Solomon Islands Ministries Newsletter (Volume 1, Issue 9)

Solomon Islands Ministries

NEWSLETTER August 2018 Volume 1, Issue 9

Neighbourhood Fellowships At the beginning of this month the Honiara Corps launched out into the community by moving its Wednesday night Fellowship into four new locations around Honiara: Town Ground, China Town, Burns Creek and Henderson. These new groups are now led by Honiara Corps Local Officers Elizabeth Tolilalo, Webster Buakalo, Wency Ramo’oroa, and Pastor Joshua Henry. This move was inspired

by Pastor Charles Akwastaloa from Gateway Corps in North Malaita who challenged The Salvation Army to “go out and go deeper” into the Solomon Islands.

With the launch of these new groups the Honiara Corps has introduced the international discipleship program “One Army” as the platform for teaching and group discussion.

Over the past month, District Officers Majors Robert and Vanessa Evans have visited each new group to support the group leaders and interact with the new members from within each neighbourhood.

They have been very impressed by the leadership of the group leaders and greatly encouraged by the reach and impact of this Neighbourhood Fellowship strategy.

The previous Wednesday night Fellowship hosted at the Quarters in Ngossi would average a weekly

attendance of 18 but now the four Fellowship groups are reaching up to 100+ each week! Existing congregation members who previous didn’t attend the midweek fellowship are now attending, as well as surrounding neighbours joining in with The Salvation Army Fellowships for the first time.

The ‘One Army’ resource has also been enthusiastically received by all groups with many stories emerging of how the introductory theme of ‘One Life’ is impacting those who have participated in group discussion. A report about the commencement of the ‘One Army’ resource in the Solomon

Islands was shared on the ’One Army’ Facebook Page, receiving the following comment: “We have received news from the Solomon Islands indicating that One Army has been commenced in four new groups. Each one has been a great success as the people attending go deeper into faith. They enjoy the discussions and have a wonderful sense of progress and fellowship. Thanks to Major Robert Evans for letting us know. Please continue to keep us up to date. Greetings to everyone taking part.”

God is clearly using the Neighbourhood Fellowships to expand the impact of The Salvation Army across Honiara.

Inside this issue:

Advance Christian School

2

DME Project Management

2

HMAS Adelaide

2

British High Commissioner

3

YPSM Melanie Tolilalo

3

City Women Connect

3

A Personal Note

4

Special points of interest:  Reach & Impact of Neighbourhood Fellowships  DME Construction Project  Leadership Development  Community Networks  A happy Soldier!

Advance Christian School Majors Robert and Vanessa had the opportunity to visit the school this month and share in their morning assembly. The joy of the children singing praise and worship songs and receiving a Bible message before the school day commenced was an extraordinary sight.

This visit is one of many by previous Salvation Army leaders who have supported Tassi in his work and ministry for a number of years.

Tassi O’Brien, the Corps Secretary of the Honiara Corps, is also the founder and school principal of the Advance Christian School in Langakiki, Honiara. This school of 300 students provides a quality Christian education for primary school children. Tassi brings his passion for the education of children and Christian faith together and sees his school as a mission field. A couple of months ago Major Vanessa Evans preached on the S.O.A.P. method of reading Scripture during a Sunday service. The very next day Tassi nailed a sign post on a tree in the school assembly area that reads “SOAP Please Daily,” encouraging the children to read God’s Word every day.

It is exciting to see The Salvation Army engage positively with local schools and support the education of the next generation of Solomon Islanders in Christian faith and values.

DME Project Management Over the past few months The Salvation Army in the Solomon Islands has been working towards the establishment of a DME coconut oil plant in North Malaita.

The nature and purpose of this plant has been reported in previous newsletters.

With the money now raised for this project it is now time to turn this vision into a reality.

Major Robert and Pastor Joshua met with Pastor Charles in Auki at the beginning of the month for a project management meeting to discuss a plan of action.

Pastor Charles has generously allocated some of his family property in Kwai for

the plant and will coordinate site preparation works with members of the Gateway Corps. Pastor Joshua, as the new Area Leader for Malaita, will provide practical support and follow-up throughout the project. Major Robert is working with Kokonut Pacific to obtain the DME equipment, organizing the purchase and transport of building materials that cannot be sourced from the local bushland and ensuring the plant is constructed to the required specifications prior to the installation of the equipment.

challenges and delays in preparing the slab, as the river is in flood, leaving the sand and gravel required for the concrete inaccessible. Nevertheless, work goes on with the hope of being ready for when the equipment arrives!

Weather conditions in North Malaita throughout August have presented a few

HMAS Adelaide Major Robert and Vanessa Evans were delighted to receive an invitation from the Australian High Commissioner to attend a reception onboard the HMAS Adelaide, which docked in Honiara on the 16th August for the weekend.

The HMAS Adelaide is the second of two Canberra-class landing helicopter dock ships of the Royal Australian Navy and has been used for disaster relief work in the South Pacific region. The main deck of the ship was the venue for the most amazing

Page 2

night of food and entertainment provided by the RAN hosts for a wide network of community leaders who were their guests for the evening.

Majors Robert and Vanessa had the opportunity to meet the Navy Chaplain and a US Marine whose parents are Salvation Army Officers in the USA Central Territory. They also connected with a young sailor who is a Soldier at the Mandurah Corps in Western Australia.

Solomon Islands Ministries

British High Commissioner During the Red Shield Appeal Dinner in July, the Deputy British High Commissioner made himself known to Majors Robert and Vanessa. After the event he invited them to connect with the High Commission to explore ways they may be able to support the mission and ministry of The Salvation Army.

