Impact on the schools!

Here's a brief update with what's been happening in Fiji the last few days. The teams are having a great impact on the schools.

"We've seen a great harvest from the schools here in Suva, about 1,000 decisions for Christ from 3 schools in one day! I'm sensing a battle over the schools - please pray with us for more open doors - we have two Indian schools in the coming week - both high schools - Suva Sangam and Indian College - please pray for a great harvest from these schools. also pray for more open doors from the Indian schools - I believe it is in the schools that we'll see the greatest percentage of Indians reached with the Gospel. So the next two weeks are very key - please pray for Pastor Ronald - an Indian pastor who is trying to open doors into Indian schools."

In Navua 366 people gave their lives to Christ on Friday night and 191 last night, this is just a tiny town about 30 mins outside of Suva.

Sunny Day in the Bay

Well, it's a gorgeous day here in the Bay of Plenty! Spring is here, and the flowers are beginning to blossom. Beautiful time of year!

Josh is feeling a lot better now, and is doing great! It's so good to have him home for a week or so before he heads back to Fiji next Wednesday. This will be at least his 10Th trip there this year alone. It's been a huge effort for everyone to get these campaigns off the ground, but it is so worth it!

We both wish we could take you there to be a part of it and see for yourselves on Fijian soil! One of the most amazing things is to see God awaken hearts to who he really is, and then to see the response to that awakening is priceless.

The pictures are of one of the altar calls in Lautoka with the hundreds of people who came forward to give their lives to Jesus! The other pic is of our set up for GX with ramps and all. We had to ship 4 x 40ft containers from Australia to get all our tech gear to Fiji, and then ferry/truck it all over Fiji. Not an easy feat. Some say this is the biggest tech set up for any event that has ever been to Fiji. I believe it!

Not too Hot...

Well, it looks like Josh's trip home is a timley one. Today he has beena bit sick, having waves of dizziness wash over him. It looks like last weeks little incident was not food poisening, but a viral infection that is flaring up again. We talked to a nurse tonight and if he is not feeling better by tomorrow we will need to go and see a doctor. The nurse told him to lay down and rest for a couple of days - um....yeah like that is going to happen. Hopefully, I will be able to convince him that this is a good idea.

Also, my email server has crashed. If you have sent me and email in the last couple of days and I have not responded this is why:> Hopefully it will be working tomorrow.

Moving on to Suva...

Well Josh is back home now, it's so good to see him after nearly 2 weeks. He'll be back in NZ for a week before heading over to Fiji for the final two weeks of the IWT campaigns.

Josh took me out for dinner last night to one of our favourties restaurants in town, it's so good to have my hubby home!

The tour finished up in the West having an amazing impact on all the towns and cities that we went to. In Lautoka over 21,000 people heard the gospel and almost 2,000 responded, along with many healings. In Ba, almost 10,000 heard the goepel and about 1,000 responded to Christ. Almost 10,000 people have made committments to follow Jesus so far, and we're only half way through the tour.

Who knows what the long term implications of this tour will be on Fiji.

So on Sunday all the teams rolled out and moved onto Suva, the capital of Fiji. The city has a population of about 300,000 to 400,000 people, depending on who you talk to. We have broken the city down into three regions to reach the maximum amount of people possible. Alongside the main events we'll have teams preaching the gospel all over the city in schools, prisons and anywhere they can.

Another One Bites the Dust!

Tonight the Fijian city of Lautoka hosted their final night of Impact World Tour. GX International performed for a crowd of 8,000 people and in the end approximately 550 people made decisions. Another good night!

Tomorrow brings a very happy, yet very early day for me. At 7am I will drive the long curvy road to Auckland to the airport. Josh is coming home for a few days of rest before he and Dave head back into battle. I am so excited to see Josh. It feels like he has been gone for forever. Now, it is definitely time to get some sleep.

The real deal....

Here is the coolest story from last night with GX International in a town called Ba. After the show, a Hindi mother and her little 9 year old girl came forward to the front to respond to the salvation call. It turned out that the girl had been born 100% deaf and had never heard in her life. After she received prayer from one of the team members, God totally opened up her ears and she was freaking out as she heard for the first time in her life. They both gave their hearts to the Lord, and will follow him the rest of their days! Praise God! The night went well apart from some rain which meant that the skaters couldn’t skate on the ramps, it was like walking on soap apparently. Well….it was totally worth going to Ba just for that one 9 year old girl and her mother. I’m sure it’s bound to totally transform that whole family.

