Embrace The Adventure

Well, it's New Year's Eve. This day can be full of incredible anticipation for some -and apprehension for others -for what the new year will hold. Maybe these feelings get jumbled together for most and it's why we bring in the New Year with noise makers, just to let off some steam. Maybe we make the noise in the face of fear just to say, "Bring it on!" Maybe we're celebrating just having survived another year of life.
Last spring, I was in the middle of a pretty difficult time. It seemed that nothing was working out and discouragement was settling in. During that time, Aimana, Sindy and Taimoana were in town for a quick vacation. As they were packing for the airport, 5-year-old Taimoana noticed a little present someone had given me that hadn't been opened yet. He brought it to me and told me to open it. I was ironing a shirt and needing to leave for church so I told him I didn't have time right then. But this little guy persisted until I could resist no longer. When I opened it, I discovered that someone had given me a little plaque with these words on it:

Jeremiah 29:11 "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."


I recognized that God used little Taimoana to get my attention that day. This new year is a gift to us that is unopened as yet. As we open it, let's recognize that it is given to us from God Himself. He wants to give us a hope and a future. Don't focus too much on your feelings. They change like the seasons. Put your trust in the One who never fails, never lies, and never leaves or forsakes us. Then, embrace the adventure.

Car Dieu Est Si Grand

I'm so thankful to God for granting me my heart's desire for an adventure. Do you know that He's listening when you pray? He really is.
I've now posted a lot of pictures along with many of my blogs about my time in Tahiti this year. Now you can see I've got proof to back up what I've written! So you may want to take a look at some those.
I am humbled and incredibly grateful to the Jamet family- Yves and Mirella, Aimana and Sindy and Taimoana, Tama and Herehia and Hauareva, and Toimata for their incredible hospitality, generosity, sense of humor, and, most of all, their love. I feel that I have been grafted into their family. But that happened 11 years ago on my first trip to Tahiti.
I think the world could learn so much from Tahitians. They value people more than things. Their thoughts aren't fixed on how soon they can run out the door. They love people and their actions show it. They spend time just enjoying each other. That sounds like the Trinity to me.
Thank You, God, not just for the beauty of the islands, the delicious food, the exciting journeys, but for a place where I can see Your love overflowing from the hearts of Your people.

Youth Camp In Tahiti-Iti

Well, there was one last adventure for me in Tahiti. And if you can believe it, I wasn't even sure I wanted to go. The last time we'd been to this location, I'd cut my foot on corral and had to deal with the lemon. Also, it just seemed odd to go to the other side of the island to sleep in a tent the night before I was going to get on a plane to go home. But I was SO GLAD that I went! It's funny how I've desired the adventure and yet the predictable, routine, comfortable thing is still tempting. All through my time here I felt that God just kept whispering, "Embrace the adventure." So I did...one last time.
We drove until the road ended. Then we boarded a boat. When we arrived at the camp site, we set things up and then huddled under canvas as it rained for a few minutes. When the sun came out we had some free time just to kick a ball around. Then they divided the camp up into 4 different teams. That night they played game after game that involved learning other people's names. It was so cool -except that I still have an incredibly hard time with some of the Tahitian names. It was kind of a relief to hear a "Victor" and "Peter". It was amazing how quickly this group bonded together. They had my heart in no time.
The next day we had breakfast. It was fish, cooked on beach fires, and bread. There was a devotional and then we were off to hike in a valley. This hike included a stop at a burial site and an altar where human sacrifices were made many years ago. Later on, we rested at a beautiful place along a river where most of the Youth went swimming. I took a walk deeper into the woods -as I knew I'd be leaving soon. These woods were filled with beautiful green-moss-covered trees and sometimes vines and jungle-type terrain. The camp had an Indiana Jones theme and it couldn't have been in a better location. I half-expected a native to jump out with a spear.

