Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving! It's a good time to reflect on the past year, and all the things we have to be thankful for.



Ray's Graduation: MA in Biblical Studies

We are happy to announce that after five years of hard work, Ray got an A on his thesis (dealing with community development and the biblical response to poverty), and has graduated with his Master's degree! His degree was through the Fiji Bible College, with his professors and his accreditation from the states. The graduation ceremony was wonderful. We are thankful for the opportunities God has given us to further our education here in Fiji. Laura continues to work on her MA and Ray has been approached to pursue his doctorate.

Student Teams & Future Ministry Plans

We've always loved working with students. From running a study-abroad program to hosting short-term teams, we've seen God transform many lives through His Spirit over our 10 years in Fiji. There's something about the combination of culture, adventure, discipleship and community that forms an effective recipe for life-change in the lives of students and those they interact with.

While we are continuing to host short-term teams, we are also looking forward to having students for longer periods of time, as it really enables the them to go deeper in local ministry. This summer we will host a 6-week Edge Team through Pioneers, and we are praying about starting a 9 month Gap Year program for university students next year.

Momi Bay: Pre-School, Agape Farms & Outreach Centre

Last night Ray spoke at the graduation of the Agape Pre-School down at Momi Bay. The pre-school is a great outreach to the community.

Over this last year we have seen tremendous progress at Momi Bay. The produce is flourishing on the farm, baby fish are on order for the fish ponds, and work on the building is progressing. We have chickens, goats, sheep and a horse on the farm as well. Joji and Aliti Raratabu and their children continue in day-to-day ministry and outreach as they manage the farm and the pre-school.

Transition to Pioneers: Urgent Prayer Request Support at 32%)

As many of you already know, we have recently transferred to Pioneers International, a highly respected and innovative missions organization. Pioneers currently partners with more than 2,000 churches to send more than 1,900 missionaries to over 200 countries. We are thankful for the way God has led us to this group and are looking forward to how He will continue to use us in ministry here in Fiji through Pioneers (PI).

With PI, we still rely entirely upon financial support through churches and individuals (PI does not "pay" us). Right now our support level is only 32%. We know the transition time is a little rocky at first, but we are hopeful all our partners in ministry will continue to be a part of this work in some way. We've been encouraged to be candid about the rather difficult situation we find ourselves in of figuring out how to live on 32% of what we need. According to policy our monthly pledged support level must increase if we are to stay on the mission field. At present we plan to continue to move forward in faith with whatever we have in whatever way we can.

PLEASE PRAY that God would provide the additional financial partners that we need! Your prayers mean so much to us. We are confident that God will continue to meet all our needs according to His riches and glory.

Pioneers

It's been a whirlwind ride, but recently a new opportunity has opened up for us to deepen our existing ministries in Fiji. We thank our advisors who have been praying with us and guiding us in this transition, especially those who met with us all the way in Fiji. This week we have been accepted as members with Pioneers International www.pioneers.org. Through Pioneers we will continue our ministry partnerships in Fiji (Agape Farms at Momi Bay, Homes of Hope, and college ministry). We are so thankful for our past 3 years with Students International and praise the Lord for all He's done. We're sad to leave, and yet confident this is the Lord's leading for us. We will be dedicating future updates to inform you more on the transition and ways you can continue to partner with us to see the gospel reach the lost. Stay tuned!

In Florida with Mom

Thank you so much for your prayers for Ray's mom, Linda. She made it through brain surgery last week and has been recovering at home. This week she had a dizzy spell and tightness in her chest so they re-admitted her for a couple of days and ran further tests. We're thankful she was able to come back home today. We're still waiting to hear more from the doctors. For those who are interested in viewing more frequent updates about Linda, you can visit her Caring Bridge website at:
http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/lindapittman

Our flight to LA and then to FL was a bit rough. . .27 hours of travel (including about 5 hours of Isla screaming on the airplane--she refused to sleep!). We've had some serious jet-lag, but we're all doing much better today.

Linda is doing really well, considering all she's been through. She has all of her long-term memories, although she does get confused about practical things (like how to take a bath, or why she walked into the kitchen). She recognized all of us and has had some sweet snuggles and plays with the grandchildren. We are so thankful to be here.

The doctor has told Linda that with chemo and radiation she can expect to live another 2 to 3 years. I think we're all a bit in shock and trying to process everything. It's been so sudden and unexpected. We're continuing to pray for God's healing for Linda and know that He has her in His hands no matter what these next couple of years hold for her.

All of Ray's siblings and their families were together when we arrived in FL, and we had two days together before the others left. It was great to see everyone (pictured below). We're enjoying the blessings of this unexpected time with family and trying to make the most of each day.

We're off to Florida

We've purchased our plane tickets and we fly out to Fiji on Thursday. Ray's mom had brain surgery this morning, and she pulled through it. She recognized Ray's dad and said a few words when he saw her afterward.

We are busy trying to get everything in order here in Fiji before we depart. We'll update again from Florida

Update on Ray's Mom

Update on Ray's Mom

The news about Ray's mom isn't very good. The doctors have discovered that the tumor in her head is a very aggressive brain tumor. It looks like it has roots going down into the brain. It also has indications of very rapid growth. It's a little larger than a golf ball, located in her frontal a-lobe. Rather than simply doing a biopsy on it, the doctors have determined that they need to quickly remove the whole thing and then do further testing on it. Surgery is scheduled for Monday morning (in Orlando, FL).