Meanwhile…..in Lautoka, about an hour before the show started, it started to bucket down with rain. On a large open field with not much grass, having just been through a drought, the field turned into a mud bath within a matter of minutes….you can only imagine what it was like after 1 hour…..yeah, YUCK! Anyhow TX went ahead with their show, and about 5,000 people still turned up in the mud and rain, hanging on every word spoken by TX. A powerful message was given, and over 450 people responded at the altar call to give their lives to Jesus. A man who had a stroke recently who was totally paralyzed on his left hand side of his body was totally healed and was able to lift his left arm high above his head and walk around on the stage to the loud screaming and clapping from the crowd! There was such a buzz in the atmosphere and the preaching and music soon drowned out the prayer to Allah from the mosque across the road. A Hindi lady who could not walk properly was prayed for and got healed and gave her life to Jesus before the show even began!

God is so faithful, it’s such a joy to be involved in seeing many lives being set free, and seeing young people find their true identity in Jesus!

The picture is of the Fijian man who was lifting his arm high and walking around showing the crowd how he had been instantly healed from his stroke.

Lautoka opens with a storm

Well tonight Team Xtream opened for a crowd of 5,000 people in Lautoka. However, two hours before the show started, buckets of rain drenched the field, turning it into a giant mud pit. Everyone had to walk through he mud in bare feet or get stuck in the mud - literally. Healings were taking place before the show even started and in the end approximately 450 people made commitments. Another great night!

Onto other notes two new websights have been launched to help keep up with the statistics and testimonies from IWT Fiji. Check them out!

http://www.rossmanna.com/vault/fiji-updates.html - Blog updates

http://www.rossmanna.com/vault/fiji-updates/fiji-official-stats.html - Tour Statistics

Tavua

The tour is going amazing. The last two nights we have been in a small town called Tavua, which has a population of about 9,000 people. We had crowd of 3,100 the first night and then 7,200 the second night. So effectively the whole town heard a clear gospel message and had a chance to respond. Over 1200 responded during the two days and gave their lives to Christ.

It’s amazing how God is moving. Last night Team Xtreme (the big guys) were there and prayed for the sick afterwards. One man who was lame and had not walked for many years, stood up out of his wheel chair. A young girl who had been told she was useless and was abused her whole life by her father was given a huge daddy hug from Big Jason. He ministered the Fathers love to her and told her how beautiful she was. Her mother and grandparents where there watching, and they all broke down in tears as God revealed His unconditional love to them all. It has been an amazing time.

It’s so cool to see God move in whole families, healing the sick, mending broken hearts and setting people free from all sorts of bondages that have held them down for many years.

On other notes, Josh is starting to feel a bit better. He is still not 100% after the food poisoning, but he now back in game and out of bed. Please pray for full recovery of strength.

It is STILL a Battle

Well, the last 24 hours have not really surprised me...but they have been a challenge. Yesterday, our Internet crashed....once again - no surprise. Josh is in Fiji, the Internet crashes. It's been the pattern. Unfortunately, this means that all communications between Josh and I stop, and with Josh not having regular Internet access, our communication about the tour has also been "frozen". However, today Dave came over and managed to get it working again. Thank goodness for Father-in-laws.

Then last Josh got a horrible case of food poisoning. For all of you that have had it, you know what that means - he is totally out of action. Today he is so week he only moved out of sure necessity. He is starting to be able to hold down food now, so that is a step int he right direction. Pray for his quick recovery, and grace for us to be apart while he is not well.

On other notes, the tour has been going quite well. The teams are in good spirits, but tired. Please pray for their strength and that they would be in good health.

Saturday night in Nadi was a battle. The crowd was quite rowdy and drunk. Despite that, God's presence was strong and He had his way. The results from Saturday night are as follows.

Crowd 8000
Decisions - approximately 530
Healing's - Lots, but one testimony is that a deaf person in Fiji is now hearing.

