Lori Ellison

October 16, 2011April 16, 2012

Saama Village Visit

This morning we drove up to Saama village on the northern side of the island as Gary was invited to preach at Bethany Worship Center. This church is pastored by Rev. Jimmy Obas, who also serves on the National Executive for the Assemblies of God of Vanuatu. On the church property is a First Aid Post manned by Pastor Jimmy (the only health facility for the village) and a Christian school with just over 100 students.

Pastor Jimmy Obas and congregation have broken ground and started the foundation work for a new sanctuary as they have outgrown their present building (blue building photo above). They plan to raise $100,000 over the next 3 years to complete the new sanctuary. They are currently harvesting mangoes and selling them at the Port Vila fruit market for the building fund. If you would like to give to their new building, please feel free to get in touch with us.

UPDATE: April 15, 2012, The foundation and floor have been poured for the new sanctuary at Saama. Funds needed for the next stage.

October 4, 2011April 16, 2012

JBI 2011 Class Photo

We have been so busy this year but today we paused for a school photo. Not everyone was present but we went ahead anyway. Graduation is coming up on Oct. 30, 2011 with 4 students graduating each returning to a different island for ministry. Thank you for your prayer and financial support this year.

September 28, 2011April 16, 2012

Lafayette Team

The Lafayette team has been very busy doing the electrical wiring and ceiling work now that the roof is on! Today they also went to English class and gave the students some practice with conversational English! The students were quite nervous at first but quickly the room was buzzing with friendly conversation! Thanks everyone for your willingness to help out in other areas!

September 27, 2011April 16, 2012

On Your Mark! Get Set! Go!

Pastors Randy Blankenship and Pete Campbell of New Life Church, Kokomo, Indiana (USA) are about to get started on a 400 mile (640 km) bicycle trip to raise money for our new classroom building!

Some of you may remember that Pastor Randy walked 250 miles a year ago to raise money for our project. Well, he is at it again and taking Pastor Pete along for the ride! They plan to start in Angola, Indiana, which is in the northeast corner of the state and ride all the way to Evansville, Indiana, in the southwest corner. Their FB page is called Ride For Joy.

They depart on their bicycle adventure today!!

I know they would really appreciate some pledges for their efforts so if you would like to encourage them and at the same time support our classroom building project, please contact them here.

UPDATE: Pastor Randy and Pastor Pete completed their 371 mile ride from Angola, Indiana to Evansville, Indiana, in just 8 days! They are still happy to take donations for their cycling efforts which in turn go to our new classroom building project.

September 25, 2011April 16, 2012

Sunday at Mele

We took the Lafayette team out to Mele village this morning for Sunday worship. Pastor Todd gave an encouraging word from Psalm 77 and his personal story will not be soon forgotten!

September 24, 2011April 16, 2012

Classroom Building Progress Report

Since the New Life Church, Kokomo, IN and the Life Church, Fishers, IN construction team left in early July, we have continued work on the new JBI classroom building. Cement bonding beams, verandahs, and rafters were just some of the things done to prepare the building for the arrival of the next volunteer construction team.

A week ago, 12 people from Lafayette First Assembly, Lafayette, IN, arrived to finish the rafters and purlings and begin putting on the metal roofing. By Friday, half of the metal roofing was already on! So they have already made a big difference in the new building! Needless to say, we are all very excited to see the progress and looking forward to teaching in the new building very soon!

The Lafayette team has another week of work before they fly home so we plan to keep them busy until they get on the plane! We are so grateful to all of you who have supported this construction project. We have now spent all the money that has been raised. So we would appreciate your prayers and continued support. We need approximately $70,000 to finish!

September 17, 2011April 16, 2012

Conference on Erromango

The Tafea Province AG Conference was held this year on the island of Erromango, in the southern part of Vanuatu. Gary was asked to be the morning speaker and Jeremy decided to go with him for the adventure!

They were supposed to leave Port Vila and fly down to the island of Tanna on Friday, August 26th, but the cargo ship which was to pick them up on Tanna and take them to the island of Erromango was delayed. So every day we waited for word on the ship until Monday night we got news that the guys needed to be on the flight for Tanna the next day. Sleeping bags and mosquito nets were packed and off they flew to Tanna. On Wednesday, they boarded the T. Uaraken with about 100 conference delegates and set sail for Pongkil, Erromango. The sea voyage took about 4 hours.

