Sunday, August 30, 2009

We're in Fiji

We are here now applying for 'Osi's visitor's visa to the U.S. We really want to visit Jen's family and have the baby in the U.S. for citizenship and health reasons.

We arrived last week and have gotten settled into the Youth With A Mission in Suva house with the couple here who just started a counseling ministry. Their names are Jerry and Debra, and they are in their late 50’s, He is Fijian and she is American. Very sweet couple, we have really been enjoying getting to know each other, sharing our testimonies…..
The day we arrived I called the U.S. Embassy to make an appointment for ‘Osi, but they said that they have changed all their Visa policies, everything is much stricter starting this month, plus the rates have been raised, and all paperwork is online. So I filled out all the forms online last night (I had to do it 6 times because their internet server kept crashing! Praise God for the perseverance =)
Then I was able to make an interview appointment for ‘Osi. The bad news is, now is peak visa season so people from around the Pacific have been coming in for visa interviews, and there are no available appointments until September 15th. Sooooo we booked the appointment, and will keep checking in to see if there are any cancellations and possibility of an earlier one.
But ‘Osi and I prayed a lot about what God wants us to do while we’re in Fiji. We were really encouraged by the word, and feel that He is leading us to get busy in some kind of service and evangelism while here. So please pray for open doors =)

After praying we met 2 young Missionary guys from South Nandi who have been helping lead a youth crusade in the city this week. They invited us to join them in the crusade, and preach to the Fijian youth. So that’s what we did =) We joined them all week in the afternoons and evenings, helping with the crusade. 'Osi also taught the guys a Fijian praise dance, so they are performing that tonight at the crusade =) We also joined in a prison ministry over the weekend.

I’ve also be helping Debra get her counseling office set up – her wireless and computer stuff, as well as making some brochures and fliers for their ministry and counseling school. Today I sketched a few logos for her..... I want to help her with advertising, so that more people in Suva know they can come here for help and healing as well as training in counseling if they want to take the school.

So it’s pretty exciting so see how God is working, we always have our plans but His are much better, right?
We still really pray to get the visa to come home to the U.S. to see our family/friends and have the baby in December – please keep praying for that.
But in the meantime we’re happy to “be about our Father’s business” =)

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Tragedy in Tonga

Friends, please pray for Tonga. There have been many tragedies happening lately on each of the 3 islands of our kingdom. One of the most terrible tragedies happened this month, when an inter-island ferry the MV Princess Ashika sank killing 93 passengers on board. The victims were mainly women and children who were trapped inside the ship while they were sleeping.
While they were sailing a storm arose and somehow the ship flipped upside down. Many of the men (staying outside on deck) were able to jump ship, but the others were trapped inside when the ship began sinking within seconds.

'Osi lost one of his Uncles, his Mother's eldest brother. So we are mourning for him and all the families who lost loved ones. This is a major tragedy for our country because families are so tighly knit and our population is so small. Losing 93 people in Tonga is relative to losing 237,166 Americans (comparing the population size). So nearly every person in Tonga has lost at least one relative. Everyone is hurting.

Please pray for our people.
(Here is a photo of some survivors returning home)