Update August 19, 2021:
From Fiona: For those of you who don't follow the IMS Facebook page, I'd like to share something that Eric just put up on the Facebook page that speaks volumes to the dedication that Eric and Mary have had for many years towards doing the Lord's work where and when He leads.
The IMS post/story begins with an old photo of Mary when she needed to be in a wheelchair (before the Lord healed her and she was able to return to being mobile). This was in the early days of IMS, when rather than IMS just mailing more Bibles over to their contacts in Fiji, the Lord told them to go to Fiji and take Bibles with them, even though Mary was in a wheelchair:
Eric wrote: Places we've been, things we've done. This is a poorly taken picture of a picture. I can't begin to type all of the story around this or the miracles involved. This is Mary, in her wheelchair, in Fiji with a wonderful Sister in Christ, Subashni.
Mary was only around the second tourist to arrive in a wheelchair there. The first was an adventurous guy. In those days the handicapped stayed locked away in doors, never coming out in public. I pushed her everywhere to shocked stares. Crowds of stares, everywhere. It even started coming into the airport.
The director of security came up to us at the end of a full load from a 747 and gruffly demanded "Who is this woman to you?"
The poor man was shocked and actually gasped.
"You....you would push your wife in a wheelchair?" In those days it simply was unimaginable to do such a thing.
The man was shocked! He commanded me to give him our passports and follow him. Uh oh. We walked past all those people where he pushed one away from the customs inspector and told him firmly to bypass the interview and stamp them.
He then escorted us down several floors in the private security elevator and called over 4 uniformed officers to carry our bags. In those bags where 40 used Bibles and we were prepared for the inevitable shakedown at the customs table.
You see there were very, very, very few Bibles there then. Each was worth months wages. Most pastors much less ordinary believers had never so much as held one much less read one. Corruption was a problem then and friends had warned us we would face a big shakedown for hundreds of dollars or they would be seized.
We saw friends waiting on the other side of the barrier for us and they feared the police might have grabbed us, they started praying hard! As we approached the tables with the director and police the inspector says "Open all your bags". The director of security says "They have nothing to declare!" We walked through to our friends.
Semisi Naqica , I still remember your reaction when we opened those suitcases at the motel. You thought we might get one or two. You practically fainted. When we gave them to people over the next 2 weeks I wanted to faint. I could never have imagined a desire for one so great or that they could be so valued. The result of those Bibles amazes me to this day.
Mary had gone worried about what good was it for one handicapped, limited person to go on this trip. With no handicapped access she was afraid of even being able to get around. Between that and the crowds of hundreds at times maybe a thousand staring at us and the word that spread like wildfire that her husband was actually pushing her it was at times daunting! People asking us to visit homes, churches, businesses so they could see it was really true! It meant within weeks after leaving a handicapped association formed and they started demanding help and access to get out and live. I think you did pretty good Mary.
That is just the tip of the iceberg of what happened that trip. It still amazes me. Never underestimate your impact of even small things when led by a big God no matter how limited you think you are.
P.S. I have asked Eric to write a Part Two to this story because the wonderful results that happened after the Bibles were distributed is amazing. Please join me in coaxing him to tell us the rest of the story...
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