Fiji

Mission News:  Fiji  (South Pacific)

Warm country, warm people.

Like the warmth of their weather, and the bright, colourful vegetation blanketed in vivid green, our brothers and sisters in Fiji are always welcoming, hospitable, thoughtful and appreciative. 

In July 2006, a mission team from Brisbane lived at a Christian camp and motel on the Coral Coast, near the COC centre there, shuttled around in hired buses and cars.  The team prayed with hundreds of people.  This included visits to many villages along the coast, a primary and high school there, and evening meetings at COC (Christian Outreach Centre). 

Jesse Padayache (evangelist and main speaker) led people to the Lord daily, and prayed for the sick and oppressed daily, assisted by the team.  A ‘magic man’ in one village came for prayer after seeing healings in his village.  Three women and a man who had done fire walking from another village made commitments to Christ, renounced their spirit involvement and were healed from constantly itchy skin irritations on their legs.  Jesse prayed for 11 people in the Suva hospital who were then sent home soon afterwards.  Many Hindus forsook their gods to follow Christ, as Jesse and his wife had done many years ago in South Africa.

I was involved with two groups of people.

(1) COC (Christian Outreach Centres) hosted our team of 26 from Brisbane, which included Jesse & Cookie Padayache (Indian evangelist with a strong healing and deliverance ministry), Ric & Ann Benson (senior pastor of Kenmore Baptist Church), KBC older members, talented youth from COC high school with their teachers, and me.  The team had a very full two weeks based on the Coral Coast, 50 k east of Suva the capital.  The youth visited schools, sang in the worship teams at night meetings, and delivered the contents of two container loads of goods including 50 computers for a high school there, 1600 blankets, bags of clothes, boxes of books, food and more.  Jesse and the KBC team ministered daily in various villages, speaking and praying with people as daily many believed and were healed and set free.  Ric and I spoke at a pastors and leaders conference in the COC church on the Coral Coast, a large centre called the Garden of Joy.  Each Sunday Jesse, Ric and I preached in various COC churches including ones in Suva in the east and Lautoka in the west.

(2) Young Christian lawyers hosted Mathias from Pentecost Island in Vanuatu and me, as we linked up with them again after previous mission trips with many of them when they were USP (Uni of the South Pacific) students at the law school in Port Vila, Vanuatu.  We have had mission teams with them in Pentecost and Tanna islands and in Port Vila in Vanuatu, and in Australia and in the Solomon Islands as well as in Fiji previously.  I had a week in Lautoka in the west at the beginning of the month, then two weeks with the team from Brisbane on the Coral Coast, then another week with our lawyer friends in Suva in the east at the end of the month.  Mathias joined me on the coast and in Suva.  We joined some of them for some meetings, but mainly in their homes with food and fellowship, and powerful times of prayer and prophetic ministry including washing and anointing feet with oil. 
 
The Director of the Department of Meteorology in Vanuatu was in Fiji for a conference and I met him there again.  He is also a pastor (Pastor Jotham) at Upper Room church in Port Vila where many of the law students attended.  In May 2006 he had been on mission in Tanna Island where the Lord moved strongly on young people, especially in worship and prayer.  Children and youth were anointed to write and sing new songs in the local dialects.  Some children asked the pastors to ordain them as missionaries – which was new for everyone.  After prayer about it, they did.  Those children are strong evangelists already, telling Bible stories in pagan villages.  One 9 year old boy did that, and people began giving their lives to God in his pagan village, so he became their ‘pastor’, assisted by older Christians from other villages.  You can read of Pastor Jotham’s ministry, the Upper Room church, and the law student mission teams on Mission News: Vanuatu on www.renewaljournal.com 

One of the law students profoundly changed in Port Vila was Jerry, now a lawyer.  He also spoke, along with another lawyer Seini, at the pastors and leaders conference in July 2006.  He has been involved in revival in his village, so has reported on how that happened.

Jerry: lawyer evangelist

This report gives comment by Jerry, the law student God has used to bring revival to his village in Fiji after his visit to Australia in November 2002 as part of the law school Christian Fellowship mission team.  Jerry applied revival principles to his life, e.g. pray, repent, seek God - and his Bible bought in Brisbane in December 2002 now looks like a rainbow with all his highlighting.   During his university vacation from December 2002, Jerry prayed for many people in his village, with many healings.  That surprised his relatives and friends who had never seen him do that previously. 

Then in the vacation from December 2003, Jerry prayed for revival early each morning in the village Methodist Church, alone at first, then gradually joined by some children, and then by youths until about 50 gathered early each morning.  God answered their prayers with revival.  Many repented, including in the church services.  Many were healed and delivered.  That youth group became a mission team, witnessing and praying for people.

