Mother’s Day was celebrated at church this past Sunday. The ladies were in charge of the whole service. Afterwards, the men served a lovely meal which they had cooked themselves! Lovely day!
2nd National AG Youth Conference
Sunday, May 13, 2012, was the opening ceremony for the weeklong National AOG Youth Conference. Youth from many islands marched through Port Vila to Saralana Park following the Vanuatu Mobile Force band to officially open the conference. After several speeches and special music, Rev. Dick Hopkins preached.
Vanuatu Mobile Force band leading the youth parade. Missionnettes in parade.
Youth delegates from various provinces (Sanma and Malampa shown). Platform guests including MP Edward Natapei and his wife.
Shefa Youth Choir and their brilliant conductor, Matilda!
Missionnettes and Y’s performing.
National Youth President, Emile and Pastor Dick Hopkins, evening speaker.
Altar time after opening service.
National WM Leader’s Workshop
We were very pleased to welcome the National WM Leader’s workshop to JBI campus (April 30 – May 3) during our term break. The ladies came in from all the provinces and were housed on campus.
Saying Good-Bye
Today in chapel we said good-bye to Pastor Peter and Brenda Jones from Australia. Appreciated so much their help at JBI!
Easter Week 2012
Palm Sunday to Easter Monday is a time of celebration and church camps in Vanuatu. This year Gary and I were asked to be the evening speakers at Evangel Temple from Thursday to Sunday. Ladies and children’s choirs sang and performed skits. Wonderful week!
JBI School Year 2012 Begins
It is hard to believe that the first school term of 2012 is almost over and exams are looming! It has been busy! We had a wonderful start with Pastor Randy Blankenship flying in from the US to be our Spiritual Emphasis speaker for the week. At the same time we dedicated the new classroom building and everyone was excited to move in and use the new facilities. It was eleven months of hard work but now we wonder how we ever coped without it! Final coat of exterior paint has yet to be done as the cement still needs to cure. Thank you to everyone who supported and worked to make that new building a reality on our campus! Thank you to ActioNow partners who financed the last stage of the construction and permitted us to finish on time!
Pastor Peter Jones came from Australia to teach English and Study Skills to the first year students this term. He has been a blessing in so many ways, teaching, speaking in chapel and maintenance work. He put up all the finishing touches such as the bathroom mirrors, towel racks, curtain rods and doorstops in the new building. We have so appreciated his help and willingness to serve. Look forward to him coming again with his wife Brenda!
I have been teaching my favorite subject this term, Biblical Archaeology. I have come to the conclusion that there is way too much to explore in one term so I am hoping to be able to split the course into OT Archaeology and NT Archaeology in the future. Next challenge is finding adequate textbooks in non-technical English.
Gary has been busy teaching as well as leading the school as principal. His Expository Preaching students are being stretched and will all be preaching in chapel next term. Every Thursday Gary preaches in chapel and is currently preaching through Second Peter.
We so appreciate all the messages of encouragement and support! We could not be here without your partnership! Thank you!
Shefa Church Women Bring In Gifts
On Saturday, March 31, 2012, WM ladies from AG churches around the island of Efate converged on the JBI campus with an abundance of gifts. They brought bundles of garden produce, bananas, greens and avocados, plus new kitchen items like cups, dishes, and knives to replenish our bare cupboards. A time of singing and devotions concluded with a love offering for the school cafeteria. What a shower of blessing the Shefa WM women have been to us again this year! Thank you to all the generous “mamas” and may God bless you as you have blessed us!
JBI New Classroom Building
On February 24, 2012, a small ceremony was held to mark the opening of the new JBI classroom building. The building has a teacher’s resource and conference room, two classrooms and public restrooms. JBI teachers and students gathered to witness this much anticipated event. AG Vanuatu Superintendent, Rev. Youen Atnelo, Pastor Randy Blankenship and JBI Principal, J. Gary Ellison cut the ribbon on the classroom door after a short service.
THANK YOU to Celebration Christian Center of Midland, MI for their generous offering towards the purchase of the new furniture for the building!
