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Dear Praying Friends,
To the Roadless Coast

Thanks to the April visit of our VMI women's ministry team, we were connected with three Tahitian ladies who minister on the roadless east coast of Tahiti Iti (see map). It is a wild region with small pockets of habitations along a coast whose cliffs forbid any attempts at building a road.  One little pocket has three small houses and an amazing history of sin, brokeness, and redemption.  After a very bumpy ride in a small boat, we arrived at their little dock, and we were met by a group of 14 Tahitians.  They are a shy people due to their Tahitian nature and even more so by their isolation.  Yet, there was a table laden with fried chicken, rice, and fruit, and a people eager to befriend us and learn God's Word!

We took some time to get to know them better, listening to their testimonies each in turn.  Almost every adult had a story of abandonment by their parents (one whose mother attempted to drown her when she was 7 years old), drug and alcohol addiction, and more, which finally resulted in three houses filled with hate toward each other.  It was a war in paradise.  One day on the ferry to Moorea, our friend Solange saw a very lonely looking woman and decided to tell her that God loves her.  It was the beginning of an amazing transformation of this tiny community, as one by one each person saw the transformation of another, realized how empty their own lives were, and turned to Christ.  Yesterday, they were gathered around the table in the fellowship and harmony of the Son of God, happily growing in grace and in the knowledge of their Lord and Savior.  

Rene' and I decided that we would start with a small handout from the women's conference on our new identity in Christ.  We read each of the summary points in turn and talked about how they have impacted us in our spiritual lives.  What a profound time!  We had a tremendous time, and left them with pledges to come again soon, especially to learn how to study God's Word.  Please pray for this group on the roadless coast of Tahiti.
Punari'i

We have a student and part-time partner, Punari'i Li, a young man who is gifted at personal evangelism and Gospel preaching.  We first met Punari'i in February on our child evangelism trip to Raiatea where he was a little unsure about how and what to share. We then spent five days with him on Taha'a in May, where we were very pleased to see his new confidence and clarity in preaching and sharing Gospel coins. Since then, we have enjoyed working and walking with him in the Lord..  Last month he very humbly asked us to teach him because in his words he had never met anyone with as much knowledge of the Bible as us. We said yes. 

We are now working with him, not only guiding him through Stranger on the Road to Emmaus but also planning a robust Bible education for him and doing group Bible study and street evangelism together. He has enthusiastically shared Stranger on the Road to Emmaus with his family and many others in his circle.  Because he supports his parents and his own children, we decided to offer him modest support through Evanelia Tahiti, the specific reason for the existence of that fund.  Please pray for Punari'i as he grows in his knowledge of the Scripture.
The Big Surprise

A little over two weeks ago, a friend called us and said, "You have a meeting with former president Oscar Temaru tonight at 5:30.  Pick me up and we will go meet him to talk about your ideas for education on the national scale.  You should address him as Mr. President." Oscar Temaru is a legendary figure in local politics, having served as president of the country no less than five times.  He remains the president of the Tavini, the Independence Party, and the mayor of the largest city in the country, F'a'a'a.  I knew God was with us when President Temaru ask me to pray to begin our meeting.  During our hour-plus meeting we touched on many topics, but we kept coming back to the need for better education here.  Needless to say, he liked what he heard from us and he is organizing a meeting with the new president, Moetai Brotherson.  We hope to have this meeting soon.  To read more about Oscar Temaru, you can read here: 
Oscar Temaru - Wikipedia Please pray for God's timing, our wisdom, and blessing for this meeting.  On the night I proposed to Rene' 37 years ago I prepared a little speech in which I prayed for the Lord to use us, even on the scale of international impact.  I had no idea where this prayer would lead us.
Denominational Education Efforts

Many of you have prayed with us as we have recently met with the president of the Assemblies of God here and also the head of the Bible school for the Maohi Protestant denomination.  In these meetings we have offered our expertise and made our availability very clear, emphasizing grace and cooperation in Christ.  Please pray for their conviction that we can be an undiluted blessing to them.
Please check out our updated website! www.evanelia.org.  It has pictures, videos of worship, and literary quotes about the islands where we serve!  There will be regular updates as the Lord unfolds our work here, as well as videos of teaching and ministry events, and interviews with the islanders we work with.
Our Local Mailing Address:
BP 121403
98712 Papara
Polynesie Francaise
As always we are grateful for our amazing support organization, Village Ministries International.  If you want to support us beyond prayer, click below:

 FPolynesia - Village Ministries International

Likewise, we have a private charitable foundation to support education for Tahitians.  You can give to that fund at www.evanelia.org.
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