While it is too soon to report any tangible outcomes to this conversation, a foundation of relationship was established adding to the growing network of supporters.

So far Majors Robert and Vanessa have connected with the Australian and British High Commissioners and are soon to connect with the New Zealand High Commissioner. These relationships with country officials who hold a high level of respect for the international mission of The Salvation Army are very important in a country where the work of The Salvation Army is still very new and largely unknown.

In follow-up to this introduction a meeting was organized with the British High Commissioner at his office in the Heritage Park Hotel. His knowledge of The Salvation Army in England and his current role in the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu evoked a strong interest in the growing work of The Salvation Army in this country.

YPSM Melanie Tolilalo The Honiara Corps is pleased to appoint Melanie Tolilalo as the YPSM to oversee the growth and development of the youth and children’s ministries. Melanie returned from the Discipleship Training

School in Sydney last year with a desire to use her training and experiences in her home Corps.

After journeying with Melanie throughout this year, Major Vanessa was able to help Melanie find the right fit for her to fully engage in the mission and ministry of the Honiara Corps.

The youth and children’s ministry team came together last Sunday evening to explore how this role will best support them in their respective areas of ministry.

A newly written position description for the YPSM helped to stimulate an interactive discussion between the

leaders that has set the tone for growth in this important area of ministry.

The young people are a vibrant part of The Salvation Army in Solomon Islands and with the growing concerns of youth vulnerability in Honiara, this ministry role is timely to ensure our activities have the greatest impact in this space. Melanie will not only work alongside our existing team leaders, but will proactively engage with community networks to open outreach opportunities.

Our Sunday School leaders already engage with groups like the Children’s Evangelical Fellowship and work alongside other church Sunday School leaders.

City Women Connect One of the ecumenical gatherings that the Honiara Corps participates in is City Women Connect; a monthly gathering of women from all different churches who come together for worship, teaching, food and fellowship. This month, Major Vanessa and a small gathering of ladies attended this event where they were blessed by guest speaker Pastor Ellison Bako, who is the Senior Pastor of the Kingdom Harvest Church in Honiara.

Pastor Ellison is an excellent and dynamic communicator who spoke on Matthew

Volume 1, Issue 9

8:18-27. One of the main points that Pastor Ellison wanted the women to grasp is that now is their time and their season to stand and make a difference.

He emphasized that the women who were gathered were more than just women’s ministries leaders but were leaders within the church who were designed for greater things! As women of God they were encouraged to not allow custom and culture to hinder the gifts and purpose that God has for each of them. Pastor Ellison concluded with

the following thought: “You are more than just a woman, when we have Christ in us, for Christ is the hope for each one of us.”

Page 3

Solomon Islands Ministries District Officers - Majors Robert & Vanessa Evans PO Box 323 Honiara Phone: (677) 30344 Fax: (677) 30344

Officially launched on the 4th November 2011, The Salvation Army Solomon Islands Ministries is a District of the Papua New Guinea & Solomon Islands Territory. With an established presence in the capital Honiara in Guadalcanal and an expanding presence in Malaita, the Holy Spirit is opening up new ministry opportunities for The Salvation Army throughout the Solomon Islands. Building upon the vision of the pioneering Officers and subsequent leaders, we intend to fully explore these new opportunities and will raise up indigenous leaders to advance the kingdom of God in the Solomon Islands.

Mobile: (677) 749 4524 Email: sarmy.solomons@gmail.com Website: www.png.salvationarmy.org

Prayer Points:  Construction of DME (Direct Micro Expelling) Plant  Acquisition of land for a Corps/District building  Development and multiplication of Neighbourhood Fellowships  Follow-up of new mission opportunities in Malaita

A Personal Note...

Six months ago, without warning, I travelled to Honiara to visit my parents. I was poor, lonely and hopeless, so I lived with them at Henderson to restart my life. I borrowed some money from my neighbours and bought two packets of eggs that I boiled and sold to make a living. A month later, I was joined by my husband and two kids, who also moved from Auki.

Every Sunday morning my parents went to church wearing their beautiful Salvation Army uniforms. I never saw them that smart before. But, although I admired them, I wasn’t at all bothered to join them to church. I was very busy every day selling food for my survival.

One Saturday I was told that there will be a new Soldiership Class at HIPS campus. I became curious to find things out, so I accompanied my sisters for that session but thought I’m not ready yet to be a Soldier. Major Robert and Wency took us through the course very effectively that I was changed by the truth of the

Word of God in the manual. As a result, I could not stop talking about all that we covered that day to everyone I met on our way home. That evening, I even lectured my parents, not remembering they were already Soldiers, but they happily took part in the discussion.

Without reservation I got my name down for recruitment and prayer. But even though I missed the blessing at the national convention at Gateway Corps with our TC Colonel Alley, along with my sisters, we were prayed for a weekend later at the Honiara Corps. Many wonderful things have happened to me so far after being a Soldier: 1) God healed my daughter who should have died from a long time epileptic condition in a six hour battle. 2) From my two packets of eggs, I have just bought stock and opened a roadside canteen which is selling well.

Thank God for The Salvation Army where I learned many new things. In particular, I realize that it is not about

how much money generated that satisfies me, but it is in how many human lives I serve each day with food, drink and a sincere thank you that matters the most. This is my daily motivation— Serving God, Serving People.

My challenge to some people is, “What are you waiting for?” Become a Soldier in God’s Army now. God will bless you took, just like He did to me and my family. Amen.

A Happy Solider.

Sandy Babalu