Solomon Islands District Newsletter (Volume 4, Issue 9)

Solomon Islands District

NEWSLETTER September 2021 Volume 4, Issue 9

Salvation Army Foundations Training One of the challenges leading the rapid mission growth of The Salvation Army in the Solomon Islands is that it has outpaced the readiness of Salvationists preparing to enter the Officer Training College in PNG. The strategy employed by the District Officers to meet this challenge is to provide a pathway of training in the Solomon Islands for village appointed church leaders of newly established Salvation Army congregations.

“Salvation Army Foundations” is the first unit of the Solomon Islands ‘EQUIP: Pathway to Leadership’ training program conducted over four days, providing teaching in Theology, Mission, Ministry & Leadership from a Salvation Army context.

It aims to equip church leaders with existing leadership skills and ministry experience to lead in the context of The Salvation Army, while suitable candidates for Officership are identified and prepared to enter the Officer Training College.

Throughout the week leaders from 8 of the 9 Salvation Army churches from across the Solomon Islands, along with the Area Leaders from Malaita and Western Provinces, participated in the training course at the District Quarters in Honiara.

The leaders travelled from North Malaita, East Areare, Small Malaita, West Kwara’ae and Fataleka, by road and sea, with the leaders from Moscom travelling the furthest with a 24 hour voyage by ship.

The course commenced on Monday, 27th September with the following sessions over the four days: 1. Foundation of THEOLOGY Salvation Army Doctrines to build upon the participants understanding of Salvation Army beliefs taught during Soldiership Classes.

2. Foundation of MISSION Salvation Army Culture, using the 4-part Boundless Salvation DVD series to learn how The Salvation

Army was shaped by its history, theology, culture and mission.

3. Foundation of MINISTRY Salvation Army Distinctives to explore the unique expressions of Salvation Army uniform, symbolism, sacraments, discipleship and programs.

4. Foundation of LEADERSHIP Salvation Army Leadership context, calling, covenants and ceremonies.

On the final day of training Major Vanessa took the women aside to conduct a training session in women’s ministries while Major Robert conducted a session on church administration with the men.

The final day concluded with the District taking the leaders out for a night of fellowship and dinner at the Palm Sugar Café. After a week of intense training the leadership team then enjoyed a relaxing day of swimming and snorkeling at Turtle Beach.

Inside this issue:

Doing Theology in the 2 Context of Poverty & Injustice

The Forgotten Father

2

Labour Mobility Program

2

World Vision Gender Theology Workshop

3

Gudfala Laef blong 3 Evri Gele an Evri Boe Bloody Ridge Memorial Walk

3

Personal Reflection

4

Special points of interest:  Contextual Theology  Father’s Day  Employment  Workshops  Gender Equality  WW2 History

Doing Theology in the Context of Poverty & Injustice Following an eight week reading period at the beginning of the semester, Major Robert joined with other MTD students in the Melbourne Stream to participate in a one week intensive on “Doing Theology in the Context of Poverty & Injustice” via Zoom. The intensive

identified a number of key questions and core convictions about contextual theology that stimulated some robust discussion from each others vocational and cultural contexts.

In the context of the Solomon Islands, developing a theology that emerges out of and connects with one of the ‘Least Developed Countries’ in the Pacific requires reading the Bible through the eyes of those who are being oppressed by “relationships that don’t work, that isolate, that abandon or devalue” (Myers, 2011, p. 75). In doing so, we become captured by God’s compassion,

challenged by God’s justice and called by God to action.

This is particularly important in forming an indigenous Christian response to current local challenges that reflects God’s justice and compassion when dealing with issues like gender inequality, systemic corruption, climate change, aid dependence and COVID-19. Just this month, Salvation Army leaders in Honiara participated in two World Vision workshops with other local church leaders to form a ‘Theology of Gender Equality’ and develop lessons for children on ‘A Good Life for All Boys & Girls’.

The Forgotten Father On Father’s Day this year, Honiara Corps put on a special morning tea for the dads during the Sunday morning service.

Major Robert spoke from Matthew 1:1925 about Joseph, whom he called ‘The Forgotten Father’.

Joseph doesn’t receive as much attention in the gospels or churches throughout history as Mary, the mother of Jesus does. Yet, Joseph accepted a son who was not biologically his, raising Him as His own and training Him in his trade as a carpenter. His obedience and faithfulness to take Mary as his wife and be the earthly father of the Son of God is inspiring and sets an

example for fathers today. The message spoke deeply to the fathers present and offered encouragement to blended families in the congregation. While it is important to acknowledge that Father’s

Day is certainly a challenge for some, it was wonderful to see families celebrate together in a full church and hear the love and appreciation for their dads expressed during the testimony time.

Labour Mobility Program

After presenting a session on “Personal Hygiene, Good Nutrition & Well-being” at the Labour Mobility Pre-Departure Briefing in July, The Salvation Army was invited back to participate in another two

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briefings in August and September. This time these two groups consisted of an equal number of men and women, so Major Vanessa joined the presentations to help facilitate culturally appropriate discussions about personal hygiene with the female workers.

The feedback received from both the program organisers and participating workers was very positive, keeping the door open for further involvement by The Salvation Army with future groups.

After the September presentation, one of the male workers awaiting departure approached Majors Robert and Vanessa

while they were at the beach in Vasale, North West Guadalcanal to express his appreciation for their presentation and tell them how helpful the information was to him. This worker was preparing to work in Brisbane for three years to earn enough income to contribute to the development of his village and support his family business at the ‘Veuru Submarine Dive’ beach.

It was such an encouragement to hear his story and aspirations to improve the quality of life for his family and community through the Labour Mobility Program in Australia.