The doctors are saying that the surgery may affect her memory and change her personality, along with other possible consequences of removing part of the brain. Ray packed his bags and tried to get on a flight yesterday but it didn't work out (one flight was booked, the other astronomically expensive). He is feeling pretty torn up about not being there right now (he is the only one from his family not there).

We are now planning on traveling as a family to the USA. We hope to depart this coming Thursday. We are already ticketed to go back at Christmas but when we tried to change our flight it was going to be $6,000! So we are purchasing new round-trip tickets on faith that God will provide what we need for this trip.

Thank you so much for your love and support. Please keep Linda in your prayers. We're all still hoping and praying for the best. Even though we don't always understand why, we know that God is in control. He is faithful and He is good.

Pray for Ray's Mom

Urgent Prayer Request:

Please pray for Ray's mom (Linda). She has been having headaches and some numbness on her right side, so she went in today to have it checked out. They did a CT scan, which revealed a lump in her head. The doctors think it is a brain tumor. Linda was transferred by ambulance to a hospital in Orlando where they will do more testing and a biopsy tomorrow. We'll keep you posted as we hear more. In the meantime, please keep Linda and the family in your prayers! It is hard for us to be so far away at this time, but it's a comfort to know that Ray's brother Jeff and his family are there.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



Family Update:

We are keeping busy lately with academic work. Laura's MA classes last month went really well, and she was so thankful that Ray was willing to stay with Elani and Isla while she was in school. Eden is adjusting to "real" school--she's been there about a month now. She likes many things about it, but is finding it hard to adjust to other things. Overall it is a good experience for her and we've seen growth in her in several areas. Please keep her in your prayers.

Ray has been working each day on his final project (thesis) for his MA degree. He has about a month left in which to complete it, so he's working hard! His topic is the Christian response to poverty. Please pray for him to have the diligence and stamina to put in the time he needs on this on top of his other ministry responsibilities. He is expecting to graduate with his MA in Biblical Studies in November.

Isla is crawling, standing, talking and teething! She sure keeps us busy. She's such a joy to have around. We are so blessed with our family and thank God for our beautiful girls every day.

July Update

It's been another busy month since we last wrote! We're just now catching our breath after saying goodbye to the last team of the summer. It was a great summer and God has really worked in and through the short-term teams. From now until Christmas we enter into a phase that is focused more on long-term ministry and development. The first two weeks of August Laura will attend seminary classes for two weeks. Read on for more news!


Summer Teams

The last month of teams has been busy, but great. We just said goodbye to the last team. Logistically it was challenging as we had close to 50 people staying at Momi some nights. What a blessing to have so many helping! They got a lot done at Momi and Homes of Hope both.

We also just said goodbye to our SPU engineering interns (working on appropriate technology projects), and our 3 summer staff (thanks so much, girls!). This past month we were able to host several professors and other school representatives on "vision trips" (a shorter outreach to enable them to catch the vision for SI Fiji). We are several steps closer to starting up our study-abroad program in Fiji as the result of SI's academic coordinator and his family coming out as well.

It's all been overwhelming but amazing. The Thompson family, summer staff and our Fijian staff were a tremendous help and blessing. Please pray with us for God to bring the right people to join our long-term staff team here in Fiji. We really need team leaders as well as a study-abroad program coordinator (once that gets going), along with more ministry-site leaders. We have a couple of people who have expressed interest in coming out, so please pray that God would guide the right people to join us!


Family News



Elani turned 5 years old on July 12! She had a very fun party and is a very sweet five year old. Nine-month-old Isla keeps us busy chasing her as she crawls all over the house and pulls herself up to explore shelves, cupboards and anything in sight. Eden (7) is attending a Christian school down the street for a few weeks to see how it goes, with the possibility of her staying there full-time. So far Eden isn't so sure about school, please pray for her adjustment and that we'd make the right decision about enrolling her full-time or not.

Laura will attend seminary (45 min. drive from our house) during the first two weeks of August. This is year three out of four for a MA in Biblical Studies. She's been working hard on her assignments from last year and has finally completed them. Please pray for the seminary classes to go well and please pray for Ray as he will be Mr. Mom while Laura is in school each day! We have some friends in Fiji who have volunteered to help out where they can with the home-school, watching baby, etc. so that is a blessing.

June Update

We've had a lot of people coming and going lately! First our 3 summer staff arrived. Then we welcomed a team from CA led by Dave Hansen (SI President). The president of the SI board and his family also arrived. Halfway through Dave's outreach, a "Vision Trip" team came from New Zealand and the US (a vision trip is a shorter outreach for people interested in catching the vision for SI and getting involved in some capacity). We're looking forward to several future potential partnerships that have been born out of this recent vision trip.

Currently we have a small outreach team, plus two engineering interns from Seattle Pacific University who are researching and designing an appropriate technology project for Momi (probably a methane digester--obtaining cooking gas from pig manure!).

This week and next we are hosting SI's academic co-ordinator and another vision team from colleges in the states that are interested in SI Fiji's future study-abroad program. We'll have several meetings next week regarding setting up this program; please pray for God's guidance and timing. We'd love to see it up and running by next fall.

The Pre-school Begins:

We are excited to announce that we've started the pre-school at the Momi base.

There are about 10 kids that regularly come and more are interested. Please pray that these little ones would come to know the Lord! We also are in need of tables, chairs, books, etc. (As you can see we have started out with short tables so the kids can sit on the floor!).

