The Lord will Provide!

These past few weeks have been a whirlwind!  Students are in their last two weeks of classes before they take exams!  Where did this semester go?!

Right now, along with encouraging students to use their time well as they begin studying for exams and completing assignments, and continuing to meet weekly with students for Bible studies, discipleship and follow-up appointments, we're seeing the Lord move in students' hearts!  They are currently trusting the Lord as they raise money to go on the 5-day long Student Life Conference at the end of June and/or the V20 conference in New Zealand during the first week of July!

For the past few weeks my team and I have been working alongside students and encouraging them to send out support letters, print out Buy-A-Block sheets (raising support by asking friends for different cent amounts, each completed sheet is over $50!), and set up appointments to meet with potential ministry partners!  

We're praying for over 150 students to attend the Student Life Conference!  Registration closes THIS FRIDAY!  Please be praying for the Lord to continue to bring in the money for these students to attend this conference!  Students who were involved in Student Life last year told me that this conference was their favorite part of the year!  They grew so much in their faith, and it's a great opportunity for students to get plugged into Student Life and make lasting friendships.  Please also be praying for our team (especially Kori and Dave as they head up the conference team) as we plan the details of this conference, and trust the Lord to provide the students!

Our Student Life directors, Koli and his wife Jeanette, have been in New Zealand this past month raising support!  While they have been gone, La (a Student Life staff member) and myself have been heading up the V20 conference prep.!  We're praying for the eighteen students who are signed up to continue persevering and trusting the Lord to bring in their support!  I have had the opportunity to lead weekly meetings with these students, encouraging them in their support raising efforts, and it has been so incredible to see some of these students take bold steps to send out sponsor letters, and follow-up these letters with phone calls!  There have been times where I've asked a few of the girls I'm discipling for one of their support letters, they are so encouraged by this!  After they give me one of their letters, I challenge them to now go and ask ten people they were afraid to ask because they need to take the initiative, leaving the results in God's hands!  People want to join their team, they just need to be given the opportunity to do so!  THIS THURSDAY marks the first deadline for these eighteen students.  They need 2/3 of their money in at this time so we can purchase plane tickets and apply for visas.  Please be praying!  While some students are in awe at how the Lord has provided, many are still desperately praying to see some money come in before the deadline!  God is sovereign and I'm confident He will provide for the students He desires to go, but students need to be bold and trust Him!

THIS SUNDAY we are so excited to welcome the Miami University Campus Crusade for Christ Summer Project Team!  Twenty-five staff and students will be joining us in ministry here in Fiji for five weeks!  Please pray for their safe travels!

Thank you so much for your continued prayers!

What do disciples, Easter, Garnet and Gold, Bible Study and God's intimacy have in common?

They all happened in April!

Kele, Maina, me and Lani!

This past month I have had some incredible opportunities to get to hang out with the six girls that I am discipling this year!  A few weeks ago I went to a basketball game that Lani, one of my disciples, was playing in.  Kele and Maina, two of my other girls, came with me and it was a blast!  I love getting to see the Lord’s hand guide these relationships!  I meet weekly with each of these girls to go over a specific concept or idea (like how to walk in the power of the Holy Spirit, how to be a good steward of your time, why we’re called to obey the Lord, etc.).  In addition to this, I try to hang out with these girls as much as possible just to live life with each other.  We grab lunch; go on walk, run errands, etc.  The goal is to equip these girls to become lifelong laborers for Christ wherever He leads them!  I want to teach them as much as possible about what it means to multiply their lives for the Lord’s kingdom, and what it looks like for them to take leadership roles within Student Life, share their faith and lead younger students in Bible study or Discipleship.  These relationships have definitely become a highlight of my time here in Fiji so far!

Celebrating Easter here in Fiji was definitely a new experience!  Fiji pretty much shuts down for Easter weekend.  On Good Friday, Jenny and I went into town to meet some students and had to search around for a while to find an open coffee shop!  It was a great weekend though.  On Easter Sunday we went to church and had lunch with some Fijian friends.  It was definitely a little different than in America, but it was very memorable!  The Monday after Easter my team had an Easter dinner, which was delicious!  We even got to dye eggs (although they were brown…so that was a new experience!).  We took communion as a team and it was so incredible to come together as Americans in a distant island and remember that even way out here, we worship, serve and remember the Lord who took our sins upon Himself when He died on the cross over two thousand years ago, then rose again, defeating death and thus offering His children a way to enter into a personal relationship with Himself!  How great is our God!  I hope you had a great Easter!

