Solomon Islands District Newsletter (Volume 5, Issue 2)

Solomon Islands District

NEWSLETTER February 2022 Volume 5, Issue 2

The ‘Forgotten People’ of Honiara During the four-day lockdown in Honiara, The Salvation Army was approached and asked to provide transport for eight expats travelling to the airport.

An exemption was granted overnight for this task, which enabled Major Robert and Aux Capt Wency to provide this service. While driving through the empty streets of Honiara, Major Robert observed several homeless people and people with mental illness aimlessly wandering the CBD with a look of confusion and abandonment on their faces. Overwhelmed by this sight of the ‘forgotten people’ of Honiara, who were devoid of their usual coping mechanisms of begging from people going about their daily business and foraging from market stalls, the District Team devised a plan to prepare and deliver meals to this vulnerable group of people during the curfew hours that immediately followed the lockdown. The curfew hours would have made these people lingering around the CBD after the close of trade easily distinguishable from the general population.

After their District Meeting, Major Robert discussed their plan with the chairperson of the NDMO Livelihood Sector Committee, who was tasked

with the enormous role of coordinating the government initiated and donor sponsored distribution of food to every family in Honiara who were impacted by the lockdown and subsequent curfew. This plan to feed the ‘forgotten people’ was enthusiastically and gratefully received, as the Livelihood Sector Committee did not have the resources to respond to this unmet need.

Equipped with a generous donation from the Solomon Islands Translation Advisory Group (SITAG) and a team of ten fully vaccinated Salvation Army volunteers, Major Robert lodged an application with the relevant authority for an exemption to move freely through Honiara during the curfew. Despite three weeks of follow-up via emails, phone calls and a visit in person, the application was not approved,

leaving this vital service to some of the most vulnerable people in Honiara unrealized!

This situation was immensely disappointing and frustrating for the District Team, when they were fully equipped and ready to support the vital work of the Livelihood Sector Committee to ensure nobody went without food.

The District Leaders have worked hard to establish strong networks with other agencies in the Solomon Islands and build the capacity of local Salvation Army members to effectively establish a local expression of the international mission and ministry of The Salvation Army. However, this unfortunate situation highlights some of the complexities and challenges of doing mission in a country that does not yet fully recognize or embrace the significant role The Salvation Army can play as a service provider with other agencies, churches, and NGO’s. Despite this disappointing outcome, the District Team has redirected their support to resourcing their village church leaders to identify and support the most vulnerable people in the provinces as the community transmission of COVID-19 spreads beyond Honiara.

Inside this issue:

COVID-19 Sunday Worship Plan

2

Mission Support Projects

2

Freedom Fridays

2

Jolly Phonics Training

3

Honiara Corps Property Proposal

3

Vilij Kaleko Donations

3

Personal Reflection

4

Special points of interest:  COVID-19 Impact  Mission Resources  Social Justice  Literacy Training  Future Development  Generating Income

COVID-19 Sunday Worship Plan With the District COVID-19 Sunday Worship Plan in place, the videocast of the sermon series was expanded this month to include live worship, children’s story and testimonies live-stream on the

Solomon Islands District Facebook page.

The extended Sunday worship format has enabled more people from Honiara Corps to participate within the COVID-19 restrictions on public gatherings and has provided Salvationists from all over Solomon Islands with the opportunity to engage with this online format while Honiara Corps is unable to meet in person. Feedback from Neighbourhood Fellowship Groups has been very positive with small groups excitedly gathering around mobile phones and other devices in their homes. The online live worship has also reached as far as Papua New Guinea, Australia, New Zealand, and

Indonesia with 150+ views each week.

While this format is no substitute for gathering in person, it allows Honiara Corps to participate in worship until meeting together again is permitted.

Mission Support Projects In 2021, The Salvation Army Solomon Islands was allocated Mission Support Project funds for the first time by International Headquarters to finance six mission projects that were submitted by the District leaders. Some administrative challenges along the way delayed the receipt of these funds until the beginning of this month. The unfortunate timing of the outbreak of COVID-19 presents some additional challenges in implementing these projects now the funds have arrived, as travel out of Honiara is still prohibited under the current State of Public Emergency. This significantly limits

necessary site visits to prepare the allocation of land and other logistical arrangements for the larger projects.