What really struck me though is the difference in sound that day that one heard in the valley -compared to what must have been 200 years ago. I could imagine the screams of loved ones horrified with the sacrificial ritual. And then I thought of how awesome it is that today -laughter is heard there -from the children of God.
After a lunch of New Zealand corned beef with beans and lemon, we headed back to camp. It was time for me to go and suddenly I realized that Thierry Albert, the camp director, had gathered the whole camp together to say goodbye. They all started to sing a beautiful Tahitian song and I couldn't help but cry. Then they gathered around me and prayed. They followed us to the boat as I was saying my goodbyes to Toimata and Yves and Mirella. Then they waved as we pulled away from the dock. It was Mario's boat, the same one we'd taken to Hawaiki Nui, and suddenly he was putting my hands on the wheel. As I pulled the boat around the island, the Youth had run to the beach and were waving from there. I was glad to be distracted from the huge lump in my throat by the need to steer the boat.

Speedy Sheep

The morning after Orovini's Christmas program was La Bonne Nouvelle's Christmas program. Taimoana, Aimana and Sindy's 5 year-old boy, was going to be in the program. So we were all excited to see what would happen there. He did not disappoint.
His particular scene opened with three adults dressed as shepherds standing and calmly speaking to each other with microphones. At their feet were Taimoana and 2 other kids with sheepskins on their backs crawling around them in a circle. Well, I guess they thought they needed to spice up the scene a little bit because suddenly the sheep turned it into a race. I couldn't stop laughing as these kids went faster and faster as the shepherds did their best to ignore them. At one point, Taimoana even attempted to cut a little girl off on her turn. (He likes the movie "Cars".) After many laps, the scene came to an end. As the curtains were closing, Taimoana straightened up on his knees and waved to the audience.

That evening, the Orovini church started a choir. Pastor Coucou invited me to do some warm-ups with them and speak with the choir members. I was very honored to do so and was so excited that they were starting a choir. It seemed that there were anywhere between 40 to 50 for this first practice. Once again, Toimata helped me with the translation. She has been incredibly helpful to me!

Orovini's Christmas Program

When I first arrived in Tahiti and went to the Orovini church, I happened to notice in the bulletin that there would be a Christmas program the evening of December 13. My first thought was how cool it would be to be there to catch that. My second thought was, "Dummy, you'll still be in town!" I've never stayed in Tahiti for nearly 2 months before so it took some getting used to. This time we were able to make some more far-reaching plans.
One of those plans was that I was invited by Teremu and Toimata to work with the Youth Group to sing "Car Dieu Est Si Grand". ("How Great Is Our God") We sped it up a little bit, added a chorus of "Joy To The World", and then sang it for the end of the Christmas program at Orovini. The Youth fell in love with "Joy To The World". In fact, when they started singing it that night, we went acappella for a bit and the congregation loved it too.
The program was filled with a terrific variety of things -including the Children's Choir, a Pastor's ensemble, skits, beautiful Polynesian-flavored dances, Teremu's group, Kades, (which is a Greek word meaning "consecrate") and the Youth Group. At one point the youth group dressed completely in black and wore white gloves. They turned out the lights and lit up a black light on the platform. Then, along with a song about the cross, they formed shapes and words by putting their hands together. It was incredible. Toimata choreographed and danced a beautiful dance to "O Holy Night" with several girls.
Christian, the host of the program, asked me to close the night in prayer. I felt honored to be able to do this and, in fact, gave the call of salvation with Toimata by my side to translate. Several hands went up and we all prayed together. Often, at Christmas, you can get more folks in the door than at any other time of year. It's a great time to hold out hope to everyone who comes. I also heard stories about others who rededicated their lives to God that night. Is there any greater gift one could receive than inviting Jesus into their heart? Jesus has come to bring joy to the world. There was a lot of joy in Tahiti that night.

Tahitian Political Upheaval

There was an interesting development in Tahiti today. Two members of the current political majority party resigned -suddenly making it the minority party. So now, in spite of the elections that were just held 6 months ago, the President of Tahiti must step down and the new majority party will elect a new president.
When Yves and I went to Huahine, I actually saw the President and was, in fact, just a few feet from him at the airport. He was all smiles that day. But today I saw him on the front page of the newspaper -as well as on the news, and he didn't look happy at all. Yves and Mirella told me that in the past 4 years they've had 6 presidents. When people vote here -they vote for a political party -not a specific candidate. If that party loses their majority status, no matter when the elections were held, you get a new president.