Last week I had a surprise come in from Upper Saddle River, NJ!  I went to the post office and picked up a package from Brian, my boyfriend!  Inside, on the top of the box was a huge Florida State University Flag (his alma mater)!  He is definitely doing a good job at converting me to become a Seminoles fan, even all the way over here in Fiji J   The package was such an encouragement though, and he provided me with more than enough candy to share with students for the upcoming weeks! 

Vilisi, Luisa, Nani, Lavonne and myself at our first Bible Study! (Mere is missing)

Last week I started my first Bible study!  There will be about five girls in it, and I just love them!  We are going through a Bible Study called the Discovery Group.  It covers foundational truths of what it means to be a believer, how to walk with God, and the importance of sharing your faith!  Yesterday, before Bible study, I encouraged the girls to go with me onto campus to share our faith!  We split up into two groups (because three of them had never shared their faith before!) and an hour later we returned to tell each other what the Lord did!  The girls were definitely nervous as they went out to talk about the Lord with classmates, but they were so encouraged to see the Lord move in the hearts of students, and lead the conversations!  Then we went into Bible study where we talked about God’s forgiveness.  This was definitely God’s perfect timing, especially in light of Osama Bin Laden’s death, and the controversy that surrounds that even here in Fiji.  We talked about God’s love for all people, and that only He knows hearts, it’s not our place to judge.  These girls ask great questions, and are so eager to grow in their walks with God!  I’m really excited to see what the Lord has in store!

Finally, last week I had the awesome opportunity to speak at Student Life’s weekly meeting, called Connexion.  We are studying the attributes of God this semester, so I talked about the intimacy of God!  I was nervous, but more excited to get to share!  The Lord has been teaching me a lot about His intimacy these past few months, and how He loves me just as I am, so it was really fun to tell students about that, and encourage them to pursue the Lord intimately as well!!  I definitely felt like I reverted back to my “teacher” voice, which I haven’t used in a few months, but loved the chance to get to trust the Lord and see how He chose to use me to impact students!

We are now preparing for the Miami University summer project team, which will be here in just a little over two weeks!  Twenty-five students and staff will be joining us in ministry here for a month!  We are so excited to see what the Lord is going to do!  We’ll start at USP for the first week, but since it’s the students’ last week of lectures, we’re prayerfully going to begin going to FNU (Fiji National University) to begin Student Life there!  It is so cool how the Lord provides twenty-five additional laborers just in time to help us pioneer ministry on a new campus!  Please be praying for those American students as they finish raising support, and get ready to see the Lord change their lives forever as they follow His call on their lives to come to Fiji for the summer!

I promise, I will get better at updating this blog!  We had some interesting internet issues this past month, so prayerfully, that is behind us!  God Bless!  Please let me know how I can be praying for you!

-Mary

Past 2 Weeks in Pictures

These past two weeks have been incredible!  The Lord is moving in some amazing ways here in Fiji!  Below are some pictures showing you different parts of life here!  Thank you so much for your prayers!

I had the opportunity to go to one of my students' (Soohyun) house to share the gospel with the 10 korean high school students who are studying here in Fiji and living with her family!  Brian and Jenny joined me, and we saw the Lord use us to lead 5 students to Christ!  Soohyun is going to begin leading the students who are interested in a weekly Bible study at her house!  The boy to the left of the picture, Tyson, accepted Christ, as well as Jessica, the girl to my right!

A picture of our whole group at Soohyun's house!

We had a STINT Team Decathlon last weekend.  It consisted of ten different events, and it was a ton of fun!  For over four hours we competed in the 100m dash, triple jump, chubby bunny, cup stacking, and many more!  The above picture shows how competitive our men are...and they proved themselves worthy.  Dave got 1st place, Brian 2nd, Kori stood strong for us girls and grabbed a hold of 3rd place, while the rest of us were close behind!

This is why she got bronze...she's intense!

My track and field background came in handy in the 100m dash as I swept 3rd place!

