Let’s start from the beginning. Before we left, most of us weren’t too serious about praying for the trip (myself included). But as it came closer and closer, the leaders started sensing the urgency to really lay it all out and call out to God. Most (if not all) took the call seriously, and starting getting on our faces before God. All I can say is, God sure knows what He is doing. We saw some amazing things on this trip, from physical healings to demonic manifestations, to people being broken and set free. It was awesome. But back to the timeline…

We left for SFO at 11 am on Thursday, June 29. A 1 hour flight to LAX, then off to Nadi (pronounced Nandi). It’s an 11 hour flight to Nadi, and we also crossed the Date Line (meaning that we were now a day ahead of California time). Translated, that means we arrived in Nadi on SATURDAY, completely skipping Friday since our flight to Nadi was overnight. Upon arrival in Nadi about 4 am, we met the missionary and hopped on a bus from the airport to head to Suva, the nation’s capital, 4 hours away. So far, we have driven 1.5 hours, flew 12 hours, then drove another 4 hours just to get to Veti Levu (the main island, where Nadi and Suva are located).

Saturday July 1. As soon as we arrived in Suva, we stopped to get some money exchanged, then bought some sulus (they are man skirts, worn by the traditional Fijian males). And yes, I wore them too. They are actually quite comfortable. We then headed to the hotel (which was nice by the way) to get showered, then headed to our first outreach in a city park (yes, the same day we arrived). After the outreach, we walked around the park asking people if they wanted prayer. It was actually amazing. I prayed for an older man who told me that he wanted Jesus to be made new. It was…wow…So I led him in the sinner’s prayer, then told him about the church that we were working with. It was really cool.

That night, we helped a pastor do another outreach at his apartment complex. We found out that this pastor works full time to support his family, and every Saturday night he sets up a sound system at his apartment and preaches the gospel to his neighbors. It was…very humbling. Needless to say, his crown will be much bigger than mine. It’s amazing how every outreach, the testimonies that are given by our team all deal with the same topic, and that is the exact thing that God wanted to deal with at that outreach. Two students that testified that night, as well as those who spoke, all spoke about abuse and the love of Jesus. We saw many salvations that night, as well as people be set free from abuse. It was awesome! Afterwards, the pastor invited all of us to his home for a snack.

Sunday July 2. We went to Family Worship Center AOG, near Suva. It was a church with no walls, as the heat is very intense there in Fiji. Before the service, we were all asked to teach classes with the different age groups. Jason and I did the Jr. Highers (of course). After our lesson we played a game called “sticky sticky glue.” That was a lot of fun, and very tiring. We did our service, and during the altar call, many MANY people were set free from guilt and shame from past sins. The church provided a meal for us, and we played with the children some more. It was a lot of fun.

We went to World Harvest Center in Suva, the largest church in the nation, for a youth service. There were easily 500 people at the service. It was very cool. We did the ENTIRE service, from worship to preaching to dramas and testimonies to altar call. At the altar, I prayed for a guy to recommit himself to Christ, which is always a good thing. I then prayed for another young man named Billy. Billy had been struggling with guilt and shame because of his past. As I prayed with him, he began to become very broken. I spoke life over him, and the Holy Spirit began to remove the shame. I then told him that he needed to just praise God. He started shouting, “THANK YOU JESUS!” It was cool. While I was praying for him, Samantha Huhn was praying for a lady that started manifesting a demon. She and Irma Bernal totally handled that mess. It was cool to see what God was doing.

Monday July 3. We started our morning at the AG School in Suva. After some serious technical difficulties, we FINALLY got through our presentation, to have an amazing response to Jesus. Even though this was a private school, the love of Jesus filled the hearts of the students. It was really awesome. I prayed with some boys, and encouraged them. Side note: This was the first time the sticks team performed our new fighting routine. Branden hit me very hard in the chest with the sword at the end. I had a huge bruise for the rest of the trip.

