SAMOA...

Samoa... the Pearl of the Pacific... Four years ago I was in this beautiful country and making plans and promises to return. But as you all know, my life changed. When my brother, Jeff, died my life was turned upside down. I couldn’t imagine going back to life the way it was. Just getting right back into overseas missions. It wouldn’t have been right either. The time at home was necessary both for myself and for my family. Yet over the last four years my love for the Pacific didn’t recede. I even went to visit other parts of the world... I wasn’t ready to return yet, I suppose. But as I was in the Middle East, instead of feeling called to that region of the world, I instead felt my call was to raise up Pacific Islanders for world missions, to be a bridge so that others might go. I went on to study the Bible in Los Angeles at the School of Biblical Studies and later staffed the same school in Kona... but still my love for the Pacific seemed to be part of the driving force of all I did in missions... I thought, “If only I could be a part of equipping missionaries from the Pacific with a foundation in the Word of God.”

And now, here I am in Samoa. And while I’d like to say it’s all been wonderful and that I wish I could live here forever, I must be honest. We’ve been here a week as a team and its been a challenge. I’ve grown accustomed to the comforts of western living, and I’ve grown older... I miss my parents more than ever. I miss my bed with its comfy mattress. I miss the freedom of eating what I want, when I want. I miss washers and dryers. I miss English being the predominant language. I miss unlimited and reliable internet. I miss having my own transportation. I miss clean and organized hospital facilities. I miss being there for friends who are having babies and being able to watch their babies grow up.

To amplify the situation, our team has had a LOT of free time. It seems like too much free time breeds homesickness. In Fiji we were pretty busy with ministry and it seemed like a really nice balance there, but here in Samoa we have had multiple teaching opportunities cancelled, due to unforeseen circumstances. With all of this free time, our students are getting antsy. And while we are seeking to make the most of our time by investing in the staff and students on the YWAM base here, we have all had to come to grips with the fact that our ministry here is not going to look at all like we expected. The students also had some intense culture clashes upon arrival at the YWAM base, which made the first few days very difficult as we waited for the Lord to soften hearts and help our students adjust to a culture extremely different than their own.

But... I am reminded that my being here in Samoa is an answer to prayers, both my own and others. I am reminded that God has called me to this place for this time, and even though I feel overwhelmed with the challenges here, I know his grace is more than sufficient for me. And I am reminded of others who have faced challenges far greater than these for the sake of the call God put on their lives. So, when I really stop to think about it... I thank God that I am in Samoa and that I get to stay here for three months. I thank God for bringing me back after these four years away. I thank God for the people of Samoa who have touched my life in the past and I thank God that I get to play some small part in seeing Samoans who feel called to world missions equipped with tools to study the Bible for themselves, which in turn equips them to be more effective missionaries. I even thank God for the unmet expectations and the free time he has given our team... I trust he knows how to best use us and knows when we need time to spend alone with him and when he wants us to minister to groups or to individuals.

I really value your prayers and emails or facebook messages of encouragement... even as a more “seasoned” missionary, I obviously still need them... and probably always will. Here are a few things you could pray for in our team:

• My co-leader, Rachel has been fighting an infection since our last few days in Fiji and it’s really taken a toll on her health, energy, and emotions. She’s such a trooper and has maintained probably the best attitude out of our entire team, though she has been in pain and discomfort for our entire time here in Samoa. Please pray that she heals fast and that this infection doesn’t return or produce any long term effects.
• Our Fijian student, Catherine has seen God provide her finances in so many ways, from people buying her plane tickets to others feeling led to give her money even though they were also tight on money. Catherine feels called long-term to the Muslim world, and specifically Turkey, but she still needs $185 USD to finish outreach in Samoa and return to Fiji. Please pray that God would provide this small remainder of fees and continue to lead and teach Catherine through the area of finances.
• Our two American students, Mike and Simon, had to make some big sacrifices to be able to minister here in Samoa, and they did. Pray that God uses them because of their willingness to give up their rights, and continues to teach them and grow them in this area.
• Teaching opportunities! Our main goal as a team is to teach the Bible! Please pray that God opens doors where others have been closed and gives us wisdom to make the most of our time here. We have upcoming scheduled times teaching in the Nazarene, Catholic, Pentecostal, and Mainline (London Missionary Society) Efokasi Churches as well as the Prison.... please pray that God would use us to teach His Word here in Samoa!
• And for myself that I wouldn’t let little issues get me down, but that I’d continue to “be here” in my heart and mind as long as my feet are here! I would hate to miss out on what God wanted to do in me or through me because I was wishing I were somewhere else.

Fa’afetai tele lava... thank you so much!

Love,

Jill

Suva side!

