Solomon Islands Ministries
NEWSLETTER December 2018 Volume 1, Issue 13
A Year in Review... As 2018 comes to a close and we prepare to launch into a new year with all it’s opportunities ahead, it is appropriate to pause and reflect back upon all the blessings that have been poured out by God over the past 12 months. It has been an extraordinary year of growth and development for The Salvation Army Solomon Islands with new leaders, new openings, new soldiers, and new ministry opportunities; so there is much to celebrate! Upon arrival on the 13th December 2017, Majors Robert and Vanessa Evans came to the Solomon Islands with a threefold mission development strategy:
1. MISSION PARTNERSHIPS Develop Future Leaders 2. MISSION RESOURCES Develop Financial Sustainability
Army in the Solomon Islands through strategic conversations with cultural insiders who have committed themselves to a covenant relationship as indigenous Salvationists.
From this platform of learning, Majors Robert and Vanessa started the year by building strong networks with local and expat leaders from a variety of churches, community groups, businesses and international NGO’s. These networks proved to be valuable in helping to identify future programs and supporters to enable The Salvation Army to appropriately engage in this emerging mission space.
3. MISSION GROWTH Develop Further Ministries This strategy emerged from the conviction that “The goal of a mission is the emergence of a church out of the soul and soil of a people” (as articulated by Missiologist Henry Venn). Such a conviction required a posture of learning to discern where God was leading The Salvation
The same question was asked of every community leader by Major Robert: “Where do you wish the churches were more active in the Solomon Islands?”
The answers to that question were remarkably consistent with every leader identifying youth vulnerability and family violence as the primary areas of concern where the churches are needed most. Armed with this knowledge and the rapid expansion of newly established congregations across Malaita and Neighbourhood Fellowship groups across Honiara this year, The Salvation Army is becoming a well positioned mission driven church to respond to these needs. The “Heart to God, Hand to Man” approach of The Salvation Army resonates strongly with Solomon Islanders and is sure to motivate local Salvationists to fully participate in proposed mission initiatives in the new year. This final newsletter for 2018 will provide an overview of the mission activities throughout this year that have fulfilled each part of the three-fold mission strategy, providing a foundation for future growth in 2019. Raising up indigenous leaders and generating sustainable income is key to resourcing the growing mission and ministry of The Salvation Army to be the church God has ordained and local leaders have imagined. As is frequently declared by Solomon Islanders, “God is good! All the time, God is good...
Inside this issue:
MISSION PARTNERSHIPS
2
Development of Future Leaders
2
MISSION RESOURCES
2
Development of Financial Sustainability
2
MISSION GROWTH
3
Development of Further Ministries
3
A Personal Note
4
Special points of interest: Candidates Applications A Pathway to Officership DME Plant Vilij Kaleko Red Shield Appeal New Congregations New Programs
MISSION PARTNERSHIPS - Develop Future Leaders It was exciting to end the year with the submission of two candidates applications for Officership from the Solomon Islands. These applications are indicative of what God is doing to ignite a calling upon the lives of local Salvationists who have fully engaged with the growing mission of The Salvation Army. Along with these two formal applications is the informal appointment of these two leaders in positions of leadership to oversee the expansion of The Salvation Army in Honiara and Malaita. Wency Ramo’oroa has been appointed as the Honiara Corps Leader and Joshua Henry has been appointed as the Malaita Area Leader.
The expansion into Malaita has attracted a number of village Pastors who have connected with The Salvation Army through new missions. These Pastors are mostly untrained spiritual leaders who lead small congregations in local villages. As The Salvation Army embraces these new congregations, it comes with the responsibility to train and equip these
Pastors to lead in a Salvation Army context. To this end, Major Robert wrote a training program called “A Pathway to Officership” to provide a contextual framework of Theology, Mission, Ministry and Leadership for these Pastors. The rollout of this course will commence in the
new year with existing Pastors from Moscom, Gateway and Ramah and new Pastors from Aisalinga, Gou’ulu and Port Adam in the Malaita Province. The introduction of Neighbourhood Fellowship groups in August across Honiara saw the emergence of local small group leaders from Honiara Corps. This team of leaders meet every six weeks for training and development to effectively
teach the One Army discipleship program within their neighbourhoods. Majors Robert and Vanessa visit each group on a rotating basis to offer the leaders support and encouragement and also to connect with their communities.
Further training opportunities have been introduced throughout the year to develop ministry leaders at the Honiara, Gateway and Moscom congregations. The EQUIP training program was introduced at Honiara to offer discipleship training to ‘equip the people of God for the work of the ministry.’ The Home League Leadership Course was taken to Moscom and Gateway to empower the local women of these villages. An Introductory Course was provided for a newly formed team of Emergency Services volunteers in Honiara in readiness for the arrival of the SAES Trailer that has been donated by the Victorian Salvation Army Emergency Services in Australia.
MISSION RESOURCES - Develop Financial Sustainability Keeping up with the exciting growth of The Salvation Army in the Solomon Islands has been a daunting challenge, with very limited financial resources. This challenge is being met with an intentional development strategy to structure sustainable income generating initiatives into every new mission opportunity at every level. At a District level, the DME Coconut Oil Plant being constructed in North Malaita will be a significant community enterprise that will generate income for both The Salvation Army and the local
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villages. The plant will provide jobs in the villages, purchase the coconuts at a fair price from the farmers and produce an income that will support the expanding
mission of The Salvation Army. It is envisioned that the North Malaita DME plant will be the first of many throughout the Provinces owned and operated by The Salvation Army. At a congregation level, the “Vilij Kaleko” initiative will provide bales of clothing donated by the expat community in Honiara for distribution to Salvation Army congregations in the Provinces to sell at village markets. These donated clothes will meet a need for access to clothing in remote areas and enable Corps and Fellowships to produce an
Solomon Islands Ministries
income for them to initiate local mission and ministry activities in their village settings. For Honiara Corps, the ‘Solo Army Lavalavas’ project has been a unique and effective fundraising initiative that has not only raised necessary funds for the Corps but has also given a local expression to The Salvation Army in the Solomon Islands.