After lunch at a Chinese restaurant (where I ate chicken in oyster sauce, INCREDIBLE), we did another outreach at the Ratu Sir Lala Sukuna Memorial School, which was a government run school (we call them public schools). When we arrived, many students were in military training excercises. We knew this was the first school with no religious affiliation, so the representation of religious beliefs would be all over the board. We presented our message, and many students and teachers said they wanted Christ. I walked over to a 16 year old boy, and asked if he understood the message of Jesus. He said he didn’t, so I explained it to him, then asked him if he wanted the free gift of salvation. He shook his head, so I led him in the sinners prayer. I asked him how he felt afterward, and he smiled and said, “I feel happy!” That is what it’s all about. It was awesome.

Next was an 11 hour boat ride (no kidding) from hell. It was seriously the longest thing EVER. We arrived at 4 pm for early boarding, since we had a TON of stuff to load. Also, there are a limited number of seats on the boat, so it’s a first come, first serve kind of deal. About 2 hours into it, I started getting sick, so Virginia (our nurse) gave me some drugs. I then passed out for the remainder of the trip.

Tuesday, July 4. We arrived in Savusavu, Wailevu at roughly 5 am from the boat. It was a 5 minute bus ride to the hotel (thank GOD!) where we went to sleep, then had breakfast and a meeting for our next outreach that afternoon.

First outreach was at 1 pm at the Savusavu Secondary School (equivalent to our high school). It was a very fast set up and begin type of outreach. Afterward, we had to rush to our next outreach at the Saint Bedes Secondary School, a Catholic high school. One of the teachers there (a Hindu, strangely) said this, “Of all the teams that have come here before, no one has ever painted the message of the gospel so clearly. Now I understand the message of Jesus. And I have never seen anyone connect with our students like your team. They just conected to you.” It was really cool. I prayed for a young man, and God gave me a word for him. It was really cool to see his face when I told him what Jesus said.

Last outreach was at the Buca Indian Settlement. There was a single AG church in a small Indian (like, from India) village. We knew that from this village outreach, there would be heavy warfare going on. Those that prayed, thank you so much! God did some awesome things here. We split the team into groups, and headed off into the village to invite people to the outreach. It was amazing to walk in what we could call the ghetto, and see how people lived. We invited people, and many came.

That night, God did an incredible thing. A young Indian Christian woman brought her grandmother to the outreach to hear the message of Jesus. Afterward, Michaela went to pray for her, and discovered through the granddaughter that she used to be a devout Hindu. The lady knew that she had spirits living in her, and she said that they caused her a lot of pain in her sides. She also said that even the pastor could not remove the spirits from her, since they were “hardcore” ones. So Michaela, a 17 year old high school graduate, prayed for her, and walked her through renouncing the Hindu gods. Once she did that, Michaela led her in the sinner’s prayer, and she accepted Jesus, only to receive her healing! It was totally awesome! We then learned that over 90% of Hindu conversions are because of a physical healing, either themselves or a family member. I found that very interesting, since we always try to reason with people. Why not just display the power of God in our lives?

Wednesday, July 5. First stop, Batibalavu District Primary School (we call it elementary). This was the first school of four that we went to where we bought TONS of pencils for. We found out that the schools don’t have money for pencils, so they get pencils, and break them in half and distribute them. Then at the end of the day, they recollect them to use the next day. So we bought tons of pencils for the schools.

After our outreach, they fed us a ton of fruit and I even drank coconut milk. It was quite good. One little boy actually climbed a tree to get coconuts for everyone. It was pretty crazy. The guys played rugby and the girls played some other games such as “Do this, do that!” and “Sticky sticky glue.”

Second stop, Bethany AG church, where we would eat lunch and dinner this day and the next. For lunch, we ate tuna sandwiches, fruit, and fresh squeezed papaya juice. It rocked. After we ate, we had some time for some prayer and all that. It was really cool. I remember sitting there talking to God, looking at the landscape, and saying, “Lord, it’s beautiful!” To that He replied, “I made it just for you, because I knew you would sit here and enjoy it.” It was a tear moment.

Third stop, the “beach school,” also called Korovatu Primary School. We did the outreach, and many students accepted the love of Jesus. It was cool. Afterwards, the boys payed rugby, and the girls played other games. A few of us went to the beach (right NEXT to the school, why I called it the “beach school”), and tested out the water. We could not believe how calm, beautiful, and warm the water was. We couldn’t wait for our beach day.