Nevertheless, the District team have been working hard this month within the boundaries of COVID-19 restrictions to plan the establishment of these projects

and purchase equipment. The 6 mission projects are as follows: 1. Employment of a Social Enterprises Manager to coordinate and develop the District Social Enterprises.

2. Construction of a 2nd DME Coconut Oil Plant at Rauai church.

3. Purchase of a vehicle for Malaita Area Officers.

4. Purchase of two ray boats and OBM’s for North Malaita and East Are’are.

5. Establishment of Fish Cold Storage for Munda and Moscom churches.

6. Purchase of sewing machines for Home Leagues across the provinces.

Freedom Fridays (Report by Major Vanessa Evans) Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking (MSHT) is a world-wide issue that has seen increases in forced, domestic and child labour, sex slavery and pornography throughout the pandemic. For example, the Philippines has seen an increase of 240% of online sexual exploitation of children. Over the last four Fridays I have had the privilege of attending some training provided by the Anglican Alliance with people from all over Asia and the Pacific, as well as representatives from the United Kingdom. This course was entitled Freedom Fridays, a Church Response on Human Trafficking and Safe

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Migration. Throughout the course we looked at an introduction to the issues of MSHT across the world as well as the Freedom Action Framework that has been put together by The Salvation Army and The Anglican Alliance. The 8 actions that form the framework are Prayer,

Prevention, Protection, Participation, Partnership, Policy, Prosecution and Proof. Over the four weeks we focused on Prevention, Protection of survivors, Participation and Partnership. We were fortunate enough to have survivors and experts in the field share their experiences as well as break into small groups to look at how we could put what we had been learning into practice within our own cultural context. We as the church need to take a stand and work with others to eliminate this issue from our society and show love and acceptance to MSHT survivors.

Solomon Islands District

Jolly Phonics Training (Report by Major Vanessa Evans) Since COVID-19 has come to the Solomon Islands, life as the District Director of Women’s Ministries has been a little different. Unfortunately, meeting with the women on a large scale is not allowed at the moment and the running of our programs has taken a forced break. With that in mind and wanting to take the opportunity to do some study, I have just completed an introduction course to Jolly Phonics. Jolly Phonics is a fun and studentcentered approach to teaching literacy through systematic phonics. This program is especially powerful for students who are English language learners. With actions for each of the 42 letter sounds, the multi-sensory method is very motivating

for students.

Jolly Phonics teaches students the five key skills for reading and writing: Learning the letter sounds, letter formation, blending sounds together, identifying the sounds in words, and learning tricky words that have irregular spellings. This program is what we have been using for our Learning Spaces over the last two years and I was wanting to know a bit more about the history and concept of this program. Completing the introduction course has taught me so much on the rules/concepts behind the course and how I can improve the way that I help our Learning Spaces Coordinators, as well as our teachers, to use the program to its fullest capacity. I was so impressed with

the introduction course that I now have commenced a Jolly Phonics Professional Development Certificate. I look forward to seeing how our students, both children and adults, benefit from this program and how their understanding of the English language grows. I am grateful to the PNGSI projects department for allocating us some funds that we have been able to use, not only for the online courses, but also to purchase Jolly Phonic teaching materials.

Honiara Corps Property Proposal The Honiara Corps was established in 2011 and has been meeting in a rented room at the Rock Haven Inn for the past ten years. Over this time, the Corps has grown to an average Sunday attendance of 93, with frequent numbers well over 100 crammed in a room that seats 75.

Weekday activities are held under the District Quarters and in a classroom at the Honiara Integrated Primary School with very little space for further growth.

In addition, the mission and ministry of The Salvation Army has expanded well beyond Honiara to eight other locations in Malaita and Western Provinces, with

more villages eager to join. The need for permanent facilities in Honiara to accommodate the ongoing growth and development of The Salvation Army in Solomon Islands cannot be overstated!

For the past four years the District Officers have been looking at various

options but access to funding and the availability of land in the capital territory is extremely limited. Until now, the prospect of purchasing a suitable property has seemed elusive. However, the recent advertisement of a property that would provide the ideal set-up for Honiara Corps, Corps Officers Quarters, District Headquarters and a Social Enterprises Shop has presented an opportunity that is well worth pursuing.

There is a long way to go in turning this dream into a reality, but the District Team are convinced this is the right time and location for the Solomon Islands.