A few days later we hosted a Student Life training day!  Over 30 students came out Monday morning during their semester break and attended a discipleship talk given by Dave and Brian.  We then had lunch, and encouraged the students to choose to attend one of three seminars (Evangelism, Leading Follow-Up Bible Studies, and Leading Small Group Bible Studies).  Rob and I led the Follow-up Seminar (pictured above).  It was so fun!  Students were so excited to learn how to help other students dig deeper into the Bible and learn more about what it looks like to follow the Lord!

The following day, we loaded a bus with over 40 students and headed up the coast to visit "Coral Coast Christian Camp."  This is where we will be hosting our Student Conference at the end of June.  We were able to combine hanging out with students and getting out of Suva while taking close notes of the facility that will help us plan the conference!  We are praying for over 100 students to attend!  Above is a picture of Jenny with some sweet girls we got to hang out with during the day!

From L to R; Charlotte, Annie and Judith!  Charlotte and Judith are form the island of Vanuatu and are 3rd years at USP.  Annie is a 1st year, and actually spent most of her life living in California but moved back to Fiji to attend University.  Jenny got to meet with her during the first week of classes and she accepted Christ!  She has been growing in her faith ever since and is so excited to continue meeting with Jenny for Bible study and discipleship!  It's so cool how the Lord brought both Annie and Jenny to Fiji so Annie could hear the Gospel!!

This past weekend, we invited the women of Student Life to come over to our apartment for a Girls Night!  Nearly 20 girls showed up!  We made homemade pizza and served cookies!  The girls were all over the place!  Some were out on the deck playing the guitar with Kori, others were sitting on the coaches, some were having a dance party with Jenny, a few were helping wash dishes, and the rest were sitting on my bed just chatting.  After a while we gathered the troops together and took over the streets of Suva as we headed down to the cinema.  We treated them to see the movie "Rio" (movies are super cheap here...it's awesome!).  They all loved it, and were laughing the whole way through it!  It was such a fun time.  I got a lot of text messages afterwards telling me how much they appreciated the night, and loved hanging out with everyone!

An example of how the girls seem to take over our small apartment!  It's a great thing, though!

Shareeza and Soohyun!  Such sweet girls I LOVE meeting with and going through Follow-up Bible studies with!  Their hearts are SO eager to learn more about the Lord and how to follow Him with their lives!

Shareeza, myself and Lannie (a 3rd year student at USP that I get to disciple this year!) at the 3D Rio movie!  So fun!!

Infiltration of the Enemy!

At about 6:15 this morning I went into our kitchen to put some coffee on.  Well...this process would be much delayed once I realized that our kitchen had been overtaken by tiny spidy-ants during the night!  I looked and saw a thick row of ants crawling from our cabinets into our pantry!  Usually we are killing them on our counters, etc., but getting into our food...they have gone too far this time!


I quickly got out our ant spray and started spraying them at the source (cracks by our cabinets and pantry).  I then went out to our porch and saw that a branch from a large tree was touching our porch wall, which provided a perfect bridge onto our porch for these little creatures, and then into the cracks that lead to our kitchen!  Again...I broke the branch off the tree that was touching our porch...getting the enemy at the source!


Although this experience was not enjoyable, and definitely put me behind schedule this morning, the Lord, as always, had something to teach me through it!  So often in my own life when I see a problem, I quickly address it at the surface.  I don't like conflict or being uncomfortable, or putting my problems on others, so I try to fix it quickly myself.  Well...God has been teaching me that this is not only wrong, it's not Biblical.  When He reveals an issue or problem in my life, it's an opportunity to get to the core, and allow Him to replace the lies with His truth.  


This has been extremely clear in my life in regards to how I have been viewing ministry here in Fiji.  So often at the end of a long day on campus meeting with students, I look at what happened that day to decide whether it was a successful day or not.  This success is often based on how many students showed up to meet with me, how conversations went, or how "useful" I felt on campus.  Obviously this results in a roller-coaster of days and then weeks on campus.  The Lord has been teaching me that success is not in how well I seem to be doing according to my own standards, but rather, how closely I am walking in step with the Holy Spirit and following His moment by moment leading in my life.  


