Iki Taimi
Episode 6

Narrator:

Welcome, friends, to another episode of The Story & Podcast. Join your host, Japhet De Oliveira, with his guest today and discover the moments that shape us, our families and communities.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Welcome to another episode of The Story & Podcast. We are so delighted to have a new friend, a new guest online with us. And just for those of you who are listening to the very first time, I know that he's raring to go, but let me just explain how it actually works. He's already laughing...

Iki Taimi:

This is like a game show, a game show already.

Japhet De Oliveira:

So...

Iki Taimi:

Except we don't win any money at the end.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Oh, that's true. There's no money at the end. There's no gift other than we know each other, and this is good for our souls and for everybody listening, too. So it's all good. It's all good. We have a hundred questions. I'm going to ask you the first 10, just to get you warmed up in the space, because we are made up of amazing stories and amazing experiences that actually shape us. So the first 10 are just simple ones.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Everybody gets to know a little bit about you, but then you get to choose between number 11 and number 100, the numbers as time permits. And we'll go through those. And just remember that 100 is the hardest question. So it progressively gets more difficult, more vulnerable, more open, and I would not encourage you to go there. I would encourage you to just banter around the other numbers and, it's up to you.

Iki Taimi:

Warm up, don't jump into the deep end.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Absolutely. Absolutely. And then you can decide where you want to land, 99.

Iki Taimi:

OK. Let me ask you, let me ask you...

Japhet De Oliveira:

Yes, yes.

Iki Taimi:

Have you had very many guests do the hundred-dollar question?

Japhet De Oliveira:

Some have and some have not. And so, that's the best answer I can give.

Iki Taimi:

Exciting. OK.

Japhet De Oliveira:

So let's dive in. Shall we? So we can maximize this 30 minutes that we have together, which is... Let's start with first of all your name. And is there any way to pronounce it? Any pronunciation issues that we should be aware of?

Iki Taimi:

Yeah. My first name is Iki. I-K-I spelled the same forward and backward, as long as you say it with confidence, it's fine. If you say it in a question form, it's a little bit offensive. If you try to make up something else to make up for it, it's offensive. Just say Iki, it's cool. Yep.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Right.

Iki Taimi:

Last name Taimi. T-A-I-M-I means time in Tongan and it's ironic because we're not good at it. So maybe that's why it is.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Iki Taimi. Did I say it correctly?

Iki Taimi:

It's Taimi.

Japhet De Oliveira:

And do you like people to... Taimi? Taimi?

Iki Taimi:

Mm-hmm (affirmative).

Japhet De Oliveira:

Is that correct? So do you prefer people to call you Iki or Iki Taimi?

Iki Taimi:

Iki, yep. Everybody calls me Iki.

Japhet De Oliveira:

All right. All right. And now just help me, Tongan right? So is there anything, any markets that I should be expecting here, any food pallets that I should be aware of?

Iki Taimi:

No, no.

Japhet De Oliveira:

No?

Iki Taimi:

You get it as we go, just as I'm getting it as we go.

Japhet De Oliveira:

OK. All right. I'm good. All right. All right. So Iki, tell us then, what do you do for work?

Iki Taimi:

So I am a pastor and my current assignment is working for the Southern California Conference. Where I work with, along and for young adults and senior youth.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Oh, it's good, man. It's good. Is that because you are once upon a time were a young adult. 

Iki Taimi:

Yeah, exactly. But apparently in my church, in our denomination, you get to be a youth young adult until you're 60 I think.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Sixty, all right. That's good, that's good. I'm glad you're not far off from that. That's great.

Iki Taimi:

Hey, hey, hey.

Japhet De Oliveira:

That's good. That's good. How long have you been in this current role?

Iki Taimi:

I've been in this current role for, this is going on two years now. And prior to that 14 years I was in the local church, which is really where my heart is, and sooner or later, that's where I will be returning to.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Oh, that's good. That's good. All right. So morning drink of choice, is it one of those green liquid smoothies? Is it coffee, tea, water? What do you start off, what's your first drink of the day?

