December 2010
Dear Friends, Brethren and Family
We are truly back in Fiji
We are finally back in Fiji. We landed in Nadi Fiji 05:00 am Dec 2nd.
Our minds finally joined us a couple of days later. I am also officially a part
of the "old poops" group with the receipt of my first SS check in
November for $305.00.
The first few days back were so much fun. After being gone for over
4 months and nobody living in the house there was much to do. We did have some
friends come every once in awhile and mow and clean up the yard and also sweep
the dirt out of the house. However: within minutes of getting home I was out
fixing the water tap which was spewing water when the main water line was turned
on. We had turned off most things in case of problems so when they were turned
back on we found where I needed to work on. The overhead light in the kitchen
shorted out when Kathy first turned it on, so I had to replace that fixture.
We finally found Kathy's cell phone where she had hidden it, in her bedside
cabinet. However we were gone when the government put in a new decree that all
phones had to be registered or they would be disconnected, so I had to go buy
Kathy a new sim card (= new phone number) for Kathy's phone before it was usable.
The microwave did not want to work properly when Kathy tried to use it so I
took it apart, threatened it, put it back together and it worked. The ants are
having to be re-taught that the kitchen is no longer a welcome place. We are
having to be re-taught that the mosquitoes are plentiful and ravenous. Much
repellent and more bug spray!
Have you ever had saltine crackers go off? I don't mean go stale I mean have the oil go off? Just before we left here in July the Cost-U-Less had gotten some Premium Saltine crackers in and I had bought a couple of boxes because I like them with peanut butter and jelly for lunch. So when we left I sealed up the remaining crackers in Ziplock baggies thinking they would be alright when we got back. WRONG! I opened up the ZipLock bags and the oil in the crackers had gone off - yuck - what a lousy taste. I tossed them outside for the dogs and the myna birds but they didn't even eat them all. I have talked with Cost-U-Less and they don't have any crackers in stock at the present time. Welcome back to Fiji!
Rain Rain Rain
The first full week back in Fiji we have had heavy rain every afternoon,
so far over 3 inches. Although the temperatures here are only in the 80's the
humidity is also a constant 80% (more when it is raining) so I have gotten use
to sweating again. With this being the start of summer (high temps and higher
humidity) I bought a window air conditioner unit for the office area to use
when it gets too unbearable. Along with the rain is lightening. It has been
hitting all around us but so far has spared our house this time. A tree alongside
our gate was hit by lightening a couple of weeks before we got back though.
It is not much comfort to realize we are surrounded by storage tanks of diesel,
gasoline and a propane tank farm.
The lightening struck tree.
Visitor from afar
We knew before we came back that we would be getting a visitor in our first
week. Jeannine Blankinship is the daughter of Jerry and LouEllen Blankenship.
Jerry is working in American Samoa and Jeannine is on her way there to work
for 6 months as a teacher in a Primary school run by Christian (missionary)
friend of ours, Mara Ashley. Jeannine was supposed to arrive in Fiji Thursday
(Dec 9th) but because she washed her passport and Air Pacific would not accept
it she had to delay her flight, get a new passport and so she arrived on Saturday
morning at 5:00 am. I picked her up, brought her back to the house, Kathy fed
her some breakfast, she took a short nap and then we went to Lautoka while it
was sunny. We went to the market and then by to visit with Anna and the kids
before hurrying ahead of the impending rain to get back home. Later in the afternoon,
between rain squalls Jeaninne and Kathy took a stroll down to the Marina for
a small look at Fiji. Jeaninne came back, ate dinner, took another nap and I
had to take her back to the airport for her 01:45 (Sunday) flight to Samoa and
then on to American Samoa. It was good to have her even for a short period of
time. She brought me a cable I had left at Jason's which I needed to plug my
MacMini into the monitor before I could hook it up.
Kathy and Jeaninne shopping for fresh green beans at Lautoka Market Saturday Dec 11th.
Letters to the Editor invoke response
Since we arrived back I have written three letters to the newspapers.
