Our second course completed over a month ago- apologies for the lateness in updating this page... 3D Tonga 2013 A mere 4 months after the first ever 3D Tonga we had our kick-off for the second course here on April 7th 2013. By the grace of God the lovely Sarah Cowan felt called to come from New Zealand and help out. She arrived the week before the course began and was able to stay for the almost the entire duration of the teaching phase. She embraced every challenge I threw at her gently presented her with. Sarah helped out in cooking, cleaning, counselling, teaching, prayer support and general moral support. I watched her get to know and really grow to love the students as only God makes possible. A beautiful thing to behold, praise the Lord:). We started preparing the accommodation about a week before the start date and as I prayed about how many rooms to get ready I felt God say ‘all of them’. This meant making room for 7 live-in students. So we got all the rooms ready in the spite of the fact that we only had 3 confirmed students on the actual start date. All counted we already had enough chairs for 24 or so people for the kick-off but, after asking if we needed to get extra chairs God said to get 6 more. So we did (what else could we do?). That night we had about 30 people (thank You Lord!) show up for the course welcome but still only had three confirmed students by the end of the meeting. Yet I knew God had said we would need all the rooms and, sure enough, by 10.30am the next day we had 7 confirmed students with every bed in the house spoken for! Praise His Name! Course fees were, as ever, an issue but Sarah and I felt like God was saying it was already paid for so we did not let this get in the way of accepting any of the students. As it stands right now only 2 of the students have outstanding fees(Hallelujah!). This time round the course had an additional level with the Leadership course (based on the Art of Christian Leadership (J Byler) running alongside the basic discipleship course. Two graduates from the last 3D Tonga course were in Leadership training. The schedule for the leaders-in-training was to re-take some of the basic discipleship classes as well as be put in positions of leadership and responsibility. When they were not in the same lessons as the others they were receiving Leadership training from either myself or Sarah Cowan. As per the previous course syllabus we started off by covering Intimacy with God followed by Dying to self + living for Christ. The level of maturity in this group of students was definitely higher (as was the average age) than last time which really allowed the Holy Spirit to minister and grow each student as they drank in every word of these teachings. It is an amazing blessing to watch the realisation of the truth sink in before your very eyes (as a teacher). I watched as God’s profound truth regarding who He is and what He calls us to hit the students’ hearts in the most unbiased of ways- no exceptions :). This was followed by perhaps the most exciting of topics…Holy Spirit Empowermen!. Once again on this course we had wonderful support in the form of teachers from the Wesleyan and Pentecostal church as well as from the YWAM base here. After the students had received the Holy Spirit teaching we were supposed to cover what to expect on outreach but I felt God saying to press in to the Holy Spirit teaching as there was more to do…specifically in the area of the gift of tongues. So we abandoned the schedule and I gave a brief biblical explanation on the gifts of the Spirit and how we receive them… I invited the students to come up for prayer if they wanted to receive these and 5 out of 7 came up. I have to admit I was rather tired so after a few minutes of prayer without obvious result I asked God if this really was something He wanted to bring tonight- yes, came the answer. Then I asked Him if it really was for all of the students- again the answer was yes. So, empowered by faith in what God would do we continued to pray and within minutes the first student got the gift of tongues! Then the next and the next- one by one each student got this gift, some got visions and prophecy too as we continued to pray for each other and worship God for his faithfulness and kept promises. Again blown away by His mercy and His realness I am humbled by how He stoops to meet us right where we are. God continued to teach us through the remaining teachings from the Father heart of God to the Church and the kingdom and Evangelism and Compassion. This was followed by a Fear Factor outing to Nuku’alofa where the students prayed about and then faced their fears with Christ at their side. For most of them had a fear of sharing their testimony in public or to people they knew. It was wonderful to see them open up and share confidently about what God was doing in them and why they were there. I also enjoyed watching the team hear from God and react to the need to be obedient to what He was directing them to do We had a very busy first Sunday as we had the opportunity to minister at 3 churches! The first was Tonga Faith Church in Ma’ufanga followed by the Free Wesleyan Fijian church in Kolomot’ua and, finally, Church on the Rock in Havelu. After one short week of drawing close to God the changes in the students were apparent as they shared their testimonies and prayers with the churches. They encouraged and blessed each congregation with honest and sometimes painful testimonies. Their courage and hope in Christ for what is to come was vivid and inspiring to watch. The following day the team was split in two as we dropped them in Ha’asini for their overnight outreach. This was also the day we said goodbye to