Agape Farms:

It's been great to have the help of the outreach teams as we continue to plant and grow things at Momi. Here they are planting pineapples!

The liners for the fish ponds are in and we expect to lay them next month. The sales of the fish and produce will go to run the farm and the ministries at Momi.

Home Visitations:

Pastor Joji (SI farm manager who lives at Momi) has been taking a few students around to visit the neighboring community each day after work. These home visits have become a highlight for the teams. They are always so blessed by the hospitality of the local people, and the students in turn share their testimonies with the families. Pastor Joji has started a small church gathering at Momi on Sunday mornings, and it's been neat to see the new believers coming each week to find out of more about how to grow in their faith.


"Z'" and Family

Remember "Z" (the single mom from our last update)? She is doing so well at Homes of Hope. There have been challenges, but she is growing in her new faith. She sent us a letter last week that says, ""Sometimes I feel rejected from everywhere, but then God says 'You are my child and I'm always here for you.' I have realized that the more I pray and believe in God the more He helps me and talks to me." What amazing words from one so new in her faith!

Last week we went to visit her mom and cousin back at home, and these two Muslim women gave their lives to Jesus as well! Please join with us in prayer for Z and her son, as well as her family back home. She has five little brothers/sisters (pictured here at home), one of which has Down's Syndrome. They live in dire poverty. We go to visit the family twice a month to check on them, pray with them and help out as we can.

Our Family

Our family is doing great! We are keeping busy with the outreach teams. Ray and I celebrated our 12th anniversary this month (even though we haven't actually had a chance to celebrate yet, since he went to Suva with the team that day!).

Isla is now officially crawling so that changes life a bit! She is pulling dishes out of cupboards, going through the trash and eating anything she finds on the floor (this week gecko poop and a dead cockroach. . .gross!).

Laura's mom Janet flew in for a month-long visit, so that has been a huge blessing! She is helping home-school the girls which frees Laura up to work on her MA paper for a couple of weeks. We've also been enjoying family times with the teams as we can.

Kids Club, Teams & Family

Here are some photos of a Kid's Club we recently hosted at the Agape Outreach Center (SI Base) at Momi. As our first "official" outreach to the community, it was a great success! With the help of Shoma from Child Evangelism Fellowship and our SI teams, the kids heard the Good News of Christ and had a great time as well!

We are currently hosting a combined team from Indiana Wesleyan University and Grace College in Indiana. They spent the last week working at Momi--building, planting, cooking, teaching and creating pumps for the well. They're working at Homes of Hope in Suva this week. This has been our biggest team yet, and it's been a stretch with our limited staff, but it's been awesome. We're so thankful to have the Thompsons here helping us out for the summer--they've been amazing.

A GLIMPSE INTO A LIFE . . .

We'd like to introduce you to a young Indo-Fijian girl we will call "Z" to protect her privacy. Z comes from a very poor Muslim family. When we met her she was 9 mo. pregnant, abandoned by her boyfriend, and dealing with some big issues (abusive step-father, severe asthma and anemia, and a pregnant mother with 4 other little ones at home, all trying to live on the $5/day that the step-father sometimes brought home for food).

We took Z to the hospital when she went into labor. Z needed a blood transfusion due to her anemia, but the hospital said they had no blood to give her--so we arranged for her to be transferred to the hospital in the next town. It was great to see our friends rally around her and shower this girl we'd just met with the love of Christ. She gave birth to a healthy baby boy (he is pictured above during the ceremony in which his birth hair is shaved off and then thrown into the river).

From the first we have been praying that Z would go to Homes of Hope. However, Z was reluctant to leave her mother and siblings in such a bad home situation. Last week, the step-father kicked her out of the house. Z came to Momi to stay with the team a few days before going to Homes of Hope. While there, she saw Christ's love lived-out and heard the gospel message of salvation.

Last week Z gave her life to the Lord and was baptized. She tells us she has never experienced such peace, and she is literally glowing with happiness. Please keep Z in your prayers as she begins a new life for herself and her baby at Homes of Hope.

OUR FAMILY

God has blessed us so much with our three beautiful girls--they bring us so much joy every day. We are continuing with home-school throughout the summer as time (and teams) permit, hoping to take a longer break at Christmas.

Sometimes it can be challenging to balance ministry and family time as the demands of the ministry are so great, especially when teams are here. We try to do as much as a family with the teams as we can, but it is definitely more challenging this year with an infant! Isla is sitting up on her own now, has grown two teeth, and her little personality is coming out. She is a very happy, social baby and we all enjoy her so much.

Laura is trying to finish up her homework before seminary classes begin this year (first two weeks of August). We're praying for someone to come out to help with the baby and the girls' home-school during the two weeks that Laura is in class (let us know if you're interested)!

Happy Easter!

NEW FIJI STAFF!

We are so pleased to welcome the Raratabu family onto SI staff. Joji is the farm manager, and his wife Aliti will help to cook for the teams and will be working towards starting up a kindergarten at the Momi base. We love this family (pictured at left: Joji, Aliti, Lavenia, Loata, Maria, Tukana and Mereane) and are so happy that they are on our "team"! Please pray for them as they continue to settled into life in the Momi community, and pray for good outreach opportunities for them.


ROOFING TEAM WORKING AT MOMI

We have been so blessed to have a roofing team consisting of five hard-working men who are laboring to put the roof on the building at Momi! We have had some set-backs (the ordered supplies have not been delivered as quickly as promised, although they had a month's notice!). The guys have used up all the wood we had for them. The rest is supposed to be delivered tomorrow. Please pray it comes in on time so these guys can get the roof on before they leave in one week!

