October 1, 2009

Dear Pastors and Churches,

     We returned from Huahine on Tuesday, the voyage taking about 21 hours to arrive at Tahiti .  We appreciate all your prayers, for the trip was without incident this time!  The voyage over there was not the same, however.

     We left the first time on the third of September, after services in Papeete .  We had Mauri and Tevai with us, as they did not have the money to get to the islands.  2 hours out, the wind changed, the boom came over and down, and Tevai was struck in the head.  So we turned around and she went to the hospital.  She was ok, but received 3 stitches.  So we decided not to do that again!  Our home church supplied the funds for them to take the big freighter over there.

     And they were needed.  Tami had to fly home to help Tiera with the birth of her second child.  It seemed the child was coming too early and the mid wife was quite concerned. They have no medical insurance and are not in a good situation at the present time.   But Tami was able to arrive before the baby came. Tiera was bedridden.  Difficult with a toddler of 1 ½ years old!   But all is fine now.  But because of that, I needed Mauri and Tevai’s help with the music.  Also, Mauri had to translate from French into Tahitian for us.  If not for him, one man named Firuu who did not speak French well, would not have been saved. 

     We had many obstacles to surmount, but the Lord helped us and in the end, 4 people were saved.  I was disappointed with the turnout, for there were several nights when not one person came.  The first at Avera, Raiatea was in a metal roofed gym and it rained so very hard that even with the mike system, we could hardly hear.  No one came.  The second night there, no one came.  The third night I went out and just about dragged several people in, so we had 4 visitors.  No decisions.

     In Patio, Tahaa, the same for the first night.  The second night, Saturday, we saw several people come.  They returned the third night with some of their friends, so we had a dozen or so.  André came Saturday and he was saved later. 

     On Huahine, we just did one night, Saturday, with the chalk drawing.  There ended up being about 30 people there and 3 people accepted Christ: Bernard, Marielle and Firuu.  Bernard was our former landlord when we rented the house at Maeva on Hauhine.  It was something to see how the Lord has worked in his life over the last year to bring him to the point where he was weeping and ready to accept the Lord. 

     Firuu came to the drawing as well, and though Mauri had to interpret for me, he prayed the sinner’s prayer as well!   He wants us to go to his native island, Maupiti, to present the same message there.  He is on Huahine for a year, as his wife, from Maupiti as well, is the principal of the elementary school which owns the gym that we used. 

    These four, plus some here on Tahiti , will be taking the New Convert’s Class: some here in person, some on the islands by correspondence. 

      As to the boat :  After returning the first time, a storm hit on Monday night and we ended up fighting all night against 60 mph steady winds to keep the boat from hitting others in the anchorage.  Our two anchors ended up being entangled with another boat’s chain, and we had to hire a diver the next day to free them. 

    Then we left the next weekend for Hauhine, having changed the date for Fare, Huahine from the 5^th to the 26^th.  At 2AM, having suffered rapid following seas, 10 to 15 feet waves, and 50 miles out from Tahiti , we lost our steering so that we could not control the boat.  Tobijah and I put out the drogue, intending to spend the night just floating and call for help in the morning.  But then we noticed that the rudder was working again.  So, by God’s grace, we made it to Huahine about 6 hours later.  Then, with the wind blowing as it was, we could not find a safe anchorage.  It is always a problem, and was the case on Raiatea and Tahaa as well.  More of that another time, but it took several hours to secure the boat there. 

     I dove down to examine the problem, and it was then that I found out what had happened. 

The skag in front of the rudder had broken off.  For a time it jammed the rudder, but then fell off completely so that we could control the boat again.  It is about 4 feet long, and was attached to a steel plate.  The plate and bolts are still there, so there was no leakage.  But it is hard to control the boat when moving much faster than 5 knots, especially in a rough sea.  But by God’s grace, we made it to Raiatea, then to Tahaa, back to Huahine and then here to Tahiti .

     We are not sure what to do about the boat.  We are considering moving on land, which would afford many advantages.  There is a very large ferry coming from Marsailles , France the first of next year to be put in service.  It could be used by us to go to the islands if needed.  It will go to Bora Bora , and then we would have to have the navette to Maupiti if we choose to do so. 

     We are praying about it.  At this point, we plan on pulling the boat in February to fix it and handle the yearly maintenance.  Then too, at this point, we do not want to be on the boat when the cyclone season hits, which is the worse I believe in February and March.  I am still checking on that.  We need to file for our visas again in January, then will come home for a short furlough. 

     Such are the plans.  More information will come with our next newsletter.  Thank you again for praying for us.  God bless you all,

In Christ,

Terry, Tami and Tobijah Morse

Missionaries in French Polynesia