Tok Stori Solomon Islands District

Newman Legacy Funds Distribution

The 2023 allocation of the Newman Legacy funds to the Solomon Islands District were distributed to three village congregations during theEaster Campaign that have not yet participated in this community care program. Munda church leaders Rex and Manalyn utilized the mission team to assist them with providing basic food items for widows around their community in Munda, Western Province. Moscom church leaders Peter and Susan used their funds after Easter to visit widows and the sick at eleven homes in Maru’upaina Bay, East Are’are, providing food and other essential items.

Fouelechurchleaders Robinson and Fred, together with the women of the church, prepared meals and visited needy people at villages around Port Adam, South Malaita, sharing in a time of fellowship and worship. Each one of these village churches shared stories of the positive impact these funds had in their communities. The widows at Moscom “expressed their gratitude for the kind and loving care that was shown to them through the Moscom Salvation Army church.” The annual grant of these funds empower the village churches to live out The Salvation Army mission to care for the most vulnerable in remote areas aroundtheSolomonIslands.

IOM Validation Workshops

Throughout the month of May, Major Vanessa had the opportunity to attend a number of Validation Workshops run by the International Organisation of Migration (IOM) regarding Modern Slavery & Human Trafficking (MSHT) within the Solomon Islands . The first of these workshops was validating the data that was collected for Safe & Decent Working Conditions on Fishing Vessels in the Pacific. The following two validated the Research on Gender Based Violence (GBV) and Trafficking in Persons (TiP) in the Solomon Islands, as well as the Referral of Victims of Trafficking. Each of these workshops were attended by members of the SAFENet scheme, which is the referral pathway for those who are victims of MSHT. Major Vanessa commented that “the workshops and research that has taken place is a great step forward for the Solomon Islands and

Mother’s Day Service

This year on Mother’s Day, the men of Honiara Corps cooked and served lunch for all the women of the church after the Sunday service. District Emergency Services Coordinator Festus Ganiomea, organised the cook-up for a total of 135 people with the use of the SAES catering equipment, providing a meal of soy chicken drumsticks on rice with fried garlic onion and capsicum. The ladies were very excited to be relieved of their normal cultural duties as mothers to be served on their special day. The laughter and relaxed conversation after church was evidence of how much this meal was

Enrolment of 13 New Soldiers

The thirteen recruits who completed Soldiership Classes last month were enrolled as the newest soldiers of The Salvation Army Solomon Islands on Mother’s Day. Their enrolment was an exciting moment for Honiara Corps, which is celebrating a wave of growth since moving into their new worship space at Mbua Vale High School. This brings the total number of Soldiers for the Solomon Islands District to 302, with 87 of those soldiers from Honiara Corps. Many of these new soldiers were a part of the District Easter Campaign teams, engaging in mission and ministry roles, living out this distinctive form of active membership in The Salvation Army: "There is no question that one of the distinctives of the Army's identity is soldiership. We are called to be ‘a good the overall statistical aspect of the impact of MSHT on this country. It is important in the scheme of things that we are able to research and find our own statistics rather than relying on those from the outside feeding us what they see as the statistics rather than us giving them the data.” There is still a lot of education that needs to occur within the relevant ministries and the business sector, however, IOM, members of SAFENetand other key stakeholders in this area will continue to validate the research and educate the public on the issue and look forward to the results being published overthenextfew months. appreciated. Another feature of the day was Auxiliary Captain Fostina Ramo’oroa preaching her very first sermon in a tag team delivery format with Major Vanessa Evans on the theme ’Mothers as Prayer Warriors’ from 1 Samuel 1:19-28. Despite being nervous, she stepped up to the pulpit with a confidence that was testament to her extraordinary journey of personal transformation, utilising her training from the recent Preaching Workshop. This is an important step in Fostina’s preparation to enter The Salvation Army Officer Training College, alongsideherhusbandWency. soldier of Jesus Christ,’ as the Apostle Paul put it to Timothy in 2 Timothy 2:3. This is a radical call to action against the enemy of our souls, not passive church membership. We need soldiers of Jesus Christ fully engaged in the battle" (Lieutenant Colonel James Condon, now retired Commissioner, Pipeline magazine, January 2009). There are presently another 44 recruits across the Solomon Islands District from the village churches who have completed their Soldiership Classes and are awaiting enrolment. Keeping up with the demand for uniform shirts is awelcomedchallenge!