Fiji Missions Trip April 2014
The Team
The team, Chloe, Cate, Jan, Shane, Marian, Mia, Zoe, Lee-Ann, Libby, Bec and Carina. What a fantastic group of women who prayed together, got along so well together and had hearts to serve. The team has a great depth of character and commitment to God and His Kingdom. We were a very excited bunch when we first arrived and the excitement never left!
Fiji Family
Our family in Fiji were so generous and gracious, it was really amazing to be a part of. The team was a little uncomfortable with so much of their respect shown to us, esp. around meal time. We were served first, with our dinner plated onto China plates and white linen table cloths whereas the rest of the women were served on plastic plates and would wait for us to have eaten first before they started joining in. 
They would not let us come into the line a little further down the track but would tell us to come us to the top of the table to be served first. It was a very very humbling experience.
Pr Ali and Aunty Bolia, Ritchie and Pr Nemani and Tara where fantastic hosts and couldn’t do enough for us. They gave us an amazing experience of their culture, food and fun! We laughed lots with the women from conference and we got to sit with them and chat about their lives and how they live in their communities. We helped prepare their food. We experienced a Fiji water fight and got the customary water and talcum powder thrown at us into the bus as we were leaving. It was great fun to see Pr Ali and Aunty Boila, at the end of our time together, to come down the water slide at hotel and for Aunty Boila to be involved in our mud pool and massage experience.
Conference
The womens conference was a group of around 70 women and 15 kids who came from all sides of the country. Some women had taken up to 13 hours to get to Suva, leaving at 3am to come to the conference.
The conference had several sessions each day and we all had the chance to share what the Lord had placed on our hearts. It was constantly amazing to see how all of our messages intertwined with each other’s even though we had no idea of what the other person had been preparing. Cate spoke on boldness and the heart of the Father. Libby spoke on prayer. Jan spoke on how the cross intersects our everyday life and gratefulness. In the morning sessions Bec spoke on how to identify our calling, the things that can stop us from achieving our calling and about living a life worthy of the calling we have received.
After each morning session, we would break off into small groups – with each of our Adelaide women taking a small group – and discuss what had been shared. Then after the last session Carina gave her testimony about God’s protection on her life and His grace and love towards her. On the last night Lee-Ann, Marian, Shane and Bec all spoke.
It was a great smorgasbord reaching out to different ages amongst the different themes. Lee-Ann on parents being an example to your children, Marian about missions and her testimony and Shane about hurt, jealousy and hope from the story of Joseph and Bec finished it off with the themes from Joseph too.
We saw two people saved with many many women out for prayer and we saw a lot of breakthroughs, restoration and inner healings take place. We were able to pray for each one of them and bring words of knowledge and encouragement to the women. We pray that the kingdom of God will be advanced as the women go back to their communities and will listen to the Holy Spirit and be obedient as they implement what God has spoken to them about during conference. We pray that they have been empowered and will use their gifts to glorify God and be women of influence at their city gates.
Pre-schools
On the Tuesday morning we went to 2 pre-schools, which they had opened up specifically for us as it was in the middle of their school holidays! We were very grateful for that and we got to see how the kids were taught. We gave them some Aussie gifts and painted their faces and worked together with the teachers in playing with the kids. It was fun to be with the kids and see them laughing and having fun. The team broke up into 2 groups with one team staying in Nasinu and the other team heading off to Lakena.
