We have had four earthquakes in the last 24 hours. The largest one was 6.5 and gave us a good, long shake. It went on long enough that I told the kids to head for a doorway. Vanuatu gets about 1000 earth tremors a year because it is situated on the famous Pacific “Ring of Fire” and of course, we also have several active volcanoes in the country.
Happy Mother’s Day!
On Mother’s Day in Vanuatu, the Women’s Ministry ladies lead the Sunday morning service. They wear lovely red and white island dresses as a group uniform and gifts are given to the widows of the church. This year at Evangel Temple, the children’s choir sang, the men and then the ladies’ WM choir. Sister Oriva preached.
Happy Mother’s Day to all!
Health Care Team to Visit Tanna
By world standards, Port Vila is a small capital city. But it is certainly the center of comings and goings to Vanuatu and the outer lying islands. Since we live in Port Vila, we are privileged to meet many people and do many airport welcomes and farewells.
When literature or medication are urgently needed by missionaries or national pastors on other islands we send them by plane. When larger shipments of food, building materials or church supplies are needed, we ship them by small boat.
Doctors and dentists work primarily here in Port Vila so many people have to come to town for treatment. Small commercial planes and a private helicopter are sometimes used in emergency cases to evacuate people to Port Vila for medical treatment. Good medical care is not available to many people.
Our missionary colleague, Bryan Webb, is currently organizing a Health Care team which will be going to the southern island of Tanna. Bryan works on the northern island of Santo so he shipped us the necessary camping supplies of tents, toilets, portable shower and even an electrical generator which we then put on another ship headed to Tanna to be used by the team.
At this point, everything seems to be falling into place for the medical team, except the AIDS awareness kits which are needed for a community health seminar. These were shipped from Fiji in February but have not arrived. Please pray that these parcels will arrive in time to be used in this outreach.
Easter Sunday
Pastor Youen preached this morning on “The Power of the Resurrection”.
One of the laymen is an instructor at the Police Academy. This group of new cadets came and sang for Easter. Recently the movie “Fireproof” was shown at the Police Academy. Pray for the police and law enforcement here in Vanuatu. A recent rise in violent crime and inadequate prison facilities are difficulties that these young people are going to face.
Easter Week
Saturday night, Pastor Joseph John, a well-known local watercolor artist and assistant pastor at Evangel Temple, choose not only to speak about Easter but to conclude his sermon with a quick painting! There was a hush in the building as he turned and faced the blank canvas, his wife softly singing in the background. Within 10 minutes he was finished and no one will forget the message!
Newest Addition at JBI
The JBI Dean of Students, Philip and Serah Naias are happy to announce the birth of their first child, a son named Russell. He is a beautiful baby and his grandmother came all the way from Tanna for his birth. We have all been so excited to have a baby on campus!
Pastor Philip himself was born while his parents were on staff at JBI in the early 1980’s. Blessings to the happy family!
Palm Sunday
Palm Sunday is wonderful celebration here as everyone picks a fresh palm frond from their garden on the way to church! The youth and children were involved in the service at Evangel Temple this morning. They sang with gusto and performed a wonderful skit about Christ’s triumphant entry in to Jerusalem. The photos speak for themselves.
Ladies’ Meetings
I just got back tonight from speaking to a group of ladies at Pango village. We had a very good service and I enjoyed being with them. Three young women came forward at the end of the message.
Last Wednesday I spoke for the Shefa province WM combined meeting where several hundred women were gathered. The planned speaker cancelled so I was asked a couple days beforehand to take her place. This is not easy to do with my teaching schedule at the Bible School and homeschooling our own children.
The WM combined meeting takes place three times a year and brings together women from our AG churches all around the island of Efate. The church was packed and ladies were sitting in the adjacent prayer room listening and on mats at both doorways. Many responded to the altar call. After service the national WM leader told me that I had just preached the opening theme for an upcoming national WM convention scheduled for later in the year. Please pray for our Christian ladies, that they will be true salt and light! Their faith or lack thereof so greatly affects their homes and children. Vanuatu is facing growing social challenges, escalating crime in urban areas, growing delinquency and unemployment. We have the answer, so pray that our Christian women will step out and speak up!
