, like the murder that happened down the street from the IWT office last night. Fiji would have more interracial marriages, more entrepreneurs, roads without pot holes, and political stability. Society would have better infrastructure, there would be many Christian missionaries being sent out, and there would be a Godly government in power. That’s what Fiji would look like. That’s what we’re praying for.

This picture is of our IES class. We believe that each student will be a world changer, helping to bring transformation to Fiji.

The Rain Has Gone Away!

We are so excited! The sun is finally shining in Fiji. After 9 days of rain and flooding, and an extremely relaxing weekend (it was raining, flooded, and we didn’t have a car) we are beginning to experience a bit more of Fiji. We are no longer stuck in our house (the picture is of our house, we live on the bottom floor)! We can actually walk to the store.

Josh’s dad, Dave, is here with us now, and we love having him with us. He is doing a great job envisioning the students for Impact World Tour! Last night we celebrated his 51st birthday. We missed the real day because we were crossing the international dateline…thus it never existed in our life. So last night we ventured into downtown Suva and went to Jay Jay’s…..the same restaurant we spent our 10 month dating anniversary at. It was the best food I’ve had in Fiji yet.

Besides that life is beginning to settle into a rhythm in Fiji. Each day is different and the same. Wake up, exercise, go to class (there are tons of unexpected events during this part of the day), travel home, cook dinner, have a cup a tea time, and then to bed. Tea time is a great tradition…..the USA should really adopt the tradition!