Near a white sandy beach, a sailboat floats on the ocean’s gentle waves. A kelp gull perched on its mast watches as tourists, a few hundred feet away, explore the island. The crystal-clear waters reveal countless fish and marine plants swaying with the tide. The Fiji islands in the South Pacific Ocean are a tropical paradise. However, from the white sandy beach, you can’t see the island’s hidden culture.

The indigenous inhabitants of Fiji prefer that people call them the iTaukei people — Owners [of the land]. Most of their ancestors came from western Melanesia and southeast Asia. Their ancestral culture is an important part of their lives. In contrast to the thriving tourist industry on the coastline, most iTaukei people organize their lives around clans, villages, and a chiefdom system, which shapes their community life and societal norms.

More than a century ago, a Methodist revival swept through Fiji, but over time the spiritual fervor dwindled. Today, most iTaukei people claim to be Christians. They can recite stories and verses from the Bible, but few have had a born-again experience.

Mark and Kim Gardner, Assemblies of God global workers in Fiji, have a special heart for the children in Fiji. After spending two decades ministering to children in Africa, the Lord changed the direction of their lives and opened the door for them to minister in the Fiji islands. Together with their puppet, Kiko the Monkey, they are reaching children, and their families, with the gospel.

The Gardners’ journey into missions had some challenges and delays. In his last year of serving in the military, Mark was training to become a pilot. He wanted to serve the Lord by flying missionaries to remote villages. However, he felt God saying, “I don't want you to be flying missionaries around; I want you to be one of those missionaries.”

Kim was studying to be a primary school teacher at Southeastern Bible College (now Southeastern University of the Assemblies of God) when God started working on her heart to serve overseas. During a chapel service, a speaker talked about summer missions opportunities, thus, planting the seed for missions. Eventually, Kim and Mark met, got married, and started talking about becoming missionaries.

When the Gardners applied for mission appointment, however, there was a problem. Kim had not yet been baptized in the Holy Spirit. Coming from a Baptist background, Kim wasn’t familiar with “how the Holy Spirit speaks to people and the process of speaking in tongues,” she says. Without this empowering experience, AG World Missions did not approve them as global workers.

A door opened for Mark and Kim to be youth and children’s pastors at Calvary Temple, in Wayne, New Jersey. While serving there, Mark had to surrender his God-given desire to be a missionary. “It was given to me, and I had to give it back to God,” he says.

Mark and Kim focused on the youth in the church. The Gardeners learned the importance of building relationships. Whether it was a late-night Burger King run or a break-up talk at their house, they were available. Soon, however, the Lord would reignite that desire for missions in the Gardners.

One day, Mark was looking at the Pentecostal Evangel. The cover showed an image of children in Africa. His call to be a missionary suddenly poured back into his heart. He had to reach those kids with the gospel. Mark was ready to go into missions, but what about the obstacles?

Later that day, the missions director at Southeastern called Mark. He said, “Mark, I was out trimming my bushes this morning, and I felt like I needed to pray for you specifically regarding your call to missions. What’s going on?”

Encouraged by this sign, Mark knew he needed to speak with Kim about this conversation. Two weeks prior to this Kim had received the baptism in the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in tongues. The timing was right, everything was falling into place, and Mark and Kim had a specific people group to whom they felt God was calling them.

The Gardners ministered in Africa for 20 years. Eventually, the country they were in experienced a new president and regime change. The new leaders did not allow missionaries to renew their visas, forcing the couple to leave. What were they supposed to do? Mark and Kim started praying about where to go next. They didn’t understand what was going on. They were about to go on itineration, but they knew the Lord still wanted them on the mission field.

They reached out to a friend, who was AG World Missions Asia Pacific regional director. There were three places he wanted them to pray about, including Fiji. “We need a veteran missionary couple in there,” he said, “and we don’t have any missionaries in Fiji right now.” As Mark and Kim prayed, it was the first time they didn’t feel they were not supposed to go somewhere, so they decided to go. As they continued to pray and prepare to leave, their peace about their decision continued to grow.