Iki Taimi:

It is absolutely water. Every day. First thing to do.

Japhet De Oliveira:

How much? Do you gulp it or do you drink it? Like sip it?

Iki Taimi:

Yeah, I do about 12 ounces immediately. It's my way of waking up my body. Just wash out. Yeah.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Warm or cold?

Iki Taimi:

I like my water cool. I don't like it cold, but tap warm is not good. Not good, no. It's good for a bath.

Japhet De Oliveira:

All right. All right. So where were you born Iki?

Iki Taimi:

I was born on the island of Tonga, in a little hospital called Viola Hospital. Yep.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Right. Have you ever visited it? Have you gone back to it?

Iki Taimi:

I have. I have. I have.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Oh wow.

Iki Taimi:

Once we became citizens, I visited back in 2000 and I believe 11 with my mom.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Oh, that's fantastic, man. Oh, that's beautiful, beautiful. So when you were a little kid, did you imagine yourself as a pastor, as a little kid? Or did you imagine yourself as something else?

Iki Taimi:

No. No. As a little kid, I didn't imagine much. I imagined usually what I was going to be eating the next meal. I loved food. So we didn't imagine much.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Well that's fair, that's fair. That's good. Iki would people describe you as an introvert or extrovert? And would you agree with that?

Iki Taimi:

Whoah, man, that's a good question. This is still the top 10? This is the lower 10? 

Japhet De Oliveira:

This is just the easy ones.

Iki Taimi:

Oh OK, easy. Oh, mercy. We're definitely not going 100 today. No, let me see. So people fancy me as a bit of an extrovert, but really I'm an ambivert at where I'm really totally OK being by myself and in quiet spaces. I don't like the pressure of being around a lot of people and I'm not very good in crowds. So my wife knows, I don't want to go to malls. I don't like amusement parks. It's not because I don't like those places. It's just because I don't like being around a lot of people, get a little bit of anxious, a little bit of anxiety.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Hey, that's well, that's really revealing. Thanks so much for being so honest about that. That's great. Let's talk about some of your habits, are you an early riser or a night owl?

Iki Taimi:

I am what you would consider an all-the-time kind of person. As soon as I'm awake, I'm going. I can stay up until 4 in the morning with everyone. But I do naturally like the morning. So I'm a morning person. So on, per choice, I would get up probably about 5:30. Usually it's my time to get up every day by 5:36. And I'm going, but it doesn't bug me late at night either.

Japhet De Oliveira:

And this morning when you woke up at 5:30 what was the first thought in your mind?

Iki Taimi:

Jesus. No.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Second thought then.

Iki Taimi:

My second thought, often my first thought, is pray for the kids. That's easily ... When I pop up, that's the first thing I do, I pray for the kids. Go drink some water. And then I opened my reminders list, which probably it should be lower down on the list. But my reminders list keeps me on task for the day.

Japhet De Oliveira:

That is fantastic. OK. Before I wrap up this last thing and hand you over to the numbers to choose the questions. When you were in the car and you're not driving, are you a backseat driver or are you just happy as they go?

Iki Taimi:

I'm just happy as they go, I'll sleep. Most of the time I'll just sleep. I'll jump in that seat and...

Japhet De Oliveira:

Is that to avoid the way they drive?

Iki Taimi:

Yes, absolutely. P.S Japhet your driving...

Japhet De Oliveira:

Is exceptional.

Iki Taimi:

I sleep when you drive.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. All right, all right. Let's not go there. Let's not go there. All right. So Iki the floor is yours, you choose a number and let's dive in and see what experiences and stories shaped your life.

Iki Taimi:

Let's ease in. Because you've already made me do some thinking in the top 10. So let's ease with the teens. I'm going to say, something in the middle somewhere. Let's go 16.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Sixteen. All right. So tell us about one of the places you've traveled and why you want to go back.

