Solomon Islands Ministries Newsletter (Volume 1, Issue 7)

Solomon Islands Ministries

NEWSLETTER June 2018 Volume 1, Issue 7

Return to Kwai After teaching the newly written Soldiership Training Course to the congregations in Moscom and Honiara, it was time to return to Kwai to conduct the final test round of this new material. The timing of this trip was two-fold: To finish the final edit of the Soldiership Training Course for presentation at the Territorial Leaders Conference in PNG and to prepare the next round of recruits for enrollment at the upcoming Salvation Army Convention in North Malaita.

Since the first visit to Kwai in January, it has been exciting to discover that the mission outreach of the North Malaita Fellowship has extended well beyond the Kwai River into the neighbouring villages to further north onto Manao'oba Island and down south into West Kwara'ae. This new outreach brought eager recruits into Kwai for the Soldiership Training Course from Lolu, Kolefe, Tabarara, Ona and Manao'oba Island! Praise the Lord for this extraordinary mission growth, which will produce many new congregations in Malaita!!

The beautiful simplicity and deep spirituality of this village provided the perfect atmosphere for this ministry trip with early morning prayer meetings and evening worship

Inside this issue:

services creating a spirit of anticipation among those gathered.

Once again, the words of the chorus "You are my God, You are my Father, You are my King and I worship You" in both English and To'obaita languages connected with the Spirit of God and became an anthem for the weekend, just as it did during the ministry trip to Moscom. Another song that added to the tone of the weekend was 'Mighty Man of War', which was introduced by Pastor Joshua Henry from Honiara Corps. It somehow seemed very fitting to the purpose of the trip to train new Soldiers of The Salvation Army "Mighty man of War, Lion of Judah. We bow down and worship you. Yahweh Yahweh, come and do what only you can

do." The rapid expansion of The Salvation Army throughout Malaita is certainly evidence of ‘what only God can do!’

The schedule for these trips is always fluid to fit into the rhythms of village life. This weekend was no exception, with the course being moved from Saturday to Sunday morning after the worship service to allow time for those traveling from afar to arrive in time.

The resulting four consecutive sessions in one day didn't seem to phase the very enthusiastic recruits who were eager to engage with the new course material.

Their eagerness was matched by the enthusiasm of the existing Soldiers from the North Malaita Fellowship whose curiosity about the new material had a number of them stay behind

Return to Kwai (continued)

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Lavalava Project

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Self Denial Appeal

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Junior Soldiers Enrollment

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Territorial Leaders Conference

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First 6 Months Review

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Special points of interest:  32 Soldier recruits ready for enrolment  48 Junior Soldiers now enrolled in Solomon Is.  100 lavalavas sold!  Self Denial Appeal introduced  Attendance at the TLC for the first time.

Return to Kwai (continued) after worship to join in. Of the 22 participants who completed the new Soldiership Training Course all 13 of the new recruits signed up to be enrolled at the Convention in July by the Territorial Commander.

will provide a resource that will serve The Salvation Army in the Solomon Islands well into the future with a new generation of well-equipped Salvationists rising up in every Province! Joshua's presence was also

a real blessing as a translator (when necessary) and an evaluator to assess the effectiveness of the course. It also served as a training opportunity to prepare him as a future facilitator.

Beside the numbers, the feedback from the participants was equally encouraging to Major Robert and Pastor Joshua. To hear consistent comments that the material is easy to understand, well formatted and culturally appropriate affirmed the reasons behind the rewrite.

More helpful than the encouraging words were the comments and questions that have contributed to minor edits along the journey. It is hoped that the final draft

Lavalava Project Solomon Islands Ministries are very proud to present these stunning, locally designed and made, lavalavas inspired

by The Salvation Army flag. The Honiara Corps Home League have created this unique local expression of the Army Flag as a fundraising project targeting the international Salvation Army community.

All proceeds from this fundraising project will support the growing mission and ministry of the Honiara Corps.

This project has been called “Solo Army Lavalavas” - ‘Solo’ is the local slang for Solomon Islands, ’Army’ an abbreviation of The Salvation Army, and ’Lavalava’ the

local term for a ’sarong’. Every ‘Solo Army Lavalava’ has been handmade so every design has its own unique dye pattern.

Visit the ‘Solo Army Lavalavas’ Facebook Group to see this unique expression of The Salvation Army Solomon Islands Ministries modeled in a variety of contexts. You can also place an order through the group.

‘Solo Army Lavalavas’ are selling for AUD$20, NZD$20, USD$15.

https://www.facebook.com/ groups/SoloArmyLavalavas/ Order your ‘Solo Army Lavalava’ today!

Self Denial Appeal This year the Honiara Corps joined with the International Salvation Army by participating in the Self Denial Appeal. As receivers of mission support funding from the Australian Territory, the Solomon Islands Ministries have been given the opportunity to become givers through the Self Denial Appeal in the spirit of Paul’s commendation of the Macedonian Churches to “also excel in this grace of giving” (2 Corinthians 8:7).

