This last weekend we were able to go to Lautoka to minister in a church there. We
took the bus from Sigatoka to Lautoka, which is a close to 2 hour bus ride. All 5 of us ended up sitting in 3 seats in the
very back. We were told that we could all have our own seats, as we had paid for the seats,
but the 3 seats in the very back were the only ones that I could find more than 1 seat, and even
half of those were not actually available due to people who had gotten off for a few moments
to get something to eat! Thankfully the family sitting next to us got off in Nadi, and we were
able to spread out a little more for the last half hour of the trip.
When we arrived in Lautoka, John and Uriah passed out tracts to people walking past while we waited
at the bus station to be picked up. It was amazing to see how if someone missed getting one they would
turn around and come back for one. Uriah got so excited when someone took the one he had.
Unfortunately, he is so short that not too many people noticed him.
While we were in Lautoka, we were able to fellowship with the brother of the Pastor here.
Bro. Scott Daku and his wife were very hospitable, and treated us to pizza the first night
that we were there! It was nice to have some "normal" food, even if it wasn't quite the same as
North American pizza.
On Sunday, John was able to preach for the evening service, and we sang 2 specials. I was
also able to serve by playing the piano for a couple of the congregationals in the evening,
as they currently don't have anyone playing the piano. When we asked if we could use the piano
for the specials, the brother that is filling in for the pastor here (who is on furlough) asked if I would play.
Unfortunately, I have not been able to be in on the preaching in service much, as the way services work
here, is that if you have babies or small children, you take them out, so I have been in nursery nearly every
service. The exception was that on Sunday morning in Lautoka there was a ladies Sunday School
class, and we were able to bring the babies in there. It has been nice in the fact that I have been able to
speak to the Pastor's wives a little more.
The boys are doing well, a little more on the cranky side sometimes, as it is difficult to have a constant schedule here,
as well as the heat and constant sweating.
We appreciate your continued prayers for God's direction,
Danielle
P.S. We will try to post some more pictures soon.
Wednesday, 25 November 2015
Friday, 20 November 2015
We are so happy that the Lord allowed us on this trip.
The trip was beyond exhausting. Traveling with 3 children under the age of 4 is not for the faint of heart!! But...After 34 hours of traveling or being in an airport, we arrived in Singatoka at 9:30 a.m. I knew that if we went to sleep then, we would be up all through the night. By the time 6 p.m. came we all practically passed out. It paid off though, because within a day we were pretty well on time with everything.
I have been helping Pastor Daku with renovating his house, and Danielle and I have helped clean up the church property, as they have a church clean-up every week.
Saturday we went out and tracted in the market place. I had a few good witnesses. It is amazing how fast we can go through tracts!
As a blessing, we were able to bring approximately 4500 tracts with us, as Pastor Daku was running low.
After that, the church group went on hospital visits and on visitation for 2 hours.
The Lord blessed on Sunday, as I was able to preach twice. In the morning service, 4 people got saved and 4 more came forward for reassurance of salvation. It was so surreal to have that many people come forward to get saved. Praise the Lord!! It was amazing to see God working.
There are so many young Christians that I have to preach the basics. However, I am really enjoying it.
The weather is hot! All you do is sweat all day and night. Today it is 36 C and it has only went under 30 once while we were here! It dropped down to a frigid 28 one night.
Last night after a full day of tiling Pastor Daku's bathroom, we went out to visit a man named Napoleon that has started coming to the church. Pastor Daku has been trying to connect with this man for years, and last night Napoleon took us night diving, which consisted of us standing on the shore and him diving. These people have no fear of the ocean. We though that he would go out for 20 minutes and then come back with a fish. We could sometimes see a faint light from his underwater flashlight (500 yards out) He was gone for 3 hours!! When he finally came back, he had 15 fish that he had speared with him. Crazy!! Swimming in shark-infested water with 15 dead, bleeding fish.
We head to Lautoka tomorrow to visit a church there, and will head back here on Monday. Please pray for traveling safety as well as God's blessing on the services.
God bless you all,
In Christ,
John
The trip was beyond exhausting. Traveling with 3 children under the age of 4 is not for the faint of heart!! But...After 34 hours of traveling or being in an airport, we arrived in Singatoka at 9:30 a.m. I knew that if we went to sleep then, we would be up all through the night. By the time 6 p.m. came we all practically passed out. It paid off though, because within a day we were pretty well on time with everything.
I have been helping Pastor Daku with renovating his house, and Danielle and I have helped clean up the church property, as they have a church clean-up every week.
Saturday we went out and tracted in the market place. I had a few good witnesses. It is amazing how fast we can go through tracts!
As a blessing, we were able to bring approximately 4500 tracts with us, as Pastor Daku was running low.
After that, the church group went on hospital visits and on visitation for 2 hours.