Combined Service
The Assemblies of God churches in each province meet several times a year for a combined Sunday afternoon worship service. The first one this year for Shefa province was held today at the Assembly of God church in Mele village. The church was packed and many people were sitting on the lawn outside the building. There is no problem hearing as island churches are very open and the Mele church building is still under construction and there are no windows or doors yet. The window sills were also used to seat people. Pastor Johnny Lava came from Tanna to preach and many choirs from around Efate island sang. This is always a good time to give literature and church materials to pastors working in remote areas. One pastor filled his briefcase with the new Pentecostal Evangel in Bislama for his church members – to get home he will have a 40 minute bus ride and then a 3 hour walk.
Family Worship Center – Pango
Gary had the privilege of preaching this morning at Family Worship Center at Pango village. His text was Ephesians 4:7-16 as he challenged the church to understand that Christ gave a diversity of gifts to the Body of Christ to bring about the unity of the faith.
At the closing of the service all the new ministry leaders came forward to the altar to be prayed for.
After service everyone went outside for the baptism of two young ladies. Several JBI students, Jimmy, Manson, Keith and Cedric are involved in ministry at this church. Please continue to pray for Pastor Berry and the growth of the church in Pango.
Back-to-School Picnic
The weather was perfect today for a picnic! The JBI students and faculty spent the day at Honeymoon Beach for a fun day of getting acquainted and welcoming the new freshmen class! A great day was was definitely had by all!
Spiritual Emphasis
The new school term at Joy Bible Institute started February 9th. It was so good to see upperclassmen return and the new 
freshmen students arrive on campus. Students have shared many wonderful testimonies of ministry opportunities back home during their “summer” break – yes, it is summer, very hot and humid on this side of the Pacific Ocean! We rejoice with them as they are excited about being able to share Christ in their villages and islands.
This second week of school is our Spiritual Emphasis week and we were so happy to welcome Missionary Steve Slater from Fiji as our special speaker. It was a wonderful way to start off the school year!
Please pray for some of our students who have financial needs and several married students have left families back on home islands.
Vanuatu Pentecostal Evangel
We are not quite sure when the last Vanuatu Pentecostal Evangel was printed – the last one may date to before Independence 28 years ago, when it was called The New Hebridean Pentecostal Evangel, edited by my father.
Many months ago, our AG missionary colleague Bryan Webb expressed a desire to see this important outreach tool revived. Bryan and I worked together on the articles via email since the Webbs live 200 miles north of us on the island of Santo. Though the English title may fool you, this Evangel is entirely in Bislama, our national trade language. We hope to print two issues a year as funds permit.
On Friday the first copies of the Vanuatu Pentecostal Evangel came off the press and were already distributed in some churches this Sunday morning. Copies for the outer islands will have to wait for inter-island ships to take them to the many islands of Vanuatu. Pray as these magazines go out and touch hearts with the Gospel.
Anniversary
It was just a year ago that we started this blog. Thank you to everyone who has browsed our site and sent encouraging comments. The last couple of weeks have been very busy and we have not been able to update our activities as usual. Lori has been at the computer producing two magazines, one in French and one in Bislama, 3 new tracts in Bislama, and she is still writing or translating a couple more things. We were blessed with some LFTL funds and are happy to be able to produce some new materials.
We are preparing to leave for the northern island of Malekula. We are both speaking at a youth camp, this is a real camp with sleeping bags and mosquito nets. There is an epidemic of dengue fever and the nets are essential at this point. Please pray for us as we finish are preparations to go and anointing for the ministry ahead.
Mission Trip to Torba Province
The most northerly islands of Vanuatu are the Torres and Banks islands, commonly known as the Torba Province. JBI students have been praying and preparing for months to go to Torba on their 2008 mission trip. They have shared their vision with churches and raised the funds to cover their trip expenses.
Yesterday, eleven JBI students boarded a small inter-island cargo ship headed for the island of Espiritu Santo. They should arrive this evening in Santo and stay at Calvary Assembly for weekend ministry. On Monday the group will fly to the Banks where they will begin two weeks of ministry and speedboat travel. They plan to visit churches and minister on the islands of Gaua, Vanua Lava, Mota Lava and Mota. Please pray for their safety and God’s anointing as they travel and minister over the next two weeks.
Vision for Vanuatu 