The Self Denial DVD clips gave the Corps an insight into the international mission of The

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Salvation Army by providing a vision of a mission that extends well beyond the shores of the Solomon Islands.

The theme “We Rise As One” not only inspired the congregation to give but it became the inspiration behind the theme for the Honiara Integrated Primary School’s annual camp. Principal Jimmy Tepo used the theme to inspire 1300 students to “Rise as One” to make a positive impact in their school and community.

Solomon Islands Ministries

Junior Soldiers Enrollment The enthusiasm shown towards the Junior Soldiers program in the Solomon Islands has been very encouraging.

Junior Soldiers was introduced to the North Malaita Fellowship in January, resulting in 10 enrollments with 3 more

kids doing preparation classes. It was then introduced to Moscom in May, resulting in 18 enrollments. This month was Honiara’s turn, with 13 completing preparation classes and 11 enrolled (2 were absent and will be enrolled in July).

There are also another 4 kids from Honiara presently doing their preparation classes. That will make a total of 48 Junior Soldiers from three congregations and two Provinces across the Solomon Islands in six months!!

Webster Buakalo and Martha Hakolo have done a wonderful job to prepare this most recent group of Junior Soldiers for enrollment at the Honiara Corps, with the support of Margaret Akwastaloa. They have fully embraced this discipleship program for the children of The Salvation Army Solomon Islands, recognizing the importance of investing into the spiritual growth and development of this new generation of young Salvationists.

Territorial Leaders Conference Majors Robert & Vanessa Evans were invited to attend the Territorial Leaders Conference in Port Moresby along with Territorial and Divisional Leaders from all over the PNG Territory, giving Solomon Islands representation at the TLC for the first time. This is a significant step in celebrating the growth and development of The Salvation Army Solomon Islands Ministries, with it now being embraced fully as a part of the PNG Territory.

The TLC was led by Commissioners Willis & Barbara Howell from the USA Southern Territory, with Colonel Julie Alley from PNG setting the tone for the weekend with the keynote address by declaring, “The kingdom of God does not rise and fall on our ability. We are to lean into the supernatural ability of Jesus Christ.” This powerful introduction was followed by

two days of amazing teaching from the guest leaders who spoke around the theme “Following Christ, In Leadership.”

In the opening session, Commissioner Willis spoke on the importance of ’guarding your heart’ from Proverbs 4:23—”Above all else, guard your heart, for it affects everything you do.” Later, Commissioner Barbara led an interactive session inviting the leaders present to share the characteristics of leadership they found most inspiring and then spoke about the nature of servant leadership.

On the Sunday morning of the conference Majors Robert and Vanessa gave a presentation on the growth of the mission and ministry in Solomon Islands.

This presentation was enthusiastically received by the PNG Officers as well as the visiting Commissioners. During the

presentation, Major Vanessa spoke about the new Solo Army Lavalava project and presented the Commissioners and PNG Territorial Leaders with a lavalava each as a gift from the Solomon Islands. This gift made a real impression on Commissioner Barbara who ordered 40 to take back to the USA Southern Territory for a Divisional Women’s Weekend.

During the week following the TLC, Majors Robert and Vanessa engaged in a number of meetings at THQ with Cabinet Secretaries and department heads to discuss some of the new initiatives ready to launch in the Solomon Islands. These meetings proved very productive with a strong commitment of support coming from THQ for the ongoing development of The Salvation Army in this emerging district of the Papua New Guinea Territory.

Volume 1, Issue 7

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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 mission outreach of the Papua New Guinea 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:  Red Shield Appeal Fundraising Dinner (13th July)  Salvation Army Convention in North Malaita (19th—22nd July)  Capital funds to set-up School Loans Program  Flexible Training Program for future Officers in Solomon Islands

First 6 Months Review...

“I thank my God every time I remember you.

In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”

Philippians 1:3-6

2 Mission Trips - Kwai, North Malaita and Moscom, East Areare 2 Ministry Trips – Return to Kwai and Moscom for teaching Salvation Army Convention to be conducted in North Malaita (19th—22nd July) 10 New Missions in Malaita Province 32 Senior Soldiers to be enrolled at the North Malaita Convention 48 Junior Soldiers enrolled at Honiara, Moscom & Kwai 2 Adherents accepted at Moscom 3 Baby Dedications at Honiara & Moscom 5 Women completed Home League Leadership Course in Moscom 1 Woman completed Financial Capability Training with Caritas NZ 10 Local Officers completed first Discipleship Unit of EQUIP 28 Volunteers recruited for SAES Team & SAES Trailer donated 17 SAES Team Members completed Information Session Honiara Integrated Primary School partnership Maritime Safety Procedures put in place Red Shield Appeal Chairperson appointed RSA Committee recruited RSA Fundraising Dinner (13th July) Self Denial Appeal conducted Soldiership Training Course rewritten EQUIP Training Course written (A Pathway to Discipleship & Officership)