FISH PONDS ARE IN!

It's been such a blessing to have Myron Mullett and his family here for the past couple of weeks. They have been digging fish ponds at Momi as well as at Homes of Hope! Eventually we will raise tilapia fish in the ponds, and will sell them to generate funds for the ministries. We are amazed at all they accomplished in the last two weeks! We're praying that the liner for the ponds arrives in Fiji soon so we can finish up this project and begin the fish farm!


LIFE & MINISTRY

We have been extremely busy lately with life and ministry! We have the fish-ponds going in, the roof going on, and a new team from Capenwray New Zealand Bible school just arrived this afternoon! Life is not dull in Fiji, and we thank the Lord for all He's doing. Please pray for strength for our team, especially Ray & Jonathan, as they work hard each day to bring supplies, see to the needs of the team, minister in the community, etc. It's exciting to be a part of all this!



Family life is going great! The girls are doing well in school. Eden just turned 7 on March 26! Isla Grace is 6 months old today--time just flies! She is such a joy. Thanks for praying for our family, we appreciate you!

Prayer Card

Email us (ray.laura.pittman@gmail.com) if you want a prayer card for your fridge!

March Update

Last month we hosted a team from Bethel University, and it went great! God worked in and through them. Ray traveled with them and really enjoyed the fellowship of the students and the leaders.



The work at Momi (Agape Farms) continues along at a fast pace. Ray spends a large percentage of his time overseeing the work there. The roof should be going on soon! We have several teams coming out this month. They will help with the roof and dig fish ponds for the tilapia project! It's exciting to see things happening in Momi. The Raratabu family is doing well and continuing on with ministry to the local community.

The Thompson family arrives later this week and will join us in Fiji for 5 months! (Jonathan is our boss). We're excited to have their help with the ministry out here and look forward to what God is going to do. Please pray for them as they adjust to life in Fiji, home-schooling their 3 boys, etc.

Laura has been keeping very busy with home-school over the last month! Home-schooling two girls instead of one, as well as taking care of baby Isla keeps Laura hopping!

Ray & Laura are both working on our MA papers--please pray for time for us to dedicate to this. There just aren't enough hours in the day!

The girls are doing great. Isla is five months now and growing fast! She is such a happy baby and a huge blessing to all of us. Eden and Elani love smothering her with attention.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day! We are thankful for each of you and the way you've been a part of our lives in some way. It is our prayer that God's amazing love would comfort, heal, challenge, renew and inspire you today!

We had such a great time visiting family and friends last month. Ray's brothers and their families were all with us in Orlando for a week and we had a GREAT time together. Several of the little Pittman cousins were able to meet each other for the first time!

Ray, Laura and baby Isla used some frequent flier miles to travel to MN for a reunion with some former Fiji students (while Nana and Papa watched Eden and Elani in FL). We had a great time with everyone, and Ray even got to ice-skate for the first time in his life!

While in MN, we were also able to meet with our SI study-abroad coordinator and talk about getting the Fiji study-abroad program going. . .we are so excited to see that happen (pray that it will be soon!).

We finished off the month in CA at Laura's mom's in Coarsegold. Her sister Melinda and her family flew out to spend that time with us as well. We also made it to Visalia for a short time to meet up with SI family and friends there.

Our time in the states was a blessing indeed, but we sure were glad to get back home to Fiji. We hit the ground running--lots going on here!



Momi Bay (Agape Farms):

We were so excited to visit the Momi site (now registered as a charitable trust called Agape Farms) to meet Joji Raratabu and his family, who moved into the (half-finished) building while we were in the states. Joji and Aliti just graduated from Bible school and have now come to farm and do ministry at Momi. They are a wonderful Fijian couple with a vision for the community. We'll see where God takes it. . .Joji leads devotions at the school next door and they have been visiting the neighbors and getting to know the needs in the area. There is talk of a kindergarten (since there is not one in the area), agricultural ministry, papaya & fish farm, vocational training for young men, etc. Pray for the Raratabu family--for their 4 kids to adjust to a new community, and for God's strength and wisdom as they reach out to the Hindu neighbors. (Aliti is pictured here with 3 of their 5 children).

Please also pray for ongoing construction at the site. . .Ray spends a lot of time overseeing this. We're looking forward to a couple of construction teams coming out soon to assist.

SIGATOKA PRE-SCHOOL:

We've appreciated your prayers and support of the Sigatoka pre-school over the years. We are happy to report that the pre-school is going really well, and fully under local leadership. As of 2010, SI has released them to carry on this ministry on their own, and they're doing great. To us, this is a great success--to help local ministries get started and then to release them to carry on with local leadership when they are able. Please remember them in their prayers as they continue on training up these kids in the Lord!

Our Family:

Laura has begun home-school again, adding Elani as a kindergarten student! It's been a lot more work to teach two, but she's really enjoying it. Baby Isla Grace is 4 months old now and growing fast! She has such a sweet, happy personality and brings us all so much joy.

Ray has been busy with meetings in Suva, overseeing the work at Momi, and preparing for the teams coming this year. Please pray for our first team, arriving this week (from Bethel College). Ray will be traveling with them as they help out at our ministry sites and learn about Fijian culture.

