Solomon Islands District Newsletter (Volume 5, Issue 1)

Solomon Islands District

NEWSLETTER January 2022 Volume 5, Issue 1

COVID-19 Community Transmission While the rest of the world has lived with the reality of wearing masks, social distancing, and varying degrees of lockdown restrictions for the past two years, Solomon Islands has remained free of COVID-19 in the community, with twenty five cases imported from repatriation flights contained and eliminated in quarantine.

This two year reprieve from community transmission ended abruptly with a single case crossing the western border between Solomon Islands and PNG to Ontong Java in the Malaita Outer Islands on the 19th January. The first case was then transmitted via passengers onboard the MV Akwa to Honiara, resulting in an outbreak of 48 cases in the Capital within 24 hours, prompting a 60 hour lockdown.

In response to the outbreak and lockdown, the District Officers implemented their District COVID-19 Sunday Worship Plan that was put together 18 months ago in readiness for any community transmission. This plan includes the following measures:  No Public Worship Service

at Rock Haven Inn  Sunday

Worship to be divided into small home

Neighbourhood Fellowship Gatherings.  Social Distancing Enforced  Hand Sanitiser Supplied  Face Masks Mandatory  NO Physical Contact

Each Neighbourhood Group leader was provided a hygiene pack with hand sanitiser, soap and other products; along with worship resources that included a 7 week sermon series on the book of Romans, Bible Studies and Salvation Army magazines.

Inside this issue:

In addition to these resources, Major Robert will preach the sermon series via video each week, which will be posted on the Honiara Corps Facebook group for those in Honiara who can’t attend a Neighbourhood Fellowship Group and for the other congregations in the Provinces across the District.

Western Province Mission Trip

Following the 60 hour lockdown, access to shops, markets and public transport was restricted to people who had been fully vaccinated only, which excluded 80% of the population due to very low vaccination rates (due to vaccine hesitancy not lack of availability). This resulted in long queues at vaccination sites by desperate and fearful people.

Honiara was then placed into a further four day lockdown two days later because of the rapid escalation of cases in Honiara and the spread into other provinces. At the time of publishing this newsletter, there were 1486 COVID-19 cases and 12 deaths.

The four day total lockdown was immediately followed by a partial lockdown that includes a daily curfew from 5:00 pm to 8:00 am. The Salvation Army is currently discussing the best avenue of support during these very challenging times.

2

Munda New Opening 2 Learning Space Munda New Opening Property Allocation

2

Munda New Opening Soldiership Classes

3

Paeloge Mission Tsunami Houses

3

Paeloge Mission Opportunity

3

Personal Reflection

4

Special points of interest:  Mission Team  Mission Impact  Mission Property  Mission Growth  Mission Follow-up  Mission Opportunities

Western Province Mission Trip After spending a week of furlough at Zipolo Resort on Lola Island in the Western Province, Majors Robert and Vanessa met their mission team from Honiara in Munda on New Georgia Island for a week long mission trip to the Western Province. The mission trip

started at Munda New Opening with congregation leaders Nominees Rex & Manalyn Tiokomateana, followed by a journey via road and sea to Paeloge Village, near the Western Province capital Gizo, then a return trip back to Munda for their weekend services.

development of Munda New Opening, Information Session with community, Soldiership Classes; (Paeloge) Visit of houses built by The Salvation Army after the 2007 Tsunami, exploration of mission opportunities, Information Session with community.

The mission team included District Officers Majors Robert & Vanessa Evans, Area Officers for Western Province Envoys Alick & Esther Hagi and Honiara Corps Worship Team Member Jeffrey Kalia. The mission trip had multiple purposes, which included: (Munda) Follow-up of newly established ‘Learning Space’, mapping of land allocated for

Munda New Opening Learning Space When Munda Salvation Army leaders Rex and Manalyn returned home after the 10th Anniversary Weekend, they went straight to work to commence a Learning Space to teach literacy to children in their community who are unable to

attend school. The arrival of the mission team provided eagerly awaited teaching resources and stationery supplies to support the growth of this mission initiative. The Jolly Phonics teaching materials were purchased by funds from THQ and the stationery was purchased from a donation from session mates of Majors Robert and Vanessa. These resources were gratefully received by Rex and Manalyn and put to immediate use when they invited Major Vanessa to lead a class with 38 children between the ages of 4 and 12 the next day. The children were totally engaged during the

class, participating in a group sentence formation activity and individual writing practice of the letters they were taught.

This Learning Space is having a positive impact in their community, bridging a gap in the education of these children.

Munda New Opening Property Allocation A significant part of the process of a village becoming a new opening of The Salvation Army in this Territory is the allocation of tribal land by community leaders for mission use. When the Tribal Land Usage Lease Agreement was signed back in 2020, the exact location of the

Page 2

land had not been determined. This visit provided an opportunity for the District Officers to meet with congregation leaders and the Paramount Chief to map out the land allocated to The Salvation Army. The land chosen by the Paramount Chief is a significant allocation of space that reflects his confidence in the mission and ministry of The Salvation Army to add value to their community. The property is situated along a walking track that links two villages and offers a generous amount of space for immediate and future development. With this allotment settled, Rex is now eager to

begin clearing a space to build a church from bush materials for their emerging mission, which currently meets in their home. After an information session was conducted, other community members stepped up to assist Rex with the construction of their own church.

