Rarotonga: His Plan, Not Ours.

Karen (L) and Imogen with OMS NZ missionary Chuni Pema about to be interviewed for Cook Islands TV.

“But when the Father sends the Advocate as my representative - that is, the Holy Spirit - he will teach you everything and will remind you of everything I have told you.” John 14:26 NLT.

Earlier this year, we began planning a HOPE61 focused trip to Rarotonga;  an exciting opportunity to raise awareness of human trafficking in the Pacific Islands and train people on how to prevent it. But in the preparation process, we weren't able to book as many speaking engagements or trainings in advance as we would have liked.

But I am so thankful we didn’t.

Through the process of preparing for this trip, it was certainly frustrating at times that things weren’t moving at a pace we wanted. But the few weeks before we left, I had a continuous, supernatural peace that this trip would be one of impact. Because we would be doing things according to God’s plan, not ours.

Here are all the doors God opened for us during our trip to Rarotonga...

Combined Church Prayer Meeting

Our second night in Rarotonga, Karen and I joined our missionary Chuni Pema in attending a combined prayer meeting to pray for Israel. It was an amazing evening of unity with a total of 8 churches joining together, not only praying for Israel and the current situation, but the Pastors also prayed for their congregations to be empowered by the Holy Spirit to share the Gospel.

It was also a great opportuinty to meet a few of the Pastors and church members to share about the purpose of our trip. One of the Pastors shared that he had a copy of the 'Sound of Freedom' movie (a recent movie that came out about child sex trafficking). Yet every time he sat down to watch it, he couldn't bring himself to do so as he knew what it was about. This movie was a common topic that came up in our conversations with people.

Cook Islands TV

An amazing opportunity opened up with the local Cook Islands TV station. We visited the TV station as Chuni knows people who work there. An OMS team had also connected with them in October last year when we sent a media team to Rarotonga. On our fourth day there, I was interviewed on our reason for being in the Islands, and was able to share about how big human trafficking has become.

Then on our eigth day, we were invited to do a follow up interview where Chuni and Karen joined me and we were able to share about the things we had learned on our trip, and how people can be effective in recognising and preventing trafficking.

From our first interview, we connected with a woman from Chuni's church who is involved with a few different community groups, including working with children and youth. She was interested in getting those she works with, training about preventing people getting involved in trafficking situations. I'm excited to follow up with her through email!

Chuni's Home Group

Chuni kindly invited us to speak at his home group on Friday night. A couple of people couldn't make it that night, but we had a wonderful time connecting with those that were there.

I was able to share about human trafficking, what it looks like in the Islands and how everyone was serving their community. Each person was very resposive in learning this information and we had opportunities for further connections open up.

Bobby knew people in the government, and after learning this happens where he lived, he was fired up to talk with them to make a change. Bobby's wife Mata sells hand made crafts at the Saturday markets, and the next day I heard that she had talked to her friends at the markets about what she had learned about trafficking. Another woman Romea wanted to share this information with her daughter who has started a new church in Brisbane, and wanted to get some training about this for them. These are amazing connections!

Itu Productions

Another TV station on the island, Vaka TV, connected us with an amazing couple, Teariki and Joy Allsworth. They own a company called Itu Productions and create short films and videos for worthy causes. We were able to meet with them to discuss the possibility of making a short video about human trafficking prevention that can be played regularly on TV.

Teariki and Joy are passionate people who are keen to spread this awareness in the Islands. We're excited to chat with them further to make this idea a reality!

Visiting the Prison

A regular ministry Chuni does in Rarotonga is visiting prison inmates. His pastoral heart yearns to help those who are hurting and to listen to those who don't have regular visitors.

We were blessed to join him and his team on Sunday after church, and visit some men he visits weekly. Karen joined Chuni and Okey at one table, and I joined Romea at another. We were able to share about human trafficking, which wasn't a surprise to them. However, we got a good response and had some in depth discussion about it.

Along with all these pictured moments, we were able to share about human trafficking with those we met in the street and in Chuni's church. God delivered above and beyond what we thought possible and I am so thankful to Him for all He organised.

I also thank God for all of you who prayed, donated, and supported HOPE61 and this trip. You have been part of something big and I believe this is just the beginning! If you'd like to support HOPE61 in anyway, or would like regular updates, email me at hope61@oms.org.nz.

Many blessings,

Imogen Cook

HOPE61 Trainer

One Mission Society New Zealand.