Solomon Islands District Newsletter (Volume 5, Issue 3)

Solomon Islands District

NEWSLETTER March 2022 Volume 5, Issue 3

Gateway Corps Village Mission Trips

Inside this issue:

Despite the spread of COVID-19 in Honiara and major towns in the provinces, the mission continues to move forward in North Malaita with Gateway Corps proactively reaching out to neighbouring villages at Kafodolo, Kolofi and Feuki this month. Salvation Army soldier Regina Akwasitaloa from Gateway Corps wrote the following report on their recent mission trip to Kafodolo Village:

SINIS Partnership Event

2

DHQ Downstairs Toilet

2

DHQ Working Bee

2

Mission Support Project—Sea Transport

3

Mission Support Project—Road Transport

3

MTD Intensive

3

Personal Reflection

4

“Sunday mission night to Kafodolo new opening Anglican church on 5th March 2022.

God’s presence is really moving with our congregation at Gateway Corps in Kwai, North Malaita.

Even though the distance is far, it cannot stop the love that we have towards our almighty God. The distance from Gateway Corps to Kafodolo is about three kilometres.

Despite the distance, our youth, Sunday

school, fathers and mothers, all just enjoyed strolling along the road. When the congregation arrived, the leader of the Anglican church gave us a wonderful welcome, so we really appreciated that. What a great and blessed night in worshipping and sharing of the Word of God from Luke 17:2021. As even though the world is covered by many influences but we are sure that we already carry the kingdom within us. So the only thing for us to awaken the kingdom in us, we just not giving up the habit of meeting together with other Christian brothers and sisters in worshipping together and sharing together. What a great joy and opportunity that God has done through our night missions. It brought joy to the Anglican church members. To God be the glory for the great things He has done.”

Special points of interest:  Ministry Opportunities  Renovations  Resumption of Activities  New Equipment  Mission Support  Solomon Islands Presentation

SINIS Partnership Event Major Robert and Vanessa had the opportunity to attend the partnership event at the new Solomon Islands National Institute of Sport (SINIS) to explore potential partnerships with community organisations to support athletes wellbeing. Many of Solomon Islands elite athletes have low education and come from very poor backgrounds, which inhibits their ability to succeed in their chosen sport. The SINIS High Performance Program is seeking partners to assist in implementing their Wellbeing & Performance Model in the domains of Personal Development, Beliefs and Behaviour, Biopsychosocial, Physical,

Mental, Tactical, Technical, and Dual Career. This initiative is a holistic approach to athletic performance that recognizes the need to engage churches and other civil societies to contribute to the overall wellbeing of the nations athletes. The Wellbeing Team were very interested in The Salvation Army’s Learning Spaces and is keen to discuss further whether this program can be incorporated to help improve the literacy of their athletes. This is a unique ministry space that may open a doorway to mission and ministry for local Salvationists who are passionate about sports and transforming lives.

DHQ Downstairs Toilet In response to the COVID-19 Oversight Committee requirements for meeting together, the District Officers arranged for a downstairs toilet to be constructed at the District Quarters. This small project will enable Honiara Corps to recommence weekday activities within COVID guidelines, while maintaining a COVID safe environment upstairs for the District Officers. Martin Wynne from Jobes Limited very generously donated the labour of his local builders to construct the toilet and volunteers from Honiara Corps assisted with the painting.

The new toilet also means that activities

can occur at the Quarters without the need for the District Officers to be present, including Home League, Youth Group and Worship Team practices. This simple convenience will enable Corps Officers Aux Capt Wency and Fostina to function unrestricted when Major Robert and Vanessa travel to village churches while the District Team pursues a property proposal for Honiara Corps for their own premises. While the recent community transmission of COVID-19 has caused a slow down in most programs, it has created time and space for some of these type of projects.

DHQ Working Bee Following the completion of the toilet, while the District Officers were on compassionate leave in Australia, a group of volunteers under the direction of Aux Capt Wency arranged a working bee at the District Quarters. Ten cubic metres of stones were delivered to build a stone path connecting the front of the Quarters to the rear ministry space downstairs, creating a dry access to the new toilet.

The team of volunteers also did a garden clean-up and pruned the trees around the property that grow prolifically during the tropical wet season. This work and clean-up has paved the way for the

Page 2

return of activities that have been greatly missed by Honiara Corps members.

Their participation reflects a strong sense of ownership and responsibility for this property, which is the only space available to The Salvation Army under the current COVID conditions. Other pending projects, when funds are available, include replacing the rotted timber landing on the front stairs, engaging an exterminator to deal with white ants in the bearers, repair of a leak in the roof, cleaning out water tanks, replacement of rotted fascia boards, and repainting the outside of the house.

Solomon Islands District

Mission Support Project—Sea Transport Last month, it was reported that The Salvation Army Solomon Islands had received Mission Support Project funds from International Headquarters to finance six mission projects across the District.

