Over the past few weeks there has been some exciting movement around Auki in the Malaita Province concerning The Salvation Army, which does not yet have a presence in this town. The movement I speak of is the activity of Holy Spirit who is stirring the hearts of some local pastors who are feeling restless, as they have been disconnected from any real denominational alliance for some time (that is a whole other discussion for another time and place). Their restlessness led to a meeting with their spiritual mentor Joshua Henry who happens to be a Salvation Army soldier at Honiara Corps. Joshua met recently with seven of these pastors to respond to their call to learn more about The Salvation Army because of their respect for his leadership and his strong witness.
Throughout their time of worship and sharing together Joshua felt the Lord speak the following prophetic words for this group of pastors:
"As far as The Salvation Army is concerned, everybody in the Solomon Islands who are Christians could all be citizens of the Kingdom of God already. But to join the military of a nation there is a separate recruitment. The Salvation Army is now that recruitment for a mission movement of God in the Solomon Islands."
"The Salvation Army is the fresh stream that is flowing into this country and out of this country."
As Joshua relayed these messages to me I felt both excited and terrified by the potential implications of such utterances! Imagine if all seven pastors responded to Joshua's message by saying, 'sign us up!' Well, we have dared to imagine such an outcome, despite not having the resources at this point in our journey to support an immediate burst of growth like this. We dare to believe in a God who "is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine" (Ephesians 3:20) and who "will meet all [our] needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 4:19).
Alongside this prophetic word from Joshua we have proactively stepped into this mission space to pursue a couple of social enterprise opportunities to build a foundation for sustainable growth throughout the Malaita Province by developing a mission base in Auki. We continue to look and listen for where the Spirit is at work so we can join in on His mission activity. We continue to trust God to lead the development of His Army not only in Malaita but right across the Solomon Islands. We continue to prioritise the development of future leaders and financial sustainability as we develop further ministries.
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