Fiji - 2009

Travel and the Routine

This trip was organized by Stan and Julie Wagner. The team consisted of 22 people, 16 from the West Coast and six from the East Coast. Two of us, Nelson Rodriguez and I came from Centerpointe Church. We paid our own travel and subsistence costs but the Church sent in $1,000 for the project fund (i.e., $500 per person). Others from the East were Lee Capps (NC), and Dan Hubbard (MD) and Bob and Nolda Dooley (VA). We joined up with the West Coast folks at the LA airport.

We left LA on Sunday, 14 June at 11:30 PM on an overnight flight to Nadi, Fiji. We arrived early (5:10 AM) Tuesday 16 June, having gained eight hours but lost a whole day by crossing the International dateline. We were transported by bus to Suva, where the Bible School is located. This was a several hour trip, stopping a couple of times for food and shopping. Our sleeping and dinner accommodations were at the Trade Winds Hotel.

Coming home was quite a journey. Nelson and I had a 10.5 hour overnight flight from Fiji to LA, getting there the same day we left because we gained a day crossing the dateline and then waited 10 hours at the LA airport for another overnight flight to Washington Dulles. We were tired. This was Nelson’s first missions trip – what an introduction.

Fiji

Bula is a greeting used in Fiji very much as aloha is used in Hawaii. Fiji is comprised of 330 islands of which 110 are inhabited. The population is about 900,000 people – ½ Fijian and ½ ethnic Indian . Over half of the country has no electricity or running water. The Assemblies of God has been in Fiji for over 75 years and have founded the South Pacific Bible College on the most inhabited island. About ½ million people live on this island. It serves the South Pacific Islands and recently has had as many as 170 students. The people associated with the Bible School pitched in with the work, students and pastors alike. The missionaries are Steve and Nola Slater. They oversee the Bible School operation and expansion.

Purpose and Work

The work day began by climbing into the back of a truck for about a half hour ride to the Bible School. We had breakfast at the Slater’s house – which is right on the Bible School grounds. This was followed by someone giving a devotional – local folks or team members. Then we walked downhill to the worksite. In recent years a number of mission teams have helped to expand the School’s facilities. Our team erected a building that will be used for a dormitory. The foundation, an array of posts dug or driven into the ground, had already been readied. The building was purchased from the US Embassy for $15,000 plus another $5,000 for dismantling and transporting it to the Bible School. It had been dismantled in sections, floor pieces, walls, trusses, metal roofing sheets, purloins, and whatever. The original cost of this building was $140,000. We got the basic building set up. It still needs the doors, windows, interior finish and utility hookups.

We had a good bit of rain. If it was a light rain we continued to work. In heavy rains we ducked under for a time and continued later. Fiji is a hilly and mountainous place. The Bible School grounds are among a series of hills. The building parts had been stored up the hill. The students (quite a few for each section) grabbed a section such as a roof truss and came down the hill. Because of the frequent rains the grounds were muddy and slippery. As the students brought the sections they were walking or sliding (whichever was convenient) down the hill. They had a joyous time of it.

Lovo

One evening we enjoyed a lovo. This is similar to the well-known Hawaiian luau. The pig was cut into pieces and wrapped in what appeared to be palm leaves. Chickens and other foods also were cooked. The result was a delicious Polynesian meal. Additionally, the missionary, Steve Slater, also had ordered a number of large crabs. Talk about a feast. Construction mission trips aren’t always about work. There also are festive and fun-time occasions, as well as ministry opportunities.

Ministry Opportunities

Devotionals

I gave a devotional to the team involving our fleeing from Hungary and about the Lord’s involvement in my life, particularly, the Baptism in the Holy Spirit. I had really sought the Lord on this and He blessed me with the anointing of His Spirit. Many people remarked as to how they were touched by it. I told of our fleeing from Hungary in late November 1944 when the Communist soldiers were advancing from the East. My parents had stayed up all night deliberating on whether to flee or not. They decided to flee. My mother was seven months pregnant with their sixth child. In an ox-drawn cart we were transported to the train station. As we were piling into the box car with two other families, as well as Mom’s parents, it became apparent that Dad was not going to join us in our train. He had been busy helping other people that had been fleeing and because the Soviets came so fast he had to flee on a truck. He did not know where we were and we did not know where he was.

