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Saturday’s Tee Shirt

28/11/2015

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Fiji is hot and humid. Cool, lightweight clothes are a must! Saturday clothes are my favourite. I can throw on a pair casual shorts, a tee shirt, and a pair of flip flops, and be fairly comfortable in the humidity! 
    
​On a recent Saturday, the tee shirt I happened to throw on was a Gospel School for the Deaf one, as I got ready to head off to the grocery store. While I checked out at the register, the clerk noticed my shirt, and inquired about the school. I gave her the usual spiel, and asked if she knew of any deaf children not in school. As it turned out, she did. Her son Jeremiah was 10 years old. He had been in a regular first grade class for 6 months, when he became ill with Meningitis and lost all of his hearing. He has not been back to school since.  I immediately set up an appointment for his mom to bring him into school the following Monday. 
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​Then, as I was walking to the van, an Indo-Fijian man also noticed my tee shirt, and asked if our school was connected to The Gospel School. I responded that it was.  He was a graduate of the high school, and told me how much he enjoyed his experience there.  He asked about several teachers that we knew in common, and then pulled out his card and handed it to me.  He owned a car dealership, and said if we ever needed any work done on our vehicles to call him. He would beat any price we were given for repairs. Since all 3 of our vehicles are about 15 years old, they are almost always in need of something or other! I happily took his card and thanked him. 
    
Jeremiah and his mom came in to school bright and early on Monday morning, and registered for the start of school in January. As you can see by the smiles, both were very happy. As they were leaving the interview, Jeremiah held up 6 fingers toward me, and I was confused. His mom explained that he still thinks he’s 6 years old, because that’s what he had been taught the last time he attended school.  We can’t wait to catch him up on his past 4 years! 
 
Yes, I was thankful I had thrown on my GSD tee shirt on that particular Saturday. And thankful to God that another deaf student had been found and brought to school.  Maybe we should encourage all the staff to wear their GSD shirts around town on Saturdays!  
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Students Head for Home 

28/11/2015

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As another school year draws to a close, students are preparing to head home for the holidays. We’re now in the throes of end of the year activities, and planning for next year. School will begin again on January 18th.

Four of our Kiribati students have completed their programs in Fiji and will be leaving us for good. They leave with mixed feelings, having been part of the family here for 8 to 10 years. But they are also excited about reuniting with their families. Because of the high costs of travel, most students were unable to travel home for school holidays over the years, and had to stay with our hostel staff here in Suva. Their families have made huge sacrifices to send them to GSD. Please join with us and their families to get them home.


We recently purchased their plane tickets. The best price we found was for December 24
th---- just in time for Christmas with their families! However, there are no funds to cover this added expense. If anyone would like to make a contribution toward these students’ airfare, donations would be greatly appreciated. The total cost to get everyone home is about $2500 US dollars. Donations (tax deductible) can be mailed to CMML, PO Box 13, Spring Lake, NJ 07762-0013, from the USA, or GCIM, NZI House Main St, Palmerston North, 4410, New Zealand from Australia or New Zealand. Checks can be made out to either CMML or GCIM, with a notation that the donation is for the Fiji Deaf Ministry.

​Please keep these students in your prayers, for safe travels back to their homes, and for job opportunities in Kiribati. Arieta and Raken return, having completed their child care program and are now certified preschool and kindergarten teachers. Temoua returns with a high school education. She is the first deaf girl from Kiribati to finish high school, and would also be qualified to teach in Kiribati. Bira returns with many skills learned both in vocational school and as an intern at
grafix design. He has been given equipment to set up his own business in Kiribati. Many thanks to all of our supporters for making this possible, and for changing the lives of the deaf in the South Pacific. They are blessed because of you! 