Sarah which was not easy but we definitely look forward to welcoming her back any time she feels so called! The purpose of the overnight outreach is to foster teamwork as well as hone the team’s ability to hear from God together and move forward together. The team was tasked with having to find food and shelter, agree on a ministry approach for the location and, most importantly, staying together and returning home together. They returned jubilant (and united, praise the Lord!) having each found a family that took them in and looked after them wonderfully well. They had each agreed on door-to-door ministry for the location and were were re-united at an AoG prayer meeting at 4am which, they agree, was the most enriching part of the overnight outreach- that and the relationship with the families that hosted them (they are still in touch:)). Having prayed about the outreach location we felt that the island of Ha’apai was where God wanted us to go. Our outreach start date fell on a Thursday. At that time there were two ferry companies operating once-a-week services to Ha’apai. With one leaving on Monday evening and arriving on Tuesday morning and the other leaving on Tuesday evening and arriving Wednesday morning. This did not fit our schedule so Sarah and I brought this before God as it would either upset the teaching phase or delay the start of our outreach significantly. We both felt God was saying to stick the original plan; aim to be in Ha’apai on Thursday. I double and triple-checked this with Him as the ferry companies were telling me there was no way to get there on Thursday. The rubber truly met the road on the Tuesday as the students were asking if we were leaving on the ferry that evening. I explained that I believed God said no to that so we could arrive in Ha’pai on Thursday. The students were excited and full of faith that God would do what He said so instead of setting out for the wharf, we went to the airport to pick up another God-send from NZ in the shape of John Shand. John was, like Sarah, following a call from God to ‘go’ and he arrived in Tonga ready to accompany us on the outreach and provide much-needed leadership support. I explained the boat situation and I went to bed hoping and praying I hadn’t gotten it wrong… The next day I shared about faith during the morning devotional and explained how my flesh was worried about the boat but I believed I was being obedient to what God had said (namely don’t get the boat on Tuesday).The students, once again, cheered me on and already praised God for what he promised. After the devotional I called the ferry company to confirm if the boat had left the night before and, hallelujah, it hadn’t! There had been a delay and it would leave that evening, arriving, you guessed it, on Thursday in Ha’apai. Praise the Lord, there was a happy dance or two in the house that morning:). And that wasn’t even the end of it… when we got to the ferry they told us they weren’t taking passengers. I asked God again if we would go on this boat- yes, came the answer. Then they said they wouldn’t take us all the way to Pangai, that we would have to get off on one of the outer-islands and take another smaller boat to Pangai. I asked God if this boat would take us all the way to Pangai- yes , came the answer again. The team was in fervent prayer that we would be travelling that day and all the way to Pangai. And the Lord made a way! Admittedly it was at the inflated price of 70 TOP per person so I asked God if we could get a discount and He said yes- so I asked for one and they dropped the price to 60TOP which was the advertised/expected price-Hallelujah! We arrived in Pangai (Ha’apai) on the Thursday morning at around 7am… right on schedule :) Our amazing hosts, Tevita and Lini had prepared a feast of lu leaves with chicken and beef with breadfruit which really hit the spot after more than 12 hours’ travel. The way this family served us and facilitated every aspect of the course is a true testament to their humility and sacrifcal love. They became mum and dad to the students as they cooked for us, washed our clothes and generously gave us the use of their family vehicle throughout our entire time with them. Their little boy,Tina, became the little brother to the students and missed no opportunity to play, tease or shoot at us from afar with his toy gun:). I have heard people say they are just ‘being obedient’ to their call but the truth of the matter is, there are plenty who are called to be obedient but only some who are actually doing it. Tevita and Lini’s actually did it and in doing so made the success of the outreach possible. We are so grateful for their hearts to serve and grateful to God that He moved them to do this. On our first Friday were invited to a local church youth evening where they graciously involved us in their program. The next day began a great relationship with the local police station that was continued throughout the 3 weeks on the island. The students shared their testimonies with the officers and were blessed in return as the officers shared their stories about how they ended up in their jobs/ got the call to the police force. We asked them to explain the difficult aspects of the job so we could lift them up in prayer and encourage them. We returned to the police station twice more as they kept asking us to come back- God really blessed these times and I am so grateful for the officers’ humility and welcome. We went to meet the town officer who was also the island reporter and he arranged for us to minister in the prison on the Sunday afternoon. He also circulated the news of our arrival on the island which of course is always helpful. The outreach at the prison