Devastated by the Storm!!

There are so many things that we take for granted. Living in the Pacific Northwest, weather is one of them. We get rain, that's for sure, and occasional flooding. But when it comes to natural disasters that can level a whole city we have been very fortunate. They say one is coming for us, but for now we have been blessed.

So, when we hear about these disasters that happen all around the world it is hard to imagine the gravity of what it means. Sometimes I think it's like something from a movie. We will talk to our friends and co-workers about it, "Can you believe what happened?", and then we just continue with our day. It becomes a topic of conversation, but then we never actually do anything about it.

Then it happens in an area where we have friends. When you have family and friends that are affected by one of these natural disasters it becomes a lot more real.

Last summer my wife and I journeyed over to the small island of Fiji and met some amazing people. Just over a week ago a Cyclone hit that island and left its impression on much of the area where we visited. This storm has been dubbed Cyclone Winston and had winds that set new records. If this storm had taken place in the Alantic it would have been considered a category 5 hurricane. Needless to say it was enough to devastate cities and towns all across the small island.

Our dear friends Tomasi & Serina's home after the storm

This is an excerpt from the email I received from our friends:

One week ago, Fiji was hit with what they say is the worst storm on record in the southern hemisphere: a category 5 cyclone called Winston.  The death toll is currently at 42.  Many have lost everything, as their homes were ripped up and blown away by the 220 mph winds.

Because of this storm there are now children without parents, people finding shelter in caves, entire villages flattened, churches and schools demolished.  62,000 people are in evacuation centers. Everyone knows someone who has been affected. 

OUR HOUSEHOLD, AND ALL OF THE ISLAND ENCOUNTERS STAFF AND TEAM ARE FINE.  We have sustained damage to the farm and sailboat but we are all okay. The clean up and rebuilding in Fiji will take a long time, and we hope to do what we can to help.


So what do we do when something like this happens? How can we help? For most of us it would not be feasible to drop everything and go over there. So what do we do? There are ways you can help those affected by this Cyclone without even leaving the comfort of your own home. First of all pray. Pray for the people of Fiji and also that Island Encounter's will be able to effectively minister the Love of God to those who are hurting.

Also, Ray & Laura Pittman with Island Encounters are on the ground ready to help, but there are costs that come along with that. If you want to help in the clean up and rebuilding of these homes and villages follow the below link to give a tax deductible donation to Island Encounters through the Pioneers website.

CLICK HERE to make a tax deductible gift through Pioneers to help with cyclone relief! Your donation will help Island Encounters to re-build houses, and give food and supplies to those most in need. ENTER ACCT #150864H

Here are some more pictures of storm damage in Fiji

 

Island Encounters - Oasis Farm

Oasis Farm

Top left to Bottom right: Entering Oasis farm; farm house; tool shed; dorm building.

There are so many aspects to Island Encounters and our adventures in Fiji that it will take a few blogs tell you about all that God did and is doing. As I begin writing I want to focus on the farm and what God is doing through that part of the ministry. This is a key component to the Pittman's vision for ministry in Fiji, both in hosting teams from around the world as well as witnessing to the native Fijians and Indians.

The History:

A few years back the Pittman's acquired this 14 acre plot of land that is currently known as Oasis Farm. When they took over the property it had been used as a sugar cane farm and the main farm house was so run down that their first instinct was to burn it to the ground. Now they have cleaned up and remodeled much of the farm house, built a dorm building and removed all of the sugar cane.

The Ministry:

Island Encounters vision for the farm is multi-faceted. First it serves as a location for teams to come and stay while they are serving and ministering on the island of Fiji. They are able to help in the production and growth of the farm and have a base of operations while they help the Pittman's in other areas of ministry. The farm also serves as a source of income that gives some of the locals work, and eventually will help fund Island Encounters. When you talk to Ray about the farm, though, the vision goes much deeper. He sees it as a place where people of every race and religion can come to learn about farming and build relationships. As Island Encounters continues to develop the farm they see it becoming a place where other farmers can come to learn about methods of farming that are new to Fiji. Then, as they are learning they will build relationships with the Pittman's and others on the farm that will lead to sharing about Jesus. Most of the people of Fiji are either Muslim or Hindu and if you approach them to share about Jesus they will not listen and they will never darken the door of a church. However, if they come to Oasis farm to learn about farming they will experience the Love of Christ through the Pittman's and those that are teaching them. It's about sharing Christ through relationship, not preaching. As it's name describes Oasis Farm is a fertile spot in a desert where water is found, both in the natural and the spiritual.

The Plant Life:

Plants on the farm include mango, coconut, pomegranate,
cactus, lime & passion fruit.

As you walk around the farm you will see many types of trees growing including papaya, mango, coconut, bananas, breadfruit, passion fruit, pomegranate, and limes. They also have a tree there that is called Moringa Oleifera or Moringa Tree. This tree is also known as the Miracle tree because it has so many vitamins and nutrients in the leaves that it is used in many vitamin supplements. It has 7 times the vitamin C of Oranges, 4 times the vitamin A of Carrots, 4 times the Calcium of milk, 3 times the potassium of bananas and 2 times the protein of yogurt.