Newsflash!

Tonight, I talked to Josh via cell phone as he was riding from Sigatoka to Nadi in a very noisy bus. The last two days have been full on as he has been traveling back and forth between the above mentioned cities. He is happy to report that logistically things are running "pretty smoothly". Unfortunatly, he does not have internet access available for closer to real time pictures and reports.

Last night in the hub city of Nadi a crowd of 5,000 people turned out to watch TX smash things :> Out of those 5,000 people - 701 people responded. Witchcraft is a stronghold in the Nadi area, therefor there was lots of prayer and counseling going on at the alter call.

Tonight in Sigatoka - a satalitte city (meaning a much smaller stage and less special effects), there was a crowd of about 4,000 people in attendence. 270 0f them responded to the message of Jesus. I am still waiting to hear reports on the school performances. Isn't it amazing to be a part of it all!

One Very Cool Testimony....

Well guys, I know you like testimonies, and I couldn;t help but to share this one with you, that we got through. Enjoy!

"Bula!!

I am a 14 years old Fijian boy and my name is Semesa. I would like to acknowledge you all for coming to Labasa and for showing those cool shows and I really enjoyed it. You guys rock especially the Team Extreme Intl. and the Gx international. I really enjoyed the hip hop dancing, free style motor-cross and biking and the skateboard airs and bomb freestyle tricks but I REALLY REALLY enjoyed the skating and the biking because we rarely see those kinds of cool styles in Fiji.

I would also like to thank you guys for sharing about Jesus. It touched alot of people and especially me. After you talked about Jesus and shared some message, I learnt alot and I came to realize all the wrong and bad things or mistakes I've done and I would like to thank you guys so much for that.

Anyway thanks alot for everything and I hope that you wiil come again to Labasa. Don't forget to send my regards to one of your members who is my friend and his name is Micheal. Tell him that he is so cool in doing those brake-dances and also if you can tell him to e-mail me sometimes.

Thanks
GOOD BYE! (MOCE)"

Off to Fiji Again.

Well we've been back in NZ for four days. Its been great to catch our breath, and bueatiful weather back here too. The House of Prayer has been praying non stop for Fiji, so it's been great to be able to bring back good reports and testimonies.

Josh is heading back to Fiji with Dave tomorrow afternoon just in time for the tour which hits Nadi and Sigatoka this weekend.

WOW!

Well This update is been written from New Zealand!! Yep we arrived safely last night back into the lush green land of Aotearoa, truly a beautiful nation! It'd good to be at home together for a few days before Josh returns to Fiji on Thursday to keep things moving with the tour.

The last night on the tour in Labasa was amazing, with over 10,000 people packing the stadium. Hundreds came forward at the altar call, and one young Fijian got up to testify about how God had healed his broken back and all the pain that he had. It was amazing to hear how God had touched his back on the first night, but on the 3rd night he finally came forward to testify and then give his life over completely to Christ.

over 33,000 people came out to the IWT events in the first week, and heard a clear gospel message and had the opportunity to respond.

Labasa will never be the same. It truly is like a spiritual bomb that has gone off.

Here's a photo of some adorable kids watching and listening attentively.

Breakthrough on Vanua Levu

Island Breeze brought the fire last night in Labasa – literally with fire knife dancers included. An amazing time. Island Breeze has such amazing team and performance, and the Fijian/Indian people loved it. We had a crowd of about 7,000 people in the stadium with approximately 507 decisions last night. Obviously the stats don’t give the bigger picture of what is going on here. It’s like a spiritual bomb has gone off in this Island. Many Indians are coming forward to give their lives to Christ, being totally transformed. We’ve seen whole families pour into the altar call area. God is touching lives all over. The pastors are coming together, and it’s just started off with a bang. In Savusavu last night, over 3000 packed out the stadium with over 150 responding to Christ, many more decision cards are yet to be collected. A Hindu priest came forward at the altar call to give his life to Christ; one of the local pastors knows him and will follow him up.

Above is a pic of the Altar call in Labasa. This is great for the people of Fiji, the gospel truely is powerful.

Misty and I return to Tauranga on Sunday night.

crowd last night

This is a picture of the crowd last night, we had 8,000 pack into the stadium, the largest crowd in the history of the town.