T. Uaraken loading passengers and cargo for Erromango.

Jeremy on board waiting for the ship to set sail…leaving Lenakel, Tanna.

The ship was large enough for everyone to sit or sleep on deck during the 4 hour trip to Erromango. At Pongkil, Erromango (below) everyone was ferried ashore in a small boat.

Erromango, is the home island of our General Supt. Rev. Youen Atnelo. Pongkil village is situated in a beautiful bay by a wide river along the rugged western coast. The ship anchored out in open ocean and the delegates and their baggage were ferried by small boat to a rocky outcropping along the shore. It took many trips for all the people, a couple of goats, piles of baggage and cartons of food to be ferried to the shore and carried up to the village. A lovely Assembly of God church sits in the middle of Pongkil village and a large outdoor bamboo shelter and platform had been erected for the five days of special meetings.

Pongkil village, the church (above right) and delegates singing and marching to the official opening of the conference (below).

The conference opened on Thursday, Sept. 1st and continued for the next five days. Gary taught every morning for a total of 12 hours. Various pastors gave morning devotions and spoke in the evening services. On the Monday morning as Pastor Tom Ierongen was giving a morning devotional a 5.8 earthquake shook the place…they are so common here that he never missed a beat and just kept on speaking!

(L to R) Ladies bringing flower leis (called salusalu) to welcome the conference visitors. People listening to morning speaker.

Special choir music and evening crowd.

Prayer time and baptismal service.

The conference ended Monday night, Sept 5th, but the ship which was to pick everyone up was docked on another island with engine problems. A second, much smaller ship was then chartered to go to Erromango and pick up everyone but it too had engine problems and was docked in Tanna. By this time, we were wondering when Gary and Jeremy would get home. Communication was very limited as there are no landlines or mobile phone connections in the village. A twenty minute climb up a steep hill would put Gary in range of the national mobile network so twice he and Jeremy hiked up there and called to give us some much awaited news.

Finally, on Friday, I received a text message that they were already out to sea headed for the island of Tanna in a small boat, standing room only on deck for a seven hour trip! At one point I had a short phone connection with Gary, as he was telling me about the overcrowded boat and a big rainstorm up ahead, I heard several people scream and we were cut off! Needless to say, I was very concerned and went on FB to ask people to pray…thanks to so many who prayed and sent messages! What an encouragement you were to me! That evening they made it safely to Tanna (missing the storm completely) and the next morning caught a flight back home to Port Vila! They had been gone 12 days!

Thank you so much for praying for the conference and everyone’s safety while traveling! Outer island travel is anything but predictable in Vanuatu!

August 14, 2011April 16, 2012

Sunday at Paonangisu Village

This morning we were invited to speak at Macedonia Church in Paonangisu village on the north side of Efate island. We live on the south side of the island so it was only about an hour away. When we got to church we found out that the fiancé of a young woman in the church had died the day before. This couple had planned to get married a few weeks ago but he became very ill on his home island and never recovered. In light of these circumstances, Gary decided to speak on I Thess. 4:13-18 concerning “our hope”. After service, we had a lovely lunch of fresh fish which the pastor had caught the night before and the children enjoyed running and playing with new friends.

Here are some photos of our Sunday:

Pastor Sope Timothee and the Macedonia Church.

Shaking hands at the end of morning service. Preparing the lunch table.

Jasmine playing “elastic” with the girls and feeding rice to a chick.

Jeremy and friend racing by…while Gary and Pastor have a cup of coffee.

On the way home we were amazed to see an huge private yacht moored out in this quiet bay of North Efate. Quite a contrast.

July 27, 2011April 16, 2012

Campus Transformations

As I mentioned in a previous post, the ladies from New Life Church in Kokomo, Indiana, did so many wonderful transformations around campus. I thought you might enjoy seeing some of their handiwork. First of all, the back room of the chapel had been used for quite sometime as a storage area but we had wanted to see it cleaned out and used as a prayer room. Well, it was transformed from a dingy room to a lovely prayer retreat.