The Crops:

Sugar Cane is a failing industry. It doesn't produce a lot of money, but many of the locals think that once a field is used to grow the cane it cannot be used to do anything else. The Pittman's vision is to introduce new ways of using the land that was once thought to be able to grow only one thing: sugar cane. Currently they are harvesting Papaya and have now started growing water melon and beans. They also have a small crop of Cassava. This is a woody shrub that is harvested for the root, which is prepared much like we prepare potatoes.


Papaya Farming:

Once  a Papaya tree is planted it takes about 9 months before it will produce a harvest. At that point it will be harvested once a week until the tree stops producing good fruit, which is about 3 years. Island Encounters harvests every Monday and then they take the fruit to the market on Tuesday. In our limited time on the farm Nicole and I were able to participate in 2 harvests, which includes picking, washing and sorting the fruit. Currently, the Papaya trees that are producing are reaching the end of their life. Because of this Ray and Laura, with the help of the Edge team, recently planted a new field that will hopefully be ready to harvest by the time the current field is done.

Chickens:

Another source of income for the farm is the eggs. With just over 30 chickens currently laying everyday they have quite a few eggs to sell at the market every week along with the Papaya. Island Encounters is able to get more for their eggs since their chickens are free-range and are fed papaya and moringa leaves along with their regular chicken feed. The chickens are fed twice a day and the eggs are generally collection 3 times during the day.

From left top to bottom right:
Banana trees; Papaya tree; Moringa Tree; Papaya Orchard; Chickens.

Aquaponics:

Aquaponics

Aquaponics is an innovative type of farming that I had never heard of prior to Island Encounters. It is a self-sustaining system that allows you to farm both fish and vegetables at the same time. In this system the water cycles out of the fish tanks and through the garden beds and then back in to the tanks. As the dirty water (w/fish droppings) cycles through the garden beds, which work as a filter, the plants are able to use what they need and clean the water so that it returns to the fish tanks clean. Currently on Oasis farm the fish that they are growing is Tilapia and the garden beds are growing lettuce. It is still in development, but once it is fully functional all they will have to do is feed the fish and then they will be able to harvest both fish and vegetables.


Honey:

Recently Island Encounters has ventured into the land of bees. This will serve a dual purpose on the farm. First, they will be able to harvest and sell the honey. And second, the bees will help pollinate all the crops and therefore increase the productivity of the farm. Right now Island Encounter is in the early stages of this venture, but plan on harvesting their first batch of honey in the next few months.


The Van:

The farm van w/ Ste standing next to it.

Now I am very excited to be able to tell you about this part. This is what all of you have been helping raise money for over the last few months. Our goal in this was to raise all the money that was needed to pay off the van so Island Encounters could own it outright. As of yet we have not reached that goal, but we were able to bless Island Encounters with about $2000.00 toward the $5000.00 that was needed. I can't begin to thank you enough for all the generous donations. There are a couple of churches that I want to call out that partnered with us in raising this money - Connection Church of Oregon City, Misseo Dei Fellowship of Oregon City, Oregon Trail Fellowship of Oregon City and City Center Church men's group of Redmond Oregon. Thank you all who donated. As I mentioned we have not yet finished paying off the van and if you would like to help you can go here to make a donation.

The Critters:

Finally, I want to tell you about some of the critters that you will see on the farm. As first step out of your vehicle you will be greeted by the farm dogs. In this picture you will see two of those dogs. They were rescued by the team that was at the farm prior to us being there. In the top left picture you see what they looked like when we got there (they were pretty frail and you could see their ribs) and the bottom right shows how they looked the day we left. In this picture you will also see some of the other animals that we had to watch out for while on the farm. The top right shows a picture of the frogs. Once the sun went down they were everywhere. As you would walk it would seem as if the ground was moving. They have no natural predators, so they thrive and are everywhere. In the bottom left picture you can see some of the red ants. You could find nests like this one scattered around on the farm. Every once in a while when I was working I would start to feel pain in my foot and I would look down and realize I was standing in a nest and my foot was covered in them. They didn't hurt too bad, but were definitely a pain. Also, in this picture you see one of the spiders and gecko's that you could find running around on the farm.

More Information:

If you want more information about Island Encounters and the work they are doing in Fiji you can go to their website - islandencountersfiji.com. You can also check out or subscribe to their blog - fijifamadventures.blogspot.com. And last but not least, if you want to get involved financially with Island Encounter's to either help us finish paying off their van or to help support them in other areas you can do that here or if you want to support the Pittman family you can do that here.

More views of the farm property.

Stay tuned for more blogs about our adventures in Fiji.

Fiji - Things are coming together!