The other picture is of the ground this morning after the heavy rain which began at midnight. It's not raining now and should be clear tonight, but we need the sun to come out to dry the water.

This is a picture of Josh and I getting on the airplane to fly from Viti Levu (the big island) to Vanua Levu (the northern island). It was a 18 seat prop plane, the smallest one I have ever flown on. All in all it was a good flight with awesome scenery of the islands. When you are up in the air looking down, it is so evident how isolated Fiji is. It’s just and group of islands in the middle of vast Pacific Ocean. We are at the ends of the earth, and the ends of the earth are hearing the gospel!

What's hapening with IWT Fiji

Well it is raining in the North. The performances in Somosomo, Savusavu, and Labasa have all been held in the rain – the amazing thing is that the crowd keeps coming, staying through the rain, and giving their lives to Jesus. Apparently, the Team Xtreme performance last night in Labasa, was the largest public gathering ever held in the Northern Island. So literally, history is being made. Here are the results from yesterday.

Savusavu – Approximately 2,000 people in attendance for Island Breeze – 80 confirmed salvations – many more that we couldn’t confirm because it was raining and people left for shelter.
Labasa – Approximately 8,000 people in attendance for Team Xtreme - 454 confirmed salvations – a safe estimate of at least 200 more people that made decisions, but did not come into the rain to talk with a local link. Many were healed and touched by the Lord.
All Saints Anglican School – GX school performance - 127 confirmed salvations

Considering last night was the largest public gathering in the history of the Northern Island, we have had an interesting development that needs your prayer. Yesterday, Frank Bainamarama (Fijian Prime Minister) declared a National Edict, that there was to be “No Public Gatherings”. This is after giving us his written word that we would be allowed to run the campaigns in Fiji. So, Taubale the nation IWT director, talked with his uncle who is in the Prime Ministers cabinet. We were told to continue with the campaigns. Please pray that everything would continue as planned when we hit the main land Sunday night. Pray that we would not have “run ins” with the army in response to this edict going out from the Prime Ministers Office. Please pray that we would have continued favour with the government of Fiji.

Flying

Well it's another beautiful day in the Islands of Fiji! The sun is out and there is a nice sea breeze. We're off to Labasa this morning, catching a plane in just over an hour. Tonight we have our first Hub night of the campaigns along with another satelite in the Northern Region. It's exciting to see what will happen. Hopefully there will be no rain, and clear skies. We'll keep you posted with what goes on.

Results from Somosomo

The results are just in from Somosomo! We are happy to say the 12% of the crowd that attended the opening night performance of Impact World Tour Fiji, gave their lives to Jesus. That means that 250 people out of a crowd of 2000 people are going to spend eternity with Jesus. That indeed what it is all about! Let's keep praying! 12% of the crowd is higher than normal, but I'm believing for at least 50% of the crowd before this tour is through.

P.S. Josh just chipped his tooth - so pray for grace to deal with it until Sue (his mom)can fix it next week.

What a Day!

The tour has started with a bit of supernatural activity. Yesterday in Somosomo, the tour kicked off. All day while the set up was being done, a dark cloud was hovering over the stadium, but it was not raining. Around the stadium it was, in the stadium it was not. Then about two hours before the tour kicked off a brilliant rainbow appeared over the stadium. The show kicked off to a full crowd and the response was big (still waiting on numbers). Hopefully we will have more on that a bit later.

Our day yesterday was another extremely busy day….but fruitful. We started out in Lautoka, then went to Sigatoka for an executive meeting, then to Lautoka for a meeting with the transportation company, then to Nandi for another executive meeting, and then back to Lautoka. We really need your prayers as we meet with these executives. It seems that after 3 years of meeting with executives, they still don’t understand the vastness of IWT. A week out, there are still not enough people trained to lead those that respond to Christ. Unfortunately, that means people will fall through the cracks. Please pray for our meetings today and that the church would jump into action and be ready to lead people to Christ.