Next they tackled Gary’s new office. The stark white walls and bright blue trim were repainted in cream and brown. The girls moved all his office furniture and bookshelves from his old office to the new one. This was such an unexpected and welcomed surprise! We have been so busy since taking over in January that we have not had time to do these things! The campus pastor’s office and Gary’s former office were also painted and fixed up! Thanks so much ladies, you made quite a difference on campus!!

July 27, 2011April 16, 2012

JBI Teacher Gets Married

On Saturday, July 23, 2011, Pastor Kiel married Faith in the school chapel. Pastor Kiel Maimai is our JBI campus pastor and a teacher. It was so nice to have another campus chapel wedding! It was a beautiful ceremony performed by Pastor Bessie Fong. The bride was radiant and smiling and the groom very pleased. After the ceremony, the groom’s relatives serenaded and marched the bridal party up to the top of the hill where a wedding feast was laid out. Congratulations to Mr. & Mrs. K. Maimai and a warm JBI welcome to you both!

July 24, 2011April 16, 2012

Construction Team From USA

On June 28, we welcomed 22 friends from Indiana and Pennsylvania, who flew to Vanuatu to put up the walls of the new JBI classroom building and do various renovation projects around campus. The team was the first construction team we have ever had visit us from our home district in 29 years of missions. So it was quite an exciting event for us! The group was from New Life Church (Kokomo, IN), Life Church (Fishers, IN) and one pastor from Pennsylvania. Even after 24 hours of travel, the team was eager to see the school and the building site so after a quick lunch we walked up to the campus from their motel.

Next morning, the guys started laying cement blocks. Bob McCauley, an electrician, began to fix the faulty electrical wiring as the school had been experiencing many power outages! The ladies got busy with plans to transform a dingy chapel storage room into a prayer room, renovate a new office for Gary, and numerous other renovation projects. What a boost to have so many helping hands on campus for 10 days! The two photos above show the building foundation BEFORE and AFTER the team had put up the walls!

Four different pastors were with the team, Randy Blankenship, Pete Campbell, Nathan Peternel and Dan Peternel. They preached in JBI chapel services, at local youth meetings and Sunday services. Many lives were touched.

The young people in the group came prepared to do a children’s outreach complete with black light puppet show, tricks, and songs. Black light has never been used for any church event here to our knowledge, so the glowing fluorescent signs and puppets were a real hit!! The kids of Blacksand settlement gathered at the church on a Saturday night and were totally enthralled by the puppet program. The puppet program clearly explained the Salvation colors and at the end every child got a bag of treats, a balloon animal and a Salvation bead bracelet.

It was a wonderful two weeks and we hated to see them leave!

May 23, 2011March 21, 2013

Women’s Book in Bislama

I thought I would share with you the “behind the scene” story of how our most recent literature project was birthed.

On April 2nd, our National WM President, Sister Wati, was sharing with me her burden for the women she visits in her travels. She has such a heart to help other women grow in faith. After several cancelled attempts, the very first National WM Conference of the Assemblies of God was going to be held in Port Vila in May. She had heard that the women from many surrounding islands and provinces were excited and arranging boat travel to the conference. Reports were coming in of groups of 30, 50 and even 80 women being organized from islands and churches around the country to attend the conference.

The next morning was a Sunday and I awoke with a very firm conviction that I should prepare a book in Bislama dealing with some of the issues Sister Wati had shared with me and that it should be handed out at the 1st National WM conference starting on May 15. Now if you know me, you know that I am not a morning person and I do not wake up quite so focused!

As I was getting ready for church that morning, I kept wondering how I would ever find the time to translate or write such a book in a month! I teach at the Bible school, homeschool my kids, oversee campus renovation projects and was already feeling tired and overcommitted. After Sunday school that morning, Jasmine was sick and running a high fever so she came home and I stayed with her while Gary and Jeremy went back to church. I realized that “time” had just been handed to me so I hit my files and started looking at articles for book ideas. Next I started unpacking boxes of books on women’s issues looking for something to get me started. Within an hour I had a book in hand, “A Wife After God’s Own Heart” by Elizabeth George and started working. I ended up working at the computer for 15 hours that day and whenever I could during the next three weeks. 108 hours of computer work and a few headaches later, I had a 48 page booklet ready for the printer.