Diadem

Tuesday morning of this week Yves and Mirella took me up to one of the highest places in Tahiti. We took a dirt road that just kept ascending. At one point we saw an elderly Chinese couple working in a garden. Yves stopped to talk for a bit and asked them how old they were. The woman was 75 and the man was 81. Then he beamed and said, "I'm young!" There is such a mixture of cultures here and for some reason it's just fascinating to me to hear a Chinese couple speaking French.
Onward and upward we went with some amazing glimpses of the ocean far below us. But what really took my breath away was when we turned inland and then saw one of the most beautiful mountain ranges I've ever seen. They are a tropical green color and one of them looks like a crown -which they refer to as "Diadem". At that spot there was a little ramp that just stretched into space. It's where you can take a parachute- or actually something that looks like a parasail -and jump off -gliding down through one of the most beautiful valleys I've ever seen. However, I was quite happy just to stand there.
We went further on up until you could go no higher. We walked the last part of the way picking raspberries as we went. We passed an Air Traffic Control Tower -and then at the very top was a huge antenna servicing phones, I believe. By this time it seemed that we had actually walked into a cloud. We weren't able to see the 360° view but I sure hope to go back one day. If I worked for Disney, I would definitely suggest a Soaring Over Tahiti ride.

Moorea

Yves and Mirella thought it would be fun to go over to Tahiti's nearest neighboring island, Moorea, and I completely agreed. So we -including Tama, Herehia, Haurareva, Toimata, Teremu, and Rua, decided to go over by boat -which takes about 30 minutes. The boat, or ferry, has to be one of the most modern I've ever seen.
We drove their truck onto the ferry. Yves, Tama, Teremu, and myself were touring the island by bike. Before we started we stopped at a huge grocery store which seemed to be about the size of a Wal Mart. We got food for lunch and I took time to put on sun tan lotion. Because I burn so quickly, I bought pretty strong lotion (50) which is actually for babies. lol So when I put it on I tend to look like a Geisha. I think I startled a few people in the market as I walked around.
Then we were on our way. I haven't ridden a bike in years but it's really true what they say....you have to learn how to do it all over again. Our first stop was at a memorial stone near the site of an airplane crash that happened about a year ago with Air Moorea. The passengers names were on a plaque. Tama explained that a piece of the plane had come off during the flight making it impossible to fly the plane. I always wonder what a pilot is thinking when they talk about a deadly crash.
Next we stopped at a beach and went swimming. This is a place where the water is incredibly clear. We'd come here with Lauren a few years back and she actually took some pictures under water that came out great. This is my favorite place to swim in Tahiti so I was very happy to be there. For lunch we had sandwiches with corned beef & onions & beans with some squirts of lemon. It was incredibly tasty.
Then we were off again. The ladies (and baby) stayed with the truck while we rode the bikes. It made me feel like a kid again to be riding those bikes. Later on it started to rain and at times it really rained hard. But I didn't mind because it cooled us off. At one point we stopped and a man started asking me for directions. He spoke English but with an accent I didn't recognize. He was from the Czech Republic. He was a bank manager and when he found out I was from L.A. he mentioned that he has some friends who live there. But then he made a comment about the world having to pay for all of America's economic problems. I thought it was a cheap shot considering all the good my country has done as well. But I thought it would be in bad taste to start a war with the Czech Republic right there in Moorea so I let it slide.
As the day progressed, the bike ride became more and more challenging. The toughest part was having to sit on that bike seat. I really think Laz-y Boy should put out a bike seat. But the beauty of the island keeps you going. Eventually we got to the Jamet's vacation cottage and it was such a welcome sight. A man who watches over several properties around it welcomed us. I noticed some additions to the cottage from the last time and told this man that the last time I'd been there was 11 years ago. He got a kick out of that and came up to talk to me -and I then realized that he was drunk. He would just kind of weave toward you as he talked and he would drift back and forth from French to Tahitian making it impossible for me to understand him. But from the motions of his hands, he seemed to be talking about a flower that was blooming. Or maybe it was an eel coming out of a cove. Or maybe it was about how the world has to pay for America's economic problems.

News About America

Well, yes, I've posted about a hundred blogs in a row. There are several reasons for this. I'm not always sure of when I'll be near a computer. I'm back at Tama and Herehia's house now in Papara and it happens to be a pretty rainy day. Tama probably thinks my fingers have become attached to the computer. But I'm glad to journal all of these things out before I forget them. Feel free to read as much or as little as you want.