That evening, we ate some awesome food (I loved it, others did not). We had curry chicken, sanga (fish) in coconut milk, fried sanga, dalo (like a potato), chow mein, and chicken cooked in the ground, Hawaiian style. It was, needless to say, amazing. I totally loved it. I love trying out new stuff, and it was all new. The sanga was actually caught that morning. The guys went out to the ocean, and speared some for us.

After dinner, we did our night outreach at Bethany AG church. We had a decent crowd, and afterward, prayed for salvations and healings. It was really awesome.

Thursday, July 6. We did another primary school, called Wailevu District Primary School, very far away from Savusavu. We got there and discovered that they were expecting us the day before, and were surprised to see us this day. The girls loved this school, as all the little girls wore pink outfits. We did the outreach, and afterward, ate some more food! That seemed to be the common courtesy. You bless us, we feed you. I ate a piece of everything, and of course, loved it. I am crazy that way.

Lunch at Bethany Ag again, pretty much the same as the day before.

After lunch was the Galitu District Primary School outreach. This school had NEVER had a team come before! Many of the students had never even seen a white person before. They were very shy when they came out, and it took them a bit before they opened up to us. But afterward, many of the students and even the teachers wanted to accept Christ.

But here is the cool part. Towards the end of the altar call, Pastor Lynn got up and started talking to the families that live nearby that were also watching us. She talked about how her mom came to Christ, and how God desires for families to know Him. She then said that if anyone wanted healing, to ask one of of the team members. I scanned the crowd, and spotted two elderly gentlemen sitting with a small boy. I walked over, and ask the if I could pray with them. I pray with the first guy, blessings on him, etc. Then I ask the second guy, and he says that he has pain in his chest. So I pray for him, and I instantly feel a heat as I lay my hand on him. I ask him if he feels the heat, and he says he does, and the pain is leaving! Then he says he has pain in the stomach and shoulders. So I continue to pray, and God totally heals the man! God is so awesome!

Dinner at Bethany AG church, same menu as last night, with the addition of a roasted pig that was cooked in the ground, Hawaiian style. (I won’t say who killed the pig, but it was someone on our team). It was all very good once again.

After dinner, last outreach at Bethany AG church. Craziness here. Just before the outreach started (it was outside), it started raining. Now you have to understand, rain on a tropical island is different than here. It can just start pouring instantly. And it did. All of the Fijians ran under the coverings, whereas our entire team stayed in the rain, performing dramas, and praying that the rain would stop. And sure enough, about 15 minutes later, it stopped for the rest of the night. There were many salvations this night again, and many people got rocked by the power of God. It was…as all things in Fiji were…awesome.

Friday, July 7. Friday is a blur. I was actually sick from something I had eaten. I am guessing it was from the school that was expecting us on one day, and we came a day later. Who knows. Good thing Pastor Matt and Lynn let us all stay at the hotel and just get some rest. We only had one service in the evening, and that was it.

I do remember going to the service that night, where we partnered with some local churches for a massive service. I also rememeber that many who were sick ended up sleeping just outside of the building, including myself. I remember sitting through part of the service, then getting up to sit outside for a bit. Laura told us that we (sick people) should go sit on the other side of this wall, because the Fijians thought we were just being disrespectful for walking out and sitting outside. I fell asleep, then woke up hearing Pastor Matt say, “Ok! Go get the sick people and get them on the bus!” That is all I remember.

Saturday, July 8. Well, we had one more outreach at 11am in the market just below the hotel. I was still feeling a little sick, but there was no way I was going to miss out on this one. That was the attitude many of our team members had. Sickness was not going to stop us from spreading the message of Jesus. After our outreach, I prayed for a man who traveled for 2 hours by bus to see us (he was at the service the night before). It amazed me how these people get around just to see the team from America. People from Bethany AG traveled for over 2 hours to be at the Friday night service as well.

