November 2009
November 30, 2009
Dear Brethren, Friends and Family
Ni sa bula from Fiji land.
Last month and the first part of this month we have been having what I call
"psyco winds". These are winds that blow and blow and don't quit.
(If I wasn't already nuts it would drive me nuts!) Try having a tarp on the
side of the house! These winds also bring clouds of dust from the neighborhood,
and fumes from the big trucks which travel on the road outside our property
into the house. We cannot keep the doors and windows closed because of the heat
so we just shovel dirt out and off the furniture every day or so. Does wonders
for my contact lens.
We have been also having a drought until the past few days. We have been having
afternoon thunderstorms which bring quick heavy rain. So as not to be caught
out like last year I have filled over 50 sandbags and have then stacked along
side the house if we need them to keep the waters out of the house this time.
They do not sell sandbags here so I had to go buy synthetic flour bags at the
market to use.
With the changing of seasons we are also getting higher temperatures and higher
humidity. It is usually in the 80's with humidity in the upper 70% and 80%.
I have many three shirt days. It is also a time when the ants become more active
and we are forever finding new trails on the walls and counter tops. We also
have 4 stocks of bananas growing with mangos and coconuts.
Housing News
Josh, Anna and clan are in their house. The first night they had a hiccup
with the plumbing in the kitchen which Jos and I sorted out the next day with
a new connection. They still do not have continuous water supply and have a
water tank to fill up when they have water and to use when they do not. We also
put wire over the window openings so other people cannot help themselves to
things inside the house when windows are left open at night for cooling breezes.
We held services there a week or so ago as Bola and his family where not home
in Sabeto but were in Lautoka after a death in the family..
Correspondence Courses and Extension
Courses
It has been very slow the past months with courses. It could be that as we are
winding down to the end of the year and students are studying for tests they
didn't have time for Bible Study. School is out here Dec - Feb 1st and many
families head back to the villages as well. We have had a few new requests this
month and several who had not responded for a while send in the current lesson.
It just gets slow at times.
I have been able to finish all the materials for 12 of the courses for CIBS.
I am working on an additional 9 courses.
I have also had to print an additional 30 copies of the Fiji/English songbook
because we are meeting at multiple locations. As I mentioned before I was able
to acquire toner powder from the States and have been able to refill my toners
which then give me 100% more copies then the original toner cartridges. More
economic for us.
Help for the Cancer ward here in Lautoka
Last month I mentioned that the women here at Vuda Point (Kathy included) decided
to help the local cancer ward. After fund raising, they repainted, put up new
curtains, I build a new cabinet, etc. Well, a good friend Roene Blankenship,
in Joplin decided to put her contacts to work and helped to secure 13 boxes
of sheets, pillows, gloves and linen to help the oncology ward. The boxes were
supposed to have been shipped to American Samoa in a container full of supplies
for the tsunami relief there. We were making arrangements to then get the 13
boxes shipped down to Fiji via Air Pacific. However due to some mis-communication
the boxes were not loaded in the container and they are now sitting in a warehouse
in Fort Smith AR. So we have made contact with Fed Ex who have said they will
help us (gratis) get the boxes at least as far as their depot in Sydney, Australia.
The women's group here at Vuda is trying to contact service clubs in Australia
to help get it shipped up here. I am working with airlines to see if they will
help with humanitarian airlifts. As always when one door closes another opens,
thank you Lord!
This and That
Last month one of the Directors of "The Christian Institute of Biblical
Studies-Fiji" died here in Fiji. His name was Emosi Tabu. He was one of
the original signers of our application for visas here in Fiji. He was one of
the leaders with the Nadera congregation with Ledua Naivalurua. He was not that
old and we understand he suffered a heart attack. Emosi was a staunch supporter
of the Institute and will be missed.
I did find out that to renew our visas to stay in Fiji we just have to have
a letter from the brethren and the $250 fee.
Do you remember that after the flooding last January the washing machine which
came with the house had to be push started to work? Well for some reason (?)
it was not washing properly and the clothes were bunching so that when it spun
out it was banging and walking all over the wash room. Kathy finally said she
had had enough of standing over it all the time so we went into Nadi and bought
a new washing machine. Here in Fiji "automatic washing machine" doesn't
always mean that it has a water pump to expel the water. Many have a drain hose
which you lay on the ground and removes water that way when a valve is opened
(gravity expel). Keep in mind many people here have their washing machine outside
their house which is fine for a drain hose. Drain hose machines are a bit cheaper
but we had to have a water pump model. It is a Simpson (Electrolux) 5.5 kg model.
It cost us a little over US$650 after they gave us a discount of $150 for having
money.
