We are all called to be missionaries, ambassadors of Christ. It might just look different for each
individual. For example, some are led to
be missionaries right in their own neighborhood or community; while others are
led to be missionaries across the world.
Wherever you are at, you are called to be His witness. In Acts 1:8 Jesus says, “You WILL receive
power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you WILL be my witness in
Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth.” He also said that His disciples will be
fishers of men.
Well, we are excited to be missionaries and fishers of men in beautiful Pohnpei, Micronesia!! Our faith journey didn’t just begin when we stepped onto the airplane. God began opening miraculous doors for our team when we made the choice to accept His invitation to come to Micronesia. Many of you played a big part in that with your support and obedience to things God placed upon your heart – everything from financial support to prayer to taking care of our kids. We thank you and bless you!! We arrived here safely on Wednesday, June 5, 2013, and were immediately welcomed into the Pohnpeian family by Christian & Jonas Jung, Ben & Cindy (leaders) and many others whom we look forward to getting to know more. “Mwaramwars” were immediately placed on our heads. Mine was unique, made of a yellow flower that carries a very strong fragrance. We felt very blessed, honored and, quite frankly, like oloiso – which means “royalty” in Pohnpeian!
Before our hour long drive to our new home, we made our
first stop at the local hospital and prayed for a man whose heart was having
pain. We believe and are declaring total
healing and a new heart from the Lord for this man. Please stand in agreement with us for healing
for this man and other future healings as we simply love on our Pohnpeian
family/brothers and sisters in Christ or soon-to-be and carry the presence of
God with power and love! It’s beautiful
how much freedom and favor there is on this island. We simply walked into the hospital,
loved/prayed, and walked out with no questions asked.
The girls all rode in a car with Ben/Cindy, while the guys rode in the flatbed of a truck. Lots of twists and turns, but I made it to our new home without throwing up, thank you Jesus! Yes, for those of you that don’t know, I get car sick very easily when the road is windy. When I saw the entrance to our new home, I was overwhelmed by how beautiful it was!! Originally we were going to be sleeping in tents on the ground and bathing in the river, with possibly an outhouse. However, God has been showering us with favor ever since we landed on the ground. Many youth and young adults (and a few adults) were there to welcome us. Definitely made me think of our youth group back in the states! Josh and I share a bedroom with a queen-sized bed, decorated with a gold-colored bedspread that seemed to glow as we walked into the room. There is even an a/c unit in our room, but we don’t use it regularly – only to cool off the room for a few minutes prior to bedtime. Nicole and Sandi share a room and sleep on a pad on the floor. John sleeps in the office/library room on a pad. They all have fans in their room to help cool them off at night. The bathroom has a working toilet and, yes, we can flush toilet paper and brown/yellow stuff down, haha! Unlike in Africa! Our shower consists of a pipe that sticks out near the bottom of the ground and produces fresh rain water into a large plastic bowl. Then we use a scooper to shower ourselves. They placed a very large container outside near the rain gutter to catch the fresh water for our showers. So, technically, we are showering in the rain!! We have lines where we can hang our laundry and a fridge to keep drinks/snacks cold. They purchased gallons of water for us to drink, but once gone, we might drink the water from the well. We have been so well taken care of. Our food for lunch/dinner thus far has consisted of things like rice, breaded/fried chicken, cabbage/chicken soup, fresh mango, bread fruit and sashimi (raw tuna). Yes, I tried the sashimi and it was really good. Maybe when we come back to the states I might actually start eating raw tuna and sushi with Josh…..maybe! They don’t eat breakfast on the base, but they have provided us with food each morning. Things like mini cinnamon rolls, fried bananas, donut holes, toast w/ PB, coffee/tea and milk are a few of the things they’ve made for us. It’s all very iou – which means delicious.
For our first night we joined the youth/young adults in dance/worship as they practiced for their evangelical crusade that was going to take place the following evening – although it got rescheduled for next week due to a surgery someone is having. It was absolutely beautiful watching them pour out their hearts and passion for the Lord through dance/music. I felt a strong desire to get up there and dance with them and learn from them, so Nicole and I joined them on the stage in the sanctuary. We have learned the dance in just two days (Sandi decided to join us the next day too), and we will be joining them in dance/worship as they go out and evangelize next week. So excited!! We dance for Jesus. He is our audience! We are going to claim ground for Jesus with our hands and feet and release His blessing upon the streets/land we dance on! Like David did!!
Before arriving in Micronesia, God gave me a vision of John/Josh speaking to an audience while here. I shared that with them, I believe while we were at one of the airports, or maybe we hadn’t even left the states yet. Either way, it turns out they’ve been given the opportunity to share a message on Sundays during the church service. John will be speaking this Sunday and Josh will be speaking to the youth on Saturday. Very excited and honored that they are being given this opportunity.