Of course, you cannot use someone else’s words without permission so I also began the process of requesting permission from Harvest House Publishers to excerpt and translate into Bislama parts of the first 5 chapters of Elizabeth George’s book. For a reasonable fee, they gave me permission for one print run with a maximum of 3,000 copies. I was quite relieved when the print contract was signed and mailed back to the publisher as I had already spent many hours working on the Bislama text.

I was working on such a tight deadline, that I finished the book and started proof reading it the weekend before the Monday the printer was expecting to receive it. As you know, the person who writes or translates such a long document needs to have at least one other set of eyes to correct it. Renee Webb, our missionary colleague up north, willingly proofed the whole booklet the night before I gave it to the printer and this gave me great peace of mind.

Now none of this would have been possible if I hadn’t had US$4000.00 of Light For The Lost (LFTL) funds already on hand. The local printer crunched the numbers trying to get me as many copies of the booklet as he could within my budget (and the dropping value of the US dollar didn’t help). The paper for the cover kept pushing me over my budget, until he finally said, “I think I have some paper on hand for the cover which you can have for free if you like it.” The paper had been sent to him by mistake for another job and was sitting on a shelf. So we went back into the print shop and he showed me a bright glossy lemon yellow card stock, not quite what I had envisioned but very good quality paper, free of charge and just the quantity needed! With the cover paper donated I was able to order 2000 copies of the book! The printer had 14 days to produce the books for us in time to hand them out during the conference! When I gave an afternoon lecture on marriage at the conference on Tuesday, May 17th almost 1000 books were handed out to the ladies but that is another story!!

I want to thank my family for putting up with all my extra computer hours during the month of April and much thanks also to Harvest House Publishers for allowing me to excerpt and translate the book, Renee Webb for proofreading, Mr. Michel Pioger, the owner of the Imprimerie de Port Vila (IPV) printers for the free cover page and great print job and all the wonderful LFTL partners who gave in 2010 so we could print one of the first Christian living books just for women in the Bislama language!

May 15, 2011March 21, 2013

National Women’s Ministries Conference

National WM Conference started this Sunday afternoon with a bang…actually it was a marching military band and a parade through downtown Port Vila that started things off! Delegates from every province of Vanuatu (including myself) in matching island dresses and a large group of ladies from the Solomon Islands marched behind the Vanuatu Mobile Force band up to Saralana Park where the conference will be held this week.

The Conference opened with Royal Rangers raising the Vanuatu flag and a group of Missionnettes doing an action song (Jasmine among them) and then welcome speeches. Mrs. Natapei, the former Prime Minister’s wife graciously came and officially opened the conference on behalf of the government. The mass AG youth choir did a great job under the direction of Matilda. Mrs. Beverly Komasi, wife of AG Supt of the Solomon Islands, was the opening speaker. The conference theme is, “Who Will Stand In the Gap For Such A Time As This?” So things got off to a great start!

Scheduled speakers are Mrs. Beverly Komasi from the Solomon Islands, Mrs. Naomi Vueta from Fiji, Mrs. Agnes Fave from Papua New Guinea and myself. So keep us in prayer!

May 13, 2011March 21, 2013

Breaking Ground

We have broken ground and the new classroom building site has been leveled! This happened while JBI students were on their Easter break so everyone was excited when they got back to campus to see the progress! The old classroom cannot be used during the work so the 2nd and 3rd year students are now meeting in the living room of a campus apartment. It is a bit of a squeeze for them but we are hoping that funds will continue to come in so the new building can be finished as soon as possible.

Thank you to everyone who has contributed to this project! If you made a “Walk For Joy” pledge last year, you can send your donation any time, it is never too late!

May 11, 2011March 21, 2013

Soaring prices!

Today Gary was working on some financial reports concerning expenditures from the beginning of this year. While figuring out the exchange rate between the US dollar and our local currency, we realized that the dollar has steadily dropped in value this year while grocery prices get staggeringly higher! I started making homemade mayonnaise this week as the mayonnaise in the store is now selling for 1650 vatu a jar which is US$18.96! That is only a 32oz jar by the way! I know it is unbelievable, that is why we took a photo of it!

In the midst of these challenging economic times, we are ever so grateful to the faithful support of so many! Thank you!