New Zealand to Fiji Part Two
September 13^th, 2008

Contd from .. Part One

<This is being written at the moment.>

Mere, friends and family

During the couple of months building up to our departure from New Zealand, God had us meet a number of Fijian sisters. Prior to this we had only seen a few Fijians over all of our time in the Auckland area. And none for quite a while.

One of these sisters, Mere Raoma, shared with us about how she had worked on an Island resort off Viti Levu many years before. She told us about a few of the people and things that had happened. And it was there that she had met a lady holidaying from New Zealand who had gone on to run a Cafe Bake House in West Auckland - where we had met Mere herself. (please see Meeting Mere)

Mere had since lived in the City of Lautoka, and then moved on to Auckland New Zealand where she cares for her son Amesio's children while he is playing rugby in Japan.

If you have read Part One, you'll have seen that there was quite a bit of confusion for us over our arrival in Fiji, and the arrangements, but that we ended up believing strongly to stay in a budget hotel (as it was styled) that we had found on the internet earlier.

What I am recounting now spans the whole time that we were in Fiji.

During the first couple of nights that we were in Nadi area, we shared with the Manageress, and the head chief and the owners. While we were sharing the gospel with these people, we wondered at some of the detail that we were learning from them about the people that worked at the hotel.

It seemed that we were hearing about people that Mere had described to us in Auckland some weeks before we had left for Fiji.

And she had said that they all worked together on an off shore island, and yet this place was on the mainland.

Then we learnt that the owner had started and managed the original place where Mere had worked. But in the many years since Mere had left, he had moved on himself and eventually started a new accommodation place, and then gone recruiting to get some of the original staff back together. This was why so many of the names were familiar to us from what Mere had told us.

When we mentioned what Mere had told us, all this was explained to us and we were told that her brother in-law (Malakia) was one of the entertainers where we were staying. We then went on to share the gospel with the person who had explained all this to us.

Heart Attack

Unknown to us then, at that moment Malakia (Mere's brother in-law), had walked near where this conversation was happening, just when his name was mentioned to us. Malakia told us five weeks later that when he heard his name mentioned by a fellow employee to us, he hid in some bushes and listened to our conversation more closely. In his own words to us later he said that he was a very bad sinner against God, and when he heard us sharing the good news of our Lord Jesus Christ, he said he decided he would do his best to avoid us as best as he could - and did so for nearly four weeks! But he had heard something of the gospel!

Michael and I went down to Suva, and then Dion came over to join us for a few days. Dion had just recently rededicated his life to the Lord Jesus Christ, and we did a tremendous amount of bible study together.

During this time God was working powerfully on Malakia. Four of his brothers had failed to make it into their forties - heart attacks and bad lifestyle related illnesses. And while we were away in Suva, Malakia was singing one night in the main restaurant when he had a heart attack. He thought for some reason that no one had noticed, but of course it couldn't be hidden, and security had seen the tell tale signs.

The next day when he reported for work in the late afternoon, the owner asked him if he had been to the doctor. Fearful of seeing a doctor and so being forced off work - having a large family to feed he could not afford it — Malakia said yes, and then was asked what the doctor had said. He answered that the doctor had told him to take some panadol. The owner knew better and insisted on him seeing a doctor.

So perhaps on the way there (we were not sure) Malakia ends up in Nadi township, in a small tea rooms from what he described. He has another heart attack, and ends up slumped on the floor and over the threshold outside. He thinks of his departed relatives as he looses consciousness. The next thing he knows is that he hears the prayers of a Christian preacher and looks up to see a man praying over him. Malakia promised God sincerely that he will serve Christ all his remaining days if God restores him.

The doctor finds his pulse, and blood pressure, but when he tests the heart itself - things are very abnormal (hear Malakia's own words on a video we will put on the web soon God willing, check here videos).

Malakia says that at least least two other doctors were brought in to sort out the problem. They too can not find the activity in Malakia's heart that they expected, but could find a pulse in other parts of his body. They dub him the walking dead man.

Malakia says that he had no real faith as a Catholic, and now has come to love the Lord Jesus with all of his heart. His family are also coming to know and love the Lord Jesus Christ.

We were blessed to have a time of prayer with another staff member as well (who would remain anonymous for now).

During this the Lord Jesus revealed a health condition that was besetting the person. And healed them. They didn't immediately tell us, but told their spouse, and we were later invited to their home to pray for the whole family.

There the Holy Spirit starting moving for their marriage partner in a health area as well, and to God's glory they and their two adult children were baptised that night along with a nephew. Who turned out to be a youth leader in a pentecostal church which had some how overlooked the importance of baptising him, even though he was in leadership with them.

The Lord Jesus did many other things as well, too many to share. We were blessed to be led to be sharing the good news of the Lord Jesus with people, tourists and locals daily. And the Lord led us to be praying for believers with needs from time to time.

One thing that came to the fore a few times while sharing with people that do not know Jesus yet, was a common set of screwy beliefs that are floating around now, that attempt to discredit the bible and even the idea that truth can actually be determined and known. Please look here for an article being written on aspects of this.

We came back to New Zealand for two nights, and then headed off to go over to where a friend is in Arnhim Land.

For that trip please see Northern Queensland