We’re excited to be sending a team of 5 from The River to minister alongside Faithpointe Church in the nation of Fiji from Monday 26 August through to Monday 2 September.  This is the first of a number of missions trips that we’re planning to do going forward.

1 September

Update from Steph

Last day! It was really wonderful to have our last day to be on a Sunday where both churches have their combined service. Both churches being Malamala (Pastor Samu and Randini Susanna’s church), and Singatoka church (which Pastor Jobi and Randini Leiti pastor). The service started at 11am (Fiji time, so 11-ish) which meant we could have a sleep in. No devotions this morning, but we stuck to our routine of the whole team sitting together at the same long table for breakfast, in the outside dining area by the pool. I’m writing this in the evening of our last day, but only now does it occur to me that that table, and our regular morning gathering around it, was the family table for the Fiji Missions 2024 Team.

There is a host of things to feel on the last day of a missions trip – exhaustion, denial that things must end, sore knees, sore throats, anticipation, and eagerness to make sure we squeeze every last opportunity out of this adventure.

The church service was held at the school next to the farm, Nick and Audi slotted into the worship team. Audi subbed in for Nick in kids ministry [Elise – Asia, Zeke and Bella will give you epic references for him as a kids ministry leader!] There were 3 awesome praise dances from the youth, a baby dedication, and Sue and Nick gave “preach-it’s” (ten minute sermons). Both brought powerful messages, incredibly delivered, impacting, and for me the real highlight was seeing both of them not only do something they’ve never done before, but totally knocking it out of the park!

I have too many highlights from the day, a second would be seeing Pastor Jobi so deeply moved as he shared the testimony of his wife leaving her job to serve full time in ministry – his overt passion in testifying to her sacrifice, and their families sacrifice for the sake of the gospel was truely humbling! Pastor Viv preached, encouraging all to be influencers and then my third highlight of the day – the missions team was called up to pray and prophesy over members of the congregation – I could do that stuff all day! Such a privilege!

At the end of the service, we walked back to the farm and were served up our final meal from Randini Susannas kitchen. You could not count the amount of times the words “this is sooo good!” have been spoken over that table! Randini’s food makes it hard to leave that table, but so does the conversation. However, the Blowfield family and Sue were catching an evening flight back to Auckland so we had get up from that table.

We said our good byes to the family and Sue, it is almost impossible to think that we’ve really only known each other a week but it’s a faith adventure like this that deeply bonds people. I know it’s going to sound cliche, but there really are some life time friendships that have been formed this week, many greater missions trips to come, more of the kingdom will be built upon the work that has been done before we came, what we sowed into this week, and what will come.

31 August

Update from Audi

After a long late night of spirit filled worshipping and prayer, we all got up at the crack of dawn to begin with our daily devotionals.

Jakes shared an amazing word for us from Philippians 2, where we reflected on the things we’ve learnt while on mission and what we can bring back with us to NZ, having learnt and lived through so much here in Fiji.

We were told we would be picked up earlier than usual this morning so we all scoffed our breakfast down, knowing it was going to be a long drive down to the coral coast but…. Fiji time defies all laws of time and space. So instead of an 8-8:30 pickup, it turned into a….10am pickup…. Bula!!!!!

We jumped into our vehicles and headed south towards the beautiful coral coast. After 2 and a half hours of great banter, island tunes and amazing road trip scenery, we arrived at our destination, Pastor Joby’s house at 12:30. We were greeted by the joyous smiles of children and elders alike and were seated at their humble outdoors open air church. After some epic worshipping and heart felt introductions, Peter Pastor preached about baptisms which led to 8 people (made up of primary aged kids, teenagers and an elderly woman) wanting to get baptized! Peter also preached about the gift of speaking in tongues and this led to two local believers to give it a crack and be blessed with the gift of speaking in tongues!

After an amazing lunch shared with our beautiful Fijian whanau, we all went to the beautiful local bay for the baptisms. What an absolute privilege it was for me as it was my first time ever to baptize some one and there was no other place more beautiful than Fiji. Of course I snuck in a pair of goggles in my togs and went for a quick swim around, looking for the turtle!

