Solomon Islands District Newsletter (Volume 3, Issue 8)

Solomon Islands District

NEWSLETTER August 2020 Volume 3, Issue 8

Munda New Opening (Report written by Area Leader Alick Hagi) My wife Esther and I left Honiara on the 8th August heading to Munda, Western Province onboard the MV Annejennett. During our first trip on the 18th May, we had a new fellowship commence in Munda with a contact person named Mr. Rex Tiokomateana.

This trip to Munda had three purposes:

another elder Mr. Dave. They were very excited about the new faith experienced with The Salvation Army. The next day I conducted Soldiership Classes with another new recruit. After the classes the recruit expressed that she has better knowledge about being a Soldier in The Salvation Army.

1. A follow up of how the new Fellowship is progressing.

2. Enrolment of two new Soldiers who completed the Soldiership Class during our previous Mission Trip.

3. Signing of Land Agreement form and inspection of site to build the church building.

Concerning the first point, I am so happy that the fellowship is active. We had a fellowship service in the evening, when we got to Rex’s place. They were eagerly waiting for us to have the fellowship. Rex and his wife Manalyn are leaders of the fellowship. I spoke from Jeremiah 1:5 on ‘God’s Purpose for Us’. We need to discover God’s purpose for ourselves and pursue our divine purpose!

During the night fellowship, I led them on what The Salvation Army is all about. Mr. Rex Tiokomateana’s father, who is the Paramount Chief for Roviana, was also present with

On Monday, 10th August I enrolled the new soldiers, Mr. Rex Tiokomateana and his wife Ms. Manalyn Tiokomateana and shared from Mark 1:16-20 about ‘Calling—Jesus is calling us!’... 

You must hear the right Voice - Jesus calls Peter and his brother James.

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You must follow the right leader - Jesus said come.

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You must do the right training - I will make you fisher of men.

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You must go out to be a fisher of men - Jesus said go and make disciples.

Rex and Manalyn are now the first soldiers for Munda

Inside this issue:

fellowship. They will be doing all they can with the little resource that they have to take The Salvation Army into the future.

This day was also historic for our new fellowship at Munda as the Land Agreement was signed by the community leaders. This event mark the history for Munda fellowship because the Land agreement was signed this afternoon by the Tribal Paramount Chief Mr. Eki Lee Danga, Clan tribal chief Mr.Malloney Mamupio, Council of chief chairman Mr. John Pina and a member of council Ms. maunalyn Kola, a woman elder in the church. Munda now will become a new opening once the THQ gives us the approval. I would like us to continue to pray for this small congregation as they continue with their mission work to grow and minister from Munda. There is also a person who is interest to have a fellowship on his land at Noro. I look forward for a team to go up to Munda to clear the land with our members from Munda fellowship as people show interest to fellowship at a proper place of worship.

Currently they are using a private house so people in the community are not comfortable to come for worship.

May all Glory be to GOD!!

Marriage of Melanie & Johnathan

2

Home League & 2 Junior Miss Programs Honiara Corps Fundraiser

2

Stewardship Series

3

Local Officer Commission

3

SAES Food Relief

3

Personal Reflections

4

Special points of interest:  New Congregation  Church Partnerships  Empowering Girls & Women  Raising Funds  Equipping Leaders  Serving the Community

Marriage of Melanie & Johnathan Majors Robert and Vanessa had the privilege of conducting their second wedding in the Solomon Islands with the marriage union of Melanie Tolilalo and Johnathan Aihari. Melanie is a soldier of the Honiara Corps and, together with her husband, they are police officers with the RSIPF. This wedding was unique in that it involved two church traditions coming together for the wedding ceremony. As members of The Salvation Army, Melanie’s family asked for The Salvation Army to conduct the service and as a member of the Catholic Church, Johnathan’s family requested for Catholic

inclusion. This resulted in The Salvation Army District Officers officiating the ceremony and Catholic Archbishop participating in the service at the Mary Help of Christians Chapel at the Don Bosco Technical Institute in East Honiara.

As is customary for Solomon Islanders, a large crowd of family and friends gathered in the multipurpose hall next door to the chapel after the service for an island style feast of motu cooked pig and cassava, rice, chicken and tropical fruit. The Archbishop later reported how pleased some of his parishioners who attended the wedding were to see such a united service, which is a first in the Solomon Islands. Majors Robert and Vanessa were also very grateful for the support and involvement of Archbishop Chris in accommodating a Salvation Army marriage ceremony at a Catholic chapel.

Home League & Junior Miss Programs Over the past month, Junior Miss and Home League have come together to learn how to sew. Joyce is the Home League Treasurer and is very clever with a sewing machine. She taught the girls and ladies how to make a pattern, with each of the participants measuring, cutting out and piecing together their own blouse or dress. The Home League ladies provided the Junior Miss girls with guidance on how to use the sewing machines. Honiara Corps has three hand wound Singer machines, which take a bit of getting used to. These machines are ideal for villages as they don’t require

electricity to operate. They also have one electric sewing machine, which is useful for hemming the Solo Army Lavalavas much quicker than the hand wound machines. All of the participants have learnt new skills that they are able to use in the future for potentially earning an income by making and selling clothes. This month they also shared in joint Bible Study, which was led by the Home League Secretary Elizabeth, who shared some in-depth thoughts on the ‘Armour of God’ (Ephesians 6:10-20), which provides them each with God’s protection in the battleground of life.