Juliette has been in town and, in fact, spent the night here. I was happy to show her that I'm asking others to pray for Raiatea. She left to go home a little while ago and I had a lump in my throat. She said "a la prochaine" -which basically means "See you next time." She has left us with pai d'ananas (pineapple pie) which she specially ordered. It is delicious.

One more thing for now. At one point Tama thought I might want to hear some English on the television and mentioned that they get CNN. So I turned to that channel. But I didn't realize that there's another CNN that seems to be more European-oriented. The anchors usually have English accents and there's very little news about America. I suppose that is because Obama dominated international news for awhile and so they're now getting back to their regular programming.
But I especially got a kick out of their weather report. While hoping to catch some news, really anything, about America, I saw them go into a weather report. They mentioned specific cities throughout Europe and then closed the report by saying, "...and it's also cold throughout the United States."
Ok, so now I know. It's cold over there. Maybe these anchormen from England are still upset about that Boston Tea Party thing.

Trapped In Bangkok

A little over a week ago now, Aimana and Sindy flew to Bangkok, Thailand. Aimana is a pilot and has to go there on occasion for training with a simulator. Well, you've probably heard the news about the protests at the airport there. It appears that there's been tampering with their latest election and the people are not too happy about it.
So, suddenly Aimana and Sindy have found themselves stuck in Bangkok. I wasn't able to completely understand the newsbroadcast. It just looked like there were a lot of upset people standing around the airport waiting for departing flights. Some were even getting massages in the airport because of the city's concern for their tourism industry.
But it was nice to see Aimana and Sindy, literally, a couple of nights ago as they called in on the computer program, Skype. They are fine but a little bummed to be delayed there unsure of when they can return.

Lunch With Jean-Claude and Tiare

After church on Sunday, Yves and Mirella told me that we were going to lunch with Jean-Claude and Tiare. These two are a couple that I first met at a prayer chapel next to the hospital. A group from the Orovini church goes there every Saturday morning. Though they are getting up in years, they haven't been married all that long. And they are a total kick.
We went to an exhibition center where Jean-Claude often works. At the moment, it is featuring an exhibit of the Marquese Islands. We had a typical Marquesian lunch and it was delicious. Even the rice was awesome as they add sugar and coconut milk to it. I had raw fish with lemon. Mirella had octopus and, though I was reluctant, I took a bite -and even that was delicious.

After lunch we walked through the exhibition hall. The craftsmanship of these items is incredible with intricate designs worked into the wood. But mostly what they featured were tikis. One man also showed me a weapon that was typically used to beat a person over the head. I'd heard of this being done to facilitate a human sacrifice. I didn't stay at that booth very long.
There were musicians playing the whole time and at one point I was surprised to hear them go into "Tiny Bubbles".
At another booth I saw some very sharp pieces of wood that could've passed for long golf tees. They were really crafted down to a point though. I asked a lady sitting there if they were used as weapons. She laughed at me, picking one up and demonstrating that they were used to tie up long hair.

Jean-Claude took me over to see a place where they are adding onto the exhibition center. It looked like a pretty major expansion. Later on, he saw a dog that he likes and whistled for it. What he didn't see was about 6 other dogs in another place at the work site who then came running along with the one. Mirella said he simply said, "Uh oh." Then he went to find them all some food.
We went back to Yves and Mirella's home for an extended visit over coffee and dessert. Tiare told a story about going to see a movie on one of the islands. At one point during the film, she was surprised to see a pig walking through the theater. I asked her if he'd bought a ticket.

Taiau, Toimata and Teremu

Saturday morning I found out that Herehia's little brother, Taiau, had a soccer game and it was for the championship. She said that he's always asking if people will come to see him play. He is a "mark" and plays well, scoring often. So I decided to walk to the stadium.
Because the sun is so hot here, their games go for 20 minutes and then they take a break. When I arrived, they'd already been playing. He spotted me and came over -followed by most of the team. He had an injury and his finger was bandaged. He explained that part of his fingernail had bent backward. As I asked him questions about his Mom knowing and if he's going to a doctor, he asked if I was thirsty. I think hospitality runs in the blood of Tahitians at the youngest of ages. Taiau is 11.
He proceeded to play and as soon as he got the ball it was obvious the control he had over it. They won the championship that day.