A Great Local Team
It was a tremendous boost to our construction project to have two construction teams come from the USA in 2011. New Life Church of Kokomo, Indiana, and Life Church, Fishers, Indiana, laid all the block walls and then a few months later, Lafayette First from Lafayette, Indiana, put on the trusses, roof and inside ceilings. There have been many local people who worked on the building as well. Our contractor, Ben Saul and his workman, Morres, actually worked from start to finish with me. Other local skilled construction workers came and worked during different phases of the building project. As we neared the opening date, February 24, 2012, skilled JBI grads, teachers and current students all pitched in to get things done! Here are some photos of the final days of work.
Photos above: Morres painting and Ben installing the louvre glass windows.
Photos below: Job, 2008 JBI grad plastering & Pastor Kiel, JBI teacher. They worked hard to plaster the remaining exterior walls. Even working on scaffolding through a rainstorm!
Photos above: JBI students helping around the building site and (right) Pastor Peter Avock, 2007 JBI grad, laid all the ceramic tile on the floors and in the bathrooms.
Photos below: Workers unloading cement bags and carrying in the new classroom furniture.
Random News
With the interruption of Cyclone Jasmine last week, we obviously got a couple more days behind in our construction schedule…it didn’t help that some of the bathroom fixtures did not fit properly and we are still trying to get them replaced or refunded. The locally-made hardwood doors did not get delivered and lots of other things! The electrical lights and ceiling fans are all in though and working! We will not be able to paint the concrete walls for another 6 months – time for the lime and concrete to rest. With classes starting tom
orrow at JBI we will be squeezing classes into the school dining hall and library to start off and moving into the new building as soon as possible! Official dedication will still be on the 24th while Pastor Randy is visiting with us.
Getting calls from JBI students on outer islands still waiting for cargo ships to stop and pick them up. Shipping was totally disrupted by the cyclone as it created very high seas and kept all boats in port. One JBI student, Hosea called today from Tanna where is 
rebuilding his family’s woven house damaged by the cyclone. He will try to get a ship on Friday – not easy to leave a wife and children behind when things at home are in disarray. So pray for the students and their families.
Otherwise, the new theme banner “Grow in Grace” is hanging in the chapel and we are ready and excited to welcome students on campus for another school year!
Cyclone Jasmine headed our way tonight!
This is our last week to finish the new classroom building at JBI before classes begin on February 13th. Unfortunately, today was spent boarding up the campus buildings because this evening Cyclone Jasmine is bearing down on us from the west! Jasmine is currently a category 3 cyclone and our first big storm of the season. At this point, we do not know how long the storm system will be with us or prevent construction work.
Inter-island ships are in port and planes are grounded until the cyclone passes. This means that our Bible school students will have difficulty getting to Port Vila on time for classes next week. Public schools begin also on the 13th so many people are travelling this time of year. 
After this kind of disruption, it takes a while for small boats to resume their normal routes. Students are already calling in to say that the boat they were waiting for is not coming to pick them up.
By mid-afternoon, the winds really picked up and stores closed early. We went to get our mail at the Post Office and the postal workers had removed all the mail from the individual boxes. All over town people were buying last minute supplies and putting up storm shutters or nailing plywood over windows. All of the main JBI buildings are boarded up and all electrical items unplugged. Right now, the avocado trees on campus are loaded with unripe fruit but tomorrow most of them 
will be ruined on the ground. Last year we lost all the avocados in a cyclone and unfortunately, the trees only bear fruit once a year.
So we are praying that the damage will be minimal and after the clean-up we can get re-organized quickly and start our new school year at JBI!
UPDATE: At 11 p.m. last night, Cyclone Jasmine which had been upgraded to category 4, was headed straight east towards our island and town, when it abruptly turned and headed south! We only had light winds and rain. So we were spared any severe damage or major cleanup! Thank you for praying!
The Work Goes On…
We are gaining momentum once again after the Christmas and New Year’s slowdown. Tile is going up on the bathroom walls and floors right now and this is very exciting! Christmas sales were timely, as I was able to purchase all the ceramic tile, toilets and sinks at special sale prices.
There have been some unexpected helpers come our way and we are so grateful to each one of them…Jim and Carol, new friends all the way from Saskatchewan, Canada, for a resort holiday but took 2 days to do construction work! What a personal encouragement that was to me! Thanks so much guys! Then Pastor Peter Avock and friends came by and started plastering and pouring floors! So we are moving along though still needing a few more qualified hands! The whole time Ben has been toiling away every day with or without help! Thanks Ben! More reinforcements should be arriving today!
