Dear Friends and Partners in Ministry,
The faith that changes lives and connects us to God is best conveyed by one word—trust.
Imagine standing on the edge of a high cliff when suddenly, you lose your footing and begin to fall. Just beside you, a strong branch juts out from the rock face. It is your only hope, and it is more than capable of holding your weight. How can it save you?
If you are intellectually certain that the branch can support you but do not actually reach out and grab it, you will fall. But if you are filled with doubt and uncertainty, yet reach out and grasp it anyway, you will be saved. Why? Because it is not the strength of your faith but the object of your faith that saves you. Strong faith in a weak branch is fatal and therefore tragically useless and infinitely worse than weak faith in a strong branch.
This is why you do not need to wait for every doubt and fear to vanish before you take hold of Christ. Though Jesus is totally trust worthy and we ought to trust Him unwaveringly - the reality is that our faith is often smaller than a mustard seed. Faith is not about achieving a perfect state of confidence; rather, it is about truly trusting, regardless of how small, in the finished work of Jesus Christ. If salvation were based on the depth or purity of our faith, it would become another form of self-righteousness. But praise be to God—it is not the strength of our faith but the One who our faith rests in that saves; the finished work of Christ on our behalf that saves us - and even the means by which we receive Him is a gift!
Urgent Prayer Request: Premend Choy’s Health
We received devastating news recently. Premend Choy, Principal of Fiji Bible College, travelled to the United States for the Shepherds’ Conference and to conduct workshops for his doctorate. Tragically, he suffered two major cardiac episodes and was under medical sedation for nearly two weeks in a most critical condition.
On the 24th of March we received these wonderful words and news:
"One of the neurology doctors said today that “considering the history and potentially what could have been a prolonged hypoxic/ischemic period, current neurologic status is excellent.” In other words, Premend’s brain function is much better than they would have expected considering how long he was not breathing and his heart not functioning. This summarizes the positive progress the Lord continues to grant Premend through his recovery.
When Premend initially woke up, communication and interacting was challenging and taxing for him. As expected with this type of situation, forming thoughts into words has been intermittent and difficult at times. We thank and praise our Lord that Premend's MRI of the brain did not show any specific injury from the heart attack. This is truly a great work of our Sovereign God. Through the last few days, Premend has made significant progress in his speech including sharing scripture with a nurse, communicating in full sentences, and interacting with those around him.
Premend's body is significantly deconditioned impacting his ability to accomplish routine tasks. The physical therapy team is now working with Premend to help him regain strength to be able to sit on edge of the bed. Today, he was excited and thankful to eat soup and drink tea for the first time."
We praise God for His kindness in how He has providentially cared for Premend. If He was in Fiji there is almost no doubt that things would have been different. So we thank God for His timing in taking Premend to the US. Please pray for our beloved son and brother in the faith and co-labourer, that the Lord would be pleased to raise him up. Pray for his wife, Ashwin, and their daughters, Charlene and Abby, as they navigate this difficult and uncertain time. Also, please pray for our team in Fiji, as this has been a painful and challenging season. We are leaning on our good and gracious Heavenly Father to lead us all through this.
Preaching Workshop in New Zealand
I recently traveled to New Zealand for a weeklong Preaching Workshop connected to our School of Evangelism. The workshop was attended by 16 people in various ministry settings, all eager to grow in their ability to faithfully study, write, and deliver expository sermons in the appropirate contexts.
There is an urgent need for biblical training and theological resources across the South Pacific, and we praise God for continuing to open doors to equip His people for ministry. Please pray for those who attended—that they may rightly divide the word of truth (2 Timothy 2:15) and boldly proclaim the gospel.
As I write about this workshop, I am reminded of our universal need for salvation. The Bible teaches us that all people, regardless of their background, are spiritually dead in sin, enslaved to and love the ways of the world (Ephesians 2:1-3). However, we proclaim the glorious good news, what Paul calls the power of God; that God, in His boundless mercy, has made us alive in Christ! Our salvation is received by grace through faith alone in Jesus Christ, not through our own efforts or any works we have done. Having been saved from the consequences and penalty of our sins by God’s grace, we now walk in the good works that have been prepared for us—the God-grown fruits of His Holy Spirit. (Ephesians 2:4-10)
We are not justified by our love for God, but once we have been justified, God sanctifies us so that we may love Him with an ever-increasing passion in our hearts, minds, souls, strengths, and even our neighbours as ourselves. Until one day when we will be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is, face to face. The glorious promise is that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. That is the power of the gospel!