Feeling filled with the Holy Spirit but dripping wet, we then made our way back to the farm in record timing thanks to Pastor Viv’s F1 training. We all enjoyed a beautiful meal together where we shared our thoughts of the day and watched bats flying through the beautiful red and purple night sky.

30 August

Update from Jakes

Bula from Fiji!

We woke up to another beautiful morning here in Nadi. We started the day with devotions by Jo and Bella. The Scripture was Joshua 1:1-5. Great questions were asked regarding the difference between confidence and courage, what does the word strength mean to us and how fear impacts us on missions. There were some great take aways and we were all super encouraged and ready to take on another day of ministry.

We then headed off for breakfast at Bula cafe where we enjoyed Christ-centred fellowship around food. I thanked God for the unity by His Spirit on this trip.

After brekkie we headed off for street ministry at the Nadi street market. This was the highlight of my day. As we got out of the van I got approached by n man called Stephen. It was like he expected us. He asked me if we were from a church. Even before I could respond, he started calling others to come over. Ps Peter started talking to Stephen and had a word of knowledge for him that was spot on. The word got Stephens attention and in turn lead to Ps Peter praying for him. More on this later…

I ended up preaching the gospel to 4 others and all 4 wanted to pray the salvation prayer with me. What an absolute privilege to be here in Fiji and living the great commission beyond my own community! I cannot wait to see these brothers in eternity with me one day! The rest of the team witnessed and prayed for many others. Audi and Nick prayed for a Hindu man who was very responsive and open to the gospel. His back was hurting and after the prayer his whole demeanour changed and he seemed to experience joy.

We then headed back to the tournament to support the 7s teams on the last day. Some of us volunteered to represent NZ in the volleyball tournament which was very interesting to say the least! We did fairly well considering no practice and lack of skill (in my instance 🤣). As a side note, a lesson that I learnt again is the importance of communication. Humans flourish when we communicate well. It is so essential especially in relationships.

The time in the sun left the team hungry and very thirsty so we left the tournament for lunch at a local cafe called Ziggys. Audi and I have been hanging to try sugar cane juice. What a treat it was on a hot Fiji day! When we left the restaurant we bumped into Stephen again! He started talking to Ps Peter and it became clear how deeply he was touched by the Holy Spirit earlier in the day! And he could not stop talking about him and his mates feeling blessed by Gods touch in their lives. Thank you Jesus for your faithfulness and goodness!

After the tournament we headed back to the hotel to freshen up before setting off for Faithpointe HQ (aka the ‘farm’) again to enjoy a feast prepared by Radini Susanna and the rest of her team. What a blessing when one goes on mission to bless but end up getting blessed immensely in return. I love the way God’s Kingdom is upside down and contrary to the world! Team River got summoned to lead worship during the church service that concluded the 7’s tournament. Viv played guitar and sang along with Steph and Jo, Nick played bass, Audi was on drums and Ps Peter was on the keyboard.  It was epic to see them come together at such short notice and honor God with their gifts. It’s always so encouraging to see people use their gifts to worship God. We were treated by the local ‘action choir’ dancing to uplifting worship. They certainly know how to have fun while worshiping the Lord! The joy of the Lord was so tangible. Ezekiel and Audi both shared testimonies , then Ambrose and Jo Blowfield from Faithpointe Church brought powerful messages on Gods goodness and continuously making good choices leading us away from sin which is achieved through a relationship with Christ. After the service the floor was opened for people who wanted to receive prayer. Many people responded and were touched. Myself and Audi prayed for a young man with an injured shoulder. He walked away pain free! Thank you Jesus.

We eventually got to bed around midnight after the longest day of ministry thus far. But it was all worth it. As it always is when we serve the King of kings!

29 August

Update from Steph

This mornings devotions were lead by Asia and Zeke. I was in Asia’s group and she lead us in an awesome reflection from Philipians 2:3-14. How awesome it was to hear from each person in the group what it means to have the same attitude as Christ!

Our first adventure of the day was participating in a march against drugs, we joined the local church, and were lead by a marching band through the main street of Nadi. Say it with me now – “no to drugs, Yes to Jesus!” I was praying and interceeding all the way for the local church to lead the way in demostrating the power and freedom of Jesus over ALL THINGS!

