I know, it's premature, but remember, over here in the Pacific Islands we are so many hours ahead of you in time zones, that we are even a day ahead of you! So Happy Thanksgiving!
Kim and I just want to thank everyone for praying for us during our transition over to the Islands of South Pacific. We have really seen, and will try to detail a little bit here, the grace and favor of God in this whole transition. Everything has come together, and even unplanned meetings have turned into significant events.
ONE - what seemed like a major wrench in the gearbox turned out to be just the wrench the gearbox needed! We were "wrenched away" from Fiji, learning that we could not be in Fiji while we were waiting for our work permits to process. So we had to adjust, and by the grace of God, Megan and Tutupu Fiti were able to host us in Tonga while our permits were processed in Fiji.
What an incredible open door we had in Tonga. The Holy Spirit really moved in the services, and even during the children's ministry training we experienced the move of God! We challenged the vision and shared what God had been doing in Children's Ministry in Africa, and as we did this the Lord moved upon that training with prophetic words and visions. It really fired up the children's ministry leaders there and now they are excited about us returning in February.
TWO - Our paperwork was processed in a fraction of the time that it normally takes. That was due to serious prayer, and some very persistent Fijian A/G help from the leadership here. Wow.
THREE - So we were able to travel to Fiji and were experiencing difficulty with getting a house and a vehicle. We contacted just about every real estate agency we could find here, spoke to so many individuals, and scoured the internet for leads. It seemed like everything was out of our budget or inadequate for our needs. It looked like we were going to have to settle for something in another city, and so on the morning we were to go and sign for the place in the other city we received a call from an agent informing us that her friend who was in Papua New Guinea just informed her over the weekend that her house that she was renovating here is now ready to be rented out. This house fits just what we needed, and the lady was willing to even come down significantly in price because she wanted us as the tenants. Wow. Talk about an answer to prayer.
We also located a vehicle and thanks to Speed the Light, and the youth of New Jersey who are willing to work and raise the money for this vehicle, we will be driving around next week a Chevy Trailblazer.
Guys (and gals), Kim and I just want to thank you for praying, and for helping to get us over here. Not only are we (Kim and I together with you) able to impact the country and church leadership of Tonga, but even on a much smaller scale we are impacting individuals lives. Like today, when Kim and I were in a taxi on the way home and we conversed with Simon, the driver. Here he was, telling us his story and when he got to the part of telling us about his little girl with the skin disease who was miserable at home; Kim and I just said, "Turn the taxi around. Let's go to your house and pray for her right now."
He was shocked that we would actually go to his house, instead of just telling him that we would pray for her, and asked, "Are you sure?"
I responded, "Hey, this is the road to Jericho. We're not too busy to stop and help."
And so we went to his shack in very squalid conditions and laid hands on his daughter, bound the spirit of infirmity, and prayed the release of healing into the little girl. The presence of the Lord was really in that room. The little girl stopped crying, peace came; and Kim received a prophetic word and spoke it over the Simon's life - it was life and and lifeline to this guy who was under such a huge weight. On the way home he was wiping the tears from his eyes thanking us over and over for going to his house to pray for his daughter.
Once again, that's what we (Kim and I together with you) are doing here. Not only impacting church leaders and the way people do children's ministry, but even individuals like Simon. God loves the nations, God loves the church, but thank God, Oh how He loves you, Oh how He loves me; Oh how He loves you and me. :-)
