New Zealand to Fiji - Part One
10thSeptember, 2008
Please check back again over the next week or so for Part Two!
Getting to Nadi
The day we were to depart Auckland the Lord showed us to expect something different. And the day before when we had made a booking for accommodation in Nadi, the Holy Spirit had held things back from us making even a deposit on where we were believing to stay.
Over the days before our flight, we had been sharing with a friend how often Air Pacific, who our first leg was to be with, had been known in the past to have to turn people away from the terminal, on the day of their flight.
And so it was!
Free Hotel
When we got to the Auckland air terminal, they were looking for volunteers to go the next day! We strongly believed to do that. And as it turned out their was a large party of Christians going over from Bethlehem School in Tauranga — with connecting flights to the Solomon Islands.
They were going over to help with building projects and other things in the Lord. So when we found this out we felt blessed that the Lord had shown us to volunteer to go the next day, and hoped He would use it to get these brothers and sisters through to their connecting flights for the Solomons.
The Lord blessed us by being put up in a Queens Street hotel for the night, and shouted a lovely meal by Air Pacific. On the plane the next day, He touched the check in man to have us placed in the seats opposite where some of the crew would sit during take off and landing.
This meant that we ended up having a wonderful opening to share with an Xlamik cabin steward, all about the Lord Jesus, and he was able to take a New Testament at the end of the flight
In Nadi we waited to hear by phone from local friends, who wanted to organise some accommodation for us.
But we still strongly believed that the Lord wanted us to stay in the budget hotel that we had found through the internet.
Eventually we believed to confirm those arrangements and go to the budget hotel instead.
And our friends had got the arrival times muddled by some hours and we saw the hand of God in this at the time by faith.
On arrival in the hotel lobby, there was another traveller checking in as well. His name, we were to learn later, was Ben. After we had prayed in and for the cleansing of our room, we believed to have something to eat. As we came downstairs the Lord showed quite strongly to turn right, near a swimming pool. This led into a restaurant/cafe area (there were two areas in use it turned out).
While eating our meals, Ben came past and asked me about the fish I was eating. He eventually ordered the same and asked if he could join us at our table. Welcoming him to sit with us, it turned out that he was a seeker. A friend of his had become a follower of Christ in England, and Ben was full of questions - from evolution, Dawkins (Book: 'the God delusion'), to personal sexual conduct.
It was wonderful to spend hours talking together. Ben said at the beginning of the evening that he was an atheist, but as the Holy Spirit ministered the Truth of Jesus to him, he said in the middle of the evening, he was an agnostic, then for the last hour Ben was discussing water baptism and issues of commitment, and said that he could no longer be called an agnostic!
Ben took a NT to read for the first time, and other gospel literature with him, praise God!
The next day we were able to spend special time with a Christian man who had been seeking deliverance from a besetting problem. He had exposed himself to pornography, and ever since had been suffering from strong flashes of this just randomly hitting him during the day.
He was we believed sincerely repentant for what he had done, and we offered prayer for the deliverance that only the Lord Jesus can bring in such circumstances. We were able to check with him a few days later and the Lord had surely delivered him! He told us that the ferocity of these attacks was gone. He still had the odd impression from time to time but with none of the power that it had influenced over him before. Praise the Lord Jesus!
Kaminieli
We needed the light in the toilet fixed and I spotted a security man in the hallway. He said that he would see to it. Then as we talked, he described himself as a born again Methodist. We were able to get Kaminieli to share with us something of the difficulties that many families now face in Fiji, with wages having remained pretty static for many years, while prices for even common things have sky rocketed.
Kaminieli is not only providing for his wife and children, but also for his sister and her children since her husband died.
Christians in the western world might have little feeling of what it is like to do that in a country facing the economic challenges that Fiji is facing at this time.
Even if Kaminieli's boss wanted to, where would he find the money to increase staff wages?
Kaminieli was very keen to hear more on the leading of the Holy Spirit. And was very excited to learn that Christians can have such dynamic and lively walks with God in whatever ways that God chooses for them.
That evening we were blessed to meet the Manageress, Head Chef, and owners of the place that we were staying in. It turned out that the Manageress had some faith. We spent some time sharing with them together and individually
We were both extremely blessed to learn the next day that the Head Chef had read the Paradise booklet and said that while doing that he had decided to give his life back to Christ - to make Jesus his Executive Chef again!
The night before the owner of the place had taken copies of the Paradise leaflet, he said for the staff - and he is not even a Christian yet himself!
Before Leaders . .
When it came time for dinner we strongly believed to sit in the main restaurant. We took a table right away from the entrance. The waitress wanted to move us to another table. And we ended up sitting beside a dinner party which had Sitiveni Rabuka (a previous coup leader and Prime Minister) in it.
There were Australians in their party, and we prayed very strongly to know what God would have done, and at a distance other friends we txt'd prayed as well.
God showed us to wait patiently and be prepared to present Paradise leaflets to each member of the dinner party when He showed.
We continued to intercede for the saving of their souls. What the Lord caused to happen next was mind blowing. One of the Australians present started to tell a wonderful story about a great tragedy that had happened in their family.
