Solomon Islands District Newsletter (Volume 4, Issue 1)

Solomon Islands District

NEWSLETTER January 2021 Volume 4, Issue 1

District Theme 2021 2021 is a milestone year for The Salvation Army in the Solomon Islands, marking ten years of mission and ministry in the ‘Hapi Isles’. From the first Sunday Service conducted in Honiara on the 1st February 2011 to the eight churches now worshipping and serving across Malaita and Western provinces and the establishment of a coconut oil plant, God’s blessing upon The Salvation Army over the past 10 years is certainly evident.

Throughout this anniversary year, the Solomon Islands District is adopting the theme “Greater Things” to celebrate the great things God has done

and to keep moving forward in faith with a steadfast belief that, in the words of songwriter Chris Tomlin, even “greater things are still to be done in this city” and nation!

Major Robert Evans launched the theme “Greater Things” on Sunday, 17th January from John 1:43-51, drawing on Jesus’ words to Nathanael, “You will see greater things than that.”

The highlight of the 10th Anniversary celebrations this year will be on the weekend of the 19th—21st November, which commemorates the official “Opening Fire” weekend of The Salvation Army’s work in the Solomon Islands.

The “Opening Fire” weekend was led by Commissioner Andrew Kalai from Papua New Guinea Territory, Commissioner James Condon from Australian Eastern Territory and Commissioners Raymond and Aylene Finger from Australian Southern Territory.

The opening celebrations were supported by Major Earle Ivers and the Brisbane City Temple

Corps Band, and attended by the Deputy Prime Minister the Hon. Manasseh Maelanga and Catholic Archbishop Adrian Smith. At the Sunday morning Holiness Meeting, the first 21 new soldiers were enrolled and three local officers were commissioned. This pioneering work of The Salvation Army in the Solomon Islands was led by Major Soddy Maraga from PNG.

Inside this issue:

The Solomon Islands District is hoping and praying that COVID-19 won’t disrupt the scheduled visit by the General (International Leader) of The Salvation Army as the special guest for the 10th Anniversary celebration in November. A visit by the General to the Solomon Islands will be an historic occasion and enormous encouragement for local Salvationists.

Nevertheless, whatever the state of travel at that time, the anniversary celebrations will proceed to allow Salvationists to commemorate 10 years of extraordinary mission and ministry in this nation.

The chosen theme is intended to keep The Salvation Army focused forward to where God is leading while looking back on the journey that has led to this moment in time.

Former General Albert Osborne penned the lyrics, “Give us faith, O Lord, we pray, faith for greater things”, which captures the Districts prayer for the next 10 years in the Solomon Islands.

Aluminium Foundry

2

Officers Quarters

2

Women’s Ministries Networking

2

Economics, Development and Human Flourishing

3

District Training Salvation Army Foundations

3

District Training Women’s Ministries

3

Personal Reflections

4

Special points of interest:  Micro Enterprises  Income Initiatives  Building Plans  Community Networking  Community Development  Leadership Training

Aluminium Foundry The Solomon Islands District has been working on a number of potential income generating projects to establish micro enterprise opportunities to help fund the mission and ministry of The Salvation Army and to generate income for Solomon Islanders.

Melted down and processed into bars of pure aluminium, the cans that litter the streets of Honiara offer a potential source of income through recycling and casting into useful aluminium products that can be sold or utilized in villages. To this end, Major Robert built a simple backyard foundry from a steel drum and

made tools for melting and processing aluminium cans, using coconut charcoal as fuel. The first melting experiment successfully produced three bars of pure aluminium with a combined weight of 4.7 kg. The next step is to negotiate a recycling value for these bars and to teach casting techniques to interested participants at Honiara Corps, then from the village churches.

garden tools. Another useful suggestion offered is to make traditional wash boards for women in the villages who still do their laundry in the rivers, rubbing their clothes on rocks.

Some possibilities for casting the aluminium include; creating brick moulds to make concrete blocks for sale or construction, cuttlebone casting to make jewelry, and sand casting to make

Officers Quarters A part of the process of preparing New Openings to be ‘appointment ready’ is the construction of Officer Quarters, so newly commissioned Officers have a place to live. This infrastructure does not yet exist in the Solomon Islands given the relative newness of The Salvation Army.

To meet this need, Major Robert has drafted plans for a standard Officers Quarters for village churches and is actively seeking the financial support of business and community networks in Honiara to sponsor the construction of this design in three locations that have been identified as a priority. A recent

conversation this month with one business leader has confirmed a sponsor

for the first Officer Quarters at Gateway Corps in North Malaita.

Women’s Ministries Networking This month Major Vanessa had the opportunity to meet with Beverly Maega, the Director of Family Life and Children’s/Women’s Ministries of the Seventh-day Adventist Church.

This meeting came about after Major Vanessa met with Joanne Zoleveke, the Senior Gender Advisor (Human Development) from the Australian High Commission, with whom she spoke about her role as District Director of Women’s Ministries.

During her meeting with Beverly, Major Vanessa gave an outline of The Salvation Army Women’s Ministries program, including Home League and Junior Miss.

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Presently in the Solomon Islands, there are a high number of teenage pregnancies, many resulting from sexual assault against young girls.

It was evident from the conversation with Beverly their mutual desire to empower these young girls in their respective congregations by teaching life skills that will protect them from future abuse and exploitation. Both ladies believe that their young women can be encouraged and mentored by some of the older women from their churches.

During their meeting they discussed resources that are available in the

Seventh-day Adventist Church and The Salvation Army. Major Vanessa shared the Territorial “Marked for Jesus” resource and Beverly shared the “Real” series from her church. Both resources can be delivered on a weekly basis or over a weekend workshop to reach as many girls as possible, without interfering with their school work or home duties.

