TONGA HIT BY THE FURY OF HURRICANE RENE
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The head
teacher of our Hosea School in Tonga, Mrs Dorothy Nawadradra, sent me
an email earlier this month saying that Hurricane Rene had hit Vava'u
Island in Tonga with its full power. It had raged furiously in the city
of Neiafu where our preschool is situated, causing tremendous damage in
the area. In spite of all the calamity that happened around our small
school, the school building itself did not suffer any major damage and
no one was killed, for which we are very grateful to God.
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We have
started another preschool in the eastern part of the island, in a town
called Koloa. It is a very poor community but the parents want a
Christian education for their children. They have each promised to pay
10 Tongan dollars (pa'anga) per week – less than four Euros – if only
their children could be allowed to join to the same group of Hosea
Schools to which Dorothy's school belongs. Such an amount of money
might seem insignificant in our eyes, but for those poor people it is a
big sacrifice.
Unfortunately this new school in Koloa did not do so well when the
hurricane struck. The school building was totally destroyed, as the
force of the wind threw it into the air. But the teachers did manage to
rescue the teaching materials that they had just received from our
Neiafu school a few days earlier. Our Koloan school now needs our
support so that we can find a new building for our pupils and so that
school work can resume as soon as possible.
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and I share the same goal: we want to win Vava'u Island back to Christ.
Dorothy and her teachers work hard with the children and their parents,
teaching them the basics of Christianity. The mums and dads enjoy
attending regular bible studies and many of them are really growing in
their faith. Please keep Dorothy in your prayers - she does amazing
outreach work in the island.
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Dorothy Nawadradra |
As I explained in our November 2009 Newsletter, some time ago I visited the state school in Neiafu, where I was able to get to know the head teacher. The school is close to another massive but beautiful school campus run by Mormons. I was told that many new Mormon missionaries graduate from that school every year and are then sent throughout the island and beyond on their missionary outreach. The size and beauty of the school campus makes it a very attractive option for local parents of course.
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As I
observed the Mormon school and thought about all its operations, it was
almost like a revelation to me as I grasped what a far reaching impact
it would have on the whole area, as children were taught all the Mormon
principles and doctrines, and would go on to win others to their
religion. It made me even more determined to do something in that town,
and that was the starting point for our small preschool there in the
very same area. God had already led Dorothy to move to the locality so
I had already an excellent teacher there prepared to start the work!
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Anne with the our Neiafu School pupils
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Our school provides Christian training and education for the poorest people in the area. We started off by founding the preschool but from now on a local millionaire has promised to take care of the costs and will provide everything including a new purpose-built school building. Through his generosity our Neiafu school will grow so that the pupils can eventually graduate from our own High School. We are so thankful to God that, as we have taken these steps in faith, we have experienced the faithfulness of the One who has promised to finish the work that He starts!
Last year
we also received another generous donation, as the owner of an internet
cafe in Australia decided to donate his old PCs to the Neiafu schools,
after buying new hardware for his business. We received 14 PCs
altogether: two of them went to our Hosea School, but the rest of them
were shipped to the state school I mentioned above, which had almost no
modern teaching equipment at all when I visited them. We were also very
pleased to be able to ship a good quantity of non-fiction books and
teaching materials donated by Australian Christian schools.
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A PROPHECY ABOUT REVIVAL IN THE PACIFIC ISLANDS
A little while ago I received an interesting prophesy which had come through Barbara Wentroble and Keith Pierce: “The South Pacific Boils ”. Here is a short extract of what was said:
“...The
Lord will ignite a flame in the hearts of His people. A new
evangelistic anointing will come, even in the most unlikely places, in
such places where His voice has earlier been silenced. The Lord will
loose His fire in the Pacific Islands where the enemy has destroyed so
much. The Lord will now send there such people and groups of people to
whom He can trust His authority over these destructive powers...”
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I am sure that many of you have heard of the disasters that have happened in the Pacific Islands: a tsunami, earthquakes, horrendous floods, hurricanes, political coups and many other problems. Because the mission field entrusted to me by God is exactly there, in the islands of the Asia-Pacific, I have been able to observe these disasters from a ringside seat, as it were. And not only that but even my own family has been hit by some of this affliction and calamity. My daughter Emilie is married to a man from Samoa. Last Autumn a tsunami hit the island of Samoa, causing much destruction and many deaths. My daughter's father-in-law lost eleven close family members in one go, many of whom were his brothers and sisters.