The ladies at Vatuwaqa Squatter Settlement

Our team at YWAM Vunayasi

Our Farewell Dinner with the YWAM Vunayasi Staff

Samabula, Suva, Fiji...

So many memories from the Island Hopping DTS I led here back in 2005! Yet so much has changed in Fiji since I was last here. Suva now has two shopping malls with escalators and Gloria Jeans Coffee. :) But, there has also been a Coup, which affects the economy here. Things are more expensive, but wages have not increased, so poverty seems to be more prevalent. A good example of this is in the Squatter Settlement we visited last week in Vatuwaqa, Suva. These people have no land of their own, could be moved at any time, and have to pay extra to syphon electricity from other places (and usually can only afford to use the electricity for a few hours in the evening.) Their homes are made out of scraps of wood, corrugated tin, tires, and other materials and are built up on Mangrove Swamps, so they have to be home before high tide, or else they will get stranded.

We spent the day visiting homes and getting to know the people in the settlement, listening to their stories and praying for them. Though often communication was difficult (majority of them are Hindi-speaking Indians), they welcomed us into their homes and served us cold drinks. The Methodist Church we are working with has a church among these people and the members of the church (who also live in the settlement) made us lunch and dinner... truly a feast by any standard! We heard of how one person pitched in to buy cooking oil, another pitched in with chicken, another with flour... and we were humbled that these people who have so little sacrificed so much for a group of foreigners they had never met. I think the whole thing of hospitality that the Bible talks about is truly lived out here in the islands. One of our SBS students, Simon, taught the book of Jonah in the church service, and our whole team joined in with Bajan, worshiping Jesus in Hindi with instruments and rhythms many of us had never before heard. The whole day was beautiful. The food, the worship, the sweet juice at every house we visited, and most of all, the people and their hearts... absolutely beautiful.

In other news, Catherine, our Indo-Fijian student was blessed with tickets to and from Samoa and enough donations to cover all of her ground fees, so she will now be able to complete the entire outreach! Since, we’re leaving on Friday, this has been weighing heavily on Catherine and all of the team, so we are so excited that she will be coming with us and there is no more stress about whether the money will come in or not! The Methodist church we are working with in Suva is her home church, and she has been so blessed in our time with them, as have all of us. We have been teaching in Bible Studies, Youth Group, Inductive Bible Study (IBS) Seminars, and in Church Services, and for the next two days we will be teaching in the Intermediate and High School’s RE classes (Religious Education) as well as doing one more final IBS Seminar on the Book of Titus.

Please continue to pray for our team - we have been going for three weeks now, and still have four weeks to go in Samoa! We are so blessed that there are so many opportunities to teach, which is what we have been praying for, but please pray that God continues to give us grace and strength for the remainder of the outreach and for all the teaching we will be doing these last few days in Fiji and for the month in Samoa! And pray that our teaching is effective in giving our audiences a desire to go deeper in the Word of God for themselves... we might only be here for a short time, but our prayer is that we are leaving something with them - tools to study the Bible on their own!

Vinaka vaka levu (Thank you very much) for your prayers and support and for taking the time to read this update! We are seeing the Word of God transform lives in Fiji, not because of us, but because God has chosen to use us all to play a part... so please don’t think of this as “Jill’s update” or the “outreach team’s update”... if you are praying for this outreach, if you have given towards this outreach, or if you have even just sent an encouraging email to me or my team... you are part of this outreach with us! So thank you for playing your part so well. I’m humbled to get to do my part and serve alongside people like you.

Much love,

Jillian

Jisu Lomani Iko...

Bula Vinaka my friends,

Fiji is wonderful, a mix of many emotions, but wonderful! My last time here was in 2005 when I had some challenges within the outreach team I was leading, and I also contracted a bad case of Cika - the Fijian word for Conjunctivitis. Since then the Lord has indeed healed my eyes, my heart and given me a love for the Fijian people and this land. The photos I put up (because I don't have any others uploaded yet) are from one of our first days where we played volleyball with the staff in a completely underwater court, thanks to the rains that came and went before our team did. It was the most fun I've ever had playing volleyball for SURE.

Our team is staying at YWAM Vunayasi - the first YWAM property in Fiji which is about 15 minutes drive from Nadi town in the middle of some Sugar Cane fields... the staff here have such big hearts and have been such a blessing to get to know. The boys in the team are staying in a dorm room with the staff boys and there has been a real bonding among them... going fishing together, planting cassava together, walking to town, playing cards together... and that is just in the free time! The girls in the team are also connecting in with the girls on staff, though they are a bit more shy at first. This morning our team woke up at 4:30 to cook breakfast for the base (over a fire outside, I might add) and I think this really blessed the girls who wake up early every day to bake buns over the fire. My friend, Tiki, showed up one day on the base - a complete surprise to me as she has been serving in Guinea Bassau for the past year... we were able to walk to town for a coffee and it was such a sweet surprise to see her and catch up with her!

