October 2008

Dear Family, Brethren and Friends

 

Greetings in the name of Jesus.

We have been back in Fiji just under six weeks and it feels like we have never been gone. It feels like home.

 

The newsletter last month finished up with us moving into a small house down by Vuda Point Marina halfway between Lautoka and Nadi. This is closer to the congregation we are working with at Sabeto junction. With the large number of coconut and mango trees in the yard there is always something falling to the ground, coconuts, coconut pinnate leaves and mangoes. We have learned where to park the car because if any of this fell on the car it might be totaled. One of the nice things about living this close to the ocean is that we have sea breezes most of the time and this keeps the temperature down. (Humidity high though!)

 

Bible Class series
I have started a new series called "The Christian's Personal Life" on Sunday mornings. I also had so much fun talking with the local paper and their inserting World Bible School ads. We had paid to have an ad in every other Saturday until we got back but the paper did not put them in the last two times. So they said they would, they didn't, I called, they said they would, they didn't, I called - finally they did.

 

I am working on a series of 36 lessons called "Searching the Scriptures" which I will advertise in the paper. It will be a diploma course by Correspondence which we hope will expand into more courses for "The Christian Institute of Biblical Studies". Until we can get the funds for an established, located Bible school we will use this method and expand to seminars around Fiji and beyond.

 

We have found since moving here that there are a number of Christians living in the area but they are not attending anywhere due to personal problems and conflicts with brethren. Not a few of these Christians were baptized by visiting overseas Christians but were never incorporated into a local congregation. We are talking with several of them about getting back into work and fellowship. We are looking at maybe stating a new home church in this area in the future to accommodate this need.

 

House maintenance
I have had to spend a bit of time getting the house liveable. I have had to replace several screens that were holey, put in overhead fans, install pipes as clothes hangers (there are no closets), repair some of the furniture that was damaged in storage, paint the cement floor in the laundry room, etc. We are still trying to locate items in the container we need and then trying to find where to put them in the small house. Just as I think I have the office set up how I can best use the space, I have to re-align things and set-up again. There are still some books and things I have not found! We are constantly spraying for ants and feel we have the upper-hand right now.

 

Kathy hanging out the washing
We only had a three strand barbed wire fence around the property. One of our neighbors has pigs and another had goats. Both the pigs and goats are not bothered by the barbed wire and so I had to install some mesh wire to try and keep the animals out. It did and it didn't. They like the mangoes that fall off of the trees. I made a complaint with the police and was told that I could kill them and then come get the police who would then take the carcasses to the owner. The police were to go talk with the owner. The pigs were back in the yard early Tuesday morning so

 

I went back to the police who are going to talk with the owner again and I tightened up the fence. I would rather not kill the animals and have bad blood between neighbors. The rocks I hit them with don't seem to make much of a dent.

 

We had several days of high winds which played havoc with the coconuts trees and blew many mangoes down on the metal roof of the house. I mentioned that we live next to the train tracks which are used by the sugar cane train. The engines look like Thomas the train and they pull carts with cut cane to the sugar mill. They blow their whistle night and day just outside our property to warn gas/propane tanker trucks which refuel at the fuel depot about 400 feet from our front door and the propane gas depot which is directly across the road from our house. Sugarcane season is due to finish the middle of next month. The next season starts up in 5 months.
       

Sugarcane train

 

 

Flooding
We have had a few light rains since we got back but last Saturday we received substantial rain which showed us how the waters would flow around our house. I spend much time building dams to re-route the water flow into a ditch and not behind and around our house. We were getting all the water runoff from the road and from the transportation yard next door with all the diesel and oil they have leaked on the ground there. I have been trying to find sand bags but to date have not found any here in Fiji.

 

Medical woes
While I was putting the mesh fence up along the back of the property I had to move large mounds of yard debris which the owner had cleaned up and thrown out over the fence before we moved in. As I was moving some of the tree branches one of them popped loose and hit me right across the bridge of the nose. Talk about seeing stars. It left a booboo and a bruise for several days.

 

Many of you know that I have a high allergic reaction to poison ivy. We don't have poison ivy here but there are other things which make me break out in blisters. One of them is millipede juice. Millipedes are all over the place and I try to steer clear of them but they leave poison on places where I put my hand. I was not using gloves cleaning up the debris nor when I was moving cement blocks to divert the water on Saturday (dumb me!). I got something on my hand and scratched my left eye lid which is now trying to swell out over my eye. So I am taking antihistamine and benadryl to help dry this stuff up and get the swelling down. I am still battling sinus blockage on a regular basis.

 

We have still not been able to contact anyone about the vacant land behind our house to see if we can plant some gardens. 

 

I have been hearing that the presidential contests are expected to cost up to ONE BILLION DOLLARS! How absurd!

 

WE NEED YOUR HELP TO MAKE THE SCHOOL A REALITY.
We received word this month that we will be losing $250 of our personal monthly support by the end of the year. If you or anyone you know can help us make us this loss it would be so much appreciated.

 

Please, first pray and then sit down and email (or call) your contacts and ask for their help for this need. 
Please, please don't think that someone else will contact us we need YOU to help us with this.

 

Your prayers are appreciated.
Please pray about this and contact any and all you can on our behalf. We have no doubt that the Lord wants this school in Fiji for the training of island men and women who will then teach their own people. We know the Lord has blessed His people for this need and are asking at this time for your help in meeting this need now so we can get this school started in 2009.  Can you help - will you help? 

 

God bless your work in the Kingdom and your personal life as you live as the "salt" and the "light" on a daily basis.

 

Vinaka.

 

Your servants because of the cross of Jesus

 

Tobey & Kathy

 

Dr. Tobey & Kathy Huff

 

Mailing Address:
PO Box 4615
Lautoka, Fiji Islands

 

Residence:
Lot #1
Vuda Point Road
Ph: (679) 664-5808
Mobile: (679) 938-2808
Web Site: http://cibs-fiji.fiji.com/CIBS-Fiji/Index.html
Sponsor:
Mt Hope church of Christ
2830 Mt Hope Road
Webb City MO 64870