Just last year I visited Fiji immediately after a cyclone had hit the area causing terrible flooding. The city of Nadi where I preached, was covered in floodwater. God has allowed such shakings to happen in every nation in the Pacific area and similar ones in other parts of Asia too, but I believe that this is the start of revival.
At the time that this newsletter is published, I am on a mission trip in Fiji, on an island called Viti Levu. Please remember us in your prayers. I am travelling with a lady called Michelle Ferfusson. Please pray that the Lord would help us to do what He wants us to do and that revival would break out wherever the Lord sends us.
NEWS FROM THE PHILIPPINES
Mamburao School Field Trip
The graduating students at our school in Mamburao (in Mindoro Island in the Philippines) have recently been on their much awaited field trip. We provide such a trip as it is a compulsory part of schooling in the Philippines. The excursion was to a place called Ocean Park which combines a zoo and a park area. Altogether there were 60 children and 75 adults on the trip. We invited the parents of our pupils to come along as we wanted to strengthen the bond between the children and their parents and also to teach them a bit more about what parenting means. We also held some Bible studies during the trip. The children were over the moon as this was the very first time that they had been able to travel somewhere away from home.
The accommodation for our Hosea school group had been arranged plenty of time in advance, but a mistake apparently happened because when they arrived they were told that there was no chance of accommodating them! By this time night was approaching and alternative possibilities seemed non-existent. Our teachers did their level best to find other accommodation but wherever they tried they still got the same negative response. Of course it was hardly surprising that there was nothing available given the size of the party - 135 people altogether. So a real miracle was now needed!
Finally a
large church heard about the trouble and offered the floor of their
building as somewhere to sleep. Our children are not used to luxurious
sleeping arrangements of any sort, so this suited them very well. I'm
sure you can imagine the amount of noise and giggling that was heard
when our sixty pupils were supposed to be getting some sleep, lying
side by side across the church floor!
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The Second Hosea Fishing Boat
We have sent funds to Mamburao for the construction of our second fishing boat. I want to send my warmest thank you to everyone who donated! The amount of money that we sent is probably not enough yet, as the price of timber has risen since last year, but I believe we will soon be able to make up the difference so that the boat can be finished.
School Graduation Ceremony in Palawan Island
In the Philippines the summer holidays start in March, with the new
school year stating at the beginning of June. The end of the school
year is celebrated in a special way in our Palawan school in the city
of Puerto Princesa from where this photo has been taken. Our school is
now very popular among the local slum community where our pupils live.
The number of children who want to enrol is far more than we are able
to accept, so we are now facing a big challenge to increase the number
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The students are also taught to take care of others in need. Our Palawan school held a special “Heart Day” and the students prepared cards for people having to stay in the hospital in Palawan. Then on 14 February they went to the hospital and delivered these cards and gifts to the patients.
In my December 2009 newsletter I described something of the harsh reality of local hospitals. They lack almost every basic facility, not just nursing equipment but also beds, mattresses, pillows, and sheets. This situation is worsened by the shortage of rooms, so sick people have to lie on the floor in corridors, halls, everywhere - seriously ill people and newborn babies with their mothers side by side. The doctors and nurses do what they can in such desperate circumstances, which to western eyes seem inhuman in comparison to the nursing care that we are used to. It must be so frustrating for the medical professionals there to try and work where such basic provision is just not available.
The nurses and doctors were very friendly towards us and let us pray freely for the patients. Often sick people were brought to my meetings and Pastor Chad gave over his office to be a resting place for the sick. It was a sensible arrangement as many of them were suffering from tuberculosis or some other contagious disease or they were in such poor condition that they would not have been able to sit in the meeting. We prayed for all of them, knowing that our Heavenly Father never fails to do His part. Since we returned from our latest trip to the Philippines we have been delighted to hear several good reports about people being healed.
“I tell you the truth, anything you did for even the least of my people here, you also
did for me.” Matthew 25:40 |
HOSEA MINISTRY HAS NOW 11 SCHOOLS
I also want to take this opportunity to send my special thanks to all our faithful supporters, as the total number of our schools in the Asia-Pacific islands is up to 11. One of the schools is Maip Bible College in Papua New Guinea, which offers two-year courses for those called to become pastors. Revival is really breaking out like bushfire in PNG so there are great needs for trained pastors to look after all the new converts. We will continue to do our best to support these dear sisters and brothers, equipping them to go through the highways and byways bringing the gospel to people living in very remote areas. May God richly bless you all as we work together to bring the gospel, life and hope to people often forgotten by the western world.
With love,
Anne
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