Time flies by, day in and day out. Between teaching the pastors in training, discipling the established pastors, language learning, community life, constant daily grind of living in a jungle, we would like to share how things are going… so for the sake of brevity, we will try to condense it down for you all.

Nicole has started a women’s Bible study with a handful of women, mostly younger women who are interested in ministry, but one lady is married to a pastor in training. It is a very exciting time since there has never been anything for the women here in Tiale land. The ladies have a time of prayer, games, snacks, and Bible study; they are currently going through the Foundational Bible Teaching. This is being done in Bislama.

Ladies Bible Study-First Puzzle for Them!

Spending time together

We find ourselves constantly trying to fill the needs for today along with looking to the future. What we mean is, we are constantly learning their culture and the Tiale language, which will produce fruit in hopefully 2019 sometime, Lord-willing. But we are also trying to fulfill all felt needs of their today. There are some who are saved and desire to grow and are also versed in the national language of Bislama, so we are currently able to disciple and train them. Babes need milk to drink and children need solid food, so our goal is to give each group their personal need.

Teaching the Youth at the local School

Seth is the busiest he has ever been along with the happiest. He is currently training 4 men on how to use God’s Word; he is using the Foundational Bible Teaching study and applying it to their daily lives, teaching them basic hermeneutic principles, as well as a homiletics (because he gives them lessons to teach) course. Sometimes we walk around seeing them huddled together, reading Scripture together, hearing them practice preaching, truly it is a joyous thing for us to see and witness!

Singing the New Tiale Songs at Church

We have also had to shed some tears, there have been some incidents in the village and we have had to enact church discipline in several cases. It brings a strange joy in the midst of the tears because you can see God working to make these young believers stand more firm in their belief. We had to put several people on church discipline in the past month. Satan is trying to win this fight, but through God’s grace and your prayers he will not prevail. One of the pastors literally said, “If you were not here I would not be bold in my belief, I have always wanted to be more bold and impose discipline on sin, but I always feel alone and with no back-up, you encourage me and empower me to stand firm in my Christian walk”. And that is the real reason why we are here, to point people to God and His Word as the true absolute for their every day lives. If we miss that, we miss the reason for being here. Pray for the Tiale people, even though they have had the Gospel for quite sometime, they are Christians still in infancy. But it is amazing to see their desire for more. We will share more about that in the upcoming blogs.

Your feet to the unreached, Seth and Nicole Stokes

(Sorry the picture is a bit dark)

This week marked a big milestone for the Tiale people! For the first time in their history, working together with them we have created and translated songs in their language and now we have printed them and enjoyed singing them as a group! We have 16 songs in total so far. Check out this video to see more.

Your feet to the Tiale people,

~Seth & Nicole Stokes

Life here seems to stand still yet be in fast forward, living life on life with our Tiale friends is always a learning experience… 

Click on the link below to read more.

Newsletter-April, 2018

Working in the Garden

Nicole & Judith, One of the Language Helpers

Sunday Outreaches

Language Sessions

Meal with Bible School Students and Language Helpers

If you don’t already follow us on Facebook on our Stoking The Fires page, please consider following us. We use this page to regularly post videos and pictures we think you may enjoy. We just posted some new pics and videos. Preview below…

Go check it out: Birthday and Bunk Beds

Since we posted, we have received some ash from the Volcano in Ambae located about 40km from us. According to the Vanuatu Geohazard and Meteorological group,

“Ambae volcano is continuing in the minor eruption state; Its Volcanic Alert Level remains at Level 3”

http://www.vmgd.gov.vu/vmgd/index.php/geohazards/volcano/alert-bulletin#manaroVoui

This something interesting for us to experience since we are not located very close to this Volcano but we are still seeing its effects here. Pray for people living directly in Ambae (and nearby) as they are having to live in some very challenging circumstances.

Your feet in Vanuatu,

~Seth & Nicole Stokes

Road Repair Crew

Language Helpers

This was and is our first rainy season in Vanuatu, it has been exciting to say the least. At one point our road literally washed away!… To continue reading click on the link below. Thank you for following our journey! We love and appreciate you all. 

Newsletter-March-2018

Your Feet to the Unreached,

~Seth & Nicole Stokes

Just want to remind you all we have a YouTube channel we use for posting videos and an Instagram feed for pictures. You can view and follow them at:

YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/ p

Instagram: @stokingthefires

You can also view our Instagram pictures on our website under the Gallery tab.

Thank you for following our journey here in 🇻🇺 Vanuatu!

~Seth and Nicole Stokes

These past two months have been quite different, constantly changing and learning how to balance each and everyone of our ministries, along with experiencing our first cyclone, Hola…

Click on the link below to read more. 

