Millionaire Ministries...

This last week was pretty crazy. Being in Vava’u is very different than being on the main island. Many things are the same: The people are friendly, they all call themselves Christians, and they still drive on the wrong side of the road. However, unlike mainland Tonga, this is a Coral island. We hiked yesterday to the highest peak and it was all coral. So there are hills here, whereas mainland is completely flat. The environment is even more relaxed here…though I didn’t think it was possible.

Friday, we went to a school and did a 40 minute presentation. Friday night we went to a youth rally (30 kids) and many of them were the same kids at the school that morning…so we improvised with theatre sports and a few other things. At the end people had some time to laugh, think, and worship. One girl dedicated her life to the LORD!! We were amazed at how God can use anything.

Saturday we went for a prayer walk in the morning, then went to help an organization with building trash cans, however we mostly just stood around. Most of our time was praying. After dinner 4 of us (Ryan, Callie, Ashawnae, and me) went to get home made Italian Ice cream! We sat and had too much, and just as we were about to leave, there were 3 guys who offered to buy us a round of drinks. We declined because we were about to leave. They started talking to us (in their inebriated state) and they insisted we sit down. So we sat with them and talked to them for at least an hour.

After we had declined drinks a few times, I realized that if I turned him down more, I could offend him, so I took a sprite(I had already had 4 scoops of ice cream and 2 dinners). They kept buying drinks and talking and we found out much about them. The “main guy” turned out to be one of the wealthiest Tongans on this island. He is a multi millionaire (Which is good in a country that has an average annual income of $700 US) and owns the hotel where the Prince of Tonga is staying. His name is Tommy. Everyone knows Tommy.

We went home and found out from Diane (the lady we’re staying with) that he is indeed a wealthy and powerful man in Tonga. She said that what we found out about him is very useful information in praying for him, so we told our pastor what we knew, and we prayed and prayed that he would come to church on Sunday.

Sunday morning we did the children’s church then packed up and went to the Hard Rock Island to relax for the afternoon. Since Diane knows everyone, we got a ride to a place where we got a boat ride for free(we gave them gas money though). After unpacking everyone went to the hardrock hotel. I stayed in the shade to put on my sunscreen(yes mom, I use sunscreen). As I was finishing, I couldn’t believe my eyes to see Tommy and his two buddies coming ashore. They came up and I asked if they remembered me. They said they did. UNBELIEVABLE! So this time I was certain it was a divine appointment.

We sat and invited them to join us, and they did eventually and we sat and talked about all sorts of things. They paid for anything I wanted (I just had 2 sprites and a juice) and then the owner started talking with us. After a while I found out that the owner was the keyboardist from the old British band “The Cure.” I thought it was hilarious. It just dawned on me that I was sitting at a table with multimillionaires talking about real estate, music, and adventures. I didn’t need to talk about God because they all know more than me. I just sat and spent time hanging out. The owner of the Hard Rock offered us a few days for free if we just wanted to hang out and explore…I couldn’t believe I had to decline. I have to fly back to Tonga on Friday.

The culture here is a Christian one, and their view on Palangi’s is not good. It does not matter what we say. They do not listen to a word we say. They only watch what we do. So we are planning on going to the hospital to pray and cleaning up the streets a little just so they see white people working. They think that white people are incapable of work. No exaggeration. They truly believe that work is for non-white people. So we are told that if we do something as simple as picking up trash people will do a double take and ask themselves “what are those white people doing?” Then when we talk, they will listen.