This month, equipment for two of these projects was purchased. One of these projects is to provide ray boats and outboard motors for Moscom Fellowship in East Areare and Kafomauri New Opening in North Malaita. These boats will enable the village churches to engage in mission and ministry activities at neighbouring villages around Maru’upaina Bay on the east coast and Suafa Bay on the north coast of Malaita Province. They will also provide

easier access to markets to sell locally grown produce and coconut oil products from the DME Plant at Gateway Corps. The boat going to Moscom will support the new fish cold storage social enterprise that will process fresh fish from the village into packaged fillets for sale in Honiara.

Being an nation of 900+ islands with minimal and poorly maintained road infrastructure, sea transport is essential to aid travel around the less accessible villages in the provinces. These boats will not only service the churches where they are based, but the expanding mission presence of The Salvation Army in nearby villages. The boat on Suafa Bay will service Kafomauri New

Opening and Gateway Corps. And the boat for Maru’upaina Bay will service Moscom Fellowship and Fouele New Opening in the eastern and southern parts of Malaita where there are no roads.

Mission Support Project—Road Transport The second major purchase from the Mission Support funds was a Toyota Dual Cab Hilux for use by the Area Officers in Malaita Province. This will enable Envoys Hudson and Mary Kwale to journey safely along the North Road between Rauai and Ramah Fellowships, Ngalifalisi New Opening in West Kwara’ae and up to Gateway Corps and Kafomauri New Opening in North Malaita. Normally, this is a very long and uncomfortable journey on the back of overcrowded public trucks that are subject to the ship timetables between the provincial capital Auki and Honiara. Having their own vehicle will

allow the Area Officers to provide timely mission and pastoral support to these village churches and transport for the District Officers when visiting Malaita.

The vehicle will also save on expensive

freight costs for transporting coconut oil from the existing DME Plant in North Malaita and the proposed new DME Plant in West Kwara’ae to the port in Auki. This is a significant asset for the District that will enhance the growing mission across the Malaita Province.

News of this purchase has generated a lot of excitement by Salvation Army members in the village churches, who are very grateful to the international Salvation Army for this investment in their province. The District team are now in the process of arranging sea freight to get this vehicle across to Malaita.

MTD Presentation organisations within the context of international aid and development and critique of existing leadership paradigms.

Throughout this semester, Major Robert has been studying the unit Leadership and Organisational Development as a part of the Master of Transformational Development (MTD) at Eastern College Australia. This unit has been an insightful examination of leading faith-based

Volume 5, Issue 3

While attending the study intensive in Melbourne, Major Robert was given the opportunity to present a session on the topic ‘Leading in a time of Crisis: Insights and Reflections from the Solomon Islands’. This presentation outlined the current leadership context in the Solomon Islands and shared four case studies that connected with key themes emerging from the readings for the semester. These themes included; managing conflict in a multicultural

team, accountability and learning, exploring organisational leadership through an ‘imago Dei’ paradigm, and identifying and understanding challenges faced by women. The engagement by the class in the Solomon Islands context early in the intensive provided a helpful reference point throughout the week to process and apply other key insights.

The MTD intensive included a diverse group of practitioners that span multiple cultures and organisations in the aid and development sector and engaged other experts in the field to facilitate a dynamic learning experience.

Page 3

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  Progression of a property proposal for Honiara Corps and DHQ

Personal Reflection…

2022 commenced with a great deal of anticipation with a mission trip to the Western Province and a planned trip to Malaita Province a week after our return to pave the way for new mission projects and social enterprises. Unfortunately, three days after returning to Honiara the first community transmitted cases of COVID-19 were detected, resulting in a total lockdown of Honiara, followed by extended curfews and travel restrictions in and out of the emergency zone. This new reality has completely disrupted the first quarter of the District calendar, causing the cancellation of key events and online worship services for Honiara Corps. All of a sudden, Solomon Islands joined the rest of the world in navigating the direct impact of this global pandemic.

Added to this new reality is the ongoing threat of further unrest in Honiara with the resumption of Parliament at the end of this month. The issues fueling the violence and property destruction in November last year are far from settled

and recent government decisions relating to PRC police training the RSIPF and a security treaty with China is only serving to exacerbate an already tense situation.

On a personal front, the sudden critical illness of my mother necessitated an unplanned trip home to Australia, as we were told by doctors to prepare to say our good-byes.

We returned to Melbourne on compassionate leave with our uniforms and ceremonies book packed expecting the worst. Fortunately, to everyone’s surprise, mum made a remarkable recovery after life-support was removed and is improving each day.

She is still quite unwell with multiple preexisting health issues, but we praise God for the progress she has made. We are also incredibly grateful for the amazing support we have been shown by The Salvation Army and friends during this challenging and unsettling time. With mum’s improvement we are presently still in Melbourne trying to gain approval from the COVID-19 Oversight Committee

in Solomon Islands to return to Honiara.

This is a frustrating process, as we cannot book a flight or complete the wad of paperwork required until we are officially gazetted by the SIG. On the upside, it has been a blessing spending this unplanned time with Bek and Adam.

Major Robert Evans