Mark Gardner, missionary to Fiji, planned to travel 4½ hours to the secluded village of Nasau i Ra to train people from multiple churches and demonstrate what Pentecostal children’s ministry looks like.

However, things suddenly took a dramatic shift.

“My wife, Kim, suffered two slipped disks in her lower back, which immobilized her with a great deal of pain,” says Mark. He had arranged for two local female Fijian children’s ministry leaders to accompany them to help with the training. These women had spent hours with their church teams being trained by the missionary and accompanying him on outreaches.

However, one of the women had a family emergency and was stuck in Suva, on the other side of the island four hours away. Then, the lead pastor from Nasau i Ra told Mark that there was a deluge of rain and that the pastors of the churches who were to be trained met with him and decided to cancel the event.

Mark did not let these circumstances stop him from carrying out what God had called him to do. He asked his prayer-partners to earnestly pray that the event would not be canceled and that someone would be able to take his wife’s place.

The Lord heard their prayers and provided!

It did rain, but, Mark says, “It rained so hard in the interior that the rivers overflowed the bridges and the pastors who were planning to go back to their villages were stuck in Nasau overnight with no way to tell everyone to cancel.” A teenage boy volunteered to take Mark’s wife’s place so Mark would not be the only male travelling to this village. The woman who was stuck in Suva prayed and felt she needed to come. After speaking with her family and receiving permission, she traveled across the island to make the trip.

In the morning, the weather cleared, the sun came out, and the water receded, making the bridges passable.

People from different denominations began arriving for the training program. There were so many that Mark had to move the meeting into a larger school building. People were captivated by what they were hearing — that kids could be born again and filled with the Holy Spirit.

Children learned what it meant to be found by Christ — how Jesus suffered on the cross to pay the price for their sins so they can be saved. Mark was astonished to see the fruit of their labor. He remarks, “The altar response to prayer by the kids was amazing — almost 100%. It was a glorious sight for all the Sunday School teachers and children’s ministry workers to see that if you present the gospel to children in terms they can understand they can and will respond.”

Mark was also the guest speaker for an interdenominational service on Sunday. He boldly challenged those attending by asking, “Have you been filled with the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in tongues, and are you passing down that anointing to your children?”

Mark used 1 Corinthians 14:5 to show how God desires His people to speak in tongues: “I wish you all spoke with tongues, but even more that you prophesied.”

“I challenged those who are already filled with the Spirit and speak in tongues to pass the anointing on to their children so they, as moms and dads, or grandparents, would have the privilege of leading their kids to Christ, and praying for them to be filled with the Holy Spirit.”

When Mark gave the altar call, many people — even men — ran to the altar weeping. “It was a glorious mess,” says Mark.

The people enjoyed what God had done through Mark. They invited him and his team to come back in 2026. Not only did they want him to speak at the church, but also to do outreach at the school as well. Mark accepted. “However,” he told them, “Let's not do it during the rainy season.”

Natalie Hartenberg
AGWM Communications