Solomon Islands District

Munda New Opening Soldiership Classes Following a community information session about The Salvation Army upon arrival of the mission team in Munda, an opportunity was provided for those interested in learning more to return on the weekend for Soldiership Classes to pursue their possible interest in joining

The Salvation Army. Twelve people came back for the classes, which were jointly taught by Major Robert and Envoy Alick.

These classes had a unique dynamic because the participants were inactive members of a neighbouring church denomination. Therefore, the classes were delivered as an advanced information session to explore in detail the history, mission, theology and ministry of The Salvation Army to gain a deeper understanding of this new church operating in their community, rather than a recruitment drive. The Salvation Army has no intention of taking people away from other churches, but to

compliment the body of Christ through its specific calling as an integral mission movement. Nevertheless, two eager participants stepped forward on the Sunday to sign a Soldier’s Covenant as a sign of commitment to become Soldiers of the Munda Salvation Army.

Paeloge Tsunami Houses In 2020, when Envoys Alick and Esther first visited Paeloge Village, the District Officers asked them to inspect the houses built by The Salvation Army after the 2007 tsunami.

It was then discovered that eleven of the fifteen

houses were relocated by the recipients back down beside the seaside where access to transport, the local school and livelihood activities was much easier.

This mission trip gave the District Officers the opportunity to experience for themselves the difficult climb up the hill where the houses were originally built. While the rationale for the new location was a well-intended response at the time from a risk management point of view, it created unintended challenges for those living in these houses. The community is still very grateful for the gift of these homes, so they felt

compelled to apologise to the District Officers for moving the houses. Major Robert was able to reassure them that no apology was necessary and that The Salvation Army now understands clearly why they made the move.

Paeloge Mission Opportunity Envoys Alick and Esther have laid the foundation for future mission in Paeloge through their follow-up visits over the past two years. This mission trip enabled the District Officers to assess any mission opportunities for The Salvation Army that may exist in this community. After an

Volume 5, Issue 1

evening fellowship service and a Q&A information session with community members it became evident that there was a very strong interest in a Learning Space being established in this village. A Salvation Army family from Honiara Corps who are currently living in Paeloge provides an alignment of opportunity to facilitate the commencement of this mission endeavor. Major Vanessa will continue to work with the interested parties by training them in the use of Jolly Phonics and resourcing them with supplies to test out the viability of this interest. The Area Officers will also

continue to journey with Paeloge as they work towards the establishment of The Salvation Army. It is encouraging to see how a disaster relief initiative two years before The Salvation Army officially commenced in the Solomon Islands is manifesting into ongoing mission today.

Page 3

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

 Continued prayer for the fragile peace in Honiara to remain  A peaceful solution to underlying causes of the civil unrest  Widespread COVID-19 community transmission  Health system to stand up under the strain of COVID-19 cases  Provincial churches cut off from Honiara due to COVID-19

Personal Reflection…

Well, what a start to 2022! Rob and I started the year off by having a week holiday in the Western Province at Lola Island Zipolo Resort. This is just what we needed, a week of relaxation, reading (I read 4 books while away), swimming, walking, kayaking (Rob had fun going around the different islands), visiting Skull Island, enjoying each others company and good food that was cooked by some one else. The week away enabled us to reconnect with each other and to reflect on the year past and to look at the year ahead, both from a ministry and a personal perspective. It was great to take some time out of our busy schedules and just spend quality time together. It was good for the soul and for the heart.

After our relaxing week away it was off to Munda to meet with our congregation leaders Rex & Manalyn.

What an amazing work this young couple are doing in the name of The Salvation Army.

God is using their gifts and abilities to meet the needs of many young children

in Munda who do not get to go to school.

When we arrived on Wednesday morning to observe Rex and Manalyn teach the children at our learning space, I was invited to take the class rather than observe them. This reminded me of the saying that one of our close officer friends used to say “You need to be RFA” (Ready for Anything). Well, that certainly came into play. It was such a great opportunity to show/teach some of the Jolly Phonics material that we had taken along with us. The group work and the individual work, as well as incorporating actions and songs, were a great way of enabling Rex & Manalyn to incorporate new techniques of teaching 38 children from the ages of 4-12.

There were many other great things that we took part in at Munda and Paeloge, however, it was great to come home and sleep in our own bed. Over the two weeks away we had gone from a really soft bed to a really hard one, so being in our own bed was amazing. It really is the

little things that make you appreciate home and what you have. I loved being away and experiencing all the new things I did as well as meeting all the new people that we met as well as getting to know Rex & Manalyn and their children, and getting to know Alex & Esther and Jeff better. I love going away and seeing more of the Solomons and more of what God is doing through The Salvation Army.

Major Vanessa Evans