Solomon Islands Ministries Newsletter (Volume 1, Issue 10)

Solomon Islands Ministries

NEWSLETTER September 2018 Volume 1, Issue 10

DME Construction Trip This month The Salvation Army Solomon Islands took another significant step towards the establishment of their first DME coconut oil plant. A four man construction team from Honiara Corps headed over to North Malaita to join the team from Gateway Corps. This trip not only transported the materials and provided extra labour, but motivated the local villages to fully capture the vision for this project.

Managing this stage of the project between two islands presented a number of interesting challenges. From sourcing materials to transportation, it was a logistical adventure.

The materials purchased in Honiara on the day of departure were delayed at the steel yard because the city was in total lockdown due to a bomb disposal operation, after an

unexploded WW2 bomb was discovered at a city building site the day before. When the truck transporting the materials eventually arrived at the Port, it was relegated to the end of a long line of other trucks waiting to be unloaded due to the traffic delays. Upon arrival in Auki, just before midnight, the team managed to negotiate with the ship clerk for the materials to remain in the cargo hold until daylight, which meant they could sleep onboard the ship overnight.

The Honiara team was greeted

by Charles who had travelled down from North Malaita to organize a truck for the second part of the journey. After a four hour delay the following morning waiting for the truck to arrive, the materials from the ship were loaded up along with a second round of purchases in Auki before a five hour drive up the North Road. A late night arrival in Kwai meant the team had to unload 32 bags of cement, 26 sheets of roofing iron and a bundle of reo bar in the dark and pouring rain!

Unfortunately, there was a little bit of confusion by the locals over the plans for the site preparation, which meant the site wasn’t quite ready as expected. Nevertheless, the combined team rallied together well and had the remaining

footings dug and poured by the end of the first day. Sunday was a day of rest for Worship in the morning with a Soldiers Meeting conducted in the afternoon by Major Robert Evans to clarify the mission of the DME plant and recruit more volunteers to help pour the concrete slab. The next day was interrupted by four tropical rain storms resulting in only a third of the slab being poured.

However, despite not being able to finish the slab before their departure, the visiting team left confident that the local volunteers would be more than capable of getting the job done.

Since returning to Honiara, the team received news within a few days that the slab is now complete!

The remainder of the structure is expected to be completed within 2-3 weeks ready for the arrival and installation of the DME equipment.

Inside this issue:

Father’s Day

2

Schools Ministries

2

Vilij Kaleko

2

Ramah Mission

3

Learning Spaces

3

RSIPF Open Days

3

A Personal Note

4

Special points of interest:  DME Construction nearly complete!  Pre-loved Clothing for Villages  A New Fellowship for Malaita  Support for Learning Spaces  BSP Testimony

Father’s Day The Honiara Corps Home League volunteered to prepare and lead a special Father’s Day Service this year to honour all the fathers in the Corps.

who preached the Father’s Day message about ‘Godly Fathers’ from the parable of the Prodigal Son. All the Fathers were

then blessed by a delicious fellowship lunch and a cake made by Major Vanessa Evans for the occasion.

Home League Secretary Elizabeth Tolilalo recruited the assistance of the Children’s and Youth Ministries to organize a day of celebration, which included a moving dance item by the youth and fabulous lunch provided by the ladies of the Corps.

The youth performed their dance item to the worship song ‘Good, Good Father’ portraying a powerful message of God’s unconditional love amidst the abuse and neglect experienced by many at home.

This message was reinforced by Elizabeth

Schools Ministries of interaction between the two schools.

Nevertheless, the images exchanged between the schools showed a confronting contrast between the two learning environments. The week ended with the Worship Team from Honiara Corps leading the school fellowship at King George VI government school for an audience of around 288 students and staff. It was a powerful time of combined worship with Major Robert speaking about ‘Living a Public Faith in Today’s World.’ Finally, Elizabeth Tolilalo spoke to 1,100 students and staff at the HIPS end of term assembly.

