January 15, 2011

Dear Friends, Brethren and Family

Back on Fiji Time

It has been a month since we arrived back in Fiji. A lot has happened and a lot has not happened. I had optimistically hoped that when we arrived back that we could get started on getting the land for the school registered so we could start planning the next steps. However.... I should know better. In this part of the world the schools are out Dec-Feb and most families take holidays and a lot of businesses slow down and the government basically shuts down from Christmas to mid January.
The brethren are also on the move and many Sundays during this time we don't have anyone for services at designated places so we either stay home and worship or go try and find someone to meet with. One Sunday we worshipped at home, the next week we went into Nadi and worshiped with the brethren there. Last Sunday Sabeto (where we usually meet) was flooded so we went into Lautoka and worshipped with Anna and the children at their home. Josua is in Tonga visiting with the brethren there. We take every day and every Sunday as it comes.
I have been able to start back up the Bible correspondence program but that too is slow in that the students are on holidays as well. But start we have!

Rain Rain Rain
November also starts our cyclone season which lasts until April. This means we are having wet season. When we left Fiji in July last year we had been in a drought and while we were gone it was even drier until about a week before we got back, then the heavens have opened.
That's the good news -the drought has been broken - the bad news is - we are being flooded and the rains have brought back a plague of mosquitoes. Since the last newsletter we have had only 8 days when we did not get any rain. We have received over 16 inches of rain! Some of that came quickly, 7 inches in 4 days this week, on already water soaked soil. So I have been working at flood proofing the house as much as possible. The water at the height of the rain on Thursday was coming up to the back door of the office, This is the lowest part of the house so I have boarded the doorway up another 12 inches if the water gets that high ( like it did in 2009) it has to get another 12 inches before it floods. Other doorways are being treated the same with temporary dams. The drains for the toilet and shower that has back flooding into the house in 2009 can be capped with caps and heavy sand bags. It is a precaution, but better prepared than sorry like last time. Of course to our credit we had been told by the landlady we leased the house from in 2008 that they had never had the house flooded before. Surrounded by floodwaters but NEVER flooded!

Much of the flooding around our house is because a lot of the area runoff comes through our side yard and flows into a large vacant field behind our house. The field fills with water and it has no place to go except back into our yard. We are very close to the ocean but there are sugar cane tram tracks between the field and the ocean and there is no drain outlet under or through the tracks to the ocean side for the water runoff relief. I contacted the people in charge in December when I saw the rains continuing and flooding a reality but they have not done anything. We are even thinking of punching our own drain pipe under the tram tracks.

To make matters worse: there is a heavy equipment operator outfit next door and they have all their old equipment and stuff there. With all the water runoff we started seeing and smelling a large amount of fuel oil on top of the water. One might think that is a good thing as fuel oil on the water would keep the mosquitoes population down however in the long run it is not good because when the water recedes in our yard there is a residue of fuel oil on the ground. It was also enough that I can imagine what the fields behind will do the next time someone wants to set fire to it to burn off the standing cane and weeds. So I went next door and talked with them about the fuel oil. The EPA people had already been called because of offending odors being released by the abattoir up the road which was really obnoxious so they also talked with the company about the fuel oil problem. A day after, the fuel oil is no longer on the water and the company is working on a better drainage system. Like I say, a day at a time. If we can just get drainage from the field to the ocean our flooding should be a thing of the past.
We are hoping for drainage because we have been told by the weather people that we can expect wet and wetter weather in the weeks to come with flooding in low laying areas to be expected. This morning there are 3 cyclones in our region of the world and here in Fiji though we are not directly affected by Vania we are getting winds and rain from the outer winds. (Fiji-circled, is to the Northwest.)

As many of you have been reading Australia has had unprecedented floods on the East coast. Just north of us the town of Ba was also flooded again this week with the main highways cut off for several days.

Some days we at least had sun until noon so Kathy could wash and dry some laundry.

