And We're Off!

The past six weeks have been a complete blur, yet so incredible!  Last night we joined with the Summer Project team to process what they have seen the Lord do here in Fiji this summer, and it was such a blessing to be a part of!  Students are truly returning back to America with a new heart for the nations, having made an eternal impact here in Fiji, and closer than ever in their walks with the Lord!  


Now it's time to hit the road!  In just a few short hours we are jumping on buses with about a hundred USP/FNU students to head to the Coral Coast Christian Camp for the Student Life Conference!  For five days students will have the opportunity to learn more about the Lord, attend seminars, meet new friends, and pray about taking leadership positions within Student Life back on campus!  The American Summer Project Team will be joining our students for the majority of this conference, which will be so fun!  


Then on June 30th my STINT team and I head off for New Zealand!  We'll meet the rest of our Fiji staff and about fifteen USP students there the following day for the V20 international conference!  For five days we will be joining over five-hundred students from all over the world to learn more about the Lord and worship Him together!  I am so excited to see how this experience is not only going to encourage us, as staff, but especially our students, who for many of them this will be their first time outside of Fiji!


Please keep us in your prayers!  We will take a few days following the conference to see different parts of New Zealand, and then head back to hot Suva to plan 2nd semester!
God is Good!


I can't wait to tell you all about it!


-Mary

Semester One Coming to an End!?

What a semester it has been!  Below are a few snapshots of life here in Fiji the past few weeks.  Things have definitely looked a lot different with exams taking over students at USP, launching ministry at FNU, the Miami Summer Project team joining us, preparing for the Student Life Conference in less than two weeks, and the V20 New Zealand conference in July!  

Meet Hannah!  Hannah is from Minnesota, and has been studying here at USP this past semester!  She will be returning to the States in less than two weeks.  We have been meeting for discipleship this past semester, and she has been such a blessing and encouragement in my life!  It's incredible how the Lord brings two American's to Fiji to meet and get to grow in their walks with Him together!  I will definitely be missing this girl!

So one day, Jenny and I joined the Summer Project students at the nearest beach (about a 45 min. bus ride away) for the day.  Well, Jill, Jenny and I decided to stay a bit longer and take the later bus home.  This turned into waiting on the side of a road in Fiji for over an hour, praying that the bus would come!  Eventually, just as it was getting dark and the mosquitos were attacking, a bus came to our rescue!  Oh the adventures we experience on this island :)

Last night we got to help lead the first girls night for the Summer Project team!  We went to a really fun cafe to eat dinner.  Afterwards I had the opportunity to talk to the girls about renewing our minds in the Lord, and thus finding true contentment in our relationship with Him!  It was so neat to see the Lord give me the chance to share with these other girls what the Lord has been teaching me a lot about lately.  After this talk, we got to get some coffee and eat dessert as the other staff women answered questions from the students on a panel.  The girls seemed to really enjoy the night, and it was so fun to get to love them that way!  The girls in the picture above, (from L to R) Abby, Kori, Jill and Natasha, are so fun, and have definitely kept me laughing!

Flowers in Fiji are pretty incredible!  After we finished up girls night, we were packing up to leave and one of our waiters came in and told us the following, "I'm so sorry to bother you, but I wanted to tell you that I'm an atheist and an alcoholic, and my manager is wanting me to go to a recovery program and church, but I haven't gone.  Well I have been eaves dropping on your talk tonight, which I'm really sorry about, but I truly think that it was the Lord's will that I heard what you were talking about because it really opened up my mind to learn more about God."  Seriously!?  We serve an incredible God!  Please keep this man in your prayers!

Apt. 10!  I love living on this island with these girls :)

So overall, things have been incredibly busy lately, but it's been so awesome!  The Lord is so faithful, and it has been so neat to see how He has been stretching us all and helping us give the Summer Project team a glimpse of what the Lord is doing in Fiji!  I have a feeling a few of these students will return to Fiji on STINT in the future!

Thank you for your continued prayers!  Let me know how I can be praying for you!

Blueberry Pie, Americans and becoming truly Fijian!

I have fallen asleep multiple times while trying to write this blog/upload pictures!  Not because it's boring (obviously!), but because ministry here in Fiji is incredible, and absolutely PACKED!  Below are some pictures that I hope give you a glimpse of what's been going on here in Fiji the past few weeks!

I am still trying to hone my pie-making skills!  So far I have successfully made a blueberry pie (Jenny made me start jumping up and down in the grocery store when she surprised me with her find of frozen blueberries!) and two apple pies!  They turned out so well that Rob wanted an apple pie for his birthday dessert last week!  This past week we got to celebrate Brian's Birthday on Monday, and then on Wednesday we sang "Happy Birthday" To Rob!

The picture above are the Student Life students who came to our Welcome Lovo to help us welcome the twenty-five Americans involved in or on staff with Campus Crusade for Christ at Miami University!  We are LOVING having them here!  We have the opportunity to join their Summer Project and help to give them a taste of STINT life, here in Fiji!  We are praying the Lord uses this project to put STINT on some of their hearts for the future!  They will be helping us launch a new Student Life movement at Fiji National University for the next three weeks!  USP students will be on study break and then taking their exams, so it's such an incredible opportunity to have twenty-five additional laborers join us!

We finally look Fijian!  A few weeks ago we got traditional Fiji Sulu Jabas (the top/skirt outfits pictured above!).  The boys on our team got shirts in the same pattern and we wore them to welcome the Summer Project team!

This is a picture of me with my new friend, Lindsey, from Eastern Kentucky University, and Piniana, a 2nd year USP student I am going through follow-up Bible studies with!  Lindsey is one of the American students on the summer project team.  Just last week that team saw over sixty students put their faith in Christ!  What a blessing to have them join us! 

Finally, as I have mentioned before, while our directors, Koli and Jeannette, have been away in New Zealand to raise support, I have had the opportunity to work alongside La, another Student Life staff woman, to head up prepping students to attend the V-20 Conference!  We are prayerfully taking about twenty students involved in Student Life to New Zealand to attend the V-20 Conference during the first week of July.  This conference will be hosting students involved in Student Life from Malaysia, Thailand, Japan, Australia, the US, and so many more countries!  What an awesome opportunity for students to gain a vision for how the Lord is working all across the world and meet other students from other countries who love the Lord, too!  

Now, the challenging part is that I have been put in charge of helping coach these students in support-raising!  That has definitely not always been easy, but these students want to go so badly, and their faith in the Lord to provide is so encouraging!  Above is a picture of one of the girls I get to disciple, Lani, (in the red t-shirt) setting up at her "tea" this past Saturday.  A lot of the students have hosted similar events where their family and friends can come and give a free-will offering and get to talk with them about this opportunity to travel to NZ!  Many of the students have never been out of Fiji before!  I am so excited to see how the Lord continues to provide!

Thank you so much for your prayers, please keep them up, and let me know how I can pray for you!

God Bless!