Please pray for: a leadership team for SI Fiji, our boss Jonathan Thompson and his wife and 3 boys traveling out to spend time in Fiji this year (we're so excited!), summer teams, and a vehicle purchase for us (we're hoping to buy a truck for Ray sometime soon, we've found a good one and are praying we can work out the finances out this month!). Please pray for God's continued provision.

We love you! Happy Valentine's Day!!

P.S. If any of you would like to join our mailing list, please email us and let us know! ray.laura.pittman@gmail.com

December Update

2009 has been a year of tremendous blessing amongst the challenges of life and ministry in Fiji. We are thankful for you, our friends and supporters. We are thankful for the opportunities we've had for ministry and growth this year. And we are looking forward to what God has for us in 2010!

This update is sent to you from the USA! We're spending time with family over the Christmas season and are enjoying it so much. Read on for more news . . .

Finishing up the Year in Fiji:

Before we left Fiji, Ray was keeping very busy with ongoing construction and development at Momi Bay. The project has officially been registered as "Agape Farms," a partnership between SI and the owner of the property. We've been rushing to finish the electricity, plumbing, etc. at Momi so that a Fijian pastor and his family can move in and begin outreach to the community. They have just graduated from Bible school and will be moving in this month!

Last month we were able to celebrate Thanksgiving with some other missionaries. We really enjoyed the fellowship. We also were able to attend a missionary retreat /conference earlier in November.

The first week of December, we were happy to attend the wedding of Evelyn Mani. The Manis have been friends of ours for the past 9 years in Fiji. Eden was a beautiful flower girl!

Our Travels:

We flew to LA on Dec. 6 and spent a week in CA, splitting our time between SI, friends, and family. It was a fun and busy time!

Currently we're enjoying time with Ray's family in Florida. His parents just moved here a couple of weeks ago, so they're still settling in. It's been nice to just be with them. We also were able to go to Disney World one day! The girls just loved it--they're at the perfect age to experience that wide-eyed wonder.

(We'll be back in CA again at the end of January. If any of you are in the Visalia area, we're planning a get-together the evening of the 27th before we fly back to Fiji. Email us for details if you can come!)

Family Corner:

We are so enjoying baby Isla Grace! She is very contented and peaceful! Even in the midst of all this travel and transition, she's only had a couple of fussy nights. She brings us all so much joy with her sweet smiles and snuggles.

Eden and Elani are enjoying time with grandparents (and all the "spoiling" that goes along with that)! Elani has had a hard time with the transition (she's been very fussy), but she is gradually doing better.

We're all enjoying this time in the USA but are also missing Fiji! We have a house-sitter at our house in Fiji and are thankful that he's caring for the place and the pets (this week he's been picking up the debris after the recent cyclone). Please pray for Zachary as he volunteers his time at the local orphanage and "holds down the fort" in our absence!

October News

It's been an eventful month since little Isla Grace was born! 3-day old baby Isla went on her first motorcycle ride during a tsunami evacuation, Ray has been marveling at God working in the Momi community, Laura got stuck in the middle of the road with a broken gear box, Eden & Elani are figuring out how to be good big sisters, and our visitors this month have been helping us work towards setting up aquaculture systems at Momi and Homes of Hope. Read on for the details!

The Tsunami Evacuation!
Laura's Story

When Baby Isla Grace was only 3 days old, and we'd been home from Suva just one day, we received a call from Ray's father in Texas asking us if we knew that Fiji was under a Tsunami warning. We didn't! We turned on "Fiji One" (the one TV station we get here in Fiji), and there was nothing about it. So we checked the radio, and sure enough. . .we found out there had been a big earthquake off of Vanuatu. Fiji was in the projected wake of the wave caused by the earthquake. And the estimated time of impact was only 15 minutes away!

Seeing as how we live right on the coast (just a small island between us and open ocean), we decided we'd better take this seriously. Fresh in our minds were the hundreds who died in neighboring Samoa and Tonga just weeks before in a massive tsunami. We grabbed our passports, the diaper bag, and we were out the door. Apparently everyone else in the neighborhood had already heard about the warning because there were no neighbors or taxis around.

The other bad news? We had no working vehicle. Our personal vehicle has been in the shop for over a month now, getting its second engine overhaul. The SI van was also in the shop getting a new transmission. So. . .Ray got his motorcycle started and told me to hop on the back--he'd take me up the road out of immediate danger and then come back for Grammy and the girls. I gulped. I wasn't sure if it would be worse to ride a motorcycle 3 days after giving birth or to be struck by a giant wave. But when I thought of tiny Isla Grace in my arms I bit back the pain and got on the motorcycle sidesaddle, holding tightly with one arm to the bike and one arm around the baby. I prayed the whole way that I wouldn't fall off or drop the baby--it was quite precarious!

Ray drove inland a bit, dropped me and baby off under the shade of a tree and went back for the girls and Grammy (who thankfully were picked up by a nice man driving around looking for people to rescue, and thus avoided the motorcycle ride!). When we were all together again, we waited until our friend Chen Young came by in his car and took us up to his house (on higher ground). We waited out the tsunami warning there and ended up having a good visit considering the wave never hit Fiji! But what an adventure. . .

God is Moving in Momi
Ray's Story

The other day, Chen, Dan and I went down to Momi to have a church service and fellowship with Mr. Sharma and Shem (his son). Mr. Sharma and Shem gave their lives to the Lord when the last few SI teams were here and now do construction work at Momi. Our SI staff baptized the Sharma's at their own request. The Sharma's also insisted on burning their idols.