Helping the Cancer Ward in Lautoka Fiji
This morning sun has also allowed me time to cut wood and make some benches for the cancer ward here in Lautoka. Since 2009 we have been trying to help the cancer ward here in Lautoka Fiji better serve the people who come for treatment. We noticed that when the clinic was open that benches had to be scrounged and borrowed from other wards for the people sit on while awaiting treatment. So it was mentioned that it would be nice if they had their own benches so I got the wood and put together 10 benches which we will take to the ward when they reopen for treatments next week. (The cancer treatment ward was also closed from Christmas until mid January. You have to wonder about these who were getting treatment on a regular basis!)

We still are working at getting the 10 boxes of linen for the Cancer ward, that are sitting in my son's garage in Joplin MO, out here to Fiji. They were boxed and donated by CURE in Fort Smith AR. We had hoped to get Air Pacific to help from LA to Fiji but they have started a cost cutting program which is limiting regular passengers to one 50# checked-in bag and one #17 carry-on bag. They had a $9 million loss last year. FedEx is willing to help get it to LA but we are trying to source a company here in Fiji who has shippers in the USA to help ship from there to Fiji.

The benches for the caner ward. I thought the red color was a good touch as at least they could keep track of the benches that belong in the cancer ward.

Visitors from afar
We were pleased to find out that Terry and Gail Brown, former preacher in Tauranga New Zealand, were stopping over in Fiji on their way back to the USA. They have a married daughter in New Zealand with some of their grand children so they had been visiting there for a couple of weeks. Terry currently works at ACU as a Professor of Bible.

Even though it had been raining for a couple of days and that day with high water levels we were able to meet them at Nadi airport (4 pm), squeezed everyone in the car and took them out for Pizza and Pepsi. We then had a short drive around Nadi town and visited a local grocery store before we went about putting them back on the plane to LA. It did not rain the whole time they were here. This is good as usually, since this is our summer, it is hot and humid. With all the rain it is humid (80-100%) but at least the temperature have been mild (70-80's).

We had stored their two suitcases in a holding area at the airport (because there was no room in our small car for everyone to ride and have room for ANYsuitcases) but when we went to retrieve the bags there was nobody in attendance. I wandered around and I was finally able to get someone to find someone who got someone to come and help us get the bags so the Browns could check-in. While Terry and I were going through this drama Kathy and Gail had gone ahead and gotten a place in the growing line of check-in people. Once we got the bags we joined them in line where they were able to check-in for their flight.

They said this was the first time they had been out of the airport in Fiji. It was good to see the Browns again after all these years even if only for 4 hours. The first time we met the Browns they were leaving New Zealand with their children for one of the same reasons we were moving there from Papua New Guinea with our children in 1985. They were moving back to States for their children's education and we were moving there to New Zealand for our children's education. It worked out well for both of us. The Browns now know they have a bed in Fiji if they want to spend sometime here next time.

Mangos
This time of the year the mango season has reached its peck and mangos are starting to be harder to get. However for some reason we have three trees that are still loaded with mangos. Many of you will remember that I have an allergy to the mango sap like poison oak rash. As the fruit is higher up in the tree we have to use a long stick with a hook to retrieve the ripe fruit before the birds and fruit bats ruin it all. Our dogs have a feast on the fallen fruit! I wear gloves and wash quickly after getting the fruit to give to others and have had only one small area of rash. Our coconuts are also desired now as the price has risen to over $3.50 a dozen at the local markets. The Lord giveth and Tobey giveth away!  We have an American couple on a yacht down in the Marina who love mangos so they get a bag or two.

Mangoes hanging on our trees.

Because of all the wet weather and everything being on Fiji time I have spent most of the time at home working in the office (except when flood proofing the house) and catching up on my reading and research. I am still working on courses for CIBS by writing new ones and proofing the ones I have already written.

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.

Your seed sowing workers in the Kingdom.

Tobey & Kathy