WE ARE IN THE SEASON

December to April is our summer which is 24/7 hot and humid (called cyclone season for a reason). Since Cyclone Mick in December it has been very dry, hot and humid but no additional cyclones. The met office is calling for the same (dry) with hotter temperatures (90's) in February. They also say the only way we will get over the El Nino conditions is a cyclone or depression bringing us huge amounts of rain. How encouraging! Other than 3 inches of rain one afternoon last week we had not received but very light rain once or twice since December. One of the problems is that the temperature at night hasn't been getting below 80 degrees with high humidity.

We have to admit that we are weak and finally succumbed. First let me tell you that we have whole air conditioning here in our house. When the louvered windows are opened fully then whatever condition the air is outside is what blows through the whole house. We have overhead fans going all the time as well as some floor fans. If we close the louvers we have a sauna! Well, we are fortunate that the house has a window air conditioner in the bedroom. After a couple of nights with a floor fan and the ceiling fan going and waking up in a pool of sweat thinking the waterbed had sprung a leak (knowing we have not had a waterbed for donkey's years) we finally admitted we were beaten and are now using the Air Conditioner at night. The difference of sleeping in 75 degrees with 45% humidity to the 85 degrees with 80-90% outside is fantastic.

In this season, I usually go through at least three shirt changes a day, more if I exert (breathe). I can be working on the computer in the office with sweat leaking and pooling off my arms (thus the towels between the desk and my arms). When I go out, to town, work around the yard or anything it is like the fountains of the deep opening. You should see my clothes after teaching on Sunday. Sorry, I know you who are suffering through cold, ice and snow have no pity for us but you have to admit it did warm you up a bit! Felt the sweat running down the back didn't ya!
We have had several unexpected power outages since cyclone Mick which just frustrates us when we are trying to have the fans working as fast as they will go only to have them STOP! for an hour or so.

Though most things are back to normal (as much as anything is normal here in Fiji) after the cyclone the trees in the area still show major damage. The dry weather has been good for banana trees as we were able to harvest two bunches this month. Some of the coconuts falling off our trees have cracked up in the tree (due to no leaves and no protection from the sun and the juice dripped out) making them useless.

Our sad trees
More than we can ask or imagine

Ephesians 3:20 says, "Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us,". This has a special meaning to us this past month. In December we were notified that a congregation who had been a sponsor to our work in New Zealand, PNG and Vanuatu and who has helped us the past 2 1/2 years here in Fiji would no longer be supporting us $284 after December 2009 due to re-alignment of their missions funding. With this cut in mind we had renegotiated our house lease from Fj$500 ($US258) to Fj350 ($181) monthly to help us cut down expenditures to allow us to remain here in Fiji. Then on January 11th we received an email letting us know the Columbus Miss congregation was going to include us in their 2010 budget for $3,000 a year. We had talked with them in 2008 but the Lord touched their hearts again in 2009. Thank you Lord! So without any additional pleading the Lord provided. We really only lost $34 monthly but have cut expenses $77. This will allow us to continue to advertise the Bible courses through the Bible Institute.
Renegotiation of the house lease
In clarification of the renegotiation of the house lease: there were several things which the landlady did not tell us about the house and the property when we signed the initial lease in Sept 2008, ie, flooding, how much maintenance and work it takes to keep the house and property clean and liveable (especially since it is not our property), lack of cyclone shutters and the fact that the windows leaked copious amounts of water when the rains were driven laterally into the closed windows. So we sent her an email (she lives in Australia with her son) and said either renegotiate or we would be moving. We found similar property in Lautoka, but without the flooding, which was renting for less than what we were paying here. It would have cost Fj$500-800 to move so we gave her a choice instead of just moving out. On top of the Fj$350 rent we agreed to do maintenance up to Fj$50 per month. So in January I built cyclone shutters for all the windows and doors, put stop strips at the top of all the windows to keep the wind and water from blowing in when the windows are shut and build a cement block wall out the back door. The cement wall has an opening to allow access to the clothes line for Kathy but will allow me to contain flooding in the area by placing sandbags across the gap.

back door - shutters and sandbags
Schools back in session

The local schools started their new school year on Tuesday (Jan 26th). Joshua and Anna's children moved to different schools this year because they have moved to their own house in a different area. All the kids are back in school, whew! It also means that the students and others we have on correspondence courses will get back to their courses. Dec-Jan are traditionally holiday months with everyone going here and there and the correspondence program slows down.
Sabeto

We had to repair the cement pad that we use on Sunday for services at Sabeto. Every time there is flooding in that area the pad is under water. Fortunately there are no walls with 8 inch treated posts holding the metal roof up. The original cement was not of a real good quality mix and some of the rebar was out on top of the cement pad, which is not a good thing. So Josua and I took a bag of sand, a bag of cement and put a new top on parts of the pad one morning.

