Outer Island Ministry

By the grace of God, Outer Island Ministry in Fiji has begun!  After years of prayerful preparation and the unexpected delays and island closures caused by Covid, it has been a true joy to be able to begin bringing pastoral resources and Biblical counseling materials to the pastors and churches on neighboring islands.

Our desire has been to equip pastors and local churches, on even the most remote islands, with biblical counseling and pastoral training materials so that everyone has access to the resources they need to faithfully teach, preach, and apply God’s Word.  

In divine providence, one of our ministry partners in Texas contacted us last Fall regarding a group of high school students with an interest in overseas missions that raises funds around the Christmas season each year for international ministry projects with school children. They wanted to apply their 2021 holiday funds to the children in Fiji to meet their practical needs. In our discussions together they had a similar desire to serve the children in villages both on the mainland and on outer islands and it provided the perfect context to kick-start this branch of our ministry to meet several spiritual and physical needs on these islands once they reopened their borders. 

During this Spring, we met with village and church leaders from 3 separate islands to work together to meet the specific needs of the children and pastors from each location. Covid has brought widespread financial challenges to many around the globe and in Fiji many families on these islands have been particularly hard hit. With the borders reopening and school resuming, many families were left struggling to provide uniforms, backpacks, and basic school supplies like notebooks and pencils for the children in their families. The thoughtfulness of our friends in Texas meant a great deal to them and they were incredibly grateful for the school items for the children.

One of the most encouraging aspects of my time with them was that while they were excited for the physical gifts, the pandemic had also grown their desire to know God’s heart, especially on the everyday challenges they have been facing. They saw the significance and value of biblical training and resources for their villages and their greatest passion was to meet the spiritual and eternal needs of the people in their care! We are so excited to continue partnering with these villages in the future.   

We were often reminded in our conversations with the high school students and their team in Texas of how local churches in other parts of the world can serve the body of Christ in a similar way as Paul sought to meet the needs of those abroad in the days of the early church! It personally brought us deep encouragement and was an incredible joy to be able to partner with them in this way.

Joseva Bau – Biblical Counseling Apprenticeship

Biblical Counseling Apprenticeship Update – Joseva Bau
It has been an immense joy reuniting with a dear friend and brother in Christ, Joseva Bau! In the past, I introduced him to you as one of the members of a biblical counseling apprenticeship. You might also remember his incredible journey with disability and how God used that aspect of his life to bring him to Fiji Bible College to receive pastoral training. By the grace of God, we have been able to reunite in the same town now that he has returned from the village where he was staying during the pandemic and he is working on a number of exciting projects that we would appreciate your prayers over. 
Please be in specific prayer for Joseva (pictured right):
(1) He is currently working on evaluating existing biblical counseling materials and determining how we can adapt them to become more accessible to the average person in Fiji and the South Pacific. He is specifically working on reading through many counseling books and materials so that we can simplify larger resources and make versions of them available that are more concise, finding ways to bring them to a broader audience and also translate them into the various island languages and dialects for those who prefer to read in their original languages.
(2) Joseva’s testimony has been a great encouragement to those that know him in Fiji. In a similar way that Joni Eareckson Tada’s testimony has spread the gospel and brought encouragement to many, we have asked Joseva to prayerfully work on writing out his testimony so that he can be used to proclaim Christ and bring hope to others across the South Pacific.  
(3) As an alumni himself, we have also asked Joseva to help work with me to connect with Fiji Bible College alumni to bring ongoing encouragement to our graduates as well as biblical counseling and theological resources to them for their ministries across the South Pacific.

We are so grateful for Joseva, as he not only wants to be a faithful shepherd, but to steward the life experiences that God has given him by bringing the hope of the Gospel to those affected by disability in the South Pacific!

Baby #3 is Almost Here!

ur family has recently returned to the US in preparation for the birth of our son. We so appreciate your prayers for our family as we all caught Covid en route and we are so thankful for a full recovery for each of us! It was a tremendous blessing to us knowing how many of you were praying for us and especially the health or Jordan and the baby!

Jordan’s official due date is May 27, but the baby could arrive any day now! She is very ready to meet our precious baby boy and we would appreciate your prayers for a safe delivery! Taj and Tori are absolutely thrilled to and cannot wait to meet their new brother face to face!  

Prayer Requests:

1) Please pray for those in the outer islands;
2) For Joseva Bau, that he would be encouraged as the Lord continues to give him opportunities to serve and grow in his understanding of biblical counseling and how God might continue to use him for the Kingdom; and
3) Jordan as she will have our baby boy soon!

-Michael, Jordan, Taj, Tori, (and soon-to-be-born baby #3)