He himself did not appear to be a Christian as far as we could tell. His wife had lost a child while in labour in a hospital.
They were both utterly devastated. The man had felt like a 100 tonne truck had driven over him he said.
In the hospital the two were together grief stricken, when out of no where a lady who identified herself as a follower of the Lord Jesus walked up to them and offered to pray for them telling them that God understood what had just happened and wanted to pour His love in them.
The man told the dinner party and all who could hear in the restaurant, that normally his wife would be very anti Christian.
She was however willing to let this woman pray for them. The lady wrapped her arms around them and asked our Heavenly Father that He would out pour his love upon them and heal their grieving hearts, and grant them peace.
At this point we felt primed to get ready to hand over the Paradise Leaflets. The man continued saying that he felt the burden of the 100 tonne truck he had described earlier being lifted off him.
And they both felt the love of God. The lady who they had never met before and never saw again suddenly left as quickly as she had arrived.
At that point we moved over to their table to introduce ourselves. And one of their dinner party started to make light of the man's story. I strongly emphasised that we could totally endorse that God did just the kind of thing that had been talked about, and we handed out the Paradise leaflet and business cards. Rabuka pointed out the Jesus Way logo on our cards and showed his friend - they were stunned that we were there with gospel literature! We then left.
When I came to write this up, I suddenly realised that I had met this man before, and he had told this story. So I hope that if you are reading this, please do email us!
Suva
We believed that we had to travel down to Suva for a few days to catch up with a family we know there. The husband is in some capacity of leadership in a pentecostal church there.
On the bus trip on the way down I met a Christian sister from Nigeria who came to Fiji on an inter-government programme with her son and has now settled in Fiji working as a lawyer for the Fiji Government. It was a most interesting opening to share together on the work of God in her famnilies life and what He is doing with her now they live in Fiji.
Micahel and I stayed with 'Christian' friends we had made in 2001 while in Suva. Unfortunately the husband was apparently backslidden. But the wife was pressing in, in her faith. The son who was still at home, in his twenties, was also backslidden and often sleeping over at his girlfriend's place. Regrettably the time with them only served to confirm that the husband is not yet honest in his handling of money or the honouring of his word. He had been running a business earlier which ended up spiritually in strife because he entered into sinful financial dealings, and now we witnessed his attempts to swindle a major company, and indirectly ourselves! It was disturbing to think that a pentecostal church there is using him from time to time in a leadership capacity.
Men have a tremendous responsability to be examples of Christ in and to their familes and the world around us. Or . . .
A Little Bit of Leaven, Leavens the Whole Lump . . .
1 ¶ Meanwhile, when a crowd of many thousands had gathered, so that they were trampling on one another, Jesus began to speak first to his disciples, saying: "Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.
2 There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known.
3 What you have said in the dark will be heard in the daylight, and what you have whispered in the ear in the inner rooms will be proclaimed from the roofs.
4 "I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more.
5 But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear him who, after the killing of the body, has power to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him.
As said one of his sons had been put off following the Lord by his antics and we were able to encourage that man to seek the Lord for himself apart from his father's disgraceful behaviour. The other son we caught up with later in Nadi, and we tried to encourage him as well. He said that he had been living from a compromised conscience on important matters and hated himself for it. We also told him to not follow the father's example but to look to God as his Heavenly Father and Example.
It was a difficult time in many ways, and we hope that God will pluck individuals out from the flames saving them from all the evil that has permeated their family.
The 'Family' - the 'Community' - Cultish?
While in Suva we believed to grab an ice cream one day at Macdonalds. Spotting a young man sitting reading a bible at the back of the MacDonalds, we believed to introduce ourselves to him. His name in English was David.
David immediately started indoctrinating us into the evils of the church systems, not allowing us to say much at all.
And as he spoke there was a subtle dangerous sense of an unloving cultish type of thing coming across.
While being an encyclopedia on the failings of system churches, David also appeared to believe he was going to set up the perfect church in some way. He has a notebook full of the necessary things. Then we heard him say that he was part of something that calls itself 'the family' or 'the community'.
The Work of the Holy Spirit Essential
As is so often the case with these groups, there was no mention of the power or work of the Holy Spirit nor of the ways that God provides safety in doctrine for the development of genuine loving relationships.
It turned out that David, and possibly his group, do not believe in the Scriptures that teach that younger men should be submissive to older brothers, nor was their any recognition of apostolic, prophetic, or eldership ministries.
18 For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.
19 Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow-citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household,
20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone.
21 In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord.
22 And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.
There appeared to be a sentiment that only 'the family' knew anything relevant, and there was no ability to recognise that any one outside the 'group' in Fiji could be right or have any authority in Christ.
This kind of development is becoming more common all around the world - especially with new Christians becoming only too aware of how far the general western style church is from the teaching of the Lord Jesus and His apostles even as found in Scripture
But like all such things - what is only birthed as a reaction to other faults is never balanced, and can become seventy times worse than what it wants to replace.
Always apostles and prophets must be the foundation, and the Lord Jesus the chief- and corner- stone! And everything must be genuinely in the power and leading of the Holy Spirit - Who will lead us into all truth - even as found already in the Holy Scriptures.
Please check back again over the next week or so for part two!