The sight of Mr. Sharma dressed neatly with his hair combed and a big, beaming smile on his face is something I am not used to seeing. His eyes are no longer yellow with bitterness, dark with idol worship or red with anger; now they are bright and alert.

Shem was there too and had brought a friend, Surea. When we inquired more about Surea, Shem told us that while I was in Suva for the baby's birth, he had found Surea walking over to a nearby tree with a piece of rope. Shem ran after him and confronted him. Surea was about to hang himself. Unfortunately this is very common here when people don't know what to do about their problems. Shem was able to talk him into coming home with him to their tin house, where he and his dad shared with him that there was hope.

I'm sure it was not the first Sunday such a group of misfits and
rejects (especially us!) had gathered together to thank God for his
inexplicable interest, his undeserved mercy, his endless love, divine
grace in pursuing us and giving us hope and meaning in life. When
Chen heard Surea's story, he looked him straight in the eyes and said
with great authority, "Listen to me, your life is not your own. It is
a gift from God and it has great value to him. It has so much value
in fact, that he sent his son to die for you, to pay the price for
your sins, so that you might live! Don't believe the lie that your
life has no value, or that it's yours to take." Surea began to cry.
Dan patted him on the shoulder, I nodded in agreement and thought to
myself, "How great is this God, who has not forgotten these people all
these years, and is moving and working in their hearts."

I really feel like a spectator in what God is doing at Momi. Chen and
Dan have been waiting for an open door there for over a decade. As we
move forward in faith, trust God with what we don't have, don't know
and can't afford, God is faithful to do more than we could ask or
imagine. Just as Dan shared in the message from Samuel, God
desires obedience from us, not just in some areas, but in all areas of
our life, regardless of what logical excuses there might be.

I was really blessed that day, blessed to see the Holy Spirit moving in
Mr. Sharma and Shem's hearts. Blessed to see seeds taking root and
growing in such a spiritually dark, poverty stricken and hopeless
area. Blessed to see God bringing hope and transforming lives.
Blessed to see a church being born. Sometimes I lose perspective of
why we're here in the busyness of doing and living, and I forget that
it's not my doing that really does anything, but in everything and all
things GOD.

I ask you to pray for Mr. Sharma, Shem and Surea, as they have a long
road ahead of them and all the odds stacked against them. We
desperately need a Hindi speaker who can disciple them in their own
language, as their English is not very good. Surea is 27 and can't write his own name. There are many challenges ahead as we follow where God leads but we're excited to see what He has for this place.

Aquaculture for Ministry

This month we had the pleasure of a visit by some friends who are looking into the possibility of helping us set up two aquaculture (fish farming) systems here in Fiji. One would help to fund the ministry in Momi, and the other would be to feed the moms and kids at Homes of Hope. We're super excited at the possibilities, and we'll keep you posted! Please pray with us for this.

Family News
Eden, Elani and Isla Grace


We are doing well as we adjust to life as a family of five! Isla Grace is such a contented, peaceful baby. . .what a blessing! The girls are great big sisters. Laura struggled with some pain/infections after childbirth but is now doing really well and feeling good. We are all looking forward to our trip to the states over Christmas. Ray's parents just sold their house in TX and are moving near Orlando, so we'll be joining them in FL for Christmas. We'll spend some time in CA the week before and after our time in FL. Please pray for all the logistics and finances to come together for this trip! Laura is working hard to finish up Eden's year of home-schooling before we go.

Thanks for your prayers!

Isla Grace Pittman is here!

She's Here!

After 12 hours of labor, Isla Grace Pittman entered the world at 6 am on October 5, 2009 in Suva, Fiji. The midwife greeted her with a warm Fijian welcome, "BULA!" (Bula is how we say hello here, and it also means "life").

She weighed in at 8.8 pounds and measured 20.5 inches. Mom and baby are both healthy and thankful for a natural, complication-free delivery.

Isla (pronounced eye-lah) means island or river. We do pray that she brings rivers of grace into the lives she touches. She has already been such a gift of God's grace to us here on our island home.

Eden & Elani love their little sister, and Grammy Ott is here from CA to help us all with the transition.

We spent the last two weeks living in the guest house at Homes of Hope in Suva (4 hours from our home) in order to be near the hospital. We discovered our personal vehicle needed a new engine (again) while we were there, so it went into the shop and we drove the clunky, dusty SI van to the hospital, and then again yesterday for the 5 hour drive back home. (We are just so thankful it made it as the transmission is going out). We're all happy to be home!!


In Other News


Please pray for our ongoing vehicle problems, both SI vehicles as well as our personal vehicle are broken and in the shop being repaired.

We are so thankful God has provided someone to stay in our house this Christmas, and has been providing the funds for our tickets as well (so far we have half)! We are moving forward with plans to fly to CA on Dec. 6th. We'll return to Fiji near the end of January. Please pray for all the necessary planning to come together for this trip, and for God to continue to provide. We can't wait to show off our new baby!

August Update

We finished up our summer outreach teams this month. It's been a great summer--very busy, but very good. From Momi to Homes of Hope, we've seen God working in the lives of Fijians and team members, and in our lives as well!

Elani is completely recovered from her sickness and our family is looking forward to the birth of baby girl #3. . .next month! Read on for more:

Looking Back on the Summer Teams

As we look back over the summer, we are so thankful to see the different ways that God has worked. We saw one of our workers from the Momi community, Mr. Sharma, as well as his son Shem, come to the Lord and be baptized! We've seen personal breakthroughs in the lives of team members; people sharing things they've never told anyone before. We've seen several of the young people on the teams realize that God is calling them to full-time ministry or overseas missions. And we've seen the incredible impact of relationship-centered ministry. . .life on life. . .and how God uses this to change both the Fijians and the North Americans. Overall, it's been a great privilege to be involved in what the Lord is doing here through SI Fiji!