We are right in the sugar cane season here so we have sugar cane trains going
back and forth by our house night and day full with cut cane from the fields
to the mill and the empties back to the fields. With the dry conditions many
of the cane fields have also been torched and that gets very scary when the
fields are all around houses. (there are more fire bugs per capitol here in
Fiji then anyplace, they like to slash and burn) The field behind us was afire
a couple of weeks ago and you could hear the cane stocks popping in the fire.
Fortunately for us there is a small green buffer behind our house and other
than the smoke, airborne ash and noise we were not affected. We still have our
health, (cough, cough)!
Speaking of health: I had a small blister attack from mangos sap but was able
to control it. I have also developed a cyst under my left eye. Something about
a tear duct clogged up. I have seen an eye specialist. He is a Solomon Island
eye doctor practicing here in Lautoka. We had a good ole time talking Solomon
Pidgin. He examined my eyes and said I had this beautiful "morning glory"
optic nerve. He knew I wore contacts but was "super" amazed that I
could read the eye chart 20/20 with my contacts in. He did explain that a "normal"
optic nerve should be pin point size and that he had never seen one a big as
mine and me not having a seeing eye dog. I was not offended! Later this week
I go see him again and see if and when he will do surgery to clean out the cyst.
(Might need that dog yet!)
We had a very special treat this past weekend with the arrival of the Vanuatu
soccer team. Steve Felix is the manger of the team and they came here to play
a local team from Lautoka called the "Blues". They are playing qualifying
games for the 2010 World Cup.
They came in Saturday afternoon (only a couple of hours late because they were
overbooked in Port Vila). I met them at the airport and the local soccer team
provided bus transport to Lautoka for the team. We had booked them into Cathay
Hotel (where we used to stay when travelled through Fiji) because the stadium
is directly behind the hotel and close to town and the amenities. It was great
to be speaking Bislama again!
TAFEA
FOOTBALL CLUB - VANUATU
Sunday we rented out the conference hall at the Hotel and held services there
with the families from Sabeto and ourselves and Malika from Vuda Point coming
into Lautoka and Anna, her sister and the kids coming from across town. We had
songs in Bislama, Fijian and English. I spoke: English and Bislama.
SERVICES AT CATHAY HOTEL
We had a great fellowship together and the ladies of the congregation fixed
enough food (high carb) for 18 soccer team members and everyone else.
CHOW
LINE
Unlike Vanuatu where soccer is not played on Sunday it is played here on Sunday
in Fiji. The match was held a 3:00 pm. Steve had a bunch of free tickets so
after taking Kathy and Malika home, took a wee nap and drove back and attended
the match. As this was home to the Lautoka team there were not many cheering
for Vanuatu. I sat in the bleachers with a number of drunk Indian supporters.
They take their soccer very seriously here in Fiji. At first I was by myself
(only noting in passing that I was the only white-skinned person in the bleachers)
then Bola came in and sat with me to help cheer for the Vanuatu lads. Vanuatu
made the first goal but Lautoka tied it before half time. In the second half
Lautoka made a number of serious tries at goal but were unable to convert. However
Vanuatu made a second goal which did not sit well with the Lautoka supporters
who surrounded us. About 3 minutes before full time Bola and I left the grounds
and I headed for my car while he headed for the bus to go home. I know from
past experience that I did not want to be there at full-time and I was proved
right because Vanuatu went ahead and won (leading the pool) and there were a
number of fights in the stands after the full-time whistle. I do not tolerate
drunks and usually try not to be around them. Steve said after they got back
to the hotel (which is just behind the stadium where they played) the police
arrived in mass to deal with the trouble-makers. The fact that a thunderstorm
came in right after Steve and the team arrived back at the Hotel also helped
break up the fights. The team shopped on Monday, tended to bruises and returned
home to Vanuatu this morning.
This is the holiday season (Thanksgiving -Christmas) which is a different time
for us (hot and humid). We were on line (web cam) yesterday talking with Jason
and his 3 1/2 year old daughter Morgen very, very excitedly explained that they
had put up a Christmas tree with a big star and that Santa would be coming the
next morning. I can understand that thinking: the tree is up the lights are
lit, where is Santa? This month we also connected with Chris, Terasa and the
kiddos on the web cam. Harrison (almost 12 y.o.) bagged his first deer this
season when he shot an 8 point, 227 pounds with a 14 and a half inch spread.
Guns and grandkids - brings a tear to the eye!
They did have frozen turkeys for sale here but we choose not to purchase one.
We just didn't think they were worth US$7.50 per pound when we could get road-kill
chicken for US$3.00 a pound. Thanks to ESPN we have been able to follow the
holiday basketball tournaments and the football games.
Thank 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.