Iki Taimi:

Ah, Cambodia, Cambodia, definitely. And I've loved every place I've gone to, but Cambodia, man. The people are just great, sweet as can be man. People of the earth. The food is phenomenal. Their coffee is great. I love seeing how God is moving about, at least in the NGO I went with, they did a fantastic job being connected to the villages. And so yeah, Cambodia, excellent experience for my kids and me. Service all around, good.

Japhet De Oliveira:

That's beautiful. I actually remember when you did that trip and I remember some of the footage and yeah. Amazing moments. Fantastic.

Iki Taimi:

Yeah it was, it was.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Transformative. It was good. It was good. All right. What number next?

Iki Taimi:

Let's jump into the twenties. I'm feeling confident after that one. I'm just going to, I'm going to jump into the low twenties. I didn't say we're in the twenties. I'm thinking 21. That's in the twenties. That makes me legal.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Share the best compliment you've ever received.

Iki Taimi:

Oh, that's a hard one. Yeah. Because I get compliments all the time, Japhet. My hair or my beard, my scruffy beard. You know how it is, bro?

Japhet De Oliveira:

It is good.

Iki Taimi:

No, no. To be honest, the best compliment I've gotten, that I've ever received. Oh gosh, that's a tough one. It has to be anytime, and I still get it. Anytime I hear someone say your children are amazing. Kid you not, I don't know why that just, that lights me up inside. Maybe it's ego. Maybe it's pride. Maybe it's the feeling that even though I'm unsure every day, whether I've messed these animals up or not, somebody else sees they're doing great. And that's just the best, man. I love that.

Japhet De Oliveira:

That's beautiful. That's beautiful.

Iki Taimi:

Anytime you need to just compliment me about that.

Japhet De Oliveira:

It's interesting because that's an interesting question about what people will say about themselves, and you've deflected it a little bit after your kids. Great. Good to see Iki. That's great.

Iki Taimi:

Oh, why you making it so deep, J.

Japhet De Oliveira:

No, no, no that's great. That's great. It's interesting. Lovely. All right. What number do you want to go next?

Iki Taimi:

I want to caveat and say I get more insults than I do compliments by the way.

Japhet De Oliveira:

You're going up or down on the numbers?

Iki Taimi:

That one felt like a hundred. So we're just going to go to 24, which is next door.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Twenty-four? All right, all right. Tell us about a time you were over or underdressed for an occasion.

Iki Taimi:

Oh man. That's every day of my life. I've got one suit, it's my funeral suit and my wedding suit. And I'm not often in suits. And when I show up to my workplace, I think I hear it every week at least once, someone will crack a joke, like Iki's not wearing a tie. Yes. That's a daily occurrence in my life.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Underdressed. OK. It was only one occasion, but that's great. It's every day. It's good you're building resiliency. This is good. This is good. That's a good lesson for everybody. How to build resiliency. All right. All right. Which direction now? Or next?

Iki Taimi:

Let's go 30, even. 30. Even.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Thirty. Even. All right.

Iki Taimi:

That's how old I am, 30.

Japhet De Oliveira:

I like it. Tell us about something that you are really looking forward to.

Iki Taimi:

I'm really looking forward to June. If I can be honest, I'm in a really heavy season right now. And when I'm in these heavy seasons, it's not bad. It's just so much going on that I often just pin out when I'm going to be over that season. And for me, that season will be June. If I can get through the month of May we're doing a bunch of stuff with our academies and baptisms and then our young adult week of prayers. And it's just literally really heavy. Sometimes I got to stop and remind myself that all the things that are so important to me right now is really not that important. I mean, it is, but since it's God's work, you got to not take yourself so seriously. And so I pinned out, June is my...