The march ended at the rugby pitch of a local school.  Because rugby is so huge in the islands, Faithpointe has organised a competition for teams of young men to come from villages around Fiji to play 7’s rugby.  While the teams are here, the church brings them into meetings and preaches the gospel and prays for them.  It’s an innovative way to reach the local culture.  I am realising now that perhaps I should not have volunteered to write about the day on which the rugby tournament was happening, incase any of you reading are really hanging out for some in depth rugby commentary – all I can say is there was indeed a bunch of rugby going on. I did pay attention for the first five minutes – straight after the very first kick off, one player got wiped out in a tackle. These games are really important to the young guys, so to be wiped out in the first few minutes was very disappointing to him. He hobbled off the pitch, and Jakes went over to lay hands on him and pray, that was awesome!

I didn’t think we’d get pool time on this trip, but I brought togs anyway. It just so happened that the ever changing schedule surprisingly opended up a few hours of rest at the hotel this afternoon for swimming, hanging out, and some of the team slept. While many of our highlights have been the times we get to minister to people – we have also really enjoyed the moments we get as a team to just chat, in the vans and at the hotel. We get to know each other, share the highlights of the day, encourage each other and celebrate the amazing things we have seen each one do, messages preached, testimonies given and so on.

The evenings plan was to minister at Pastor Samu and Randini Susannah’s church, to do seperate sessions with men and the women. However, we ended up worshipping together, then we prophesied over them and Pastor Peter was called on to bring a spontaneous devotion.

28 August

After some excellent team devotions, led by Audi and Sue – we headed out to the children’s orphanage.  The ages of the children were from 1yo up to 12/13.  We sang for them, Bella shared her testimony, and Ps Jo brought a message on ‘being God’s fish!’.  We then kept with the fish theme and played games – fishing, fish puzzles and of course, ‘go fish’ with the kids.  We were able to bless the orphanage manager with a number of bags of children’s clothes.  As a Christian orphanage, it was so good to see God’s love and Word in action in the lives of these little children and our time there left an impact on our hearts.  After lunch we went to one of Nadi’s beaches and Ambrose & Jo baptised two of the youth girls who had been in the youth programme the day before.  It was special being able to celebrate this important moment with them.  In the evening, after another amazing feast thanks to Radini Susanna, we attended the opening of the rugby tournament.  The harmonies from the worship team were amazing and filled the place with God’s praises.  We sang a song for them as a team, Ps Manny brought greetings from Aotearoa New Zealand, and Nick and Jakes shared their testimonies which was powerful.  Ps Peter brought a strong gospel message on ‘Don’t run the wrong race’ and there was an excellent response with many of those present coming forward to dedicate or recommit their lives to the Lord.  It was such a great evening and finish to our second day here.

27 August

We started the day with a team meeting, then drove to Lautoka to the corrections facilities for men and women.  The teams split off with the women going to the women’s prison and the men to the men’s prison.  It was a powerful time for both teams, and Audi, Jakes and Stephanie shared their testimonies and Ps Manny and Jo from Marton brought messages.  Both teams were impacted by the passion and harmonies of the inmates singing, and while it was such a great opportunity to minister God’s love to them, the team would agree that we all felt that we were ministered to as much, if not more by the faith and passion of the inmates.  After a break for lunch we travelled down to ‘the farm’ which is where Faithpointe Church South Pacific is meeting.  After a time of worship and some more testimonies, Ps Peter spoke to the men, Ps Jo to the women, and the rest of the team ran training and programmes for the youth and children.  We were then treated to a feast for dinner prepared by Ps Samu and Susanna and their team.  It’s been a great first day of ministry here!

26 August – Departing Auckland

We’re on our way to Nadi, Fiji to meet up with the rest of the team!

18 August 2024 – Team Commissioning

The team was prayed for and commissioned at both our Pakuranga and Pukekohe services.

• Pray for health for all the team leading up to the trip
• Pray for God to go ahead of the team and prepare the hearts of those they’ll ministering to
• Pray for the flights to and from Fiji and the transportation around the island – for protection and covering