I am still teaching on the "Reign of Christ" on Sunday mornings at Sabeto.

There are some days that Kathy and I wonder if we are making an impression here or not. I recently read an article on the problems that Christians are facing in the area of sexual sins. So many things which were considered wrong yesteryear are now considered normal in the world as well as in the church. I realize, again, that we are going to have to start teaching our youth earlier about marriage and sexual purity. Here was a post I received the other day that hits the nail on the mark, "we've grown up with the idea as Christians we aren't supposed to associate with those practicing any kind of doctrinal error, as opposed to those "living in sin." This isn't a sound Biblically based teaching. The apostles told Christians not to associate with those practicing idolatry and adultery, and warned against arguing over doctrinal matters. We've essentially reversed that Biblical paradigm and reject our siblings in Christ over differences in the meanings of texts while often accepting those "living in sin." In practice, we send our kids to Satan's schools that graphically depict how to live in ways that transgress the will of God (movies whether in theaters or on TV screens are great educational tools often exploited by God's adversaries to teach our kids the how-to's of sinful living). It's no wonder our pews are filled with those who've paid attention in Satan's classrooms and put the lessons he's taught into real-world action. We're just beginning to recognize the usefulness of technology in carrying out the teaching part of the Great Commission. Satan has a long head-start in this educational arena, so we need to play catch up."

To make the situation personal we have been working in cultures of the South Pacific for over 30 years where cultural practices of sexual purity are very far from the Biblical standards. (Try out the bride and see if she can get pregnant before marriage is just one of the practices.) What many cultures say is allowable (not necessarily Godly), sexually, has become acceptable by people who profess they are Christians and have been in fellowship for years. This makes it very hard to come into a work with an established group and thus makes it more imperative that we get out in the community and teach and show what Biblical standards are in sexual purity and marriage. We need to give special emphasis on teaching our youth before they face these times of temptation, but that does not negate our responsibility of calling the older members back to the Biblical standards as well as teach on their personal responsibility of Christian purity. This sometimes does not make us of flavor of the day as you might imagine. I have a seminar teaching on Christian Marriage which I hope to get more congregations to take advantage of this next year. Pray that we can make an impression where we are!

This "N" That

We are still awaiting to see if the Education department is going to require the Bible Institute to register.
Kathy and I celebrated our 41st Anniversary of marriage Jan 17th. We took a day trip to Denarau outside Nadi. This is one of the more Premier areas that tourists stay and visit. We had a meal at Hard Rock Cafe: BBQ Beef sandwich with seasoned fries and onion rings.

We are working on getting the signatures needed to get our visas renewed next month.

I am working on Course 15 (of 32) for the Bible Institute curriculum.

The sty I had in my eye finally came to a head and I was able to lance it and drain it myself (and I can still see out of that eye).

It was brought to my attention this past month that maybe many of you do not know that four of veteran missionary Joe Cannon's books on Missions are available on our web site. Just double click <http://cibs-fiji.fiji.com/CIBS-Fiji/JoeCannonsbooks.htm>.

Thanks

We wish to make special mention of the Weds night prayer class at College Hills who faithfully lift our name in prayer and encourage us with the weekly card signed by those who attend this class. Thank you so very much!

We wish to make special thanks to the brethren at Northland in Kansas City for their timely box of goodies for Christmas. We didn't receive the FedEx box until Jan 5th (when I went and picked it up) and it was missing several CD's but it had the Gatoraid, pretzels, KoolAid and puzzle books. Thank you all so much. (munch, munch!) And thank you to our daughter, Terasa, for the Sam's Trail mix and our son, Jason, for the Hershey Semi Sweet chips and blocks. I think they thought we might come back so they sent the necessities to keep me here.

Thank all of you for your prayers and support that allow us to work in the lives of people here in Fiji and the South Pacific.

Your seed sowing workers in the Kingdom.

WE ARE IN THE SEASON

Tobey & Kathy