Wow ... where do we begin? This was COC's third trip to Fiji. We went in August of 2008, last May in 2009 over Mother's day as well as the whirlwind 10 days we just got back from. Homes of Hope is in WaiLoku just outside Fiji's capital city Suva which has a population of around 180,000. This year, our group included three from our sister church Mission in Gilbert along with our seven from COC. Mission Church has been hard at work over the last three years bringing awareness to the ugly truth of Sex trafficking and Exploitation in Fiji which is why COC is involved.

Since we began COC has been apart of constructing Salote and Joelle's home (Fijian woman that visited us last month), we've helped construct and finish out their three story School House, and most recently we finished the concrete work and got half-way through framing a two story addition on the guest quarters in preparation for a busy year of teams coming to help at HOH. Our teams have also been responsible for outreach, training, teaching, and counseling in various forms and opportunities.

The rest of the teams this year including ours in September, will be working on finishing the Spa House, (a transitional home for new moms that arrive on campus) constructing a new and improved kitchen while converting the old one, bringing the two guest houses together, moving the donated US Embassy building onto the already prepped foundation, and getting the Talapia fish Farm up and going.

Last week was a very special in Fiji. The Fijian Government hosted a conference to talk about the problem of Child Sex-Trafficking. You see, this year, Fiji was put on Tier three status as a nation for not dealing with the issue of Trafficking and Exploitation responsibly. Because of this they were denied a Billion (With a B) Dollar Grant that they depend on annually due to sanctions. To prove the point of the problems even further, last Friday the Headlines read that they had rescued a 10 year old child from a Prostitution ring. Praise Jesus that she was found! There are far too many that aren't! Thankfully Linne Roche, Homes of Hope Co-founder, was asked to come and present at the conference. She was very encouraged at the opportunity and the relationships that were forged there. Please pray for Fiji's government ... that they would follow through on behalf of the children that God has given them. Pray for Mark and Linne and Homes of Hope that they would be prepared and available for however God desires to use them there.

I'm so proud of the team that God put together for our trip. Carrie Tracy, Heather Comforty, and Dorothy Aragon were our first- timers and they did amazing. God challenged each one of them. It was an honor to serve with such wonderful fun people. Rob Dolsen, Nancy brown, Courtney Jones and myself made up the rest of our team. Each played such an important role in the story of this trip. Bryan Crawford, Ray Thielen, and Chris Martin were our other amazing teammates from Mission Church. We were so blessed to have them with us. It wouldn't have been the same without them!

My best memories of this trip will be playing with the children ... meal and church time with the girls, Morning Devotions, joking with the guys on the job site, eating at Joty's ... and of course ... personally donating blood to every mosquito in Fiji! I'll be back with more in 4 months!!!

Here's the cool thing!!! We're not done! We're going back!

If you're interested ... The dates we're looking at for the next trip are this fall. At Church Sunday there will be an announcement for those interested in coming with us. If that's you, here's a list of things to be working on:

-Pray about your involvement
-Let me know you're interested immediately
-Begin creating a list of people to help you raise the money to go
-Get your Passport
-Be prepared to take 6 work-week days off of work. We usually plan a 10 day trip that runs Thursday to Saturday (10 days)

To learn more go to ...

Hopefiji.com
VisionAbolition.org


-defend the defenseless

Day 7 Fiji 2010

It's Friday here already. I can't believe I'll be leaving here tomorrow. It was like coming home to see all the mums and children. My first job was to help organize and inventory a storage room for baby clothes, kid's clothes, etc. HOH is going to have a seven new moms and right now they only have 7 dozen new nappies (diapers) and 3 pair of plastic pants. Most of the older toddlers have old towels or worn out diapers to wear. There are plenty of newborn clothes but not enough receiving blankets or diaper pins. There are not many clothes for 2-6 year olds, both for boys and girls. I asked if we could ship but they said it was very expensive and took 3 months to receive. My mini mission is to get diapers, plastic pants etc gathered up for September mission trip. It's much better to bring luggage than to ship. I told Lynnie about making flannel diapers and she thought it was a great idea. So Selena went to town and got the flannel. We found material for stuffing and Dorothy has owned a sewing shop so she got the sewing machine to work long enough to sew 8 diapers before it stopped again. They started Celebrate Recovery here about a month ago and i was privileged to attend their meeting and share my testimony and what C.R. has done in my life. Courtney has done Bible studies in the afternoon. I have worked in the nursery while the mums were working in the garden. It is just a joy to talk and pray with the girls. On Wednesday night we went to cell group (praise and worship). Pastor Mark came in and told us we had to pray for one of the Mums who was having a cesarian section in the hospital because of the breech birth. She had a boy and is doing ok. We will leave tomorrow evening and as soon as i got here last Saturday on of my girls, Mona, said I am missing you already and wish you didn't have to go. I will miss them very much.
-Nancy-