Japhet De Oliveira:

Your perspective month. All right. That's good. That's good. I like it. I like it. That's good actually, breaking things down and keeping perspective is really important. So that's a beautiful lesson. All right. Good. Next number.

Iki Taimi:

Let's go. I'm feeling confident again. My confidence is back up. So I'm going to go 36. 

Japhet De Oliveira:

Not your age, but yes. Good. All right, let's go here. Tell us about the one thing you hope never changes.

Iki Taimi:

How I feel about life right now and how all of my loved ones are still alive and active. There's this sweet spot where you're all able to play and live at the same time in a healthy way. And I've got that from my parents all the way down to my kids. And I know that that time is coming to a change soon. My dad is in his mid eighties and he's not the man he once was. My brother is going through some health issues. I see my sister aging. And to watch all these people that I love so much who are usually just strong individuals changing in their season is really hard for me. I don't like the way that feels. And so ... literally right now, currently I'm holding on to every moment because we're all still really healthy. No one has died. And we're really just enjoying this one moment in life.

Japhet De Oliveira:

That's a good reminder to everybody else, as well, to take good snapshots of the moments that we have.

Iki Taimi:

Yeah. They're slipping. They're slipping away.

Japhet De Oliveira:

I like that Iki. That's really good. Thank you. Thank you for the reminder. All right. Higher or lower?

Iki Taimi:

I can tell that at one point, you're going to try to make me cry, Japhet.

Japhet De Oliveira:

No. I will...

Iki Taimi:

Don't you do it.

Japhet De Oliveira:

No.

Iki Taimi:

I'm a grown man. I won't cry. I probably will but... I feel like 41.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Forty-one.

Iki Taimi:

How's 41 doing?

Japhet De Oliveira:

All right. This is good. What are you excited about in life right now?

Iki Taimi:

Excited about in life right now. Yeah. I was accepted into my doctoral program two years ago, but I didn't have the money to start the program. And just about two weeks ago, the executive secretary of our conference came into my office and said, hey, we have opened up a slot for you. So if you're ready, we'll start paying. And I was like, yes. So I'm really excited about that. I'm really excited. I'm not smart enough to start any kind of doctoral program, but I'm excited to get it going.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Iki that is phenomenal news.

Iki Taimi:

Thanks.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Well done. Well done. You begin this will be the next 50 years, it's going to be great. No, it's going to be great, man. It's going to be great. I can't wait. I can't wait. Your studies will be great.

Iki Taimi:

We'll see where it goes.

Japhet De Oliveira:

It's going to be transformative. This is going to be great. Well done, man. Well done. All right. Good. What number next? You're doing really well, by the way. Superb. Yeah.

Iki Taimi:

Japhet let's do mid forties, 45.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Mid forties? 45? All right.

Iki Taimi:

Yeah.

Japhet De Oliveira:

When people come to you for help, what are they usually asking for?

Iki Taimi:

Money? It's usually money.

Japhet De Oliveira:

OK. All right.

Iki Taimi:

That's the truth.

Japhet De Oliveira:

All right. Straight up, all right.

Iki Taimi:

Yeah. I think more often than not people are like hey pastor, I'm going through something, can you help me out? Or, hey Iki, we're hit a struggle, a difficult time. And it's no sweat on my back. One of the things that Mel and I talk about often, Mel is my wife, short for Melanie and that's my partner. And one of the things that we often talk about is when we lend people money, we have to lend in such a way that we're OK losing that money. So we always keep in the mindset that yeah, here, we're lending it to you. Oh man, I hope that a lot of people hear this and then call me for money. But then we're like... They're like hey, oh no. We're always in the mindset that once we give, we have to give with the idea that we're going to lose it because otherwise it's going to sit in our spirit. And we're always going to look at people sideways, or we're always going to think about it this way. And we don't want to be that kind of people.

Japhet De Oliveira:

No, that's actually, that's wise and it's a good giving attitude, too, behind it, as well. Yeah.