Later that day, Toimata (Tama's sister) picked me up and took me to the Orovini church to practice with the youth for their Christmas program. I explained to them, as I have many times to my other choir, that they will need to smile when singing about joy. It's an odd thing for people to see a group scowling at them while singing, "Joy To The World". I think smiles come easy here though.
After they sang, Toimata worked with them choreographing a song -but instead of dancing, they will simply use their hands. She is incredibly creative. With a song about the cross, they are in three seperate groups, at times spelling out words, at other times making shapes. I got chills at one point when the side groups pointed toward the middle -as the middle group placed their hands together in the shape of a cross.
After the youth meeting, we had dinner in downtown Papeete. In the main square of the town is a large open area where many food trailers (or roach coaches -as we say in America) park at night. Some had steak frites (steak and fries) -but I opted for poisson frites (fish and fries). The look of this area changes often as many different ships dock here. We were surrounded by 3 huge ships that were just beautiful.
Afterward we took Teremu, the worship leader for the youth, home. He writes songs and would like to be a Youth Pastor. He currently creates websites and, in fact, created one for me just for fun. He also happens to be Toimata's boyfriend. Because I first met Toimata when she was 9 years old, it's odd sometimes to see her as an adult. Earlier on this trip we jumped in the car and she was driving. I expressed mock concern and Teremu said to me, in regard to her driving, "Tu connais Jesus?" (Do you know Jesus?)
The pictures here show us doing a little shopping and checking out Teremu's office in downtown Papeete.

Back To Papeete

When we first arrived in Raiatea, Tama told me that he and Herehia would need to return to Papeete on Wednesday because he had to work. But they couldn't get me on a plane until Friday. However, on our last hike up Tapioi Mountain, Tama was wearing his sandals, as he always does. In fact, I think he'd prefer to remain forever shoeless. At the start of the trail are some pipes sticking up out of the ground. They are there to stop the animals from coming down the mountain and wondering into town. With age, these pipes have now rusted. It had recently rained and Tama slipped in the mud, cutting his heel on one of these rusted pipes. So we went back to the house for him to put lemon on the cut. I couldn't watch.
However, we were all pretty concerned because of the rust. So Tama went to see a doctor on the island who gave him some anti-biotics. When he informed Air Tahiti of this, they told him that he would not be able to fly a plane for 10 days because of the medication. So he changed their ticket so we could fly back together.

The first day we'd arrived in Raiatea we were all talking together and suddenly Juliette gasped and ran out of the room. I asked Herehia what was wrong and she told me, "Her show is on." Every night, Juliette watches a Brazilian soap opera that is translated into French. It starts at 5:30 -which was also the time we had to leave for the airport on Friday. As we headed toward the car, she simply yelled her goodbye from the other room.
By the time we boarded the plane it was sunset and a storm was coming in. Once again, Tama surprised me by asking the pilot if I could sit in the cockpit. Halfway into the flight the flight attendant escorted me to the front. This time it was dark outside and the instruments were lit up. The storm clouds were to our left, with lightning flashing occasionally, and it was completely clear to our right.
We approached Tahiti and it was amazing to see it's largest city, Papeete, all lit up at night. We veered to our right and then to our left and then I noticed all the lights surrounding the runway. It was beautiful. I told Tama that now that I've seen it a couple times, maybe I could land the plane next time. Or maybe it's better to just sit back and enjoy my coffee. I'll supervise.

Eupoo ino

One of Juliette's favorite Tahitian words to describe Tama is "upoo ino" which means "crazy". She usually says it while turning a finger toward her head...and it's always met by a big smile from Tama. He is constantly teasing her.
As I am trying to learn the language and the territory, Tama is constantly playing on my gullibility. But I think he's met his match in Juliette. So it's nice to have her loudly proclaiming, "Upoo ino!" It assures me that I'm not upoo ino.