Newsletter 1-2/18

We love, miss, and appreciate all of YOU back home! Thank you for allowing us to be your feet here in Vanuatu.

~Seth & Nicole Stokes

Hi everyone!

Just wanted to share a video with you all from the outreach last weekend. This village we visited is about 12 hours hike away but is still part of our language group. Check out the link below to see what it is like to hike through the jungles of Vanuatu. Thank you all for the many prayers for us as we hiked and for Nicole as she held down the fort. We could not do this without YOU!

https://youtu.be/TIcnvsvg4yA

~your feet to the unreached in Vanuatu

Seth & Nicole Stokes

As we are underway living here in the bush full-time, we are seeing where and how we can assist the “established” churches, as well as our community. Our work is a little different seeing that there is so much potential in both the national (Bislama) language and our Tribal (Tiale) language. Learning how to balance all of this is truly wisdom from above, if we are being honest, we could devote 100% to either language at any time and both would be (in our understanding) equipotent for an eternity.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Nicole has been busy with various ministries along with helping out in the community; she has been visiting the ladies, bringing gifts to newborn babies, tries to be relational, helps in the garden, and even cooks meals for them; community-wise it really never ends. Ministry wise, she has been engaged in starting a women’s Bible and craft ministry; several ladies get together early in the morning, Nicole and another lady prepare a lesson beforehand and then teach it to the group. After that the ladies get together to make a craft, have a meal, and have some fellowship. Nicole is also teaching Bible lessons in the Kindergarten at the nearby school (in Bislama). Nicole is following the chronological approach, making simple lessons, which in turn will be a permanent lesson book for kids here in the country, which does not really exist.

The Kindergarten Class

Making Bracelets!

Women’s Group

Seth got back from his first of two back-to-back long weekends; it is basically a full day hike there and two-thirds of a day hike back (you come down the mountains). He visited a local church to encourage them; he preached specific messages about the purpose of the church, faith and how to live by it, and then also a final message about II Tim 3:1-9, which focuses on witchdoctors, and the remaining chapter of how a Christian lives in a world that is against them. Seeing that we live in a country controlled by fear, it would be a predominantly fear-base culture with a healthy dash of shame base (3 main-stream cultures in the world). All of the messages really impacted and encouraged the believers.

Seth, Kevin, Jeremy

Seth and the two young men, Kevin and Jeremy, he went with ended up going the long way on the way there, the rivers were flooded so that means an extra mountain to climb. Seth has been trying to get in shape but with being really sick last week that set him back. With less than two hours to go his one quad began to cramp, he prayed for a coconut and God was gracious, around the next corner was a coconut tree with their names all over it. They made it in a relatively good time, only to have Seth nearly lose his voice. Seth pushed his voice to preach those 4 messages and share a Bible study; God was gracious again. God provided just enough of his voice to get through each message. Now he does not have much of a voice, he came back with a fever, sore throat, three infections on his leg, and he leaves in less than three days to do it again to a location which is further away. But we are confident God will be gracious, providing… just enough.

Pastor J.M. and Family

The trip was a sweet time; the local Pastor said he was slowly losing “interest” in other churches. No one has visited him in almost 16 months; he said he was feeling “forgotten”. He was elated to receive a calendar of all the dates people are planning to visit him this year (about 6 in total). He said, this planning and calendar has lifted his spirits, and the teaching blessed him and the church. He shared several of his struggles; he has a strong witch doctor presence, he has no help in his ministry, and the fact that he is literally isolated on a mountain does impact the situation. Seth made sure he went to bed late and also woke up early, spending each and every moment trying to engage and encourage the Pastor. Seth used a lot of those points to disciple the young men he came with during their hike, he was really able to engage them and challenge them in their Christian walk.

Seth and the young men came back via the river since it had gone down with it being sunny for two days, but it was still strong. Some parts were up to Seth’s neck; the young men would bob up and down at the deep parts. Praying that it is sunny for the next 5 days, if so, that will make the trek to and from the next village visit much easier, not to mention faster. Seth was also able to get some language study in even while hiking, with so many things pressing on us each and every day, we have to use each moment the Lord provides.

The River

Jeremy about to cross the river

            Please pray for the church and Pastor J.M. (to keep it simple), please pray for Seth as he has those multiple ailments and gets ready to leave again in 2.5 days. Please pray for the young men Kevin and Jeremy he is discipling as he goes out on these outreaches. Please Pray for Nicole as she is battling some type of bug as well. Please pray for the women’s group. Please pray for her ministry in the kindergarten, please pray for the several ladies she is engaging with; Judith and Jacquelyn to name a few. Please pray that it is sunny for the next five days, it will make the trip easier, if not, we know God will be gracious in how He provides… just enough.

Your feet to the unreached, Seth and Nicole Stokes.