Mentoring and Fellowship with another newlywed couple Ranjini and Vashneel
H4K Graduation in a local Sunday school class
Blessing from a mission supporter at a wonderful resort
Maba speaking in a village to a young adult ministry
Follow-up with Pacific Intern in his home
Meeting up with recent intern and IFW in Suva to encourage and fellowship
Family Reunion
We love this little Akeneta!
Maba playing rugby and ministering to his club team
Young adults fellowship in church
Speaking on godly character to the young people
2 Corinthians 9:8
“And God
is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times,
having all that you need, you will abound
in every
good work.”
This
month I have been studying 2 Corinthians and it has been such a joy to read
through God’s Word. I have also picked up again with memorizing scripture and
the verse above truly encouraged me as one of my memory verses this month.
God’s GRACE
abounds to us! How amazing? Abound means to have in abundance or to be richly
supplied with something. By God’s grace He promises to give us a large increase
of spiritual and physical things. Our great God is ALL-SUFFICIENT! We are HIGHLY FAVORED
and just like it says in Ephesians 2:10 He has prepared every good work for us
to accomplish for His glory! During this past month Maba and I experienced
God’s grace in new and miraculous ways. We also saw the body of Christ in our
local community show their support for our mission work here in Fiji, which was
such a blessing!
Ministry
Events:
·
The children’s pastor in our church invited me to lead a Sunday school
seminar about effective children’s ministry. It was a privilege to challenge
the Sunday school teachers to impact the young ones in faith. I shared with
them different aspects of ministering to children such as having vision and
purpose, roles and responsibilities, preparation of lessons, and for all things
Gospel-centered. It was a great time of fellowship and empowering the church
workers!
·
God has been continuing to use Maba to reach out to his club rugby team.
The team has observed Maba’s godly character, and they hold him in high regard.
During their practices and games, Maba is always asked to share devotion and
pray with the team. One specific
player, Sefanaia, approached Maba wanting to hear more. Maba was able to share
the Gospel with Sefanaia who then prayed with Maba to receive Jesus. Shortly
thereafter they both went to the hospital to pray over someone. Maba saw that
Sefanaia had a special gift of healing through massaging people. They visited a
man who recently had a stroke and could not move certain parts of his body.
After Maba prayed and Sefanaia massaged him, the man was able to walk and move
around! It was amazing! And the next day this man was discharged from the
hospital and well enough to go home. Praise God!
·
New churches have also started to implement EE teaching weekly! It’s so great to
see the church community understand the importance of witnessing and the need
to equip their members.
·
Maba and I were able to catch up with Ranjini and Vashneel, the young
Fijian-Indian couple whom we mentor and consider family. It was so wonderful to
hear how they have been able to spend more quality time together at home and do
special things together as a married couple. They have also been able to come
out of the conflict within their families and focus on their own marriage and
daily faith. They treated us at a local restaurant and contributed to our
mission support! We were speechless and blessed! It’s such a beautiful thing to
see the fruit of investing into God’s people and seeing how they know have the
desire to be our financial partners in ministry!
·
One week Maba and I were able to attend a Sunday school graduation of
children who finished learning Hope for Kids. It was awesome to see these
kids know how to share the Gospel with all the hand actions! Maba and I passed
out the certificates to each child who had the biggest smiles on their faces!
·
This month we took a road trip to Suva (5 hours east around the
island) with a few stops on the way. We were blessed by one of our supporters
with a 1-night stay at a resort(our first stop). It was so nice to have some
time to ourselves to relax. Then we were able to visit one of the recent
Interns, Josua, at his village and hear about how he has continued to be
involved with mission work in the community. It was great to see where he lived
and meet his relatives. We then attended youth night at his church where I
shared my testimony and Maba preached. It was a unique opportunity to encourage
the young people in this village who rarely receive strong teaching. We then
continued on our way to meet up with another Intern, Dan, and a EE Fiji worker,
Takape. It was fun to catch up with them at a café in the city and hear about
all the happenings with their church and outreach ministries. We stayed a few
nights in Suva with La and her family (as we always do). One evening we let the
husbands go out for pizza and watch a big rugby game while La and I ate our
heart out at a nice Chinese place. I cherished the girl time with La to share
our hearts about marriage and ministry and daily life, I always miss her and
hate that we are far apart. Maba and I had a great long weekend getaway!