The Good News in an Unlikely Setting
Kirsten Kumar who works within our Christian Helps ministry and Nathan Adams recently travelled to Sydney, Australia, to attend ODA’s International Optical Conference. Nathan was invited to speak on behalf of Christian Helps (one of the arms of AFC(SP)) to present the realities of life and needs within Fiji and the South Pacific.
We praise God that, in this secular international setting, there was an opportunity to share about the Lord Jesus Christ. The event organisers—who were not Christians—commented that they had never heard anyone speak about the Lord Jesus before!
With 200 opticians, optometrists, and optical dispensers present, we were able to share not only about Fiji’s critical physical needs but also about the eternal need of every human being—the need to be reconciled to God through Christ alone. We praise God for this opportunity, and we give God the glory for opening this door.
Ministry Support for 2025
We praise God for providing last month’s needs and thank those who have partnered with us in prayer and sacrificial giving. We continue to look to the Lord to sustain this ministry in 2025 and into the future.
To cover essential ministry expenses, we still require roughly $200,000 USD for the entire year, which supports:
Fiji Bible College
Christian Helps
The Vocational School
The Gospel Retreat Centre
The AFC(SP) Kindergarten
The School of Evangelism
We praise God for providing our needs for the year thus far, and we continue to look to Him - In 2024, the Fijian government increased the base sales tax (what is called VET in Fiji) from 9% to 15%, causing a steep rise in the cost of food, fuel, and essential services. This has placed an additional financial burden on our ministry.
As I mentioned last month, for nearly a year, we have received less than half of what is needed to sustain AFC(SP). We continue to face a pressing shortfall, and yet the Lord has graciously and kindly helped us with our needs , and we humbly ask you to make this a matter of prayer—that God would provide for this ministry so that we can continue to equip students with the beauty of the good news of Jesus, serve the poor so that we might tell them about the Saviour, and proclaim Christ throughout the South Pacific until He comes.
Thank you for standing with us in prayer and support!
Urgent Repairs for the Vocational School and Kindergarten
On top of our base needs there are several one time needs and projects around the ministry that we praying about and want to bring to you, that you might pray for as well. There are several but two include our Vocational School and Kindergarten which have suffered extensive termite and structural damage. Without repairs, these facilities will continue to deteriorate, affecting our ability to train and care for students.
We are praying for provision to carry out these critical repairs for both sites, estimated at $25,000 USD. Would you please join us in prayer that God would provide the resources necessary to restore these buildings so that they remain safe and functional for ministry.
As always, our greatest desire is that the love of Jesus Christ to save sinners and rescue them from the wages of their sin would be made known—that people might be saved and that all would come to understand there is only one Name under heaven by which we must be saved (Acts 4:12).
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Key Prayer Points Summary
• Pray for Premend Choy’s healing and for his family in this difficult time.
• Pray for the financial provision to meet the ministry’s 2025 needs.
• Pray for urgent repairs and that the Lord would provide the resources to meet the repair costs to the Vocational School and Kindergarten.
• Pray for the 16 people from the Preaching Workshop to grow in their calling.
• Pray for the over 150 active students at the Fiji Bible College that they might grow in their knowledge and love of God and from that have a burning passion to tell people of the wondrous love of Christ, who came to seek and save the lost.
• Pray for the 27 kindergarten children at our AFC(SP) Kindergarten that the Holy Spirit might work in their heart to come to know the Lord Jesus Christ as their Lord and Saviour
• Pray for the 11 Ambassadors Vocational School student's (AIVT) that they might come to know Lord Jesus Christ as their Lord and Saviour
• Pray for fruit from the ODA Conference, that hearts would be softened to the gospel.
• Pray for the groups who will be coming in the coming month to minister God's word in various settings
Thank you for your prayers, giving, and hard work in supporting our mission. We also pray for you. Our team meets every morning for morning devotions and prayer, and we bring you our prayer partners before the Lord in both thanksgiving and intercession. May the Lord bless you abundantly as you serve Him.
In Christ’s love,
Narayan, Savita, and the AFC(SP) Ministry Team
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