One night, as they were preparing to leave Africa, Kim had a vision while leading worship at church. She saw Mark and herself walking through a bushy area. Every time their feet hit the ground, fire sprung out of the ground. Though she had no idea what Fiji looked like, she knew in her heart that the place she saw was this island nation. They were without a doubt called to the people of Fiji.

The iTaukei people have a culture built on politeness and honor, which is one of the reasons Fiji has become a tourist destination. People honor their elders and ancestors. This respect extends to chiefs and pastors as well. “You don’t have to work to get the iTaukei people to love you; they just love you,” Kim says.

In addition to the iTaukei people, nearly 40% of Fiji’s population is from India. They have brought many aspects of their cultures with them.

Most of those from India are practicing Hindus, and they are very welcoming, just like the iTaukei people. “When you see people who are so nice, and you see that they don’t know Jesus, you can just feel the love of God reaching out to them,” says Kim.

Similarly, the Muslims who have come to Fiji, though small in number, have gained influence in recent years. They are building mosques and other structures around the Island.

The people from India and the iTaukei people desire to give their best to their gods. It’s the Gardners’ job to direct that desire toward the One True God.

The main obstacle in ministry to the people of Fiji is tradition. The iTaukei people have a desire and hunger to know the Lord better. “They don’t want to be doing things the way they’ve always done things,” says Kim. “But it’s challenging for them to break out of their traditions.” Despite wanting to serve the Lord, there is a serious desire to serve others and their god(s) to the best of their ability.

“Building relationships is vital to creating discipleship opportunities with people. There is already an openness to Jesus in the iTaukei people’s hearts. If we ask them if they want healing, all will say yes. Jesus, to them, is the God who heals, but He is just another one of their gods. It is easy to get dozens of people to accept Jesus as God. The difficulty comes in getting them to leave their other gods. It’s only as you relate to them and challenge them that things drop off and change,” Mark says.

Six months into their term in Fiji, local leadership invited Mark and Kim to engage in training and ministry on a remote island. As the boat approached the shore Mark plunged into the surf. He cut quite a figure, his pants rolled up, his ukulele and Kiko the money, protruding from his backpack. As they walked through the coastal scrub toward the church Kim stopped. It hit her, this was the physical expression of the vision she received while back in Africa. Stunned, she captured the moment in a picture.

While children’s ministry has always been their heart, ministry for the Gardners has become more family focused. Mark and Kim don’t just want children to be able to recite Bible verses and stories. They want to bring kids into an encounter with the Holy Spirit.

The Gardners cast vision, train and resource, and demonstrate what it means to be truly born again. One of the struggles they face is when children have an encounter with the Holy Spirit and go home to parents and siblings who don’t know how to nurture this new gift. This led Mark and Kim to see the need for reaching families.

Life in Fiji faces many challenges. Domestic violence, drug abuse, and alcoholism plague families of every ethnicity. Due to “blue-toothing” — sharing needles while abusing drugs — Fiji’s per capita HIV rate has surged to the highest in the Pacific. This includes children. “It breaks our hearts that these children feel so hopeless,” Kim says.

“If you’re coming to Fiji,” Mark says, “don’t expect to live in a resort garden paradise.” Many of Fiji’s communities are experiencing a harsh world without God. Those are the places that need the gospel. That is where God sends missionaries. “It isn’t the healthy who need a doctor,” Jesus reminds us in Luke 5:31 (NIV), “but the sick.”

With Mark in his 60s, the Gardners won’t be ministering in Fiji forever, and there is no one to take their place. “There’s all sorts of opportunities across the board, but there’s nobody to continue them long-term,” Mark shares. The Gardners want to train new global workers, preparing them to continue the mission after they leave.

“The Lord loves the people here,” says Kim. “He has such a desire to do something in these island nations.” Mark urges others to be like Peter in the boat. “Lord, if it’s you, tell me to come to you on the water” (Matthew 14:28, NIV). People need to step out in faith and trust that God has a plan for them. Going into ministry is intimidating, but Jesus is there to catch you at every step.

Has God been leading you to step out in faith? Trust in Him and see if Fiji is where He wants you to step into.

By Jaron Lussier
Intern, AG World Missions Communications