August 2009

Dear Friends, Brethren and Family

Ni Sa Bula from Fiji land.

After the last newsletter the weather decided to get very windy and then it cooled off to 65 (18C) for a couple of nights. It then warms up in the daytime and then cools off at night. Seasonal flu is running rampant here and some people get it several times. We have been fortunate that we have only had the sniffles and my regular allergies. The mango trees are heavy with mangos. Some have already fallen and the dogs have learned to eat them and fight the mongoose off who try to get them at night. So far the dogs have kept the neighbors pigs out of our yard but our other neighbors have not been so fortunate. If the pigs die I was not the one who assisted them.

All in the day of life of Fiji
This month I have been helping get Josua and Anna's house built. Ceramic tile is reasonably cheap here so I offered to put tile down for them. Little did I know that part of the floor (which had been there when they put up the framework) needed to be leveled and filled before anything could be done. Then littler did we know that there would be a shortage of cement in the country. It took over a month to get the cement to mix and level the floor in the bedroom section of the house. We have finally leveled the floor and I put down tile. I finished the tile last week. I still have to grout it but that will wait until we have put up the masonite walls and have painted them. I used double knee pads and still was sore for days after. I'm thinking tile laying is a young person's job.

Tile Floor

I have been able to finished the cabinets and will be moving them to the house this week sometime. I cannot install them until we get the walls up and painted in the kitchen. I must say there are some building tricks that I had to learn not having the proper machines or materials available.
Here was what I was doing: "I had to go do door frames for Josh and then cut the windows and doors to fit. He was two window covers short so we just put plastic over the holes. Stepped on a board with a nail in it, but only about 1/2 inch went in the ball of my left foot.
I got home and stained the face frames, drawer fronts and doors (only for the lower cabinets). First of all let me tell you what fun it is to make cabinet doors without all the equipment. I did have a set of stile and rail router bits though. When it came time to put them together I had to use a square to make sure they were square before stapling them. I made the doors to Durling specifications. After clamping them and then stapling them I put 3" screws in all the joints so they would not come apart (as easily) if someone hangs on them (which someone will). Depending on if the dust is blowing across our yard tomorrow - I might try to lacquer it all tomorrow afternoon."

Cabinet Building Fiji style

Back to real time: Josua is building the toilet-shower blockhouse this week. The electrician started wiring the house on Saturday and should finish next weekend. He teaches at a trade-school and is using his students on the weekend to do the work for practical experience. Then they just have to get the power company to hook up the power. Up to now when we need power we plug into a neighbor's house. We also use their water by filling up a 55 gal drum for water when we need to mix cement. Your guess is as good as mine as to when they will get water hook-up because the council said they don't have any water meters in stock to install.

Opportunity to Help
One family responded to our plea for financial help for Josh and Anna last month. This was sufficient to pay for the electrical work. Thank you so much. We still need to put masonite on the walls and ceiling, paint all of it, plumb the house and toilet-shower block for water and drainage and a number of other things before they can move in. As mentioned Josh and Anna are building as they can come up with the funds.  Can we help this worthy family?  Estimated costs still needed are: masonite for walls and ceiling, $450; paint $450; plumbing $325. If you wish to help funds can be sent to our sponsor marked "Conivanua House". You cannot know how much your help will be appreciated by these tireless workers in God's Kingdom here in Fiji. They will complete the house eventually but much quicker with our help. Thank you so much!!!!!!!

Extension Courses for CIBS
I have finished the first 10 undergraduate courses and this past weekend advertised in the local newspaper. We should receive our first requests this week. Pray with us that the advertisement is successful and many will request the courses.

This N' That
Dave and Rhonda Marconi sailed away. They were one of the Christian yacht families who were here for an extended period. They are sailing to the Marshal islands and then on to the west coast of the USA. They will be missed by many of the people around here.

We are in the sugar cane harvesting season right now. This means that the highway is crowded with large trucks loaded with cane. This also means the cane train is going to the mill with hundreds of full carts and then bringing the empty carts back next to our house dozens of times every day and night.

Many of you know about the recent situation in Nigeria where one of the Christian doctors was kidnapped for ransom. He has since been released but sustained a gunshot wound. The whole story can be read: http://www.christianchronicle.org/article2158867~Medical_missionary_kidnapped_in_Nigeria_undergoes_surgery%2C_recuperates_in_Nashville.
I so much appreciate what Bro Whittaker had to say about the ordeal. Before he left Nigeria, Whittaker assured his friends and colleagues he would return. "I told them I didn't know when it would be," he said. But the British-born doctor became teary-eyed as he thought about the mission he left behind. In Africa, he explained, one way missionaries show their love is by sacrificially toughing out difficult times with the people to whom God has sent them.