American Tourists

One day at Juliette's home, she suddenly started yelling for me to come to the garage. Sometimes Tahitians speak in French and Tahitian -which at times has made it more difficult to learn French. Tama told me that she was calling for me and it sounded urgent. When I got there I discovered that an American tourist had wondered up to her house hoping to get directions to hike up Tapioi Mountain. Juliette doesn't speak English so I can only imagine what this tourist was thinking as she started yelling excitedly. I'm sure the last thing he expected to see was an American come running out of the house.
He was from the Santa Barbara area and as we rounded the corner we were joined by a couple from Phoenix. They were all on a cruise with a beautiful ship I've seen docked many times in Papeete -the Paul Gauguin. A storm in Bora Bora had delayed them from leaving and I suppose that the crew had made the recommendation for the hike. But it can be a little tricky to find so I was happy to help. As we headed toward the trail, Steve's father, Marcel, recognized me and said, "Tu es la guide!"
I wanted to accompany them to the first of two "y's" in the trail where it can be confusing to know the way. I explained how to navigate the second one -and also that they should expect to see pigs, horses and cows on the trail. They didn't have much reaction to that and probably thought, "So what? A bunch of farmyard animals." So I just left it at that.
They were very nice and it surprised me how odd it felt to hear English with an American accent. Afterall, I've been here over a month now. They asked many questions and I really started to feel like a native Tahitian. It hit me all over again that I've been coming here over a span of 11 years.
When I left them, I assured them that the view at the top is worth the hike. Later on I saw them in the town and they agreed. The man from the Santa Barbara area said that if I ever wanted to go square dancing, it's a great place to go. I never thought I'd be invited to go square dancing in Santa Barbara while on an exotic island in French Polynesia.

Pray For Raiatea

(Yes, this blog is pretty long. I felt it best, because of the subject matter, to try to keep it in one setting. You should know before you read it that it's pretty serious in regard to spiritual warfare and not recommended for younger folks, or folks given to nightmares.)

One night in Raiatea (pronounced "Ray-a-tay-a") we had quite a talk after dinner. Tama and Herehia told me some stories about a stone idol on the other side of the island that people were worshiping and making sacrifices to as recently as 200 years ago. They said the people of this island are very spiritual -but not in a good way. Many of them believe only in the bad that can happen and find any talk of a God who loves and heals to be strange. Years ago, some families would put curses on others which they believe gets handed down to each new generation.
As for this stone idol, people would bring babies and sacrifice them there. Some who visit this place even now have said that they hear babies crying. Herehia's aunt, Titaua, took a tourist over to see it and the woman mentioned she heard a crying baby. This woman knew nothing about the history of the idol. Also the woman said she saw a man in a progue (canoe) with a baby. But Titaua saw nothing.
The pastors of Tahiti know that this place is one to be taken very seriously in regard to spiritual warfare. They have placed pastors in the church here and each one (of 3) has ended up leaving, splitting the church, with one former pastor even starting a cult. Herehia said that this man had initially been a powerful, dynamic speaker for God. But now he tells the people that only he hears from God and so they should only listen to him.

So, at the moment, Raiatea has no full-time pastor on the island. The church used to be full but has now shrunk to around 10 people. The pastors on Tahiti and Huahine take turns coming here to speak on Sundays. However, some weeks they have to cancel services altogether.
At one point, the Tahitian pastors banded together and came over to pray against the stone idol. When they got there, one of the pastors had to look away because he could suddenly see, as God opened his eyes, all of the blood that had been spilt there. People had also died by a noose hung from tree branches around the idol.
This past Sunday in church during the Communion time, I thought about how incredible it is that we serve a God who didn't demand our blood in sacrifice, but spilt His own on our behalf.

Well, as we were discussing these things, Juliette had gone to sleep in an adjoining room with no door and asked that we turn out the light. So we were left with a small kerosine lamp that was about as bright as a candle. The wind picked up and although it hadn't rained, lightning lit up the room followed by some thunder. We all laughed about it but still felt a little creepy. Then the wind swept in and blew the light out.
It brought to mind a conversation I had with Yves recently about when Jesus was in the boat sleeping and the disciples woke Him up in fear over a storm. Yves said that Jesus rebuked the wind. Why did He do this? He created the wind, clouds, rain, etc. All He had to do was say, "Stop." Yves said the word "rebuked" is used to indicate that there was some demonic activity related to the storm. It's pretty cool to me that Jesus was so unconcerned about it that He could actually nap through it. But when His disciples called on Him, He was there for them.
The light going out seemed a fitting metaphor for what has happened on this island. But it hasn't gone out completely. Juliette is a strong Christian who prays often that God will bring a full-time pastor here. The church here is suffering and her heart breaks for it.
I think that in America, Satan's deceptions are often aimed at getting people to think he doesn't exist. Christian Tahitians, however, have witnessed some blatant manifestations of him at work. They feel that he has become more empowered by the sacrifices people have made.

