This photo above of Nanuku Settlement is just over a year old - what a year of witness and blessing it has been. The rubbish on the left of the picture is now gone. Some 1.5km of new concrete pathways allow people in the community to walk above the mud. The new site for the OF Community Centre is ready for construction.

We have had different teams - Police, Corrections, Rugby, Military, NGO’s, all engage in different parts of the community development, however last week two things happened that spoke more than all of those efforts combined…

Firstly, I was sent a photo of the young men working together cleaning the drains in Nanuku. Understand that Nanuku has no sewer system and so the drains are the conduit for all manner of waste and run-off. Volunteering themselves for this task was no small commitment because we are talking several kilometers of black ooze-filled drains to be dug out and cleared.

What it showed was the commitment to their community was beginning to develop and what a heartwarming experience that is. It was just one step, a profound step, that we prayed would begin and here was the evidence of it.

Secondly, I walked into Suva Correctional Centre on Wednesday and was met by a familiar face - one of the young men from Nanuku. I was more surprised than he was however as we talked his story unfolded. One of the primary reasons for making Nanuku our home is to begin the opportunity to address the issues that brought this young man to prison. The OF Community Centre will give us an ongoing presence in Nanuku Community and allow us the ability to craft interventions and supports well before the law needs to be involved.

Seeing my friend from Nanuku once again inside the prison walls validated our vision for a wider redemption ministry that is situated admist their community and their home.