Day 6 Fiji 2010

BULA from hot and humid Fiji! It is amazing to be back at Homes of Hope reconnecting with so many of the moms and children and meeting many new faces. A couple days before our departure I asked the Lord for a vision of the person he wants me to minister. The Lord answered and I saw a medium colored pink with light pink tapestry and knew it was a beautiful Indian girl he wanted me to speak with. Of course at the time I did not know who she was … so I asked Lord, what would you have me say to her? He said tell her about me. So, on Monday I saw the girl, Ashifa, from my vision as she was wearing the exact same colors. I prayed and asked God to confirm and give me the words to speak to her. Yesterday after Uni, a bible study for the moms, I got the opportunity to speak with this beautiful 16 year old girl that last year would use Uni as sleep time. This year she is chasing after her young son, but not missing a word that is spoken with her eyes fixed on us … almost hanging on every word that is spoken through the Holy Spirit. We talked for a little bit about who Jesus is and that he is the one and only God that came to set us free from our pasts. I knew the Lord would use that conversation, but then later that night at Cell, their Wednesday night church service, Ashifa really opened up. She shared some of her story with me … the hurts, abuse, confusion, uncertainty. I told her about the vision the Lord gave me and said; “the Lord has big plans for you, Ashifa. He wants you to know and trust him completely and solely.” After all, out of all the people the Lord could have point out … HE PICKED YOU! The Lord knew not to show me Ashifa’s face in the vision because she was so disengaged last year that I may have been less willing to believe she was the one he had pointed out. (Father, forgive me of my flesh!) But there has been change in Ashifa over the past year, an openness to the Lord that was not there a year ago. She told me she borrows a Bible from other girls to read. Upon the approval of the leaders here on the campus, we will be leaving behind one of the Bibles funded by COC specifically addressed to Ashifa. Please raise her up in prayer that Ashifa would receive the fullness of God’s salvation!

~Courtney~

P.S. Thank you for all your prayers for restored health, yesterday I was back up and at ‘em PRAISE THE LORD! Keep lifting Rob up in prayer, as he trusts the Lord to heal and RESTORE his full health and strength. He feels somewhat better, but needs our prayer warriors to intercede on his behalf, please.

Day 5 Fiji

Hi everyone! Just wanted to post one more update today on the team overall. Thanks to Rob for sharing in the blog below today, check it out. As I type there is a 1 and a half year old on my lap. She's super cute. Today we woke up a little later than normal since Pastor Mat had spent the night in another village to minister to them. ;) We did devotions and got to work. I did a lot of laundry and dishes and kept the guest house tidy. Rob put everyone to work and went to lay down to try to get over the stomach issues going on. Courtney is feeling 100% better today. It just took a lot of rest yesterday and last night. Carrie was feeling a little sick but she's doing pretty well. Ray has spent the day working on the contruction project of the guesthouse with the Fijian guys. Chris, Carrie and Brian are laying tile in the school house. Courtney spent the morning herding the kids and painting their nails. :) Dorothy and Nancy spent the afternoon helping a homeless woman who comes to the campus periodically for showers and clean clothes. Nancy had to cut her skirt off as the zipper was rusted shut. She had probably been in those clothes for 6 months! They helped her shower and pick out some new clothes and they combed her hair and cut her nails. My hear was touched at their servants hearts. Truly living the gospel just like Christ intended. We spent the afternoon in Uni, short for University, which is a Bible study. Courtney led again and the girls seemed to be touched. We are having a wonderful time so far. Please cover us in prayer that there will be NO MORE sickness. God is good.
-Heather Comforty-

Day 5 Fiji

Bula from Fiji! Our fifth day here and we are making progress on the guesthouse! We have been able to connect with some of the moms, for some it is a reunion and there are many new faces. The Lord gave me a word for one of the Moms that turned out to be real blessing to her! On the plane trip from Nada to Suva while I was praying I saw a vision of Salote (One of the girls that came to Homes of Hope just before our last trip/ not the Salote that visited us at COC). I saw her pretty face with a white flower in her hair. At that time I didn’t understand why I saw her while I was praying, but at service on Sunday I saw her and told her I had something to tell her but didn’t know what it was. I told her about the vision and said I would pray to God to show me what he wanted to say to her. She is beautiful and very quiet, she was eager to hear what the LORD had to say! The next morning I had another vision of Salote, so later that night Courtney and I told her I what I saw. I explained that as I was praying I became filled with emotion. The Lord told me she had dedicated herself to God and he was very pleased with her. I won’t share the vision, as it was very personal to her. When I shared the vision she started to cry and said she had become discouraged and sort of dead inside. We prayed for her and the next day at dinner she said she had become very encouraged! She told me God’s presence fell in her morning prayer in a way she hadn’t felt for a while. She said it was like she had been reborn.