Two had to do with Air Pacific the other was in response to Fiji Water almost
closing down because the government here wanted more tax. It seems that Air
Pacific not only was no longer serving hot meals on their flights out from the
USA (our "back home" report) but they had started limiting travelers
to only one 50 lb bag (previously it was 2 x 50 lb bags per ticket), anything
over was excess baggage at $50 per piece. There were several letters to the
editor in response to this from people who had not been warned and fronted up
to the check-in counter in LA with two bags. Air Pacific made a lot of money
but they created a public relations nightmare! Qantas and Air New Zealand co-share
on the Air Pacific flights out of LA and they still allow two bags.
After my letters were published in the local papers I received several
calls from Bible Correspondence students asking when they would get their graded
lessons back so they could continue their courses. I also received several calls
from people I didn't know but they thanked me for my letters to the editor welcomed
us back and hoped that Air Pacific would review their new customer "unfriendly"
policy because of my letter. So I apologized to all the students and have caught
up on all the Bible courses and have started advertising for new students in
both local papers.
I also received a call from the husband of one of our students who wanted to ask me some questions about the LDS (Mormon) church. He saw my name in the paper and knew we were back. He and his wife have been members of several churches but currently not meeting with any. His wife wants them to join the Mormons and he had some reservations and ask for my help. We talked for about 30 minutes and then I sent him several tracts for him to read, He is searching and I said we needed to set up time for me to come and talk to them. When we pray for open doors we need to be ready to go through when they happen. I love the saying, Don't pray for God to direct your path if you are not willing to move your feet.
Silly Season
We are going into what I call the silly season here in Fiji. Everyone travels
around to family homes, the schools are on summer break (until Feb 1st) and
government offices are on slowwwwwwwww time. Usually one does not get anything
done with the government until after the New Year. We have contacted Marama
about the land she gave to the school but have to wait until she can get up
here from Auckland, New Zealand so we can go to the land office here to get
the lease transferred to the School. While we wait we are researching what crops
to plant and what to build first. Please pray for what we are doing and for
additional funding to build the school.
We also have 10 boxes of medical linen waiting in Joplin for help
from FedEx to ship to LA and we are trying to get Qantas to help us airlift
the boxes to Fiji. Please pray that our requests will be received with
favor and we will get this help. They are linens for the cancer ward here in
Fiji.
Recommended books
While back in the States there were several books that I read that I would like
to recommend to you. They are not written by Christians but the thoughts are
very,very much needed by Christians today. I pray that you will read with an
eye of discernment. They can be bought at Amazon or Christian Book Distributors
(www.christianbook.com).
The Church Awakening by Charles Swindoll
When The Church Was A Family by Joseph Hellerman
Thieves In The Temple by G Jeffery MacDonald
Family Driven Faith by Voddie Baucham Jr
Radical by David Plaff
Clan Picture
While celebrating Thanksgiving with the family this year we were able to get
a clan picture taken. Here we are!
Back: Chris & Terasa Davis, Me and the Missus,
Mel & Jason Huff
Front: Jackson D (holding) McKinley D, Ragan D, Truman D, Taylor D, Jonah H,
Harrison D, Morgen H (grandchildren = Davis 6, Huff 2)
We also celebrated Christmas and upcoming birthdays the day after Thanksgiving
at Jason's house. It was good that the Davis' could come up that week to Joplin.
I think they were making sure we were really leaving the country.
Thank you so much for all of you who are supporting
us, have contributed to our needs and have extended hospitality by allowing
us to stay with you while we are travelling through. God bless you!
It is getting close to the end
of the tax year there in the USA and we would encourage those who wish to help
with the funding in the building of the Christian Institute of Biblical Studies
here in Fiji to get those Tax Deducible funds to us soon.
Oceania Outreach: Fiji BibleSchool
c/ Mt Hope church of Christ
2830 Mt Hope Rd
Webb City MO 64870
There have been several contributions received in the past two weeks toward this need and we thank you. We know there are a multitude of good works and we thank you for being partners with us here in Fiji. We are still trying to raise at least $30,000 for the initial building phase. We have $16,000 to date.
Your seed sowing workers in the Kingdom.
Tobey & Kathy