Solomon Islands District

World Vision Gender Theology Workshop World Vision hosted four days of training entitled ‘Church Leaders Empowerment Workshop’ exploring ‘Foundations for Safety and Protection of Families in Solomon Islands, which brought together 32 church leaders from Honiara. The workshop was facilitated by Rev Dr Cliff Bird who has done extensive studying and teaching about Gender Equality Theology to address violence against women and children in the Solomon Islands.

Major Vanessa was delighted to have Honiara Corps Officers Envoys Wency & Fostina Ramo’oroa accompany her at this

training event and see how intently they engaged with the teaching and how positively they interacted with other church leaders.

The Salvation Army has a rich heritage of women in leadership, which continues today through the international presence of The Salvation Army in 132 countries.

In Solomon Islands, this is a counter cultural area of teaching that challenges generations of gender inequality and gender-based violence. Envoy Fostina shares her thoughts on these challenges and the impact of this workshop in her reflection at the end of this newsletter...

Gudfala Laef blong Evri Gele an Evri Boe Gudfala laef blong evri gele an evri boe (A Good Life All Boys & Girls) was a workshop run by World Vision and the Ministry of Education & Human Resource Development (MEHRD) to assist Sunday

School teachers in the Solomon Islands deliver lessons in gender equality and positive gender relationships.

This training came out of the World Vision Channels of Hope for Gender material from Vanuatu, so that the two training resources can be used side-by-side for both parents and children.

A Good Life has five modules containing a total of 17 lessons covering the following topics: Introduction to Gender; Honour & Respect all Human Beings; Partners in God’s Family; Character, Conduct & Actions; and Healthy Gender Relationships.

This training was an excellent follow-on from the Gender Equality Theology workshop attended by Major Vanessa and Envoys Wency & Fostina.

Major Vanessa comments, “One of the highlights was being able to sit in a room with like minded people who are wanting to bring children to Jesus, as well as share with them how we are to have healthy relationships with each other and God. Another benefit from the training is that I have been asked by the facilitators from MEHRD to help with proof reading and making suggestions to improve the manual so that it is a quality product that they can share with all the churches and their Sunday School leaders.”

Bloody Ridge Memorial Walk While living and working in Honiara you are literally surrounded by World War 2 history from the Battle of Guadalcanal.

The 12th—14th September marked the 79th anniversary of one of the bloodiest land battles of the campaign between the Japanese Imperial Army and US & Allied forces known as the “Battle of Edson’s Ridge (aka Bloody Ridge).

Located just behind Henderson Airport and along the Lunga River, the site has two memorials located at each end of the ridge to commemorate the two fronts of the offensive where US Marines defended the airport from the Japanese,

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impacting the Japanese offensive on the Kokoda Track in PNG and proving to be a pivotal battle that contributed to the outcome of WW2.

To commemorate this anniversary, the Honiara Hash Harriers running and walking group mapped out a run/walk through ‘Bloody Ridge’ passing a New Zealand munitions bunker and US Marines machine gun fox holes. Majors Robert and Vanessa took the opportunity to participate in this historic walk to immerse themselves in this extraordinary history and remember the incredible sacrifices from both sides of the battle.

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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

 Sponsorship for construction of Officer Quarters  Land for Honiara Corps  New appointment proposals for Solomon Islands  Identifying future Officer Candidates  Preparations for 10th Anniversary in November

Personal Reflection…

First, before I pen down some words to reflect on the workshop that I attended, let me thank God for His goodness and faithfulness that enables me to attend the workshop on Gender Equality Theology. This workshop was coordinated by World Vision Solomon Islands and attended by SICA & SIFGA members, The Salvation Army and the Ministry of Women Children & Family Affairs.

This is my first time ever to attend such a workshop like this and that workshop was well presented. That workshop was basically on Gender Equality. In other words, it was about recognizing women in leadership, women in society and women in church and that was quite challenging for me as a woman coming from a male dominated society where men are the boss, the head of the family and his decision is final.

Women have no or little say in any decision making with regards to family matters, including assets. During those three days of listening and learning I was amazed to discover some of the very important fundamental characteristics of women which was hidden or misunderstood for many years. Women deserve to be treated like human being because women were created in the Image of God as were men. I did not interact a lot with some of the participants because I was very shy and also because it was my first time to attend a workshop but I did learn a lot. Before I came to that workshop, I knew nothing about

Gender Equality. The only thing I know was men are superior than women in society that’s what I was taught and learned and observed in my community for years. The society that I came from men is the boss and always be the boss. But now there is a twist in my thinking after attending that workshop. Male and female are equal AND different. Both have dignity and equality rooted in God, and both have different (biological) characteristics.

Therefore, men and women are equal and should be treated equally. Man, Woman, boys and girls were created equal with equal responsibility and no one is created above the other, so there is a level playing field for all humankind. It is very important for men to know that there is no person, culture, religion or theology that has the right to belittle, inferiorise any human being whom God declared very good, especially woman for this matter. This topic is a challenging one. To preach this message in a male dominated society would be very challenging. But with the grace of God I believe this message will reach every community in the country. I believe in the Word of God which says nothing is too hard for the Lord. Amen. I am thankful to God to be part of a Church that has from its beginning recognise the women’s right and responsibility in the church, in leadership, in society and in family. The Salvation Army has been advocating in this space right

from the beginning. I walked out from the workshop after the third day with excitement after I discovered that I as a woman God has created me equal as men. I also acknowledge that there are some work that only men can do so as women, no question.

Therefore, I encourage women not to allow our cultural practice, especially the way we were treated to hinder us from whom God created and calls us to be. All Glory and honour to our God for unleashing the message of equality for a season such as this in recognition of the same and equal responsibility of care which God has given to both man and woman right from the beginning of creation.

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Envoy Fostina Ramo’oroa