This is us with the Wicks family, Ben, Angie, Sam and Katie. The lovely beach you see is Hapuna. We went there with them back in early August, while we were praying over whether to come back to Kona or not. They also are the family that are letting us use their car during our stay here while they minister in Fiji. Please pray for them as they are seeing fruit to their ministry as you will see below!!!

The Wicks are, as I type this, in their third week of serving as missionaries to the island of Fiji. They and several others from their Discipleship Training School were called to serve for two months there. While I am here doing boring stuff like talking to attorneys and other administrative matters for the University, they are serving our Lord Jesus in Fiji. I just received this update from their team there.

Ni Sa Bula Vinaka from the CDTS Fiji outreach team!

We have just finished our second week of ministry here in Fiji. What follows is our first official update containing a general summary of what we have been up to and what God is doing in and through us on our outreach so far. The first week of our outreach was spent connecting with our contacts here, spending some time in orientation meetings with them, and beginning our outreach ministries.

Our main contacts here are Vini and Lomani Gaunavinaka (recently arrived from Kona), Tress Rokodovu (a YWAMer and local Fijian), and "Pastor Mike" (pastor of one of the local Assembly of God churches here and coined as the Loren Cunningham of Fiji).

Our ministry to this point has been focused in several different areas:

Lautoka Prison - We have been sending a small team of people each day with Pastor Mike to the men's prison here. They have basically been running a mini-DTS for a group of the inmates there. Last week, 18 of the 21 men either accepted Christ for the first time or recommited their lives to Him.

Lautoka Hospital - We have been sending a team of six people to the hospital about three days each week to talk to and pray for the patients there. On Friday, two of the men we prayed for recommited their lives to Christ. Today, we went into the children's ward to sing songs for the kids and pray for them and their parents. It was a very touching time.

After-School Program - On Tuesdays and Wednesdays, we run an after-school program at the home of Vini and Lomani for about 20 children between ages 8-12. We spend about 45 minutes helping them with their homework, another 45 minutes playing games down the street at a field, and another 30 minutes singing songs and learning Scripture verses.

Village Ministry - On Thursdays we send a large team to a nearby village which is situated next to the garbage dump. This is a time where we spend time with the adults and children...talking, playing, singing, etc.

Prostitute Ministry - On weekend nights, some of the women go out on the streets and witness to the prositutes and transvestites that hang out there.

Tomorrow we are sending a team of eight to one of the mountain villages for six days. Also, we are currently compiling more specific stories and testimonies and will send those in a later update.

Current prayer requests include: Health for several team members who are struggling physically, Protection and unity for the team travelling to the mountain village this week, Continued guidance from God on our ministry here.

God bless! Ben Wicks and the CDTS Fiji Team