We are called to live our lives with our eyes fixed on the cross, making loving the Lord our TOP PRIORITY and purpose!  From this, all else will be put into place.  We will see our relationships, responsibilities, hardships, schedules and commitments in light of eternity.  Let us not live to enhance our own kingdoms on this earth, which will burn away in the end, but rather live for the Kingdom of God, ever pursuing Him and thus becoming more and more like Him through our lives!


So instead of focusing on the surface issues (i.e. the row of ants are overtaking our granola box or my constantly shifting emotions regarding my success on campus), let's dig deep and let the Lord break thorough the lies we so quickly believe and become entangled in, and pursue His truth, that will help us reach that root cause.


So get out your ant poison, or in your case, your Bible, and get to the source.  Break off those branches that prove to be a bridge to allow the enemy to enter in, and seek the Lord in prayer.  Ask others to come alongside you to keep you accountable so you don't fall back into those ways.  It won't always be perfect, I'm sure I'll be using that ant spray again, but if I only killed the ants that I see crawling on our food, and not getting rid of them at the source, I would be missing out on actually enjoying our apartment, and living in freedom from ants.  Embrace the freedom our Savior freely gives us, if we allow Him access to get to the root and clean out the lies.  In that freedom is found true life, the life the He desires all those that follow and love Him, to experience!


"Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God."
-Hebrews 12:1-2

An island...An unexpected appointment...Fijian Sports

     Two weeks ago, after the spring break team left to go back to the States, we got to welcome Jane Armstrong (a Campus Crusade for Christ staff at Miami University and my Bible Study Leader/Discipler from my senior year at Miami), Courtney Evans (a Miami CCC intern), Ryan Elliott (our STINT partnership director) and another CCC intern at Miami to Suva/USP for our STINT Encouragement/Development week!  After 3 days on campus where they got to spend time with some of the students we have been meeting with all month, we jumped on a bus and headed to Nadi.  From Nadi we got on a ferry and made our way to Mana Island.  For 3 days we enjoyed time with each other, encouragement from the team in regards to our walks with the Lord, relationships with each other as a STINT team, and our ministry at USP.  We also enjoyed sailing, snorkeling, swimming and kayaking.  It was incredible, definitely what I thought Fiji was going to look like (before I realized we'd be living in a city without a beach).  It was a much needed time of relaxation.  As we made our way back to Suva last Sunday, it was such a blessing to gain a sense of finally being back 'home' when our bus drove through downtown Suva.  I could not wait to get back on campus last week and see what the Lord had in store!

Sunset Beach on Mana Island

The Ladies 

      The week ended up being incredible, though truly exhausting!  I was repeatedly brought to a point where I needed to depend fully on the Holy Spirit because my own strength had failed me!  Friday I found myself sitting at a table by myself, realizing that my 10am appointment was not going to show up. After a few minutes another student came over and sat down across from me.  I introduced myself and found out her name was Reea.  We started talking about her year at USP so far, where she was from (Kiribati) and whether or not she has heard of Student Life.  Our conversation led into an opportunity for me to share my faith, and before I knew it, she was praying to ask Christ into her life!  She doesn't have a phone, and has class Thursday nights when we have our weekly connexion meeting, but I'm confident that the Lord is going to place people in her life to help her grow in her faith!  I just love how the Lord showed me that day that His plan is so much greater than my own!

Nice, Brian

This past Saturday found most of my STINT team and about 50 USP students on the campus rugby grounds for Student Life Sports Day.  This consisted of a group of students playing Rugby (the guys), a group of students playing volleyball, and a group of girls that taught me different fijian games.  One of these was called Ferry and consisted of increasing your jumping distance each turn.  I don't want to brag...but I may have won this game :)  I then got to teach them how to play freeze tag!  After about an hour of playing these types of games we sat down on a tarp in the shade and just started talking.  It was such a sweet time to see different groups of girls that I have been hanging out with this semester come together and become friends with each other.  They are so inclusive and accepting here, which is so refreshing, especially when you bring new students to the Student Life weekly connexion meeting, or introduce them to some of the student leaders.  It makes me so excited to think of the year ahead and the relationships that the Lord is forming between them.

Me and Jenny with some of the girls at Sports Day!

Thank you so much for your prayers!  It is incredible to see the Lord move here among the students.

From the mouths of students...