"Whatever happens, you never leave them, you never go from them permanently," Whittaker said. Despite the suffering, Whittaker said he sees God's hand at work. "I've been saved. ... I could have died so easily," he said. "We can't tie God down to our expectations," he added. "He's still there, and he's still caring for me."

The Fiji government is still being run by the Commadore who overthrew the elected government in Dec 2006 in a military coup. Some have expressed concern for our safety due to bad mouthing from the Australia and New Zealand government who think democratic elections should be held - NOW and there should be no censorship of the newspapers, radio and TV! The current government (the Commadore is the Prime Minister as appointed by the President) is working toward reforms which would give every Fiji citizen equal rights. For too long the Indian - Fijian citizen as opposed to the Indigenous - Fijian have been treated as second class citizens. The Indian -Fijian citizen does not own native land even though they were born here in Fiji to Indian families who were brought into Fiji by the British to work in the sugar cane fields in the 19th and 20th centuries. The Methodist church has been known as the state religion for many years and have been very influential in past governments which have been very racist. Even though the Commadore is Methodist he has made it known that the Methodist church will not be running this government. He told the churches to stay out of politics and I agree with him. It came to a head when he refused to give the Methodists a permit to have their yearly church gathering where they have choir competitions and very heavy fund raising for their church run organizations, schools and health centres.

I want to assure you that as far as the government is concerned, there is peace and harmony as long as one leaves them alone and doesn't breach the curfew and public assembly restrictions. A more active threat to our safety comes from religious zealots who don't agree with my opinions when I express them in the Letters to the Editor section of the local newspapers. I sent a letter to the editor which stirred up a hornet's nest. I had been publishing in the Fiji Sun but now the other major paper the Fiji Times realized the on-going religion word war was selling papers and they have started a full page for these opinions. My letter was in reply to a Seventh Day Adventist who tried to explain that they were not a cult and that they were main stream Christian. So I explained what a cult was and showed that the Seventh Day Adventists, Jehovah Witnesses and the Mormons were cults even though they try to portray themselves as "Christian". The Seventh Day Adventists were incensed! I am not a martyr but will stand up for the Truth when I get a chance. I have had many people, Christian and non-Christian alike, express their thanks for the letters I have written and printed in the newspaper. It is all part of sowing the seed.

Back to Bro Whittaker; it is not only in Africa that missionaries show their love by sacrificially toughing out difficult times with the people to whom God has sent them. It would be so easy for us to cut and run when things are not going the way we envision they should be going. I had this vision that we would be building a located Bible school to assist in training local island brethren to reach into their various language groups with the gospel of Christ. We have not been able to build a local school but we have been able to establish the "Christian Institute of Biblical Studies" as a viable extension school as a seed sowing tool and a source of encouragement and strength for Christians in isolated situations here in the Islands. So as long as the Lord is "still caring for us" we plan to remain here and meet the challenges that are sent our way. Oh, don't get me wrong we have our pity party from time to time when we wonder why we are here and our kids and grandkids are so far away, why it is so difficult sometimes to get the brethren motivated to do what is good and right, why we have to pay the high prices for certain food items, why certain food items are not available (why every Wal*Mart has shelves full of things the people here have no idea exists), why it is so hard to get brethren to support and contribute to foreign missions, why packages from family takes weeks to get here and why when three packages are shipped the same time one will come in 10 days while another will take 4 weeks to get here, why why!

We would like to ask for special prayers for our financial needs. We have been able to accomplish much with what we have but everything is becoming more expensive. If you, the congregation where you worship or you know of any source of finance which could help our needs we would appreciate it if you would talk to them on our behalf. We need to secure an additional $1,000 per month to make up for lost support and needed additional support. At the present time our visas to stay in Fiji will expire March 2010. We do not think we will have a problem renewing the visas but need to be looking at the future direction of CIBS and our involvement. Our vision has not changed because we still see the need for a located Bible School here in Fiji for the Islands. But until that vision expands with proper funding we will allow the Lord to do the leading.........

Again we appreciate and thank all of you who make it possible for us to be here and assist in the workings of the Kingdom of God here in the South Pacific. Your prayers and support are a God-send in times we feel we are but spinning our wheels. We so appreciate the weekly card we receive from the Prayer class at College Hills!

Your seed sowing workers in the Kingdom.
.

Tobey & Kathy