·
For several weeks Maba and I have been able to speak and teach at youth group/young
adult nights in church. We have been also able to work with the youth worship
team introducing them to more songs, which they really enjoy. It’s been really
fun for us to minister to the young people. We’ve been teaching on godly
character – how’s it developed, maintained, and passed on through being
influential.
·
We have a special opportunity to go to Australia and speak at 2 youth
conferences in Melbourne about our mission work! A theology professor who spoke
during the Pacific Internship has invited us. We have launched Maba’s tourist
visa and now wait for the results. It’s after Christmas and through all of
January. It will be Maba’s first time to Australia, so we’re really excited!
Please be praying for all the preparation and fundraising. We hosted a Curry Nite
fundraiser at our home this past Saturday and it was a great
success! We had so much help from families in church so that we didn’t have too
many expenses for the event. And the young people from our small group were
there to help serve all the food and tea and clean up! We couldn’t have done it
without our small group that’s for sure! It was $5 a plate, which included
chicken curry, puri (fried, flaky flat bread), rice, pumpkin curry, tomato
chutney, and halwa (semolina dessert). We also served with tea with pastries
for extra donations. We ran short of everything quickly! We had so many people
turn up and we raised more than we were expecting! It was a really fun night!
We were so moved by all the support from our church, EE family, family friends
from the church Maba grew up in, close friends, and Maba’s relatives!
Other side notes:
·
Maba’s sister gave birth to a healthy baby boy which was named after
us, “Isimeli Abadines Daniel Racumu”. Since part of our names are included we
call him “yaca” (pronounced “ya-tha”). It’s like we are his godparents. Having
a “yaca” in Fiji culture is really special and means you play a special role in
the child’s life and always help to look after them!
·
Lots of babysitting! This past month we loved looking after Maba’s
nieces and nephews. We love them to pieces!
·
We were excited to find a place that host Zumba aerobics classes every
afternoon! It’s been really fun to go and just sweat it out!
·
Lately Maba and I have really enjoyed trying new recipes when we cook
such as baked bread-crumbed and rubbed garlic/sage pork loin chops and potato
wedges with olive oil and Italian herbs.
Prayer Needs
o
Revival and growth in the youth/young adult ministries in church
o
EE follow-up and trainings
o
Preparation for Australia mission trip
o
Support-raising for personal and ministry expenses
Thank
you for wanting to be a part of what God is doing here in the Pacific! We are
so blessed to serve together with you in reaching many for Christ and helping
the body of Christ to rise up and strengthen their faith. Your prayer and
on-going support push us forward as we live for Him alone! We hope you have
been greatly encouraged by this month’s update. Please share with anyone you
know will also be encouraged!
Ways
to Support:
Online - www.eeworks.org
*Click on "Support" then "Online Giving"
*Type "Sarah Abadines 6124" in the box provided
*Type in amount and complete the given instructions
*Click on "Support" then "Online Giving"
*Type "Sarah Abadines 6124" in the box provided
*Type in amount and complete the given instructions
*If
support is to be monthly – please indicate
-OR-
Make checks out to Evangelism Explosion International and on memo line write "Sarah Abadines 6124" (all checks tax deductible)
Mail to: Evangelism Explosion International
P.O. Box 23820 Fort Lauderdale, Fl 33307-3820
-OR-
Make checks out to Evangelism Explosion International and on memo line write "Sarah Abadines 6124" (all checks tax deductible)
Mail to: Evangelism Explosion International
P.O. Box 23820 Fort Lauderdale, Fl 33307-3820
Abounding in
His Grace,
SARAH &
MABA
No comments:
Post a Comment