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

 

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!!