It took us seven days to reach the Bavarian village of Pleinting on the Danube River, in Germany just about 15 miles from the Austrian border. At first we were put up in a schoolroom, on straw. Later we were given an apartment of two rooms for Mom and five kids. On New Years Eve Dad still had not found us. Mom kept the four oldest up to “pray in” the New Year, as is the custom of many European Christians. I am the fourth child so I stayed up. She read and told us stories to keep us awake. At midnight she led us in prayer that God would bring our Dad back. The baby (Eva) was born on January 30, 1945 and Dad was there. Some time between New Years Eve and her birthday he found us. It turns out that he was in another town in the Western part of Germany. He was in an office building still helping other people. One day he heard familiar voices in the building. He went to investigate and found two ladies who had also come from our home town in Hungary. They directed him to us. In getting to us he took an express train. These trains normally do not stop in small villages such as Pleinting. The village was only about one kilometer (0.6 miles) long. But this train stopped. However, it came in the dark of the evening. On the Pleinting station platform was a boy (I believe his first name was Arthur) who also had come from our town in Hungary. He knew my Dad and brought him over to where we lived.

Additionally, I told of my experiences gaining faith in Christ Jesus and being baptized in the Holy Spirit. This devotional ministered to a number of people based on feedback I received.

Church Service and Chapel Service

As a result of my devotional one of the local pastors, Pastor Vuate, invited me to his church on Sunday. I agreed. Then I found out from another local leader, “Junior” the construction overseer that the invitation meant I was to preach. I did. On Wednesday I was asked to speak to the students at the chapel service. I spoke for ten minutes focusing on the Lordship of Jesus and the baptism in the Holy Spirit. The Missionary, Steve Slater, said to me afterwards that what I said was exactly what he would have wanted me to say.

Missions and Evangelism Class

After I had spoken to the student body at the Chapel Service on Wednesday noon I was approached by the Assistant Dean of Students, Pastor Eroni (Aaaron) who asked me if I could speak to his class the following morning (Thursday) for an hour. He teaches the Missions & Evangelism class for the first-year students. I agreed. I spoke on doing the will of the Father is more than just saying Lord, Lord. It is going about the Father’s business and He is in the Redemption business (as Dan Betzer has said). I talked about the Great Commission, what the Gospel is and the importance of getting it out to the people. This led to the Baptism in the Holy Spirit. We tend to make this experience optional, bur Jesus told His disciples not to leave Jerusalem until they were filled with the Holy Spirit. He would give the power to witness and proclaim the good news. The infilling of the Holy Spirit is necessary for us to be the witnesses He wants us to be.

The morning I spoke to the Missions and Evangelism class, I came in work clothes as I had intended to help Dan and Lee with a masonry job. Lee talked me out of going down (way down) into a gully where the work was to be conducted because it was already raining and I would only be able to work about an hour before I would have to leave and get cleaned up. So, I didn't look very respectable in the class -- but they understood. The class went well. One of the office workers, Sister Fiona, at the school sent me photos of my class experience as I didn’t have my camera with me. Here is what she said about the class session: “Here are the photos that were taken on the day you ministered to the freshmen - Missions & Evangelism Class. I spoke to some of the students, and they've all said that they had a wonderful time, and they also learnt a lot. Well, I can believe that, because I was moved the day you spoke in Chapel - very inspiring. Thank-you for coming and sharing with us in Fiji.”

The Lord has a way of opening doors of ministry and then giving the anointing of the Holy Spirit to make it happen. I am thankful for His leading and constantly in awe of His grace.