When Juliette realized that the legs of a footstool in her house were actually tikis, she removed them and burned them. For awhile they refused to burn and sparks flew everywhere. She told me this story herself and was very animated at this point describing the sparks with words like "Bap!" and "Zing!" A pastor had told her that she needed to burn the tikis and when they wouldn't burn she called him for advice. He told her to pray that they would burn "in the name of Jesus." So she proceeded to do this and it seemed that they resisted at first -offering up more sparks. But Juliette stood her ground praying with authority "au nom de Jesus!" and they started to burn.

This reminded me of a story that Vladymir, the husband of a cousin of Tama's, told me. His relative was working in the yard with a pick-ax and struck something in the ground. It turned out that a tiki was buried there and he had chipped a piece off of its head. He put the tiki on the corner of their deck. Later they were having lunch there and the tiki started jumping three feet into the air. I know how this must sound to American ears but he told this story very matter-of-factly, without drama, which seemed to make it all the more unsettling. After the tiki had done this, Vladymir said, "So we put it in a tree." That sounded like such an odd ending to the story to me. But many Tahitians are fearful of destroying tikis and think it may bring a curse. Tama told me that the man who had hit the tiki's head with a pick-ax developed cancer in the same place in his head where it was hit. They said, of course, it could be coincidence, but who knows for certain.
Some Tahitians who have tikis in their house don't even feel the need to lock their doors when they leave. They believe that if an indruder comes, he will be dealt with by the tikis.
Christian Tahitians do not keep tikis in their home. The souvenir shops here are full of them. Some of them look pretty cool and I'm sure many tourists buy them. A French couple bought one once and when they got back to France strange things started to happen. They didn't know what to do with it. So they mailed it to some Tahitian pastors who burned it.

Obviously these matters of spiritual warfare must be handled with much caution, prayer, counsel and divinely inspired direction. The Christian doesn't need to fear these things - but I do believe that they should proceed with caution. A dangerous mindset is one that goes seeking out these kinds of things. However, to act like they don't exist or have any power is foolhardy as well.
When the disciples got excited that even the demons submitted to them in Jesus' name, Jesus' response was encouraging to their enthusiasm for this experience. He said, "I saw Satan fall from heaven like lightning." Yet to keep their focus on the right thing, He told them not to rejoice over that -but instead to rejoice that their names are written in the Lamb's Book of Life. Be careful for what excites you. The focus should remain on our relationship with God first and foremost.
People come from all over the South Pacific -including Hawaii and New Zealand, to see and worship this stone idol on Raiatea. I've deliberately left out it's name here because I don't want to add to it's notoriety. But there is a movement on the islands that some people want to "reawaken" this god. It's usually inferred that people would try to do this by gifts and flowers -not human sacrifices. People are spiritually hungry but in the wrong way.

We need to pray for the church in Raiatea. I went to see the church building. It's in an absolutely beautiful setting. The building and next-door parsonage are just a few years old. And they are empty. It broke my heart to walk through this beautiful new building which was filled to capacity just a few years ago -knowing that it's barely being used now. Just that day, their evening service was cancelled because Juliette had to leave the island for a doctor's appointment.
Pray for God to send the right pastor to this church. Pray for this pastor and pray for the church here. Also, pray that people would be drawn to this side of the island to worship the One True Living God.

Psalm 16:4 "The sorrows of those will increase who run after other gods. I will not pour out their libations of blood or take up their names on my lips."
Psalm 106:36-38 "They worshiped their idols, which became a snare to them. They sacrificed their sons and their daughters to demons. They shed innocent blood, the blood of their sons and daughters, whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan, and the land was desecrated by their blood."
Exodus 23:13 "Be careful to do everything I have said to you. Do not invoke the names of other gods; do not let them be heard on your lips."
Psalm 4:2 "How long, O men, will you turn my glory into shame? How long will you love delusions and seek false gods?"