Major Vanessa and Beverly plan to meet again in the near future for mutual encouragement and to explore ways they can work together to empower Solomon Islander girls and women.

Solomon Islands District

Economics, Development & Human Flourishing This semester, Major Robert is studying the unit ‘Economics, Development and Human Flourishing’ for his Master of Transformational Development.

Like with the previous two units ‘Climate Change, Justice and Sustainability’ and ‘Biblical Justice, Human Rights and Advocacy’, the Solomon Islands provides the perfect learning environment for this subject. The timing of this unit couldn’t be more ideal with The Salvation Army’s current exploration of a number of micro enterprise possibilities and community development projects. The semester commenced on the 26th January with a

Cohort Group that will meet weekly via Zoom to discuss the readings for the next 8 weeks. The first week focused on poverty and exclusion, providing a stimulating insight into the causes of poverty and the impact of globalization

on the world’s poorest people and communities.

The Cohort Group includes practitioners who have worked in places like Rwanda, Sri Lanka and Solomon Islands, bringing together rich and diverse knowledge and experiences to the conversation. In March the three Australian based Cohort Groups will come together in Melbourne for a one week intensive. The assessment tasks following the intensive are tailored for the students to connect their learning with their specific vocational contexts, which provides a high level of motivation throughout the semester.

District Training - Salvation Army Foundations The District Officers conducted a three day workshop at the end of January to equip the Malaita Province Area Officers, Western Province Area Leaders and Honiara Corps Officers to train New Opening leaders in ‘Salvation Army Foundations’ and Women’s Ministries.

Major Robert provided training for Envoy Wency Ramo’oroa, Envoy Joshua Henry Aebata and Alick Hagi in four subject areas: Theology, History & Culture, Mission & Ministry, and Leadership.

The purpose of the ‘Salvation Army Foundations’ course is to ensure New Openings are being led within a Salvation

Army context by village appointed leaders while Nominees (Candidates) for Officership are identified and prepared for formal training at the Officer Training College in Port Moresby. This course is a first step along ’A Pathway to Officership’ to meet the District mission priority of developing indigenous leaders of The Salvation Army in the Solomon Islands.

and study guide by John Cleary, which provides an excellent overview that integrates the history, theology, culture, worship and mission of The Salvation Army. Training sessions will be set-up in the Provinces over the next six months.

The participants in the workshop were provided a resource folder with teaching tools to expand their own knowledge and to aid their training of local leaders.

These resources also includes the ‘Boundless Salvation’ 4-part DVD series

District Training - Women’s Ministries Major Vanessa conducted training sessions during days two and three of the workshop for Envoy Fostina Ramo’oroa and Esther Hagi (unfortunately, Envoy Edith Aebata from Malaita was unable to attend). The subjects covered with this group of leaders included:  Home League - History, structure,

program planning, and the four-fold aim of Home League (worship, education, fellowship and service).  Junior Miss - Structure of the Junior

Miss program through fun, faith, fellowship, and food.

Volume 4, Issue 1

 Playgroup - Program for young mums

and under 5 pikinini.  Women in Leadership.

The ladies joined their husbands for the

‘Boundless Salvation’ DVD on Mission, which provided a reference point for their final session on the role of women in leadership in The Salvation Army.

Empowering and equipping women leaders in the District team is essential to promoting equality in team ministry where husbands and wives complement each other as leaders through their respective gifts and abilities. This is a challenge to local culture but a culture shift that has been enthusiastically embraced by Solomon Islanders who have chosen to worship and serve in The Salvation Army.

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Support Needs:  Seed Funding for Micro Enterprises You can support by donating funds to purchase equipment required to establish income generating initiatives 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

 Local sponsorship for construction of Officer Quarters  Land for Honiara Corps  Progression of Nominees/Candidates towards training for full-time ministry in The Salvation Army  Approval of project proposals submitted to supporters  Preparations for 10th Anniversary & General’s visit

Personal Reflections...

Over the last two days, we had Salvation Army Foundations training. The training is very important because I learned more about The Salvation Army involvement in ministry in different parts of the world and also the theology and culture of The Salvation Army. I have learned that The Salvation Army was influenced by the Wesleyan movement and John Wesley. I have also learned more about holiness.

The training inspired me, especially in the area of obedience. The leaders of The Salvation Army simply went out and ministered to outcast people. This is what really impacted me during this training. It reminds me that obedience is better than sacrifice. This also gave me more insight into Salvation Army theology and culture in worship. I am now more confident to explain what is The Salvation Army.

Alick Hagi

I am very pleased to attend a workshop on training of trainers about Salvation Army Foundations, conducted by Major Robert Evans, our District Officer. As a newly growing church, it is very impacting to understand what we believe. This training gives me more of an insight of The Salvation Army foundations. I am so grateful to God for sending us a leader who has a passion for equipping us to do the work of the ministry. This workshop is very important to me as a leader, equipping me to lead effectively. It is also very important for me to train our members to understand what The Salvation Army believes. I am looking forward for great things God is going to do as we continue to do His work.

Envoy Wency Ramo’oroa As an Envoy serving in Malaita Province, I have discovered that, although this three day training is called ‘Salvation Army Foundations’, it helped me through stuff

that required many hours of research into the history of The Salvation Army and also the happenings in the world that surrounds the pioneers of this worldwide movement. These were the realities which helped shape the culture and theology of the mission. From this training I was able to dive in and have a glimpse of the heart of the founder himself—General William Booth. With the contents, I am equipped with knowledge to train my leaders in Malaita Province.

Envoy Joshua Henry Aebata