Its been a while since I've been in the South Pacific and I am reminded of my love for this relational culture. Our lives have truly been enriched here in Vunayasi. In addition to this mutual ministry here on the YWAM base, we have been given opportunities to teach in Bible Studies, teach Bible Overview for a Women's group at a nearby church, lead worship for the base, and serve with the Kid's Club here on the base every Thursday - where kids from the surrounding homes, both Fijian and Indian, come to hear Bible stories and play games.

On Tuesday we head to Suva to teach in Catherine's church (she's one of our students on the team, an Indian Fijian.) We are excited to serve and bless her church, and also for them to be able to see what she has been learning in SBS. I am also excited to head to Suva because I have friends from my past years in YWAM around Australia and the Pacific that I will be seeing there!

Hope this is an okay update for now... I will try to think more before writing next time... internet time is short! :)

Much loloma from Fiji,

Jillian

29 is going to be the best year EVER!

Birthdays are a great time to reflect and to look forward. Here's a few photos from birthdays past!

28th Birthday - Celebrated with CSBS Los Angeles friends

27th Birthday - Superhero Extravaganza @ the Wellman's Secret Hideout

26th Birthday - In Kona, my friend Emily dressed up as Jesus for my birthday dinner

25th Birthday - Pirate Parrrty @ the Wellman's Cove, complete with Pirate Ship

In case you didn't guess... Birthdays are kind of a big deal to me! I love having parties... especially costume parties! 28 has been awesome, but I've decided that 29 years old is a great age to be, so I'm going to make this the best year I've ever had (so far)! My party this year is going to be a ROCK BASH in Hawaii... we're going to play Wii Rock Band and dress up like rock stars. EPIC!

So, why is 29 going to be so great?

WELL... here are some fun things that are happening in my 29th year:

• June 28 // I turn 29 and get a free drink from Starbucks :)
• June 30 - 3 // Honolulu - Teaching preparation & Transition Time for SBS students
• July 4 - 28 // Fiji - Teaching Christians how to study their Bibles in Nadi & Suva
• July 28 - August 28 // Samoa - Teaching Bible in Churches, Prisons, Schools & YWAM
• August 28 - October 28 // Samoa - [SBS Team leaves] I stay 2 months to serve YWAM
• October 28 - November 5 // Los Angeles - Friends in SoCal & Mexico
• November - December // Washington - Thanksgiving & Christmas with Family
• January - March // Kailua Kona - Teaching Bible with SBS MobileWord Ministry
• April - December // Hawaii - Staffing SBS & gearing up to head back to South Pacific!

Of course, these are tentative plans & goals... after all, Proverbs 16:1 says,

The plans of the heart belong to man,

but the answer of the tongue is from the LORD.

Furthermore, in addition to what God is allowing me to do for this year of my life, there are some neat things that I already have [besides Jesus, of course]:

• A new "nephew" named Roy, born to my dear friends Ryan & Angela
• Skype! My parents & I can now keep in touch affordably, even when I'm in Fiji & Samoa
• A home & car in Hawaii! I won't have to wonder where I will live when I return in January
• Some of the best friends & family a girl could ask for, not only where I'm from, but all over the world
• An awesome job! I get to teach people how to study God's Word, which transforms lives!

So instead of thinking about what I don't have or [might not] be doing at the age of 29,

I've decided to enjoy and look forward to what I do have and what I will be doing!

What about you? What are you looking forward to this year?

Love you all...

Jillian

The race marked out for us

TEAM PACIFICA: (From Left to Right) Mike, Catherine, Simon, Jillian, & Rachel

Teams are leaving for outreach in 2 weeks to teach the Bible in [East Asia], Brazil, and Fiji & Samoa!

And while we are so excited for what is to come, we are exhausted. The CSBS students are tired. Their staff are tired. We have been studying the Bible for nearly nine months now and the finish line is finally in sight! But what is interesting is that the New Testament books we are studying (in Chronological order of course) are increasingly emphasizing the need to persevere, to endure, to not give up. Since the beginning, our students have been relating to the original audiences of these books... and it seems God knows the messages we need to hear and the times when we need to hear them. Though heavy homework loads cannot compare to the persecution of the early church, we still face the temptation to give up. And the message of encouragement and challenge is the same: Endure. You can do it.