The Lord blessed on Sunday, as I was able to preach twice. In the morning service, 4 people got saved and 4 more came forward for reassurance of salvation. It was so surreal to have that many people come forward to get saved. Praise the Lord!! It was amazing to see God working.
There are so many young Christians that I have to preach the basics. However, I am really enjoying it.
The weather is hot! All you do is sweat all day and night. Today it is 36 C and it has only went under 30 once while we were here! It dropped down to a frigid 28 one night.
Last night after a full day of tiling Pastor Daku's bathroom, we went out to visit a man named Napoleon that has started coming to the church. Pastor Daku has been trying to connect with this man for years, and last night Napoleon took us night diving, which consisted of us standing on the shore and him diving. These people have no fear of the ocean. We though that he would go out for 20 minutes and then come back with a fish. We could sometimes see a faint light from his underwater flashlight (500 yards out) He was gone for 3 hours!! When he finally came back, he had 15 fish that he had speared with him. Crazy!! Swimming in shark-infested water with 15 dead, bleeding fish.
We head to Lautoka tomorrow to visit a church there, and will head back here on Monday. Please pray for traveling safety as well as God's blessing on the services.
God bless you all,
In Christ,
John
Wednesday, 18 November 2015
We have arrived in Fiji! We actually arrived 1 week ago, but have just now been able to get a blog started.
We left Fredericton airport at 5:20 on the morning of November 10, and arrived in Nadi (pronounced Nandi) International airport at about 6 a.m. November 12, which means we completely missed Remembrance Day when we crossed over the Date line. From the time we were up in Fredericton to to the time we arrived in Fiji was about 34 hours total. The boys traveled well, and actually slept most of the trip over the ocean, thankfully. The flight was relatively uneventful with, so John tells me, an unusual amount of turbulence. It really wasn't bad though.
The pastor from the church here picked us up from the airport and drove us to the house we will be staying in until the first of December. Some of us had naps, but tried not to sleep too long so that we wouldn't be too thrown off by the time change. We took the first couple of days easy, just trying to adapt to the climate and time change. The temperature so far has been in the low 30s plus humidity, which has been quite a change from the 5-10 degrees that it was in Prince Edward Island!!
On Saturday we had the opportunity to go tracting in the marketplace with the Pastor and a few of his daughters, as well as 1 other family from the church. Afterwards, we visited with a family that comes to the church. On Sunday, John was able to preach for the morning service as well as the afternoon one. There were 8 people that came to the alter, with 4 of those coming forward for salvation! It was a great blessing.
The church had a potluck lunch for us in between the services, so we had the opportunity to try some local dishes.
John and I will try to keep this blog updated for you all, but currently we don't have any internet at our house, and so only have the opportunity to write when we are visiting the pastor, so updates may be a little further in between.
Thank you all for keeping us in your prayers. Specifically if you could pray for physical strength for all of us, and that we would truly be a blessing and help to the missionaries here, and that God would show us His will. I would also appreciate all your prayers for the baby and that we wouldn't have any issues with pregnancy.
John, Danielle, Uriah, Joseph, Seth, and baby.
We left Fredericton airport at 5:20 on the morning of November 10, and arrived in Nadi (pronounced Nandi) International airport at about 6 a.m. November 12, which means we completely missed Remembrance Day when we crossed over the Date line. From the time we were up in Fredericton to to the time we arrived in Fiji was about 34 hours total. The boys traveled well, and actually slept most of the trip over the ocean, thankfully. The flight was relatively uneventful with, so John tells me, an unusual amount of turbulence. It really wasn't bad though.
The pastor from the church here picked us up from the airport and drove us to the house we will be staying in until the first of December. Some of us had naps, but tried not to sleep too long so that we wouldn't be too thrown off by the time change. We took the first couple of days easy, just trying to adapt to the climate and time change. The temperature so far has been in the low 30s plus humidity, which has been quite a change from the 5-10 degrees that it was in Prince Edward Island!!
On Saturday we had the opportunity to go tracting in the marketplace with the Pastor and a few of his daughters, as well as 1 other family from the church. Afterwards, we visited with a family that comes to the church. On Sunday, John was able to preach for the morning service as well as the afternoon one. There were 8 people that came to the alter, with 4 of those coming forward for salvation! It was a great blessing.
The church had a potluck lunch for us in between the services, so we had the opportunity to try some local dishes.
John and I will try to keep this blog updated for you all, but currently we don't have any internet at our house, and so only have the opportunity to write when we are visiting the pastor, so updates may be a little further in between.
Thank you all for keeping us in your prayers. Specifically if you could pray for physical strength for all of us, and that we would truly be a blessing and help to the missionaries here, and that God would show us His will. I would also appreciate all your prayers for the baby and that we wouldn't have any issues with pregnancy.
John, Danielle, Uriah, Joseph, Seth, and baby.
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