Afterward, we ate lunch and did some shopping in Savusavu, before packing up and heading back to the boat to Suva. We arrived at the port at around 5pm. The boat didn’t even come until 7pm, and we had to perform an amazing miracle just to get on…Every person had three pieces of luggage (some had more). They each had their own carry-on, their own luggage, and an extra piece of equipment that we brought (and many of them were not light). So it was decent getting everything everywhere, but days that we had to take it all with us were much harder. But this time, there were multitudes waiting to get on the boat when it arrived, so we had only one shot to get everything loaded onto the boat. Meaning that we can’t leave anything on the dock and get off the boat to get it. It ALL had to come on the boat when we did. Talk about madness. But we did it! Everyone pulled together, grabbed tons of things, and we got it all loaded! It was totally a miracle that it happened!

Long boat ride, I slept for most of it. No sickness this time, since I slept almost right away. And remember, it’s 11 hours back to Veti Levu, the main island.

Sunday, July 9. We arrived at the port in Suva at about 6am, to find the bus driver that brought us at the beginning waiting for us! We were so excited to see him (we really liked him)! We hopped on the bus, and drove all the way back to Nadi (4 hour drive) to our last hotel.

We arrived at the hotel at around 3pm. This hotel was so nice! It was like what you expect a tourist hotel to be, like a resort. It was quite amazing. We had an American pasta dinner that night at the hotel, which was very nice! At dinner, we shared testimonies of things God did through us and in us. It was really cool to see how everyone grew and changed over the course of the trip. We were then informed of our last day’s activities: A day at the Beachcomber. What is that you say?

Monday, July 10. We left the hotel at 8am to drive to the port to get on another boat (like a 100 passenger boat) to head to Beachcomber island. If I ever go back to Fiji (and I plan on it!) I will go just for the Beachcomber. So the boat ride was about 45 minutes total. One the way, we saw tons of teeny islands scattered all over the place. About 20 minutes into the ride, the boat stops in the middle of the ocean, and you hear, “First stop!” I’m thinking, “What? There is nothing here!” Then I see two boats coming towards us. “What in the world?” I am thinking. The boats dock with us, and people get off! And it goes to one of the small islands! “How cool is that?” flies through my head.

A few minutes later, “Second stop! Treasure Island!” I’m like, “Treasure Islnd?!?!?! Let’s go!!!” Another boat comes, more people get off, and we continue. A few minutes later, we hear, “Last stop! Beachcomber!” And I look out and see this beautiful (and small) island, and some boats coming toward us. “This is really cool!” Me and Jason make it on the first boat (no one else from our team did), and we are gazing at the water as we are heading toward the island. We are greeted on the island by some singers (there was no dock, by the way. We just hopped off on the beach). Once everyone got there, we headed inside to find out what all you could do here. Here are the items:

• Parasailing
• Wakeboarding
• Kayaking around the island
• Snorkeling
• Fish feeding in the ocean
• Turtle feeding
• On Tuesdays, they take tours to the island where “Castaway” with Tom Hanks was filmed

We made the amazing discovery that Beachcomber has a small resort on the island, so you could book a room if you wanted to. (I’m thinking great honeymoon spot…one of these days). We decided to go for snorkeling, since it was 10 dollars Fijian to rent equipment for all day. They also take a boat out twice a day to the middle of the ocean for more snorkeling. So of COURSE we all did that! Who doesn’t want to see coral and tropical fish up close? That was seriously one of the most amazing experiences for me, other than the ministry. Snorkeling is now my favorite.

At 4.30, the boat came back, and we headed back to the hotel to get ready to go home. We left at 7.30 for the airport, and flew out of Nadi at 11.20 pm Monday night…to arrive FINALLY in SFO at 6.30 pm Monday night (remember the date line?), but only after an 11 hour flight to LAX, a barely 2 hour layover going through customs and whatnot, and a 1 hour flight to SFO. That was very stressful, but we finally made it home. Many parents met us at SFO to greet their kids! It was a nice reunion.

I think I was changed more than people in Fiji. One of the things that got stirred in me was to just let go of what I hold dear and what I am comfortable with and just trust God with what He has called me to. I know He has called me into ministry to do great things, and I want to pursue that. I don’t want to sit anymore (not that I really am). I want what God has for me, and I want to go after it.