As we near outreach, our Pacific team would appreciate prayer for a few specific things:

• Finances - As a team we are still short about $1500 USD. We are trusting God to provide as He always has and always does, we have done a team fundraiser as well which brought in $125, but... I'm a firm believer that prayer is powerful and effective, so we ask for prayer that as we do the possible, God does the "impossible."
• Visas - The four of us who are non-Fijians need permits to "work" in Fiji. Though we are volunteers, this is still considered work by the government. We applied over 2 weeks ago and are still waiting...
• Teaching Preparation - Our students are still busy doing homework, but in addition to their homework, they are preparing to teach Bible Overview (the story of God's Redemptive Plan from Genesis to Revelation), Inductive Bible Study Seminars, Bible Storying (Teaching the Bible for oral cultures), and 2 books of the Bible per student. Pray that God gives them grace and wisdom as they try to fit more into their already packed schedules.
• Outreach Contacts - Pray that we will have clear communication with our contacts in Fiji and Samoa before and during our outreach, so we may serve their needs well, and at the same time meet the goals and objectives of an SBS outreach.
• Our Audiences - Pray that God would be preparing the hearts of those in Fiji and Samoa whom we will meet and teach, that they would be receptive and impacted by the Bible and God's power to transform lives through His Word!

Thank you! Love you!

Kona Families

Yesterday, my friend Crystal and I were eating at Hayashis and overheard a conversation at the table next to us. Since there are only five outdoor tables at Hayashis and they are in a tight little spot, you tend to hear everything. It basically went a little something like this:

Guy with kid in his arms: Hey! Haven't seen you since high school! You still around here?

Girl with kids at table with her: Yeah been here ever since.

Guy: I moved to mainland, but I sure miss it here... just visiting family.

Girl: Is that your kid?

Guy: Yep, my girlfriend and I have been together for a year now. These your kids? Same dad?

Girl: Yeah, same guy - got married just after school and we've been together ever since.

Guy: Wow, congratulations!

Girl: I guess it's not the norm, huh?

It isn't the norm. Crystal and I looked at each other and later as we were driving discussed how broken families are here in Kona. That the guy would ASK if the girl's two kids were both from the same father... And be shocked to hear that they were.

We just realized the need to pray for families here in Kona all the more.

Teen pregnancies and single parents are the norm.

Kealakehe High School has a daycare for students who are also mothers.

All the boys that hang out and smoke pot at the church where I help with youth group...

they all come from broken families.

I love that the Apostle Paul used the imagery of God's reconciling work through Jesus being a repair in a broken family unit. We, as humans, have this broken family relationship between us and the Father (God) and it can only be and has only been repaired through the redemptive work of Jesus on the Cross.

So... if you think about it, pray for the families of Kona... well in Hawaii in general. God wants to repair families, but I think it has to start with a repair in the relationship with him first.

P.S. I'm teaching Colossians and Philemon next Wednesday and could also use some prayer, as I'm battling a cold and just general fatigue... really need some energy to push through in my teaching preparations. So, if you're the praying type, I'd soooo appreciate it!!!

Mahaloz!!!

Oh brother...

Just want to share a memory of my brother, Jeffery Wellman. (Click on his name to listen to some of his tunes on Myspace or download them.)

My brother loved adventure. His road trip around America in 2001-2002 is probably the best example of this. He was meant to drive from Washington to Colorado for a job, but decided it was too cold in Colorado and just kept driving.

At this time, I was living in Florida. This was before cell phones were as common as they are now, so when my parents got a phone call from Colorado asking why my brother didn't show up for work, they got a little worried. They called me, and then I got a little worried. We didn't hear from my brother for 2 weeks (when he had left Washington) and everyone was kind of freaking out.

One day, I get a call from the security gate at my apartment complex in Orlando - "We've got a visitor here for Jillian Wellman - he says he's her brother." I replied, "Let him in!" While thinking in my head, "I'm gonna KILL HIM!!!" After a quick reunion, I called my parents to let them know he was safe and sound. I was so happy to know he was okay... but so IRRITATED at him for not calling anyone! But I couldn't stay mad long, and if you knew Jeff, you know exactly what I mean. It was hard to stay mad at him. :)

During that same road trip with his buddy, Josh, my brother visited his friend April (Apes) in Vegas, stayed in Florida for a couple months (and ate my food), visited another friend, Michael, in North Carolina, then went on to work in Boston for a while. Eventually, the next year, Josh and Jeff made their way back to the Pacific Northwest... but had plenty of adventures along the way.

So, the memory that I want to honor and remember of my brother today is that of an adventurer. A bit of a turkey that stressed his mother out, sure, but an adventurous one!

Here's to you, Jeffery.

I love you,

I miss you,

And I can't wait to see you again...

In the greatest adventure of all!!!