I want to thank everyone who prayed for me the past week. My time in Kiribati and Fiji was effective and powerful, thanks to prayer and His presence. I had all the strength to do what I needed to do, so thanks for praying. I believe Kiribati is right on the verge of a major renewal. I could feel it in my bones. I'd like to encourage you to be praying for this nation.
The guy on the left is Joshua. He and I have grown a strong friendship the past 8 years. We went around praying for people who were in need of a fresh touch of Jesus. The guy in the middle was filled with Hope as we prayed for him.
I can't believe that CalebJoel has grown to be such an amazing boy. He was born on the first week that my best friend Joel and I came to Kiribati in 2009. Look at him now! He is part of the Kiribati family that we stay with. In Kiribati culture, they adopted Joel and I into their family and now we are part of their family. Since he was born at the same time we were adopted into the family, they named him after us.
This picture gives you an idea of the environmental problem that they have in their country. Since it's such a small island nation that's located far in the Pacific ocean, they have very limited options to deal with their trash. You can see this type of trash built up all along the edge of the islands.
We have started our initial planning for cleaning a beach area and building a sea wall. We are excited to be a part of the Kiribati people's dream of transforming their island into an atmosphere of peace and serenity.
The man in the left is Eria, the president of the Assemblies of God church in Kiribati. He's a good friend of mine and I was happy to spend time with him again and speak at their church. I was glad to see that their youth have been doing lots of missions work in different islands.
When I see any indigenous church that's active in missions, it makes me happy because I feel like our work as foreign missionaries is fulfilled moreso. To empower the indigenous body of Christ to do the great commission is our goal.