September was a busy month with four opportunities to do ministry across three schools in Honiara. It started with Major Robert Evans being invited to share the Word at the weekly staff devotions for Honiara Integrated Primary School, which has become a monthly ministry role for The Salvation Army. Later in the week a video link was set-up between Hills Christian Community School in Adelaide and Honiara Integrated Primary School in Honiara to connect the grade 3 students in both locations. Unfortunately, the internet connection was uncooperative providing only a few disrupted moments

Vilij Kaleko The Salvation Army Solomon Islands District has launched a village based community enterprise to support local missions in Malaita. Several trips to remote villages has revealed that access to clothing outside of Honiara and Auki does not exist! This leaves many people in the villages with literally only the clothes on their backs!

‘Vilij Kaleko’ is an initiative targeted at the frequently rotating expat community in Honiara to invite them to donate their

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pre-loved clothing to this cause. Instead of “If it’s too good to throw away, give it to the Salvos” we are asking the expats, “If there is too much to take home, give it to the Salvos!” So far, a number of expats have responded favourably to this initiative with 8 bags of clothing donated.

These clothes will be given to remote Salvation Army congregations to sell in village markets to generate income for local mission and ministry.

Solomon Islands Ministries

Ramah Mission (as told by Pastor Joshua Henry) Before joining The Salvation Army in 2017, I was invited regularly by the elders of the village church in Ramah for weekend ministry. Early this year, there was an attempt to get across two elders of this church to meet with Honiara Corps leaders in the hope of joining The Salvation Army. After this attempt failed, there has been a long silence.

However, that pause was removed three weeks ago when Elder Martin Lagwai suddenly showed up at my place in Henderson to deliver me an invitation to attend Ramah’s 6th church anniversary. I quickly accepted the invitation and attended the event on the 9th September, even though I was unaware

of his underlying intention for the invitation at the time.

That Sunday evening, after the anniversaries activities ended, Elder Martin gathered his family alone and shared with me their decision to join The Salvation Army and become a Fellowship.

For the elder was slow to decide in January because he could not easily let go of his betelnut chewing and tobacco smoking habits. His children pointed out that he must not use these unclean habits to slow down his children’s and grand children’s good future of being part of this International Movement now! So, for the sake of the next generation, Elders Martin and Beverly

Lagwai, together with their married children, finally decided to become Soldiers of The Salvation Army. This was the main reason behind their invitation, which the elder did not disclose to me in Henderson.

The Sunday after that discussion, an announcement was made of the Board of Elders’ decision for Ramah Transformation Centre to migrate from isolation to finally becoming a part of the International Movement of The Salvation Army.

Preparations are now underway to install proper sanitation facilities before the Solomon Islands District Officers are invited for a weekend visit.

Learning Spaces (as shared by Major Robert Evans on Facebook) I have never felt so heartbroken and hopeful at the same time!! Heartbroken, because 9/10 students in Solomon Islands WILL NOT have the opportunity to finish school because there are no where near enough high school places available for the growing population. In 2015 it was reported that 2,774 year 6 students sat their exam for a placement in high school and only 496 students obtained a place in year 7, leaving 2,278 students abandoned by the education system.

Tonight, while discussing our "Learning Spaces" proposal with our Corps Council, I discover that the same placement

examination is repeated at form 3 and form 5, with proportional numbers of students being left out. Every one of our leaders in the room tonight have children facing the likely end to their education next year because of the lack of available places in high school! Hopeful, because The Salvation Army Solomon Islands cannot and will not sit back and just accept this reality as "it is what it is". Next year we will establish "Learning Spaces" at each of our congregations to provide an alternative learning pathway for the children who have been left behind by an inadequate education system. BUT WE

NEED YOUR HELP!! We want to employ and train 4 teachers in Jolly Phonics (to start with) to launch a "Learning Space" at Honiara Corps with two teachers and "Learning Spaces" at Gateway Corps and Moscom Fellowship with a teacher at each location. An unqualified teacher in Solomon Islands earns approximately SBD$18,000 per year - that is ONLY AUD$3,000 per year for each teacher! If you share our passion about the ongoing education of children and this is a space you would like to financially assist us with then please send me a private message to explore how we can make this happen.

(Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands) left. This was an opportunity for the RSIPF to showcase their full capacity to the community, including their partnerships with other agencies and organisations.

programs and other emergency services that were on display. The impending arrival of The Salvation Army Emergency Services trailer was well received by all.

RSIPF Open Days The Salvation Army has been nurturing a relationship with the RSIPF (local Police Force) and SIPDP (Police Development Program) over the past 9 months. This working relationship has opened the door to a number of networking opportunities that are providing helpful support for the development of Salvation Army mission in the Solomon Islands.

The RSIPF opened up the full range of their services to the public, in conjunction with the Police Blue Ribbon Day, for the first time since RAMSI

Volume 1, Issue 10

Majors Robert and Vanessa took the opportunity to attend these open days to make themselves more fully known among the rank and file of the local police officers. This provided them with the chance to discuss their mission objectives with a number of police

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Solomon Islands Ministries District Officers - Majors Robert & Vanessa Evans PO Box 323 Honiara Phone: (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.

Fax: (677) 30344 Mobile: (677) 749 4524 Email: sarmy.solomons@gmail.com Website: www.png.salvationarmy.org

Prayer Points:  Completion of DME (Direct Micro Expelling) Plant  Acquisition of land for a Corps/District building  Recruitment and training of teachers for Learning Spaces  Follow-up of new mission opportunities in Malaita

A Personal Note from BSP Staff Brent & Grace…

(As published in Mumu Newsletter Bank South Pacific - August Edition) On the eve on Friday 13th July 2018, the BSP First Team along with a number of BSP staff were invited to the Salvation Army Fundraiser, which was held at the Heritage Park Hotel. The BSP staffs attending were Lindria Saomasi, Grace Funa, Rex Simata, Rhodes Togapura and Lency Auga. Along with BSP Solomon Islands managers; Manager of International Operations Mrs Ramo, Manager Retail Banking Services Mr Taoti, Manager Credit Administration Mrs Taoti, Financial Controller Mr Singh, Head of BSP Relationship Banking Mr & Mrs Robertson and BSP Solomons Country Manager Mr & Mrs Anderson. It was an unforgettable event for most of us. As for me, it was the first fundraiser that I have been invited to. The room was packed, with representatives from other organisations also attending. I was so nervous by the crowd that I had to hold my knees together to stop them from shaking. Anyway, the fundraiser started with warm words of welcome and then there was a brief presentation on the Salvation Army Organisation. Afterwards we had dinner and

then there was the auction. With the help of certain organisations, items were donated and bought at the auction. It was the first ever auction I participated in (I never raise my hands…only my eyes). Many hands were raised as the auctioneer went through each item. The chatter rose to its maximum as many threw open their wallets; it was quite a spectacle. Grace (BSP First Officer). “It was an honour and privilege to attend a fundraiser such as this. A first time experience as well. I really enjoyed it, especially the food and the auction. The food was exquisite and very tasty. But the auction was an eye-opener.

Seeing as how an organisation such as the Salvation Army is trying to improve life in local communities and, furthermore, to assist families in paying school fees for their children to be able to go to school and stay in school.” The auction was the main part of the fundraiser so it was the longest program of the fundraiser. But I have to say for me it was also the most fun part. At the end of the night I realised a few things. Firstly, the Salvation Army is not a military organisation.

Secondly, I need a bigger wallet with loads of

cash if I’m to attend an auction. Thirdly, sometimes it’s not good to bring your wife or girlfriend to auctions because you might spend more than you planned, as I’ve witnessed, Ha! Ha! Lastly, I’d like to conclude by commending the Salvation Army for their tireless efforts to improve the lives of the less fortunate communities and community members both urban and rural; in trying to assist families who struggle every-day to make sure their kids go to school and, moreover, to stay in school. My prayer goes out to the Salvation Army for their dedicated efforts to improve these communities, the families who struggle daily sometimes with no sleep, and to all the young leaders of Solomon Islands for in their hands is the future of this nation.