Solomon Islands Ministries Newsletter (Volume 1, Issue 2)

Solomon Islands Ministries

NEWSLETTER January 2018 Volume 1, Issue 2

Mission Trips The Salvation Army Solomon Islands Ministries currently has a presence in four Provinces: 1 Corps in Honiara, Guadalcanal Province, 2 Fellowships and 1 Mission in Malaita Province, 1 Mission in Temotu Province and a Mission about to embark for Simbo Island in Western Province. To determine the status, scope, strength and sustainability of this growing presence of The Salvation Army, Majors Robert and Vanessa Evans, with Wency Ramo’oroa, conducted two mission trips during January to visit both Fellowships in Malaita. These trips enabled them to introduce themselves as the new leaders, encourage

the congregations, resource their leaders, provide teaching, share worship and participate in village life. Travelling to the villages was quite an adventure in itself utilizing various modes of public transport that are a

normal part of commuting between the provinces and villages for Solomon Islanders.

The middle spread of this months newsletter features stories and photos from these two mission trips.

Kwai Fellowship

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Teaching & Worship 2 Village Life

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Moscom Fellowship

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Melon Season

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Travelling Mercies! 3 A Personal Note

Social Enterprise Just prior to the Malaita mission trips Major Robert Evans accompanied Daryl Crowden from World Vision to meet with the Managing Director of Kokonut Pacific to learn about their community partnership opportunities.

Kokonut Pacific Solomon Islands is a for profit social enterprise working with a network of village based

Inside this issue:

businesses to produce quality Virgin Coconut Oil. Through the use of their DME (Direct Micro Expelling) equipment they empower villages with the training and knowledge to produce and sell coconut oil, which offers a significantly higher return for their labour than the current practice of producing and selling copra.

This meeting was very timely

Special points of interest: leading up to the mission trips as it provided helpful insight into a potential income generating opportunity for The Salvation Army Fellowships in Malaita. Is it any coincidence that the leader of the North Malaita Fellowship owns a coconut plantation?

Initial conversations with this leader suggests not! We look forward to exploring this space further.

 New mission to Simbo, Western Province  7 Junior Soldiers enrolled  Incarnational ministry in village life  Rough seas and wild weather!

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Kwai Fellowship, North Malaita The trip to Kwai in North Malaita began with a three hour journey on the Pelican Express ferry from Honiara to Auki, followed by a four hour drive on the back of a public truck from Auki along the gravel north road to Suava Bay. The visiting group from Honiara Corps was enthusiastically welcomed along the roadside by most of the North Malaita Fellowship presenting themselves in their Salvation Army uniforms. A beautiful welcome song and powerful evening of worship set the scene for the weekend. Each day commenced with a prayer meeting at 4:30 am and concluded with a two hour evening

fellowship, demonstrating the commitment of this congregation to prayer and worship!

The North Malaita Fellowship commenced in May 2017 after the previous church this village belonged to had collapsed due to the moral failing of the leader of the

mission. At this time, two men from the village returned home and shared about their encounter with The Salvation Army in Honiara. After much prayer and discussion the decision was made for The Salvation Army to commence in North Malaita. In only seven months there are now 18 soldiers, 1 adherent and now as a result of this trip, 7 new Junior Soldiers.

This Fellowship is passionate about the mission of The Salvation Army with plans to commence other Fellowships in surrounding villages. The pioneer of this congregation is even planning a mission trip to Simbo Island in the Western Province!

Teaching & Worship On Saturday morning Major Robert Evans commenced a teaching seminar outlining some of the distinctives of The Salvation Army. During this session Major Vanessa Evans conducted Junior Soldiers preparation classes for the children. After lunch, the two groups came together for the afternoon session of teaching.

This session was of particular interest to this congregation as they had many questions about The Salvation Army and the Sacraments.

The Sunday Service was another extraordinary time of worship, with the

local worship team leading a great time of singing , prayer and testimony. It is customary in the Solomon Islands for this time of sharing to include individuals and groups of people giving their testimony through song.

Before Major Robert brought the Bible message, Major Vanessa took the opportunity to enroll 7 of the children who participated in the preparation classes as the first Junior Soldiers of the Solomon Islands.

God’s call to be a “Saved to Save” Army, committed to sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ in word and deed. The group of 46 Salvationists who gathered for this service represent the amazing work God is doing in Kwai.

After the message was given from John 6:25-40 there were 13 recommitments made during the altar call responding to

Village Life Experiencing village life in remote areas is an important part of any mission trip.

Living among a group of people is a form

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of incarnational ministry that enables the visitor to fully engage with the local context for mission and ministry. Such engagement leads to a deeper level of understanding and empathy that cannot be obtained through photographs or books.

The simplicity of this village displayed a richness of life but also presented some of the many challenges facing people doing life in remote parts of the Provinces in the Solomon Islands.

Limited power (solar), minimal mobile coverage, and long road

trips in the back of overcrowded trucks are just some of those challenges.

A subsistence lifestyle also limits the sources of income for their congregation.