"I had no idea that God has forgiven all of my sins, past, present AND future!  I had thought that when Christ died on the cross, He died for all of my past sins and it was up to him if He wanted to forgive the sins I have committed since then.  But NOW I know that He forgave all sin when He died in my place on the cross, even those sins in my future that I have not even committed yet!  That is incredible, and makes me SO thankful!"


"Since growing in my relationship with God, I now feel free to not care what people think of me!  Even though it is not always easy, I know that living for Christ is so much greater than living for the world."

-The above quotes were said by 2 different 1st year students who I have the privilege to go through the Follow-up Bible studies with!  It was such an incredible day today on campus as I saw the Lord bring different girls my way to share His love.  I had the opportunity to share with a few girls the vision of Student Life, (coming alongside students wherever they are in their walk with God, and helping to not only teach them more about Christ, but also train and equip them to be lifelong laborers for the Lord, wherever He calls them serve or work) and they were so excited!  It is so fun to be a part of a ministry that I know will continue growing and thriving long after I leave Fiji, because the Lord is behind it all, and His name is being glorified!

Thank you for being part of my team!  The Lord is moving in mighty ways!

An unforgettable week...

You know how we sometimes associate something good with something bad, just because they happened close together?  Well that has been the story of my life for the past five days.  


Friday morning the spring break team took off to mana island to debrief.  Well, as we all know, it was friday that the earthquake and tsunami hit Japan, and threatened to come towards Fiji as well.  Friday night our cell phone provider sent out a mass text stating that there was a tsunami warning in effect and to move to higher ground.  It was definitely scary, but I had a sense of peace that the Lord was going to protect us.  So we all went to bed, unaware of how devastating the tsunami ended up being for Japan, and not sure if it was going to make it out here to us.  


I woke up Saturday morning and looked out my window to find Fiji as it always is.  Loud buses going back and forth down the road, taxis honking, and the sun shining.  It was not until later that day, once we finally were able to get our internet service back, that we realized just how bad Japan got hit, and how many people were wondering if me and my team here in Fiji were alright.  Once I set my family's mind at ease, I began to wonder how this terrible tragedy in Japan was going to affect ministry here at USP (later I would find out that the father and brother of one of my students that I'm meeting with was in Japan but thankfully they were not harmed, and they are on their way back to Fiji today!).  It's amazing how these kind of experiences bring people to a point of really questioning life itself, and making them face the reality that no one is promised tomorrow.  


Well, these thoughts were put on hold as my team headed out with a USP student to find a waterfall.  It was an incredibly hot day, and quite an intense hike to get there.  Now I'm usually really good about drinking water, but I was being stubborn that day, and wanted to wait until we got there.  Well, once we got there I was distracted by how nice and cold the water was below the waterfall, jumping into the water from the waterfall, etc.  So before I knew it, as we made our way home I began to get a terrible migraine.  And this migraine pushed through until the next morning and has left me battling dehydration for the past 3 days.  I know this was mostly my fault from the start, but it has been so frustrating.  


It has kept me off campus for the most part this week (except for a few hours I was able to spend with some students yesterday) and has definitely brought me to a breaking point.  This week is our "Encouragement Trip" week, where we are blessed to be hosting Ryan Elliott (out STINT coordinator), Jane Armstrong (my Bible study leader and discipler from last year) and Courtney Evans (an intern at Miami University who Stinted in Rome last year).  They have been coming to campus with us, leading nightly meetings, etc.  And I have absolutely hated missing out on such sweet time with them.  But, God is in control.  


I called home today and the moment I heard my mom's voice tears came to my eyes.  It's amazing how helpless and broken you feel when you are sick, and far from home.  But soon my family had me laughing again, and this day home has truly proven to be a blessing.  So as I look back upon this past week I know it will be one that will stick with me for years to come.  It definitely had it's ups and downs, but the Lord has shown me that through it all that He has never left my side.  Even when I can't fathom how to pray for those families who have lost so many in Japan, or when I'm lying sick in bed at home, wishing I could be on campus meeting with students and spending time with Jane and Ryan, God is good, and His plan for my life is better than anything I could imagine, even if it does not always make sense :)


Thank you for your prayers!
Please continue to let me know how I can be praying for you!