Our God is bigger than a Ferry Timetable

Yesterday, a breakdancer on GX arrived in Suva a bit delayed. He contacted the cordinator and was told there was no way he was gong to catch the Ferry to the Northern Island. The boat was leaving at exactly 2 o'clock. He told us he was comming anyway. As late arival raced toward the warf, the rest of the teams loaded the boat and got themselves settled. At 2 o'clock, the Ferry attempted to close the drawbridge on the boat. It would not close. It stayed stuck for 20 minutes. In those 20 minutes, the breakdancer arrived at the dock and litterally ran onto the ferry. Just as soon and the breakdancer jumped on the boat, the drawbridge clsoed and the boat was off. Amazing isn't it?

Meetings All Over Fiji

Josh and I are now based in a city called Lautoka on the Western side of the main Island of Fiji. We along with our coordinators on the West (Vika and Seria) are doing lots of traveling. We are meeting with the executive committees all over the island, making sure everything is ready for the next two weeks. Last night we went from Suva to Pacific Harbour, to Sigatoka, to Lautoka, to Ba, and then back to Lautoka. It was a long day in the car with lots of meetings and Fijian food along the way (lots of starch).
Today is the first day official day of the Tour. The teams and most of the staff have started the tour in the Northern Division. The stage and lighting is set up, the advertising is blitzing the main radio stations and prime time TV. Tonight TX is performing in a town called Samusamu on the island of Taveune. From there the tour will move toward Lambasa. It is all rolling!
Our day is going to be alot of driving once again. In just a little bit we (Josh, myself, Seria, and Vika) are heading back to Sigatoka for another executive meeting. From there we will head to executive meeting number 2 in Nandi, and from there back to Lautoka to prepare for tomorrow. Local link training and more executive meetings are on the agenda.
Please pray for the following.
Safe transportation for all the teams and coordinators.
Grace for all the volunteers making bricks (for TX to break) and working in the offices.
That the local executives will have wisdom in getting final things organized and that all final preparations would fall in to place smoothly.
For the remaining finances to come in for the tour.
For continued grace for all the teams to adapt to Fijian culture, food, ect...

Excited Taxi Driver

Last night when we arrived in Suva, we stayed in the same house that we used to live in when we were here last year. This morning as Dave, Josh, and I, piled into a Taxi we had a small adventure. Dave was talking with the Taxi driver as we passed a new church building. The taxi driver went on told us that he was an elder at that church. Dave then proceeded to tell he driver that we were here with Impact World Tour. The taxi driver got so excited it was amazing. He started speaking in Fijian really fast, and then he proceeded to get lost. We kept having to interrupt him to get him going in the right direction. The tour is still 4 weeks away in Suva, and it looks like the momentum is going to be electricin the capital city.

IWT FIJI is here

Wow, after almost three years of preparation IWT FIJI is here. Josh and I arrived safely in Fiji late Thursday night. It has been full on since then. We along with about ten others that had arrived Thursday jumped in a van and headed along the bumpy road to the Coral Coast Christian Camp. Friday, Saturday, and Sunday was the Encounter Weekend where the IWT staff and performers fueled up for next 6 weeks. We has some great times of worship and we felt as though "the ancient gates were being lifted up so that the King of Glory could come in - Psalms 27".
One of the coolest things for me was seeing so many different people groups all uniting in order to bring the Gospel to the nation of Fiji. Being in worship times with so many different people groups was a small glimpse of what it will be like one day around the thrown of God.
Last night the IWT FIJI COMMISSIONING SERVICE was held at the CMF church in Suva. Each team performed a short item and we were then sent/prayed out by the combined church of Fiji. It was awesome. The crowd went wild as Kali (the second tallest man in the world) tore a phone book in two in about 1 second. The break dancers were especially impressive as the flipped and spun through the air. And Island Breeze seemed to usher in the presence of the Lord as they culturally honoured the leadership in the church of Fiji. It is going to be a great tour!

This is slightly blury picture of Kali, the giant - next to anothet Team Extream member.

So that what has happened so far! Josh and I are heading back on the road to Nandi to do some final preparations in the West, while the majority of the teams are getting on an overnight ferry up to the Northern Island. Pray that the rain would stop in the North and that the lighting systems would be able to be repaired (they were damaged during transport on non paved roads). We need dry field to put stages on! We hope to be in touch soon - wherever we have internet access.