There was an intense rain shower during the middle of the night on our first night here. I wish I would have recorded the sound. Very powerful and intense! It rains often here but is still warm. Josh and I woke up super early the first morning. It was approximately 3:30-4ish. Not really sure because we don’t keep track of time or use clocks while here. I love not knowing what time it is and allowing the day to flow with no agenda or constraints of time. Oh, the simple life is such a blessing!! We turned on our cell phone to check the time in the states, but we weren’t sure which time zone it was picking up. Either way, we were wide awake so we checked out the church to see if they were meeting for devotion time. They ring a bell at 4am for quiet time with the Lord and then 5am for devotion time (where they all come together). However, they decided not to ring the bell on the first morning to allow us to sleep in. They wanted to honor us! We woke up to a beautiful double rainbow on our first morning in Pohnpei. How awesome is that!?! The Lord gave me a word for the team about feasting (spiritually) at His banquet table that He has prepared for us. Even when we feel full and overwhelmed, He is going to expand our capacity to receive more from Him!! What a great word for our team!
Second Day Here (Thursday, June 6th):
We had an amazing time flag worshipping and dancing with
some Pohnpeian girls the second day here.
Such freedom and joy was present!
Thank you to Sandi for bringing flags and teaching everyone. We then spent time worshipping with Christian
and Jonas Jung and many of our Pohnpeian friends. We are going to sing a song as a group during
this Sunday’s church service. We spent a
little time swimming, but the water was too murky to snorkel in. I wasn’t able to go under water because of an
infection or allergies in my eyes, so please cover that in prayer and declare
healing. My eyes have been a bit hazy
and goopy/scratchy. Josh and John have
had fun playing volleyball with the guys here.
Later in the evening we danced/worshipped again and practiced our dance for
our evangelism next week.
Third Day Here (Friday, June 7th):
Our amazing Mama, whom is taking wonderful care of us,
brought us two plates of fried bananas this morning along with some home-made
donut holes. We didn’t expect to eat
this well while here, but they are really blessing us and giving us their
best. We spent many hours with our
Pohnpeian friends learning their language and just hanging out. We all laughed as they taught us how to say,
“You crazy”! Yes, we are crazy for
Jesus!! We even learned and sang a new
song in Pohnpeian. It’s been exciting
learning a new language and getting to know these kids and their stories. Building relationships is most important to
us on this trip. Christian Jung arrived
around noon-ish to pick us up and take us to Kolonia where we are currently
staying overnight at the base leaders’ home.
We did some shopping for items we needed to start our service project on
Monday (laying tile in the church), and then Christian got a phone call
regarding a guy that needed some prayer.
We stopped by this guy’s house, and it turns out that he had seen us at
the hospital two days ago praying for someone.
He had wanted prayer too, but we had already left. Through certain connections, he contacted us
because he wanted us to pray over him.
He was having stomach pains due to diabetes. We prayed and declared healing over his body,
the power and love of God showed up, and he was healed on the spot. All pain left his body, praise Jesus!! He then accepted the Lord into his heart as
his personal Lord and Savior!!! A new
brother has been welcomed into the family of Christ! We also found out that the guy we prayed for
in the hospital was released the next day and is doing well! We will see him again on Sunday at church.
We stopped by some friends’ home (Ben/Cindy) and they fed us some delicious banana dessert with a coconut sauce before we headed off to minister at the prison. When we got to the prison, we handed out popcorn and Kool-Aid. After opening up with song/prayer, Josh shared a message about freedom and how they can still be free in their heart even when they are trapped/not physically free behind prison bars. It was awesome! John received words of knowledge and many were prayed over. The prison ministry team visits them every Friday and simply loves on them and shares the message of forgiveness, mercy and love with the inmates. It’s been a powerful time here, and we’ve only been here 2 ½ days so far. Christian Jung took us to this amazing restaurant called Sei, where we had all you can eat food (similar to Japanese). Things like vegetables, fried crispy tuna (which was oh so yummy), sashimi, rice, etc. Tomorrow the youth will be gathering and Josh (and the rest of the team) will be sharing whatever Holy Spirit puts on our hearts for them. Many exciting things are coming, but right now we are living for today and leaving it all on the field!! We have fallen in love with this place and the people here. They are absolutely beautiful and full of Jesus!!
Thank you for your love, support and prayer covering. Our team has been united 100%, and we are all growing and going deeper into the Father’s heart each day. Our gaze is on Him, and we trust His plans for us. Thanks for being with us on this journey. May YOU experience a deeper understanding of the power and love of God in a new way today!!
- Mindy & Team
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