Vilij Kaleko Donations Vilij Kaleko is an initiative the District Officers established to resource village churches to serve their communities and generate income to fund local mission and ministry. Over the past three years donated clothing from expats living in Honiara has been sent to village churches to sell at local markets. This has enabled The Salvation Army to provide low cost clothing in remote villages where access to ‘bale shops’ doesn’t exist. It has also helped to build the capacity of village churches through the modest income generated. Honiara is a transient place that sees a regular turnover of expats

Volume 5, Issue 2

which sustains this mission development initiative. The District was very grateful to receive an influx of donations over the December and January period with a number of expats returning home.

Major Vanessa has taken advantage of the limited program due to COVID-19 to sort and bag the pile of clothing and household goods that have crowded the downstairs storeroom at the District Quarters. These bags will be distributed to some of the village churches as soon as the lockdown of the emergency zone is lifted and transport to the provinces is permitted again.

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Support Needs:  Building funds for new Officer Quarters: You can support by donating funds to contribute to the construction of Officer Quarters at our village churches in the provinces.  Purchase of furnishings for Officer Quarters: You can support by donating funds to purchase furniture and appliances for Quarters at each of our village churches.

The Salvation Army Solomon Islands District Officers - Majors Robert & Vanessa Evans PO Box 323 Honiara, Solomon Islands

 Purchase of additional equipment for SAES: You can support by donating funds to purchase a deep freezer to store food for Emergency Services and Disaster Relief.

Please contact Major Robert Evans at robert.evans@png.salvationarmy.org for more information if you are able to help with any of these needs.

Phone: (677) 30344 Fax: (677) 30344 Mobile: (677) 749 4524 Email: solomon.islands@png.salvationarmy.org

Prayer Points:

Website: www.png.salvationarmy.org

 Continued prayer for the fragile peace in Honiara to remain  A peaceful solution to underlying causes of the civil unrest  Widespread COVID-19 community transmission  Health system to stand up under the strain of COVID-19 cases  Provincial churches cut off from Honiara due to COVID-19

Personal Reflection…

On the 19th January 2022 COVID-19 a community transmission case was detected at the National Referral Hospital in Honiara for the first time. While that case was detected the virus has already spread because that COVID -19 patient had moved around for a week beforehand. As a result, the Government imposed lockdowns and curfews within the Emergency Zone with no movement, no church gatherings. COVID-19 dominates headlines on all media outlets every day in Honiara. That news brings panic and fear within Honiara City residents and in the Provinces as well. As a person that is responsible for the Church as the Corps Officer, for the community as the community leader and for my family as head of my family, this situation has put my responsibilities in a vulnerable situation where I have a lot of layers of stress to manage. Before community transmission I was looking forward to church Programs and activities every day. But now the situation is different and it changes the way we normally think and do things. The days are really boring because I spend most of it at one place. The people that I normally meet with, I hardly see them. But I thank God for the technology that is readily available that enables me to communicate

with my leaders and the rest of my congregation, even if we are not physically congregating together. I wonder what the future will look like if the church restrictions will be lifted as people are getting used to staying home for so long. However, I have no doubt, because I believe and have faith, that my God will never leave me nor forsake me, even if in the midst of an adversary. This is an assurance of hope for me in such a situation like this (Deuteronomy 31:6). I find it quite difficult and challenging to adapt to this new normal of wearing a mask, not hand shaking, and social distancing. It is a challenging situation for me, first as a Christian and secondly as a church leader. Should I follow what the government says or do what I think is convenient for me? These are small things but it has a bigger effect on Christians.

Many Christians are not concurring with some of the restrictions put in place by the government. But for me following those simple rules is as important as observing the Word of God. If I will not follow these simple rules how can I observe the law of the land and the law of God. The Bible says that sin is sin, whether the nature of the offence committed is big or small, it is nothing but a sin. Our God is a promise

keeper and a miracle worker. During this odd time when this virus is threatening the world’s economy, causing fear and frustration to people and organizations, including the churches, I have seen God is doing great and marvelous things in my life and for my Church. So, be strong and courageous brother and sister. I would like to finish with the quote from 2 Chronicles 7:14 - “If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” If any time ever we need to stand united and pray and seek God for his guidance and protection, today is the day and the time.

Glory to the Righteous One.

Aux Capt Wency Ramo’oroa