Santo Trip

Yesterday after church, I got on a plane and flew 45 minutes north to the island of Espiritu Santo to meet with the media committee involved in planning the upcoming AG General Conference. Going to Santo is always special for me because I spent my teenage years there and my last visit was in 1994. The first person I saw when I came out of the airport arrival was William.

William and I were childhood friends and the last time we saw each other was in 1970 in the country of New Caledonia! William’s parents were the first Ni-Vanuatu couple who came and were baptized in the church my parents were pioneering there in the late 1960’s. So we have not seen each other in quite a few years! What a blessing to be together and catch up on family news!

The black and white photo was taken in 1969-1970 in New Caledonia; William is the little boy on my left. His little sister and cousins are also in the photo. The color photo on the right was taken this afternoon of William and myself after the media committee meeting.

William and a group of committed young people have been reaching out to children and youth in the town of Luganville, Santo. With the assistance of our Santo missionary colleagues, Bryan and Renee Webb, they have rented a building for a new youth center and plan to expand their outreach programs. Please pray that all opposition to this youth center will cease and that they will have the funds to fix up the inside of this building and to buy the instruments and computers for their new program. If you would like to help them, please contact Bryan Webb directly.

It was a wonderful day in Santo and tonight I took the last flight home to Port Vila.