We really enjoyed our last summer outreach team from Neighborhood Church in CA. They brought many suitcases of donations for the ministries that we work with in Fiji. . .what a blessing. We were impressed with their good attitudes and hard work. Momi is looking great and so are the gardens at Homes of Hope. Thanks, Neighborhood team!

Master's Degree Classes



The day after the final team left, Laura was able to attend two weeks of intensive lectures for the MA degree program that she and Ray have been doing here in Fiji through Ambassadors for Christ. (Ray is done with his classes--he just needs to do his final thesis--so he was able to watch the children so Laura could go).

This year the subjects were Biblical Counseling and Eschatology (study of the end-times). Classes were wonderful and it was great to be with other Christian workers from Fiji, Tonga, Vanuatu, the Cook Islands, Australia and Korea (see class photo above). Our professors were Americans who come to Fiji once a year to teach for this degree program--they were excellent and a great source of encouragement to us. Now that class is over, please pray that Laura would find the time to complete her projects for the year, and that Ray would have the time to finish his final project so he can graduate!

What's Next

We are enjoying a change of pace now that the busy summer is finished. While the work at Momi is continuing, we are able to focus more on local ministry and big-picture planning for next year and what SI Fiji is growing into. This summer our boss as well as the SI president were able to come out to experience first-hand what we're doing here, and they loved it! They are encouraging us to continue on at both Momi and Homes of Hope. We're also praying that the study-abroad semester program we've developed for SI Fiji will be approved by universities. We're hoping to have students here sometime in 2010 for our first semester (it will include cross-cultural and spiritual formation classes with a focus on community development). Please pray for SI Fiji as all these dream for the future begin to take shape!

Our Family

Our family is doing well as we re-discover what "normal" life is like after a very crazy and busy summer! The girls have started home-school again, and we are looking forward to getting caught up on work, correspondence, etc. so we can focus on baby's arrival.

Laura is 34 weeks pregnant and starting to feel very large and uncomfortable. She tires easily but otherwise is doing great and baby girl Pittman is healthy and normal.

We plan to head to Suva (the capital city about 4 hours from here) for the birth. Laura's mom will be flying in next month for the big event. We are all looking forward to it!

One final thought. We are planning a trip back to the states in December (we already have a ticket there, but we'll need to buy our return to Fiji--about $5,000 for the family). Please pray for God to provide for this need. Also, we are looking for someone to stay in our house and take care of our pets while we're away (probably from mid-December to end of January). Know anyone who wants a free stay (and car to drive) over the holidays in Fiji?? Let us know!

Elani has been SO sick!

On July 3 we took the outreach team to "Snorkel Island" for their excursion before they flew home. Dave Hansen, our fearless SI president, decided that after a hard week's work at Momi it would be a fun adventure for all of us to camp out under the stars on the island that night. We were all for it, and everyone had a great day! The girls fell asleep on the mat around the bonfire, listening to everyone singing praise songs under the stars. It seemed like a perfect night and a perfect ending to an amazing outreach for the team.



All that changed when Elani woke up soon after, with diarrhea and vomiting all through the night. Eden ran a high fever all night. I (Laura) did not sleep much that night, but I did do a lot of praying under the glowing moon. Time and sleep seemed irrelevant as I watched Eden and Elani's angel faces by the starlight--the love I have for my children is like nothing I've ever known and it hurts so badly to see them suffering.

The next day Eden was much better but Elani was much worse. She threw up on the boat ride back, in the van, at home, on the way to the hotel we were staying at with the team, and so on (you get the picture). She couldn't keep anything down and was becoming lethargic and obviously dehydrated. I took her to two different private doctors that week for treatments and IV fluids. . .both doctors provided poor care (one of them inserted an IV that fell out and leaked blood and saline all over Elani before anyone noticed). The other doctor administered an injection that I was later told was dangerous for children and causes a lot of side effects.

After 3 days of this we realized that we needed to take Elani to the hospital--she still couldn't keep anything down, she was still badly dehydrated, and she was not improving on her own. I took her to the government hospital nearby (no private hospitals near our home) and she was admitted, after hours of waiting (very hard on me as well, I was so exhausted from several sleepless nights in a row I felt like I would collapse).



Elani spent a night at the Lautoka hospital, one night at home (released too soon) and then was re-admitted to the CWM government hospital in the capital city. It's hard to describe the hospitals here--unsanitary (as in no running water and overflowing toilets) and uncomfortable are understatements, but most of the doctors we saw were knowledgeable. I (and my rather large pregnant belly) had to sleep with Elani each night on her tiny "crib" bed--in a room full of coughing, crying babies and little privacy (and the lights were kept on all night long).

Elani was diagnosed with severe gastroenteritis and dehydration. IV fluids and antibiotics helped her recover over time. Finally, after 8 days without being able to eat or drink much, Elani began to keep fluids and food down. On Friday she was discharged. Over the last couple of days she has made a full recovery, she has just lost a lot of weight.



Praise the Lord for bringing her through this, it was definitely a trial and a scary experience for all of us. Please pray for her continued recovery and for all of us to be able to rest as we prepare for the next team arriving July 20th. (We are so thankful we have a bit of a break right now!).