Honiara Corps Fundraiser The Honiara Corps Council organised a fundraising event this month to support the mission and ministry of The Salvation Army in Honiara.

This fundraiser involved congregation members cooking and donating food items to be packed into food baskets and sold among the Corps and their Wantoks. While a very common form of fundraising in the Solomon Islands, it was a new idea for Majors Robert and Vanessa, who watched on with great interest (as well as contributing food for the baskets). At an agreed time, all the food was delivered to the Honiara Integrated

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Primary School where the baskets (boxes) were packed and picked up by those who purchased them. The baskets were packed with motu cooked pig, fish, chicken, cassava, potato, rice, sausage and homemade cookies. In total, 52 food baskets were sold for $200 SBD each, raising $10,400 SBD! One of these food baskets would feed an average Solomon Islands family for a day. According to Envoy Wency, the cost of the basket is more than most families would pay for a normal meal, but the inclusion of special foods and the opportunity to support the church makes this a popular fundraiser.

Solomon Islands District

Stewardship Series Throughout the month of August, Honiara Corps focused its preaching on ‘Stewardship’. This five week theme explored…

this expanded theme really challenged a number of other church and cultural attitudes, particularly in the areas of environment and time.

1. Stewardship of Environment

What gave this series real impact was the participation of local Salvationists in the preaching roster, as they personally engaged with their assigned topic. Their development as teachers and preachers of God’s Word was evident in this series, as was their personal growth. This also formed another part of a continued effort to provide meaningful ministry opportunities for those preparing to become Salvation Army Officers.

2. Stewardship of Time 3. Stewardship of Money 4. Stewardship of Resources 5. Stewardship of Gifts & Talents The church leadership felt this was an important topic to encourage the congregation to take responsibility for what has been entrusted to their care.

Historically, teaching on stewardship has

been associated mainly with the giving of money in Solomon Islands churches, so

Local Officer Commission Following the successful training and launching of a Community Care Ministries team in July, it was a delight to see the commissioning of Betty as the Community Care Ministries Secretary.

Betty will provide leadership for this newly formed team of congregation members who are passionate about serving others in the church and wider community. Betty is a school teacher and a widow who has done it tough helping her daughter raise her grand children in difficult circumstances. She is a strong women who has great compassion for others and is ideally

suited to this position. The Community Care Ministries team will be placing a food basket in church each Sunday to enable congregation members to bring food items each week for distribution to widows, single mums and anyone else doing it tough in the congregation and community.

This will be a similar expression of the ’Early Church’ that “gave to anyone who had need” (Acts 2:45). After the service when Betty was commissioned in this role, others stepped forward expressing interest in participating in the next round of training for Community Care Ministries.

SAES Food Relief While the response and relief efforts after April’s Cyclone Harold have long past, recovery for many vulnerable communities is a long and difficult process, especially under COVID-19 State of Public Emergency conditions. With the generous support of Solrice, The Salvation Army Emergency Services was able to assist a riverside community with some food relief for 15 families while they are waiting for their replacement food crops to yield a harvest.

The flooded river not only washed away their crops, it also washed away much of the fertile soil, leaving rocky ground and less

Volume 3, Issue 8

space for replanting as the river changed course in places. The community chief requested assistance from The Salvation Army, after hearing about the relief provided to Burns Creek, because earlier attempts to seek support from disaster relief authorities were unsuccessful. The Emergency Zone declared for Honiara during the State of Public Emergency meant these outer communities lost access to roadside satellite markets, cutting off the only source of income for many families, which added to the challenge of feeding families while replanting their food crops.

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Support Needs:  Mission Travel Budget You can support the follow-up of increasing mission requests for The Salvation Army to commence in other villages by contributing to travel costs between the Provinces.  Building Funds for construction of Officer Quarters: You can support by donating funds to support the construction of Quarters at each of our village churches.

The Salvation Army Solomon Islands District Officers - Majors Robert & Vanessa Evans PO Box 323 Honiara, Solomon Islands Phone: (677) 30344

 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.

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

Prayer Points:  Solomon Islands to remain COVID-19 free  Land for Honiara Corps  Nominees (Candidates) preparation for College  Mission growth in Munda and Noro  Vehicles for Malaita Area Officers and SAES Trailer

Personal Reflections...

Hi, I am Ellie and I am 13 years old. Thank God for Junior Miss programs. I learn a lot of things about Junior Miss and I want to give glory and honour back to our Almighty God for what the Junior Miss programs have done for me.

Ellie Buakalo

I am honoured to be given the role as Junior Miss Leader for the Solomon Islands District. This year has been a challenging year for us with the many changes that are happening and affecting us one way or the other. However, what I’ve learnt is to be still in God and allow Him to lead us. Throughout our journey, our girls have learned a lot, not only spiritually, but physically.

The girls learned skills like dying of lavalava, sewing and floral arrangement, that will help them as they grow in the future.

Seeing them grow in their spiritual prayer life every Tuesday prayer night is also encouraging. They all have a strong desire to know more and learn about God. My prayer for them is that God will give them courage and strength in their own journey in the Lord, as sure enough this journey won’t be easy. May they all find hope, love and joy in the little things

they do, knowing that everything we do is for the glory of God. Be blessed and thank you.

Jennifer Kinikoroa I’m Martha and I want to thank God for Junior Miss programs. It motivates me, especially life skills like dying lavalavas and sewing calico. Being a very young girl like me, it helps me to learn new things in my life. What a great God we serve. Ellie and I are twins.

Martha Buakalo