Looks like we have most of our supplies on hand except the glass for the windows which is out of stock…so pray that it will come in on the next boat!
Still a lot to do in the next month before the students arrive back at JBI! It’s going to be great to be teaching in a regular size classroom with a white board mounted on the wall!
Final Stage of Classroom Construction
We are so thankful to have the funds to complete our new classroom building at JBI, thank you so much to ActioNow and everyone who sent in end-of-the-year donations! December was very hectic as we juggled the little money-on-hand, bought what we needed and took time to celebrate Christmas. In early December, we desperately needed cement and none was available in the country! This is one of the complications of living on an island and depending on imported goods. So construction stopped! Then right before Christmas, the very first load of cement to come off the docks was delivered to us! (Thank you Carpenter hardware!) This delay, unfortunately put us a couple of weeks behind schedule as the walls should have been plastered before Christmas and not after! At this point, we have scoured the few local hardware stores and have purchased all the plumbing and tiling supplies needed. The classroom chairs and desks have been ordered from Australia – the first shipment is already on its way by boat and the customs duty exemption paperwork in hand!
Next, we need more skilled workers to come and join Ben and Morris in finishing the building…Christmas holidays can really be dragged out here and it is hard to regain momentum. Classes resume at JBI on February 14th and we plan to dedicate the building and move in! Thank for praying for Lori and the work crew as they finish this much-needed building!
Happy New Year 2012
Thank you so much for your love and support in 2011! It was a busy, demanding year of ministry but we feel so blessed to be in Vanuatu and specifically at Joy Bible Institute. Keep us in your prayers!
Wishing you all a Happy & Blessed New Year 2012!
JBI 30th Anniversary & Graduation
2011 is a special anniversary year for Joy Bible Institute. The JBI property was purchased in 1979 and the first building to be built was the chapel which was dedicated in Sept. 1979. The other buildings quickly followed and the school opened its doors to students in March 1981. Twelve students began their studies that year and seven of them graduated in 1983. Missionaries Ron Killingbeck and Wayne and Jean Guge, both served as principal and teachers during the first two years of the school’s existence.
Two months ago, in a faculty meeting, I reminded everyone that this was the 30th anniversary year of the school and it would be nice to plan a special celebration at graduation. The idea caught on and though we had very little finance or time, everyone was excited and got busy planning!
The first major decision was to rent a tent and have the graduation ceremony on campus. We normally have graduation at a local church because our school chapel is much too small for such events. Next, we contacted former missionaries who had served at JBI and asked for old photos. Immediately, letters and photos started arriving and everyone got excited! The end of August is regional church conference time so word was sent to all the island conferences that JBI was inviting alumni back for graduation on Oct. 30, 2011.
Here are some photos of the special day:
In the photo to the right (pictured left to right) are: Pastor & Mrs. Robert Laumai, honored for 30 years of service to the school. Pastor Robert came to JBI in 1979 and helped build all of the first buildings. He remained to serve as a teacher and then later as maintenance and grounds manager. His wife, Edna, served as school cook. They retired from JBI in 2009. Pastor & Mrs. Tom Ierongen, were also honored as they served on the first school faculty when JBI opened in 1981. They went on to pioneer churches in Vila and on the island of Tanna. Pastor & Mrs. Youen Atnelo, were honored for their 23 years of teaching ministry to the school. Pastor Youen is currently the General Supt. of the Assemblies of God Vanuatu and pastors Evangel temple in Port Vila. Pastor Willie Naias served as campus staff and cook when JBI opened in 1981, with his wife Mary (not pictured). Their son Philip Naias was just a toddler then and today he is a pastor and a JBI faculty member. Also pictured are current JBI principal, J. Gary & Lori Ellison.
We would have never been able to host such an event if it had not been for the help of so many friends. Local churches donated food, Women’s Ministries groups from four villages came to cook and served a delicious buffet meal to over 500 people. A big thank you to everyone who helped make the day a most memorable graduation and anniversary celebration. Thank you also to all the former faculty and students who came and celebrated with us!
Vision for Vanuatu 