June Photos

June Update

It's been a very busy month since we last wrote! We've had back-to-back outreach teams since the end of May. Although we're feeling tired, we have been so encouraged by the teams and are happy to report that God has been working in and through them. It's great to be a part of what He's doing here in Fiji. We've had our share of continued challenges (vehicle drama, sickness, etc.) so we've had a lot of opportunities to keep leaning into God's strength in the midst of it all!

OUTREACH TEAMS

Our three outreach teams have been terrific. Everyone has had a great attitude and a willing heart to serve wherever they can. So far we've hosted groups from Vanguard University, Hanford First Baptist Church, and currently we have a team of 18 led by Dave and Janice Hansen (SI President). We've also had Jonathan Thompson (SI Director of Operations) and his family working with us for several weeks. It's been wonderful to have our leaders here to experience first-hand what the SI Fiji partner ministries are like. We're looking forward to their guidance as we hone our focus for continued ministry in Fiji. Our final team arrives mid-July.

WORK IN THE WEST

Each outreach team spends one week working in the west (Sigatoka/Momi) and one week working at Homes of Hope in the capital city of Suva. During their week in the west, the education workers help at the pre-school in Sigatoka, and the agriculture and construction helpers work at Momi (the future SI base and outreach center). The pre-school has been going great; the teachers have really appreciated the teams' help and everyone falls in love with the children! The Momi base has been coming together slowly but surely. It wasn't ready in time for the first two teams to actually live there, but this most recent team was able to move in and are currently "camping out" inside this giant cement structure. It's been raining a lot so that's good motivation for them to get the windows installed and the leaks fixed! The teams have been a tremendous help to get the work finished. We're excited to see what God has in store for Momi as far as future ministry--there is a lot of vision and potential for this place.

HOMES OF HOPE

The second week of the outreach is focused on this wonderful ministry to single moms and their kids. Homes of Hope is nestled in 40 acres of rainforest and truly is a beacon of hope to those who have never experienced it. We have been helping them with various projects such as welding, building, setting up water tank systems, as well as clearing land for more gardens. The highlight for the teams has been building relationships with the moms and the children over meals, planting gardens, or a game of volleyball. It's always a sad goodbye when we leave! Ray and I have been bringing students to see this ministry for about 6 years now, and we are so pleased to see how God is blessing and expanding this work. One of the biggest rewards has been witnessing the transformation in those who have come to know Christ, and how it has completely changed their lives! One woman in particular stands out--a year ago the shame and fear covered her face . . . this year she is like a different person--literally shining joy, love and life. We truly do serve a God of miracles!

SUPER STAFF

Ray and I could not do this job without the amazing team God has assembled for us this summer. Tim & Sarah Johnson have been a tremendous blessing as they actually live with the teams and help with the driving, devotions, shopping, logistics, etc. Auntie Mila mothers and cooks and cleans with joy--as a widow with two children still at home, her life has been very hard, but she finds great joy in serving Christ through serving our teams. Maciu (Matthew) leads worship, helps everyone learn Fijian, and works alongside the teams, keeping everyone laughing! We're also happy to have some YWAM Fiji staff members help us out with the various teams: Jima, Osea, and others. Jonathan (our boss) and his family have been a huge help and encouragement to us personally as well--it was a big sacrifice for them to leave their busy life in CA for 6 weeks to come to Fiji and we really appreciate it--they are great missionaries! Ray is doing a wonderful job leading it all, and Laura keeps busy with the finances and logistics. Our family has been travelling a lot this month (to Homes of Hope three times) which has been challenging but fun.

CHALLENGES

Please pray for this team as we have all been fighting a really terrible bug that is going around (vomiting and diarrhea). . .our family, the Thompsons, and so far over half the team have gotten it. It is NOT fun, but spirits have been high despite the sickness. More than anything, vehicle and transportation problems have been challenging this past month. It seems there's always one vehicle in the shop, but thankfully we currently have the SI truck and van running. Read on for more about our personal vehicle saga. . .

THE VEHICLE SAGA

Well. . .it continues. We still don't have a personal vehicle. It appears as though we are not going to get our money back from the scam we suffered last month, and are just going to have to make the most of the situation--which is very hard to swallow. The old car we got from the deal has been at the mechanics this past month--the engine needed overhauled which will cost us several MORE thousand dollars. . . .but at least we'll have something drivable instead of having to keep on renting cars (logistically and financially, transportation has been so difficult this month). We hope to be able to sell it for at least something and pray that God still redeems this sad situation in some way. We'd appreciate your continued prayers.

OUR FAMILY

Ray and I celebrated our 11th anniversary this month! Well, actually we haven't had a chance to even go out to dinner to celebrate it, but hope to get that in sometime soon when things settle down! Eden and Elani have been enjoying this break from home school, and all the adventures that come along with accompanying the team. It's been great for us to travel with the teams, but it's been exhausting for them as well and we can see the effects in their behavior and sleep. We are looking forward to a two week break between teams coming up. We have several different things planned for this time, but at least we'll be able to really focus on family. Elani will turn four on July 12, we can hardly believe it!

On another note, we found out that baby #3 is a GIRL! We are still deciding on names. . .any ideas?? The girls are thrilled to have a little sister. The due date is still the end of September. We plan to have the baby here in Fiji, and Laura's mom will come out to help. We'll have to travel to Suva (4 hrs. away) so we're praying that God will provide a good place for us to stay while we're there.