Iki Taimi:

And also, Japhet, growing up my family, because this may be one of the questions that we'll hit sooner or later, but we were undocumented immigrants here in America. And if it were not for the good faith of other people who gave to us and took care of us, I wouldn't be where I'm at today. So how dare I all of a sudden have this attitude, oh, you got to pay me back. What about all the people that loved you, and gave to you. So yeah.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Well I mean, that's just the way to be able to share how much you appreciate what people have done for you. That's great.

Iki Taimi:

Absolutely.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Beautiful. Beautiful. All right. What number next man are you going for?

Iki Taimi:

What number are we on?

Japhet De Oliveira:

You just had 45 there.

Iki Taimi:

OK. That was 45.

Japhet De Oliveira:

That's 45.

Iki Taimi:

Wow.

Japhet De Oliveira:

I know.

Iki Taimi:

OK. That's like, OK.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Halfway...

Iki Taimi:

So let's go...

Japhet De Oliveira:

To 90.

Iki Taimi:

Let's slow down a little bit. We're getting a little excited. Let's go 46.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Forty-six, all right.

Iki Taimi:

Yes.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Tell us about the best book you've ever read.

Iki Taimi:

One of my favorite books that I have read in recent time was ... It's this little book and it was a reread for me as recent as last month, but it was Tim Keller's Prodigal God.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Oh yes.

Iki Taimi:

I've just really enjoyed that book. I don't know why it makes me cry every time. It makes me think about life. Maybe partly because I'm a lifer. I've been in the church all my life, and I speak about grace and deep love. And I need to be reminded that even still, while I live a particular lifestyle, that may seem righteous overall, that it's really all nilch next to each other. I don't know something about that just... It really touches my spirit.

Japhet De Oliveira:

It was a really good take. I mean, we always go prodigal son. It was a great take. Yeah. I'm with you on that.

Iki Taimi:

Yeah it was. It was. It was.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Good book. Yeah.

Iki Taimi:

Yeah I really appreciated that book.

Japhet De Oliveira:

We both recommend it.

Iki Taimi:

Yes.

Japhet De Oliveira:

That's great.

Iki Taimi:

Two thumbs up.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Oh, you could have recommended a book that was, I don't know, but that's a good one. That's great. It's good. It's good.

Iki Taimi:

I'm so thankful that you approved my choice, bro.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Well you see, that's an occasional merit in it. All right. What number next?

Iki Taimi:

OK. So now we're ... I'm going to say 50, but how much time do we have left? Because I want to pace myself.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Yeah.

Iki Taimi:

I don't want to...

Japhet De Oliveira:

We're doing well. We've got another eight minutes or so. So you're doing well.

Iki Taimi:

Oh, OK. OK. Let's do 50. Let's go.

Japhet De Oliveira:

All right, let's go 50. All right. All right. Here we go. Share about who has influenced you professionally?

Iki Taimi:

Who has influenced me professionally? I'm going to say Gerard Kiemeney. He was my region director, who I worked under for many years. And my man knew how to make people do things with them thinking it was their idea, but it was his idea. He's just one of those individuals who will dialogue and talk until you're like, yes, I want to do this. And he wanted you to do it the whole time. Fantastic. Another individual that really has affected my professional career is Sam Leonor. Sam is an individual who I've just respected over the years, but watching how he deals with human beings in such a graceful and loving way, even while taking them into the deeper end of the pool. It's just fantastic. It's really good. Yep. And Jody Cahill.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Oh yeah.

Iki Taimi:

That's my girl. Yeah. Nothing was impossible for her, man. I want to live that way professionally. Nothing is impossible for God.

Japhet De Oliveira:

That's great. Three great leaders, actually, three great leaders. So you try to emulate them in all those areas. Do you do that now...

Iki Taimi:

Yeah in pieces of those. I fail at all of them, but I try. You got to keep trying.

Japhet De Oliveira:

You're a gentle guy, man. You're a great leader, Iki. You're a great leader.