Isa. 39:31 “but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not faint.”

-Rob

P.S. Please pray for our team! Some of our team has been suffering from fevers, night sweats and vomiting. Pastor Mat went to get his arm checked out as he thought it might have been broken, but it was not. I myself am probably suffering from Dehydration.

Day 4 Fiji 2010

Day 4...The men are hard at work laying brick and concrete for the guesthouse. It's 9 am here and they're already hard at it. Pastor Mat fell yesterday and is headed to the hospital for x-rays on his arm. We are all praying it's not broken, please join us in prayer. But he's in good spirits and we know that God is going to use him wherever He needs him this week, as with all of us. Courtney seems to have some sort of stomach bug as well and is resting in faith of her healing. Please pray for her as well and that the rest of the team stays in good health.
Mere and Bre, two of the little girls, just joined me and are going to help me write my blog this morning. :) Courtney and i spent the day yesterday with all the kids as they are on holiday from school and their moms are still working. I can tell all that last night we were more tired than the day before when we were laying brick. Courtney led us all in Uni (short for university, basically a Bible study) yesterday. It was an amazing time with the women here and Court did an awesome job. We spent the evening planting cabbage in the garden here. It was an amazing quite time and one of the mothers actually rededicated her life to Christ right there on the hill!
Fiji is the most beautiful place I've ever seen. It doesn't compare to anything I've seen in any movie. We've been here 3 days and i still catch myself drifting off and starting at the hillside. But there's a darkness here that you can feel...these women and children have been through unbelievable injustices and suffered things we cannot fathom. This campus is a ray of light for these women. They have so little here and are so thankful for the blessings that they have been given. It makes me appreciate my own blessings, but also makes me realize how much of the world is so desperately in need. I'm so thankful that I am able to be a part of this...I only wish I could do more.
-Carrie-

Day 2 Fiji 2010

Happy Mother's Day moms we love you. Yesterday we celebrated Mother's Day in Fiji. It was a blessed day. Several of us gave our testimonies at Sunday service It was God moving. Later that evening several of us were honored when a woman here at Homes of Hope, Salote, invited us to go with her to Suva to visit with her mother. That was a huge blessing for me and while I was there I was able to pray for her mother to get a job. Thank you God in advance because if we ask anything in your name we will receive.
-Dorothy-

Day 2 Fiji 2010

We are truly blessed to be here today. We spent the Sunday morning worshiping with our sisters in Christ here at Home of Hopes campus. One of the girls played the guitar as we sang a few songs in English. Courtney, Dorothy and P. Mat shared some insightful testimonies and words of encouragement. Four of the girls blessed us with a song they had prepared last night and also shared their hearts a bit, which are beautiful by the way. We were then given the treat of hearing the girls as they raised their voices as one while singing a song in the native language. It was truly beautiful. God moved and many were blessed, which was evident in the tears of joy. :) Lunch was served in the open air dining hall with many of the girls and their children present eating and laughing with us. One great thing about the culture here in Fiji and especially here on campus is the spirit of joy and laughter and joking. We feel very comfortable conversing with these light hearted ladies. All the children running around are adorable and so advanced and intuitive. The slightly older ones can carry on full conversations in English and are curious and very informative. I personally have been extremely impressed at the maturity of all the children here. The mother's are kind and very patient and they allow their children more freedom to move about the campus and to be free than is typical in the USA. As I type the team is busy working in the hot humidity on the construction project at hand. I will continue to keep you updated. Don't forget to leave a comment. :)
-Heather Comforty_

Day 1 Fiji 2010

We arrived safely in FIJI with no issues at all along the way. God is good! We have had a day full of meeting new people and for some of us, reconnecting with old friends here at Home of Hope campus. The campus is full of smiling faces and friendly, good humored folks that are a real joy to be around. The time here is slow paced and people oriented instead of go go go like many of us are used to. Personally, I have tried to assimilate into the culture immediately as much as possible from walking around the campus bare foot to eating everything they have to offer. It is refreshing to be here. Some of us spent the day visiting with the girls while others (the guys) spent the day laying tile in the school house. As I type we just finished eating dinner and are ready to go join the birthday festivities including dancing and much laughter. Please continue to pray for us and check back each day for updates!

-Heather Comforty-

Tomorrow

I can't believe that we're on a plane tomorrow back to Fiji!!! We can't wait! Pray for us!!!

Our travel plans are as follows ...

We leave PHX tomorrow at around 5pm and arrive (In Fiji) on Saturday morning at 5 am. This will put us at Homes of Hope somewhere before Noon.


Heather is going to be blogging with pictures daily so please follow along with us so you're able to trek along with us and pray along side of us.

Love you guys!!!

THURSDAY

Well, we're minutes away from our last Fiji Meeting. Pray for our week coming up to departure. Pray for our families as well!

We'll have daily updates for you...