Jerry spoke at a Youth Conference at the Bible College, Pentecost Island, Vanuatu, in December 2004, where about 100 youth met at 4.30 a.m. on the last few days of the conference for two hours of worship and prayer and ministry, with God touching them strongly.  We showed them the video of Transformations 3 - "Let the Seas Resound" - about Fiji and Vanuatu.  In that, every time a village leader publicly returns the land to God in repentance and commitment, showers have fallen (even from a clear sky) as a sign of God's blessing, and then the land has been blessed.  See Jerry's comment on this!

That happened to the Pentecost leaders the first time we went to the sacred 'mele' palm tree site  near the Bible College where Lulkon, the martyr was killed and eaten (though everyone who ate him soon died), where he gave his life so that his Pentecost friend Thomas (converted in Bundaberg, Queensland as a 'kanaka' working on sugar cane plantations) could live and bring the gospel to his people.  As we prayed, standing under the mele palm, a warm, light shower fell on us all from a clear sky - a sign of God's anointing, and blessing. 

Jerry married Pam (another law student who was with my teams in Pentecost Island) in December 2004 after his graduation.  Jerry is the grandson of the village chief, and Pam is the daughter of the first Prime Minister of the Solomon Islands - both of them are anointed by God for leadership.  They attend an independent church in Suva, where Romulo (former CF President in the law school in Vanuatu, and mission team leader in Australia) and many of the law graduates now attend.

From Jerry:

December 2004: As soon as I arrived home from university, I went right down to the village and I saw that many of the committed youth or all them who were in the team have backsliden.  I was crying out to God in my first Sunday asking Him when He will be going to revive us again.  I felt the mighty presence of God hit me as usual just to confirm that He heard my cry. 

I came out after the service and called one of the team members (he is a backslider too) and told him about the urgency of doing something...the heartbeat of God I felt which is to save His people.  I spoke to him and told him whether if it is possible for the two of us to go down to the beach to pray and seek the Lord after lunch...he was willing.  We went down and telling him that there would be no program but be lead by the Holy Spirit.  I was leading and I felt that we should both examine ourselves and testify about it before the Lord’s presence.

While we were praying and worshipping, the Lord told me in the first ever time to take the salt water and the land and give it back to God.  And I told this brother that when we offered it to God the rain is going to fall just to confirm that God hears and accepts it according to His leading. 

I told him in advance while the Lord was putting it in my heart to do it...this is the first ever time and I always heard about it when people are being led...now it has happened to me...I could not even believe it.  As soon as he brought the water and I brought the soil to signify the sacrifice, I felt the mighty presence of God with us and was like numb...and the sun was really shining up in the sky with very little clouds.  This rain fell slowly upon us....I still could not believe...my cousin was astonished and could not believe it...it happened accordingly as the way the Lord told me and I told him.  It was like a made up story.  It was the blessings of God and I told the Lord that I am waiting for His own time to rebuild the walls of my village...but the Lord already told me that He wants and has chosen me to rebuild the wall of my village like Nehemiah.

Back to Suva, my first Sunday at Romulo’s church I asked the Lord as usual that is: What is my mission in the place where we are staying at now...! Really I was thinking of other places like my village to go and have mission.  But the Lord spoke to me very clearly that He place us there for the boys (my cousins who are staying in that house).  I thank the Lord.  They were drinking alcohol, smoking, one was almost gone to Jail, involved in stealing and all sorts of illegal and ungodly activities you may know.  I was not surprised.  We were talking one afternoon and I slowly asked them that it is a right time for  us to change and give our lives to the Lord.  They went quite quiet. 

That evening, I invited them in to the house and we started the fellowship.  I preach and called for the altar call right after that.  They are all Methodists - conservative...  Not surprisingly, they all gave their lives...(3 of them) one did not attend and was running away from it.  Pam was crying.  I bought the 4 big Bibles for each of them.  The one who ran away gave his life just last Saturday.  He came to me and wanted to give His life to the Lord.  I was crying in my heart and even my cousins were all emotional including my aunties and uncle...they could not believe it.  Pastor dad, I was fasting for the last one’s life...God honors it and brought him to His altar....ALL GLORY TO JESUS.

Now we are having our Bible studies two times a week (Monday and Thursday unless if we are all busy and will change the days).  God is really great and always good.  Now I am teaching them the foundation and more yet to come.  I want them not only to be saved but to be used in the kingdom like me.  This will be the 4th week of Bible study...glory to God...they are really enthusiastic...Praise God!!!   I am also preaching to the youth at church sometimes when invited...there’s no time to look back...I am living for the Lord.

I will be waiting for God’s next mission for me....I feel the urgency to preach the Gospel.  I am doing it to almost every person that I came to contact with...I do not want underestimate about the power in the word of God.

You can see photos of Jerry, and the Pacific mission teams on the photo links.  The thumbnails beside the comments on each photo show Jerry standing at the sacred ‘mele’ palm tree on the site where Lulkon gave his life as a martyr for the gospel.