The students (top to bottom) below are Arieta, Raken with volunteer Libby, Bira, at his internship with grafix design owner Mr. Rao, and Temoua at Gospel High School prize giving day.
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Bira's Story

9/11/2015

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Mr Najunda Rao is a landlord.  He owns the Senior Boys Hostel for Gospel School for the Deaf. Mr. Rao is also the owner of design grafix in Fiji. Last April, Mr Rao offered to take Bira, one of the deaf students who had completed his program at Gospel School for the Deaf, as an intern at his company. In eight months, Bira has missed only one day because he was sick. He is always on time, and is an excellent worker. Employees have only the best things to say about him.  Bira has even taught some sign language to his co-workers.  Mr. Rao would like to hire Bira, but he will be returning to his family in Kiribati at the end of the year.

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​We visited Bira at his work place this past week, to see him in action.  It was amazing to see the variety of jobs for which Bira has been trained: making posters, banners, and all types of signs; painting lettering on vehicles; making and polishing foam letters; soldering frames for billboards; using a jig saw for cutting letters out of wood; and operating machines used in cleaning businesses.  Mr. Rao has even offered to donate machines for Bira to take back to Kiribati, so he can start his own business there. 
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​Here, Bira points to Kiribati on a large map that he helped put together at work.  
 
Bira came to Fiji from Kiribati when he was 13 years old, and is now 20.  He came to Fiji to attend The Gospel School for the Deaf.  After he completed his program at the school, Bira went on to a two year program at Suva Vocational School.  Bira will now return home with an education, a sign language communication system, many new skills learned at design grafix, lifetime friendships, good memories, and a deep faith and love for God, that grew as he studied Bible at GSD. 
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God's Faithfulness

9/11/2015

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October 2015
God’s Faithfulness 
 
“God is faithful!  Our circumstances do not dictate His character! 
I can always trust Him and know that He is in complete control of the universe… and that ultimately, all things are for His glory and my good (Romans 8:28).”  (Perry Nobel)
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​Last year I wrote in a blog about an American woman that we met here in Fiji.  Patty is an interpreter for the deaf, who vacations in Fiji each year. While on vacation, she volunteers at the Sigatoka Special School, about a two hour drive from Suva.  Last year she was working with a very bright, deaf preschooler, whom she felt would benefit from being in a school for the deaf.  She had heard about our school, and made the long trip to Suva by bus, to visit.  Later, she brought Mereadani’s mom to visit.  She liked the school very much. Out of love for her daughter, Mereadani’s mom made the difficult decision and huge sacrifice, to give her daughter into our care, so that she could receive an education. Mereadani now lives in our hostel, has lots of new friends, and loves her new school very much! 
​Sadly, Maredani’s father passed away this past weekend.  He had asthma, and was hospitalized for fluid in his lungs.  Shortly after being released from the hospital, he passed away. Mereadani and her father were very close; such a difficult thing for any five year old child to bear!  We ask why?  Yet we trust in God’s faithfulness, to bring peace and comfort to this family,  during the difficult days ahead.  Please keep them in your prayers.
 
I emailed Patty, now back in the states, to inform her, since she knows the family well.
 
The rest of the story is that we have been going through some very difficult times here ourselves, with various problems, and financial concerns.  Just last night, we were praying about where money would come from to get us through the next two weeks, when the regular donations were scheduled to come in.  It was an exercise in trusting God, and trying not to worry.
 
The next morning, after sending my email to Patty, an answer came.  Patty sent along her condolences for Mereadani’s family, and then added at the end of her email that she had recently received a donation for our school, from the International Lutheran Deaf Association, for $5000.  In Fijian dollars, that figure doubles!  The money should be arriving in the next couple of days.
 
As always, God is faithful in supplying every need---- “abundantly above all we could ask or imagine!”  Ephesians 3:20.  Some needs are financial and practical; others are emotional, and often painful to bear.  But it’s in those difficult times that we often experience God’s love and faithfulness the most; sometimes we have to get to the end of our own resources, in order to learn trust.  As a mentor once said to me, “Prayer is not so much about God changing our circumstances, but rather, God changing US, in the midst of our circumstances.”  
 
As the old hymn goes, “Great is Thy Faithfulness, O God My Father!”
May we all experience His faithfulness, no matter what our circumstances.
 
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