Tagaytay Conference and Graduation:
Pastor Matt Stoehr was the opening speaker for the conference. The Spirit of the Lord was on him and there was tremendous worship. Many of our students were there and God blessed in a beautiful way. Pastor Clarence Houser followed and the anointing was on him. There were not as many pastors as last year, but the room was full and the people were rejoicing.

Sunday morning, all the ministers were invited to different churches. There was a flowing in the Spirit as we moved to the end of the conference. On Friday evening, we again gathered in CDC for the graduation, our first in the Philippines. Fifteen students marched down and received their diplomas. I was overjoyed as four of them are already pastoring. Four more have Bible studies in different Baranguys (small villages) here in Tagatay.

Nasugbu Bataanaus
Our second Pastors’ Conference with Pastor Erwin was held in this city. You may remember that I have asked many of you to pray for him last year. He has a weak heart and has a difficult time breathing. But when I saw him, I knew he had been touched by God. His color was good and he was breathing better. Keep praying! Some of the symptoms are still acting out. We met a new pastor who pastors the largest Pentecostal church in Nasugbu, and we have an invitation to speak there sometime.

2008
Can it be? As I look back at 2007 and realize how much was done, I am amazed at how God has kept His Word of three years ago when He spoke to us to ’stretch out the tent stakes and enlarge our borders, to spread abroad to the right and to the left.” Last year, our two schools became five, with two in Fiji, three in the Philippines. In 2006, we began Pastors’ Conferences in Tagaytay and Nasugbu. Again, this past year, God met us in a wonderful way and pastors and workers met and were refreshed by the presence of God and the teaching of anointed speakers, giving of their time to join us in Tagaytay in encouraging and ministering to the servants of God.

This past summer, I was blessed to have my daughter Miriam and her two daughters join me in Fiji. For three months, they went from island to island, holding Vacation Bible Schools, five days of ministry for over 300 children. This year, God willing, they will do the same throughout the Philippines and again in Fiji and as God permits in Vanuatu, another Pacific Island not far from Fiji.

Well, we have spread out and God has graciously given us laborers to help in the spreading. Some from Texas, some from Indiana, some from California and some from Idaho. The scripture says that He sets the solitary in families, and our family is growing!

“Make music to the Lord with the harp; with the harp and the sound of singing, with trumpets and the blast of the ram’s horn - shout for joy before the Lord, the King.” Fijians are gifted with strong voices and a good ear for music. They sing with enthusiasm and learn to play instruments all by ear. It was our great joy to bring Shiloh Worship Center instruments to assist them in their worship. We brought a bass guitar and a digital piano to add to their two guitars. Each Saturday, we hold a piano class with 5 students learning to play beginning worship keyboard. They have learned to play chords in several keys and have completed the lessons of the book and passed the final exam with excellent scores!

Save (Saw-ve) and Paul are alternating playing the bass guitar on the worship team, and Micah has been appointed the new worship leader for Shiloh Worship Center. Meraiya will take over preparing the worship songs on power point and projecting them each week with the new projector and screen.

Choir rehearsals, with about 15 people learning to read and sing choral music, began last July and we have sung for Sunday morning worship services as well as for Pastor Joseph’s church in Sigatoka. Shiloh Worship Center is making music to the Lord!

Our fifth and final Vacation Bible School was held last week here at Shiloh Worship Center with over 80 students in attendance. Pastor Leoni’s church, the Church of God in Christ, and Pastor Viri’s church, the Church of God, participated with us and it was another great week of ministry and fun as we sang with the children, played games and made our crafts. Pastor Leoni’s wife, Vale and Meraiya assisted me in teaching the Bible stories and we encouraged each of the church groups to sing for their Sunday morning services following the last day of VBS. Here at Shiloh, our Kids’ Church tripled in attendance on Sunday morning as some of the children from the neighborhood came back to sing with us.

This coming week, Shiloh Worship Center will join with other churches in Nadi to sponser a World Impact Tour. Pastor Simeli has been meeting with a network of pastors since last spring to plan this tour. The tour involves the Power Team ministry and GX ministry, along with Island Breeze, a Fijian singing and dancing group who will come and do an evangelistic outreach in several cities of the islands. Last week, their outreach in Labasa brought out 8,000 people in attendance and the pastors here in Nadi are expecting even more to pack out Prince Charles Stadium. Leslie and Stephanie have joined with the other young people of our churches and attended training session by YWAM (Youth With A Mission) to be counselors for all those who respond to an invitation to accept Jesus. It has been a wonderful opportunity for them to learn how to share their testimony and lead a person to faith in Christ and we are so grateful to be here in Fiji to be a part of this outreach. The outreach will be here in Nadi this coming Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights. Last Sunday night, we combined services with several churches in Nadi at the Assembly of God and enjoyed a tremendous worship service with the believers here in this city. The man known as ‘The Praying Man’, a local Fijian pastor who is known for his praying ministry brought the message and after the service, all the counselors from all the churches stayed for some additional training and preparation. Pastor Simeli has committed Shiloh Worship Center to prepare lunch for the GX team on Saturday so our whole church will be involved in ministering to the team that rides bikes and skateboards. Pray for this outreach in Fiji and pray for our ability to follow up on all those who commit their lives to Christ during this outreach!

This past week, Mama Opal, Leslie, Stephanie and I flew to the island of Kadavu to hold a 3-day VBS. Kadavu is one of Fiji’s most beautiful islands, but it has it challenges as it has no power plant. but is powered by a generator that shuts down every night at 10 p.m. and comes on again at 6 a.m. And the current government has cut back what power they have so the power goes off for 2 hours at noon and 2 hours more at 4 p.m.

So, each day when the children arrived at about 5 p.m., we would begin with the games and crafts, then at 6 p.m. we could use our CD player and projector when the power came again. This was our first challenge! The second was when 80 children arrived the first day and we were only prepared for 40! The children came from the village where we were staying, as well as two other villages further away. Those children from the two outlying villages came to us by truck each night. Most of them came from single parent homes, no father, and very little resources.

What a blessing it was for us to show them Jesus’ love as we taught them the songs, played games with them, and made the crafts. Tema, our hostess, and her daughter Vive, as well as other young people helped us each night with the puppets, the crafts and even translated the Bible stories into Fijian so the young ones would understand. We love Kadavu and its beautiful people and are praying that we will one day be able to come again and bring materials for Tema to teach the children in her Kids’ Club. She does this with only a Bible, and it is our hope that we can bring crayons, coloring pages, flannelgraphs, paper, glue and scissors when we come again!

Please pray for these beautiful children and for the believers that are there on this little island. Pray for pastors and teachers that will teach them God’s Word.