Iki Taimi:

One day, one day. I shall be Japhet.

Japhet De Oliveira:

You're great leader, Doctor. You're coming there. Brilliant. All right. All right. Where are you going next then? Which number?

Iki Taimi:

I'm going to go bold. I'm going to say 75. Because I like that number.

Japhet De Oliveira:

OK. All right. 75. Here we go. Let's see. Do you remember the first item you purchased with your own money? And if so, what was it? And why did you buy it?

Iki Taimi:

Let me see. I'm thinking the first thing that I purchased with my own money, I purchased a car for 500 bucks.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Wow.

Iki Taimi:

I was, check this out, this was when I bought my first car, I was 30.

Japhet De Oliveira:

OK. All right.

Iki Taimi:

I purchased the car for 500 bucks and I purchased it for my parents. So they got the first 500 bucks that came out of my paycheck, my actual paycheck.

Japhet De Oliveira:

That's beautiful. That's beautiful. Well, yeah. Do they still have it?

Iki Taimi:

Yes. My parents are hoarders. I hope they're not watching or listening. They have everything ever from day one of our birth. I'm sure they've got my umbilical cord somewhere that they brought from Tonga.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Oh man. Oh man. Oh, that's fantastic actually. Well the car must smell really good because it's that old. It's great.

Iki Taimi:

Let's not find out.

Japhet De Oliveira:

That's beautiful. That's beautiful. All right. All right. Where are you going to go next after 75?

Iki Taimi:

Let's go 80. Let's go 80.

Japhet De Oliveira:

All right. All right. How would you like to change... How would you like to change the future?

Iki Taimi:

Wow, Japhet, that is a deep question man. Honestly, I'm at the place where I'm not cynical, but I don't know that my life as a person has much merit on the future apart from making the difference in my own children's life, and one or two individuals that I walk with as a lifetime friendship and mentorship and discipleship. So I don't know if I... I don't know, maybe I'm just not young enough to think this way anymore or maybe I'm just cynical. I don't have much hopes for how much my life will change the future, but I hope that my life will make a difference in my kids' future. And I hope one of them makes a difference to someone else's future.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Is there something that you want to change about yourself in the future?

Iki Taimi:

I'd like to get more hair on my head because it's moving backwards. And I'd like to lose some weight. I'd like to be more bold, to be honest, I'd like to be more courageous. I'd like to be able to speak out about things more openly to the institution that I work for, and for the marginalized people that I work with, and become more bold about that. Yeah.

Japhet De Oliveira:

I know that's inside you, Iki. I know that's inside you Iki. I mean, in our conversations that we've had in our life together, that is deep with inside you. And I appreciate that, appreciate that a lot. Your desire to do that, but also your belief as well in that, so that's good. All right. Where are you going next?

Iki Taimi:

What number was that? Let's do 90.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Ninety, all right.

Iki Taimi:

Oh 90.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Tell us about how you overcame a seemingly insurmountable obstacle.

Iki Taimi:

OK. So for those of you who may not have known or who may not know me, I grew up here in the United States. We moved over in 1981 and our visitor's visa ran out. So we became undocumented immigrants here, which is really hard because my dad was quite a wealthy businessman back in the home country. And so out of all logic and all normal thinking human beings, that was a very bad move to come here. He made the sacrifices for a number of reasons. My mom was pregnant with my sister, who at the time was going to be an impossible birth back at home. And he wanted to stay with his kids. He didn't want to send them away anywhere. So we all came together, but we ran through the funding and the finances that he had built up to bring with us.

Iki Taimi:

And so we became undocumented. My dad started working and started doing stuff. We were people of the earth here and in about 2000, I think it was right around 2006, 2005, right around there. We started going to our court cases to become a permanent resident. Now, the lawyer we were with is an immigration lawyer. He told us that our case was impossible. There's just no way it can happen. Because leading up to then my uncle, who was a citizen applied for my dad. But before they started processing that, my uncle passed away and died. So then my grandfather, he petitioned for my dad and my family. And before we can get that moving, he became disabled and then passed away and couldn't do the process. So that all happened and then myself, my brother and my older sister became too old to be dependents under my dad's case.