In this new Salvation Army Fellowship this means there is no money to pay the Pastor. Yet. God by His grace, continues to supply their basic needs. It is very humbling to minister alongside people in this context.

Solomon Islands Ministries

Moscom Fellowship, South Malaita The trip to Moscom was delayed due to missing the boat that was scheduled to leave Honiara at 8:00 pm on the following Sunday night for a 24 hour direct trip to Moscom. Instead it departed at 6:00 pm, despite confirming the time with the port that morning! A second attempt to depart the following day on another boat was dampened when transportation at the other end could not be arranged. Therefore, the trip was rescheduled until the end of the week with a change of route through Auki and Atori. This meant that Major Vanessa Evans opted not to go on this journey due to her fear of very small boats and open water. This proved to be

a wise decision as Major Robert and Wency encountered up to 2 metre swells in some sections of pretty rough waters over this two hour leg of the trip.

message they heard about The Salvation Army through the visit of Captain Soddy Maraga from PNG.

The name ‘Moscom’ was originally coined as a radio call sign by the local village leader when he worked for Australian Aid. It is a hybrid of the actual village name ‘Mosipe’ and ‘community’, which has become known throughout Malaita. This village leader responded to the need for a church in Moscom by contacting his close friend in Honiara who was instrumental in bringing The Salvation Army to Solomon Islands. The community wanted a church that cared for more than just their spiritual needs, so they were very responsive to the

Melon Season Spending time in a village that lives off what it grows is very grounding (literally and figuratively).

Malaita has the reputation of growing the sweetest pineapples and tastiest watermelons.

Their reputation is well founded!

The arrival of the mission team was right at the end of the watermelon harvest and the farmers were busy gathering their melons for the long boat trip to Honiara to sell at the market. Just the process of gathering, bagging and carting the melons down the mountain to the beach is very strenuous manual labour. The tracks are steep and slippery and the melons are carried on their shoulders in bags of 5-6 that weigh around 50 kg each. Major Robert Evans was watching this process occur while sitting during a quite afternoon and decided to get in and offer a hand. His help was warmly received by the farmers.

Travelling Mercies!

Travelling home presented Major Robert and Wency another level of adventure that lasted 38 hours! When the boat finally arrived, it was a day late and docked in the harbor for more than 3 hours loading the farmers watermelons for the market in Honiara. When it eventually left the harbor it was on dusk so the boat moored at a nearby port for the night. The next morning a very large number of people were waiting to board with their cargo. All of a sudden the boat

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was overcrowded and it started raining.

That was pretty much the story all the way home; a very wet, stop/start journey along the channel between Small and Big Malaita taking on more passengers and cargo on an unseaworthy boat that should have hung out the ‘sorry we’re full sign’ hours earlier.

Once the boat left the channel, the wet weather and sea conditions turned really nasty, making the last 10 hours on open water during the second night a very unpleasant experience for all on board

(including the 3 very unhappy pigs in the cargo hold with 100 other people). At around 3:00 am an electrical fault between the top deck and engine room started sparking through a rust hole in the metal floor at Robert’s feet, electrifying the whole deck where people were laying!! Sitting next to the cabin didn’t help matters when Wency overheard the crew wondering how far away Honiara was as they searched for city lights.

Praise God for travelling mercies!!

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Solomon Islands Ministries PO Box 323 Honiara Solomon Islands Phone: (677) 30344 Fax: (677) 30344

Officially launched on the 4th November 2011, The Salvation Army Solomon Islands Ministries is a mission outreach of the Papua New Guinea Territory.

With an established presence in the capital Honiara on Gaudalcanal and an emerging presence in North 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:  Titus & Rubin’s mission to Simbo, Western Province  Wisdom concerning income generating opportunities  Training and development of leaders in Moscom  New mission opportunity in Auki

A Personal Note...

“God is Good, All The Time, All The Time,

some of the children so that we would be

have ever seen before. I wanted to learn

God is Good” I’m not sure how many

cool. Language was a barrier sometimes

as much as I could and was blessed that

times I have said this over the last two

but that didn't seem to matter as our

they were ok with all my questions. I

months but I am convinced of it more

hearts were speaking to each other. I got

loved our time in Kwai and look forward

and more every time I say it.

to experience village life first hand.

to going back again soon.

Not long after we arrived we knew that

Other than having limited power and no

“God is Good,”

going into the Providences was some-

internet I could get used to village life.

thing that we needed to do to see what

From cooking on an open stove to washing

God was doing. God did not disappoint.

yourself and everything else in the river.

After a long trip over water and land we

Drinking fresh coconut and eating local

made it to Kwai North Malaita and what

foods including raw cocoa beans (amazing

a welcome . Salvationists in uniform in

and not what I expected), not only was I

the middle of nowhere, excited to see

physically fed but spiritually fed as we

the ‘new kids on the block’. Within a

shared in Gods word and song. The singing

short time we were family, laughing and

of these people was amazing, their spiritu-

sharing together. Even being fanned by

ality and reliance on God is like nothing I

Yours in Christ,

Major Vanessa Evans