Don't Have A Cow

On the way down Tapioi Mountain, we saw all the same animals -with an addition. This time there were some cows. Actually, they were steers. Tama calls them cows but they've all got some pretty serious horns. They were at a good distance. But a couple days later, Tama and I went up the trail again. This time they were spread out all over the trail. Tama likes to make me paranoid and I've become a bit wise to his ways. But watching him come to a complete stop as he surveyed the situation made me a bit nervous.
Now you might think, "So what? A bunch of cows. Just keep walking." But when all 10 of them stop eating and just stare at you with those horns looking ever so pointedly in your direction, it gives one pause. Tama said this had happened before and he'd taken a short cut up the mountain. But that looked to me like you would need a machete to get through some jungle-like terrain.
After a couple minutes of just standing there, Tama proceeded with caution to walk right through the middle of the pack. I guess I really wanted to see that mountain top view again because I followed him. But I became concerned when I realized that I'd have to walk between a calf and the biggest "cow" of the bunch. Feeling all their eyes on me, I just kind of looked down and walked slowly through. Once I got through I looked back to take a picture of them all. Then we started to wonder about the trip back down the mountain.
But on the way back they had ventured off into another area -all except for one that was grazing near the trail. To make myself feel better I told Tama that it seemed safe because it was standing on the other side of a huge ditch and would actually have to jump to get to the trail. At that precise moment, that cow jumped over the ditch! Tama couldn't contain his laughter as I sped up to get out of its' way. I never knew a cow could jump like that. But I should've remembered another legend...something about a cow that jumped over the moon.

Hiking Up Tapioi Mountain

Next to Juliette's home is the start of a trail that leads up to a beautiful landmark you see when you first land in Raiatea...Tapioi. Tapioi is a mountain that is actually owned by Juliette's son-in-law's family. Steve and Titaua (Juliette's daughter) live on the mountain and hike to the top almost everyday. Steve is a world-champion pirogue racer and Titaua works in a sporting-goods store that also sells merchandise for babies. (I looked for some baby-sized boxing gloves, to no avail.)
Tama and Herehia know that I love to hike and took me to the mountain. Whenever I see these beautiful green mountains on these islands, I always want to hike to the top. But they say a real danger here can be warthogs. They refered to it as Puumba -but they can actually kill a person. So I was a little paranoid as we started up the trail and told them that I'd be watching for "Le couchon de mort." (The pig of death.) (That was my term for it. They just looked confused.)
Sure enough, in no time, a huge pig seemed to come out of nowhere. But it was just a pig and ran away from us pretty quickly. On we went and I looked up at one point and gasped. For a second, all I saw was a horses head -but then the rest of it came around the bend along with about 10 other horses. They weren't being ridden, they just hang out there.
Tama and Herehia were laughing at my jumpy state. At one point, you could hear tree branches rubbing against each other and it sounded like a creaky door in a haunted house. Then Herehia told me this story about the mountain...

Steve's grandfather owned the mountain and decided to make a road going up to the top. In fact, it's the road we were walking on. But a woman heard his machine and asked someone what it was. When she was told that he was making a road, she told the person to go tell him to stop because he was going to upset the mountain. A legend says that "Tapi" is a name and "oi" means "to stir" and the woman thought that because of the name of the mountain, it wasn't a good idea for him to be doing that. Steve's grandfather ended up accidentally going over the side of a cliff in the machine to his death. Near where this happened is his grave. This story became well-known on the island. We wondered how the people felt who picked up the work and continued the road to the top.
Well, as creepy or jumpy as I was starting to feel, it all disappeared when we got to the top. It is a spectacular view. We could see the islands surrounding Raiatea -which were Huahine, Tahaa and Bora Bora. I was in awe all over again at the difficulty of the pirogue race, Hawaiki Nui, which included all of these islands. A huge cruise ship was docked at one spot. Then I looked to my left and saw the runway at the airport from another angle. Tama said that as soon as you land you've got to put on the brakes. But there's another runway that's even shorter on another island. I think I'll go there by boat.