Iki Taimi:

So my sister who was born here was a citizen. And my dad, the lawyer said, we're going to build a case around your daughter who has now come of age and your grandmother who needs both of your parents to be here, to take care of these two individuals. Well, that didn't have a case for my brother and I, because we were already adults at that point. So we couldn't... There's no case there, but what he decided to do is he said, listen, we're going to go to court. And I'm going to make the case that your brother and you are needed to take care of your parents. Who's needed to take care of your sister and your grandmother. Now, my parents have a direct connection to my sister and my grandmother because they're citizens, but they're nothing. They've got no status. So he's pinning our case on their case. And they're not permanent residents, nothing like that.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Right. Right.

Iki Taimi:

And he said, we're doing this just so that you can keep your stay here longer. And then you have to try to get married. He's like, but they're going to turn your case away. It's never been passed. He said, we're going to appeal to get you more time to be here, but find somebody and marry them, find them and get married so that you can apply for your permanent residency. Well, we weren't going to do that. So they took the case in just before we went into see the judge for the last time, we prayed outside. And we told our lawyer, I said, you know what the Lord is going to work this out. And he's like listen, thousands and thousands of cases I've done over my career. None of them have passed. This is just not going to happen. We went into the court case and it didn't take but 30 minutes. And the judge approved my parents' petition and then approved our petition to piggyback on their petition. And the INS officer looked over and looked at him and was like what? What is this? And so we came out...

Japhet De Oliveira:

You set new case law.

Iki Taimi:

Yeah. Yeah. We came out of there and the lawyer was bawling. He started praying. He's like, wow, I've never seen God move in such a tangible way. I've never seen it. He's like, this has been amazing to me. So he asked if we could pray and we prayed again. INS appealed our case. And it was overturned by the Supreme Court literally within days. We got a letter saying congratulations, that the case has been denied its appeal. You can now have your permanent residency. And here we are. Like God splitting the Red Sea. Talk about insurmountable, man. God is good, man.

Japhet De Oliveira:

That is absolutely amazing Iki. That's truly, truly beautiful. Truly beautiful, look...

Iki Taimi:

Leading up to that point, people in the church, people at schools sustained us by caring for us. God kept putting people in our way that just kept loving and caring for us, man.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Yeah, Iki it was one ... Our time's up. And so it's been absolutely amazing. But if there was a pearl of wisdom that you wanted to share with people about the experiences and stories that have happened in your life that have actually shaped you, what would that be?

Iki Taimi:

Oh, I'm sure you've had brilliant people here say brilliant things. I don't have much to share. I'm an immigrant, foreigner from a random land who's here, and who's thankful for what God has done so far in my life. I would say this, God's got plans for your life and even in the moments where you feel least available to those plans and feel in the darkest valley, he's got a bright light. Hang in there, keep faith, keep walking because he's got your back.

Japhet De Oliveira:

That's beautiful. That's beautiful. Thank you, Iki. Iki as always, it is an absolute pleasure to connect with you and thank you for being so honest and vulnerable and willing to dance through all the questions inside there. You're phenomenal. And I'm really excited for your new chapter in your life, as well... And I'm looking forward to June for you, as well. That will be a great month ahead of you. Thanks for being part of the Story & Experience Podcast. For all our listeners, blessings to you, have an absolutely brilliant day ahead. Remember that your story is fantastic, as well. God bless everybody.

Narrator:

Thank you for joining us for The Story & Experience Podcast. We invite you to read, watch and submit your story and experience at adventisthealth.org/story. The Story & Experience Podcast was brought to you by Adventist Health for the Office of Culture.