We had a great youth camp in NW Malekula. Over a hundred young people plus as many younger siblings from several different villages came to the village of Leviamp for the youth camp. It was a beautiful place, right on the coast and the whole village was very gracious and hospitable to us all. We were well fed, slept in our sleeping bags and mosquito nets, took our daily baths in the river and enjoyed beautiful moonlit after-church dinners. A portable generator was turned on for the nightly services so we had electrical instruments and PA system but otherwise there is no power or telephone service on that side of the island.
Lori spoke two mornings on “making a difference in our generation” (Queen Esther) and then by request spoke on sexual purity a third morning. Gary preached a five night series on the Will of God. We were delighted to be joined by Pastor Simon Kor, who surprised us by flying down from Santo and translating into Bislama every night for Gary (Lori was very happy not to have to do that!). He also preached the closing Sunday service. Leviamp is Pastor Simon’s home village though he has spent many years pastoring on the island of Santo. He also told us about the first time he accompanied my father to preach at Leviamp in the Big Nambas territory in the late 1970’s. It was wonderful to meet people in the church today who still remember my father’s visit.
The camp ended on Sunday with twenty-five young people being baptized in water. During the teaching sessions, we noticed that only 1 in every 10 kids actually owned a Bible. So we brought home the names of everyone who was baptized and plan to send them each a Bible and Christian Life booklet. If you would like to help provide Bibles, please contact us.