Bula friends & family! It has been awhile since my last update on our Fiji mission trip. All is going well and things are coming together nicely. Nicole and I have purchased our plane tickets, we have a schedule for who is watching the kids while we are away, and we have been trying to catch a few sun rays to avoid getting totally burned when we get there. And most importantly, money is already rolling in to pay off the van for Island Encounters (for more info see my last update). We are already over a tenth of the way there!! At last count there has been $590 donated.

There are also a couple of new things that I have to share with you. First, I need to graciously thank Katrin Duckworth and her mother who have been hard at work setting up a website filled with information about our upcoming adventure. Please check it out at www.wrightministries.social and let me know what you think.

Nicole has also been hard at work putting on garage sales to try and raise some spending cash for us on our trip. Thank you to all who have donated stuff to these. She will be having a couple more before the summer is up. If you are interested in donating anything top help us out or coming to one of them out please email me and I will get you more information.

If you haven't had a chance to give to the Fiji van fund, or even if you have, we now have a way you can give and you will get a pie in return! A couple of the ladies from our church have organized a pie fundraiser (Thanks Zena & Kristen). These pies will come from Shari's restaurant and are $25 apiece (keep in mind you are giving to a good cause). For each pie that you purchase you will be entered into a drawing to win a second pie. All profits will go directly to the van fund. So to sum it up, you get a pie and help the people of Fiji at the same time!! It doesn't get much better than that!

If you are interested in purchasing a pie to help out Island Encounters please email me or just write a comment to this blog and I will get you an order form. This fundraiser will go through June 27th - or June 28th if you drop it off at Connection Church during the service. See order form on the right (or I can send you one) for more information and pick-up details.





Nicole and I would like to thank all of our friends and family that have been helping to make all this come together. You are amazing and we couldn't do this with out you!!

If you want to keep up to date with all that is going on with our Fiji trip just add your email in the 'Follow by email' box that is in the right hand column of my blog page and you will get an email every time I post on here.

Fiji: You can't get any further away, before you start coming back.

Of course that is not entirely true, but until a couple years ago this quote from the Truman Show was all I knew about Fiji. That is about the time I reconnected with a couple of old friends on Facebook. I met these friends, Ray and Laura Pittman, about 15 years ago when I spent some time in Kona with Youth with a Mission (Y-Wam). While many of the students in our discipleship training school were still searching and trying to discover who God was and how that would play into their future, Ray and Laura were grounded in faith and knew what God was calling them to do next. They were going to Fiji to minister to the people that live there. That was their plan and now 15 years later they are living out their vision of "Equipping students and the poor for greater life encounters" everyday in Fiji with their ministry Island Encounters. I encourage you to check out what Island Encounters is all about by clicking here to watch a video and then explore their website, www.islandencountersfiji.com.

Now, comes my part of the story. Ever since I first did overseas missions with Y-Wam I caught a bug. For awhile that was all it was and I knew it was not the right time to pursue it, but in the last couple of years it has gotten worse. It slowly became an itch that I couldn't scratch away. That is about the time I reconnected with Ray and Laura on facebook and started to get a peek into what they are doing in Fiji. As they would post pictures and make comments my heart was drawn to what God was doing through their ministry. This summer God has opened the door for my wife and I to make the journey to Fiji and check out Island Encounters first hand and reconnect with some old friends. We will be leaving in August and will be there for about two weeks.

That's where you all come in. We would love to have you connect with us on this new journey we are about to make. There are a couple of ways that you can do that. First of all and most important, we ask that you join us in prayer. Here are our prayer requests:

1. Pray that God would use us to further His kingdom in the land of Fiji

2. Pray that we would be attentive to all that God wants to teach us through this adventure

3. Pray for safety for my wife and I as we trek half way around the world

4. Pray for our children as this is the longest we have ever been away from them

5. Pray for Ray and Laura and Island Encounters that they would be blessed in their ministry

6. Pray for the people of Fiji that God will open their hearts to hear His message  

Help us pay off their van which they use to transport teams
to ministry locations and to get around on the farm.

Here is the second thing we need your help with. As we are going to Fiji we want to join with them in their vision of meeting practical needs as well as Spiritual needs. In saying that we have decided we want to help Island Encounters in one of their biggest practical needs. We want to pay off their van. Recently they had to take a loan to get a vehicle that they use to transport student teams around the island as well as basic transportation around the farm. In order to pay off this van we need to raise $5000 and we want your help. Anything and everything helps.

If you want to give to Island Encounters you can do it in a couple of different ways. First, we have a fund setup at Connection Church where you can give and you will also receive a tax deductible receipt. To do this, just make a check payable to Connection Ministries and mark Fiji in the subject line. You can give this way through our offering on Sunday mornings or you can mail it to:

Connection Ministries
PO Box 1973
Oregon City, OR 97045

Or if you just get it to Nicole or me, we will get it into the fund. All of the money that you give, unless specified otherwise, will go directly to Island Encounters.

The other option is that you can go directly to their website and they have giving options there as well. To give from their website click here.

Be sure to check back as I will continue to update what we are doing and our progress on paying off the van. God bless and thank you for partnering with us in this adventure!!