At a Province (Area) level, it is planned for ‘Vilij Kaleko’ to be expanded into the wholesale market with containers of clothing being sourced from the international Salvation Army community. These bales of clothes will be sold to market venders at the Auki market to resource local women to operate their
daily market stalls without the cost and burden of traveling a 10 hour round trip to Honiara to purchase their bales. The Salvation Army will become a supplier for this busy market place rather than a competitor. Income generated through this initiative will resource Area Leaders
to respond to the growing number of requests from villages for new openings and the expansion of social programs from Honiara into the Provinces.
In July 2018 the first Red Shield Appeal fundraising event was conducted in the Solomon Islands to raise money for the purchase of the DME equipment. This event came about through the efforts of a group of AFP officers working for the Solomon Islands Police Development Program (SIPDP) who were looking for a project to support outside of their work roles. The success of this event laid a foundation for future support and fundraising events in 2019.
MISSION GROWTH - Develop Further Ministries The mission expansion of The Salvation Army in the Solomon Islands has largely happened all by itself! As a result, there are now three tiers of congregational growth: Missions, Fellowships & Corps. An invitation from a village or the initiative by an existing congregation for The Salvation to commence in a new location is designated as a “Mission.” These missions are followed up to explore the possibility and viability of commencing a new congregation. At the end of 2018 there were 11 missions at various stages of progress—Gou’ulu, Capernaum, Lolu, Sunila, Forcem Market, Aisalinga, Auki, Trinity Hill, Manawai, Port Adam and Simbo. When a mission proceeds to the next step, the village chief or proposed congregation leader completes an ‘Application for Fellowship Status Form’ and a ‘Tribal Land Usage Lease Agreement’ for submission to THQ. An approved “Fellowship” is effectively a new Corps/Church Plant. The Solomon Islands now has two Fellowships— Moscom and Ramah (Ramah application submitted for approval). The pending Ramah Fellowship is currently rebuilding their church in readiness to host the 2019 Salvation Army Convention!
Volume 1, Issue 13
When a Fellowship grows to the required number of Soldiers, Leaders and level of Mission engagement, it can then apply for Corps (full Church) status. During 2018, the North Malaita Fellowship obtained Corps status, becoming Gateway Corps during the Salvation Army Convention in North Malaita. It was an historic moment having the Territorial Commander present to formally make this recognition. Gateway Corps joins Honiara Corps as the second Corps in The Salvation Army Solomon Islands District.
Throughout the year The Salvation Army has also worked towards the establishment of two very important community programs in response to the youth vulnerability space. This includes the “School Fees Loan Program” to provide interest free loans to parents struggling with the cost of school fees.
The primary purpose of this program is simply ‘keeping kids in school longer!’ It will also empower parents to establish a pattern of savings towards future school fees. The second program is the establishment of “Learning Spaces” for those kids who have dropped out of the school system. Many of these children miss out on attending high school after grade six due to the lack of available spaces. The Salvation Army has the vision for every Corps or Fellowship building becoming a “Learning Space” to provide ongoing literacy, numeracy and other education opportunities. The establishment of an Emergency Services team, along with the donation of an SAES Trailer, is also a significant achievement for the Solomon Islands. The fact that flood waters are causing havoc in Honiara while this newsletter is being published highlights the need for this vital ministry!
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The Salvation Army Solomon Islands District Officers - Majors Robert & Vanessa Evans PO Box 323 Honiara, Solomon Islands Phone: (677) 30344
Officially launched on the 4th November 2011, The Salvation Army Solomon Islands Ministries is a District of the Papua New Guinea & Solomon Islands 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: solomon.islands@png.salvationarmy.org Website: www.png.salvationarmy.org
Prayer Points: Opening of DME (Direct Micro Expelling) Plant Commencement of new Congregations in Malaita Commencement of new Programs in Honiara Flood affected communities in Honiara Storm affected villages in North Malaita and Western Province
A Personal Note... It’s hard to believe that a year has already passed by since we arrived in Honiara and even harder to believe all that has happened in that time! We are extraordinarily grateful to God for His guidance and provision as we have immersed ourselves in this appointment and established ourselves in the Solomon Islands. We are also grateful to our Territorial Leaders for their support and the local congregations for their love and acceptance of our leadership. It is an absolute privilege to be leading The Salvation Army Solomon Islands District at this time in its history. The growth and development you have read about throughout the year is a genuine partnership between us and a passionate group of local Salvationists who passionately love God and are fully committed to the mission of The Salvation Army. It is also a partnership
with you as our supporters who have encouraged us in so many ways throughout this year. Therefore, Paul’s introduction to his letter to the Philippians is truly applicable to our context: “[We] thank [our] God every time [we] remember you. In all [our] prayers for all of you, [we] 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). As we launch into the second year of this appointment, we do so with anticipation and excitement. We look forward to the commencement of new congregations and programs, visits from friends, colleagues and mission teams, the opening of our first coconut oil plant and our second Salvation Army Convention in Malaita.
We ask that you continue to uphold us and our children in prayer throughout the year and we commit to praying for you also. May God richly bless you in 2019. Yours in Christ,
Majors Robert & Vanessa