resulted in at least 2 choices for Christ (praise the Lord!) and we left with sure intent to return! The hospital had given us the green light to come and pray with them and for the patients on Monday morning so a team set out to do just that. They also allowed us to return a second time to lead their Friday-morning devotional and, again, pray with them and the patients there. We were also welcomed into 2 local high schools to share testimonies and skits and were given permission to pray with the students in small groups. Many of the students re-confirmed their choice for Christ and asked for prayer for their studies and their families. We also had this opportunity at 2 of the primary schools– about 140 (!) of the primary school pupils accepted Christ during these outreaches which was an immense blessing to witness. God is so good and so faithful :). I went to see the principal of another high school one afternoon to ask if we could run our program there. Before I went in I asked God if he would say yes to us coming. God said he would so off I went- fully convinced we were already ‘in’. In short, the principal apologised for the fact that they simply couldn’t fit us into their schedule as they had so many guest speakers and groups visiting. I prayed silently, confused, thinking he clearly didn’t understand that God had already said yes! I felt like God was still saying yes so offered to come and pray for and with the staff due to the important nature of their job and the responsibility it carries. Then the principal asked what, exactly, 3D was all about so I shared a bit of my own testimony, how I ended up in Tonga and how the students on the course were growing so fast in such a short time. I paused, expectant, and he said ‘can you come tomorrow at 8.30? Hallelujah!!! God opened up an opportunity in this school for us to share about hearing His voice and, further to that I felt He was asking me to share about the baptism of the Holy Spirit and further, even, to that, I felt He was saying we should pray for the pupils to receive the Holy Spirit Baptism which I received permission to do! This was a rare opportunity, miraculous even- praise the Lord! The 3D Students each prayed with a group of 15 or so of the pupils who cried as they accepted Christ and asked for the Holy Spirit to come and baptise them. After this excitement we set off for the wharf to pick up John Moala who, by the grace of God, had agreed to help out during the last week of the outreach. This was an immense blessing (and answered prayer!) because John, of course, is Tongan-speaking and could really get alongside the students in supporting them in prayer and detailed guidance in their mother-tongue. The schedule for the rest of that day was in the hands of the leadership students as a part of their training. They used their time and their team well in blessing our hosts Tevita and Lini, by thoroughly cleaning up their yard. They followed this with a litter-pick-up walk into town and cooking a thoroughly satisfying meal when they returned. On our last Sunday we were blessed to, once again, minister in the prison. While praying about what to share there I felt God saying we should wash their feet. I felt God would use it to show them about equality before His throne and what it means to come to God every day to be washed from a perspective of fellowship with Him. The warden seemed quite unhappy- there was no flicker of a smile on his face as he watched us arrive and take our seats. I shared why we were there and about the feet-washing and the fellowship and we began washing feet. By the end of this the warden (who had has his feet washed too) was beaming. He thanked us profusely for coming and said he had been really blessed by what we had shared. I thank God for this opportunity and this result- to see such a change in countenance in such a short time is the Holy Spirit at work before our very eyes:). I also believe God used this time to humble the students, to really speak to their hearts and mould them that wee bit more. I thank Him for the idea:) In addition to the above, we had a variety of door-to-door ministry, street evangelism and local outreaches in our ‘host’ village and beyond. De-brief began early as a request had come from the people in our local village for another outreach which was to take place on our last Tuesday on the island. The 3D students spent well over an hour in prayer planning and praying about each phase of this mammoth outreach (it was to last 2.5 hrs in total). I have to admit that watching them plan this outreach was, for me, immensely rewarding. They stood, held hands and prayed. They sat, raised their hands and prayed.They stood and worshiped and called upon the name of the Most High God to help them with this outreach- for His name and His Glory. Such a beautiful thing to behold. Only God can do that! I thank Him for such fruit in such a short time. The kingdom has truly come and continues to come here in Ha’apai, in Tonga and on the earth! Praise His Name! We finished up our course with a graduation in Tofoa. Planning for the next course is underway – October is looking like our target month but much needs to happen between now and then with the 3D NZ team visiting in July on their outreach (praise the Lord!), a plan for me to visit my home church in Riversdale, NZ in July/August and I also need relocate (again) due to multiple break-ins in Tofoa:( Please keep 3D Tonga in your prayers as we continue to help grow and develop disciples here in Tonga- I am truly blessed to see God raise up helpers and to see the Kingdom come in this nation!
Posted on: Mon, 24 Jun 2013 05:24:13 +0000
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