The entire primary school, 1000+ children trekked to the village of LaseLase for the Easter Church service in the Methodist Church. It has been raining out pretty hard, so this was an adventure. I shared my umbrella to some of the children to try and keep them somewhat dry. But, not all children have umbrellas and so some got wet.

The service was beautiful as the School Chior sang songs of praise and worship. They had a regional pastor come in and share the message of hope and redemption. It was beautiful. Everyone attened, Hindu, Muslim and Christian. No protests, that is the way it is. You go to Easter service.

After service, the Christian teachers did a Easter Celebration Lunch of a traditional Lovo to share with the Hindu and Muslim teachers. Delicious food cooked in an earth oven. Words of thanks to the Lord were given and sweet fellowship. It is one way that the Love of God is expressed…. with Heaps of Food!!!

There was a request made for me to come and teach at one of the Indian (Hindu) schools in the interior. The topic they wanted covered: WHY EASTER? A door that truly only the Lord can open….

I ventured up with Namala, Jordan’s mother, and met a few of the Indian brothers and sisters as they accompanied me to the school. This is a school where they don’t have very many visitors at all, so to have a guest is a treat, even more is the treat when this speaker is from “The United States of America.” The program was singing and sharing what the importance of Easter is, a reminder of God’s Holy Sacrifice for our Sins, Who He raised from the dead, so we celebrate our ability to have Eternal Life through the remissions of sins only by Jesus!!! When the alter call went out, over 100+ heads were bowed and lips were moving to receive Jesus as Lord and Savior. It was so precious!

Since this was a Hindu school, I was not sure what the headmaster would say after our program. Well, he came to me and invited me back “anytime I want”. Truly, that is a door that only the Lord can open. Thank you Lord for the keys!

Side note: two weeks after Easter, the Headmaster was at a conference in Sigatoka and stopped by the Mission School. He asked me if I could PLEASE come back at least one more time before I depart Fiji. I told him I’d do my best. Please pray with me on this. Transportation is LIMITED… Roads are as they say Bhut Karab Restabi (VERY BAD ROAD), no buses run and the transports are limited. You “hitch” or “hire”… please pray for the right transportation up and back.

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My time with Class 7r/j has been precious. The Lord is having me teach them all about the “little” guys in the bible that the Lord used. We started with David.. who was just a jumpy, overly wild, enthustaic little boy for the Lord when the Prophet Samuel came to find him and anoint him to be a future king over Israel. How his brothers were so “big, strong and handsome” but the Lord looked upon the heart and not on the outward appearance of a man…… So God had chosen a wild youth….

We talked about the story of David and Goliath…. how everyone thought David was “just a kid” and couldn’t overthrow this giant. Even Goliath himself laughed right before the stone hit him in the head. See he took God at his word and believed that God would deliver them……

David was able to do great and mighty things…. no by his power not by his might, but By the Spirit of the Lord.
David… had an excellent Spirit… it Helped him Stand and Fight!!

This began a wonderful new Song that the Holy Spirit was giving me to have the Children sing… I’ll post the song later as the Lord is revealing the lines through the devotions He is having me teach.

I was invited to go to a “Engagement”/”Wedding”. It was for a niece of a believe whose brother persecutes the family because they are Christians. Usually, they don’t get invited to many family functions, but because I’m there, they are thinking they extended the invitation. We decided to go and our prayers were for the Lord to use the opportunity to share the truth of His Love with the family.

The event is billed as an “Engagement party.” However, this is an official wedding done by the Provincial court administer. They sign the legal document and are as far as the country considers, Married. Now, in the Indian culture, a formal “traditional” wedding must take place 8 months after the “engagement” and it is at that point where the marriage is considered “official.” The two cannot be alone with each other until that point. Interesting huh!

One of the most fascinating things about the ceremony is that all the men sit on one side of the room and the women on the other. There is such a separation and no one really has a good answer to why… It is a funny thing to see.

I stood out in this crowd as I was the only “bright” one and blond in the entire room. Some were trying to figure out who I was… Ashwana is a nurse in New Zealand and many thought that I came from New Zealand for the wedding.

After the service there is a dinner and it was lovely. This was a chance for others to find out about me and receive the message that the Lord had for them.

At the end of dinner, there was an opportunity to talk with the bride and groom. I shared why I was in Fiji, the wedding and that I was honored to be a part of their special day. I told them that I’d love to pray for them. They immediately responded to my offer. They told me that this day almost did not happen and she was almost in tears. I listened and then shared the truth of the Gospel with them and the divine purpose for their marriage.

They looked at each other and then back at me and said, “We want to receive Jesus as our Lord and Savior.”

My wedding gift was the gift of eternal life. A priceless gift at that.

It definitely has been another level. For the past year, the Lord had me reading on prayer, and I was thinking, wow, I must be lacking on that. EM Bounds, Jeannie Guyon, Hagin, Brazee, Finney and others. Before I departed, the Lord had me put all the prayer and Holy Spirit in my “teaching bag”. I thought, ok, I’m going to another level in prayer and will get saturated in Fiji.

Well, the Lord opened the door to teach in the Secondary (high) school here. I started this week. Topic they asked me to teach was on Prayer. I just laugh and smile, I’d disqualify myself due to the “evangelism gift” that is so strong. Thank you Holy Ghost for all the preparation. It is a pull on a different gift and a wonderful time of yielding to the Holy Spirit in prayer and for teaching. A totally different place and I’m so enjoying the messages that the Holy Spirit gives to teach the youth. Insight and illumination that I could never come up with to encourage, build up and stir the youth. Thank you Holy Spirit for all the preparation you’ve had me do….thank you Lord for all that You do….