Solomon Islands Ministries - Salvation Army Convention

While visiting the North Malaita Fellowship soon after our arrival to Solomon Islands in January, I met with their leadership team and asked the Fellowship Leader Charles Akwastaloa what his vision and goals were for this year.  He expressed to me a very strong desire to bring the churches together from the surrounding villages to present the mission of The Salvation Army in North Malaita.  After follow-up conversations, his vision developed into an opportunity to also bring together the three Salvation Army congregations from around the Solomon Islands for worship, fellowship and witness in North Malaita.  Six months later, Charles and his family turned this vision into reality by hosting the very first Salvation Army Convention in the Solomon Islands.

Over the weekend of the 19th - 22nd July Salvationists from Honiara Corps and Moscom Fellowship joined with the Kwai Fellowship in North Malaita and with other Christians from surrounding villages, including Lolu and Capernaum where new Salvation Army missions are soon to commence.  The Territorial Commander, Colonel Kelvin Alley from PNG, was our invited guest for the weekend.  He flew from Port Moresby to Honiara where he met us for a connecting flight to Auki in Malaita, followed by a four hour drive on the back of a truck up the North Road to Kwai.  Along the journey we stopped at Forcem Market, about an hour out of Auki, to pick up the group from Moscom who had traveled by mosquito/banana boat from Maro'upaina Bay to Atori the day before, and then embarked on a three hour drive along the East Road that morning.  For all of the Moscom group this was their first time ever on a truck and their first time travelling to this side of Malaita.  The time and effort expended just to get to the convention was indicative of its significance in the lives of those who attended and in this season of growth for The Salvation Army in the Solomon Islands.

Upon arrival we were greeted by an enthusiastic crowd, along with some local cultural dancers who ushered us into the conference area prepared by Charles and his family for a very warm welcome. Beautiful floral leis were presented to the Territorial Commander, Vanessa and I, as well as the Moscom contingent.  We were then blessed by a heart-felt welcome song by the Kwai congregation before words of welcome were given by Charles.  The rest of the evening was a vibrant celebration of worship with all three congregations participating through various musical items.  Colonel Kelvin Alley gave the opening address, setting the tone for the rest of the weekend by outlining his theme - "Foundations for a Rock Solid Faith."  It was a truly inspiring evening with nobody wanting it to end, despite their tiredness from a long day of travel.

In addition to some amazing teaching and fellowship over the weekend, the convention reached a climax on the Sunday morning with the Territorial Commander officiating three very significant ceremonies during the worship service.  These ceremonies commenced with the enrollment of two Junior Soldiers from the Kwai congregation.  The enrollment of Webster and Rebecca has brought the number of Junior Soldiers for this relatively new Salvation Army congregation to 12 young people, who are being discipled by Junior Soldier Sergeant Phillip Omelengi.  Immediately following was the enrollment of 17 new Senior Soldiers from the Kwai and Moscom congregations.  Three of these new soldiers traveled from Moscom for this special occasion and the other 14 new soldiers represented a number of surrounding villages in North Malaita.  Unfortunately, the 4 recruits from Honiara, 4 from Manao'oba Island and another 7 from Moscom were unable to make the trip over for the convention.  They will be enrolled in the coming weeks at their respective home churches.  After the enrollments, Colonel Kelvin Alley called to the platform Kwai leaders Charles and Judith Akwastaloa for a history making announcement for the Solomon Islands.  The Kwai congregation has been operating under the banner of the North Malaita Fellowship since it commenced in July 2017.  Over the past twelve months this congregation has become a spiritually vibrant and evangelically active Salvation Army church growing in membership and mission.  In recognition of this growth and development, an application was sent to THQ for the North Malaita Fellowship to be given Corps status, officially recognising it as a fully functioning church in The Salvation Army.  The Territorial Commander took great delight in presenting a Certificate of Recognition of Corps Status, making this the second Corps in the Solomon Islands.  From that moment the 'North Malaita Fellowship' became known as the 'Gateway Corps, Suafa Bay.'  This was indeed a momentous occasion that reflects something of the mighty movement of the Spirit in Malaita.


One of the highlights of this convention for me was seeing the pure expression of joy on the faces of everybody in attendance, especially from the Moscom congregation.  The Moscom Fellowship live and worship in one of the most remote parts of Malaita and rarely have the opportunity to interact with anybody outside of the four villages on Maru'upaina Bay in East Areare.  To come together with other Salvationists in such a way opened up the internationalism of The Salvation Army to this congregation, even in this small corner of the world called Malaita.  All of a sudden they were not alone!  Now they feel as though they are a part of something so much bigger than just their small Fellowship.  They built friendships and made spiritual bonds that will last a lifetime.  We witnessed the Moscom Fellowship leader Miriam come alive and emerge out of the timid cocoon of uncertainty seen in our previous trips to Moscom.  She danced and laughed and cried during worship and boldly declared her passion for the Lord in such a way that Vanessa and I turned to each other at the same time and asked, "Who is this woman?!"  Then there was the row of four young girls from Moscom whom I captured through the lens of my camera during the Friday night worship service.  This was truly a divine moment I will never forget!  Rarely have I seen this depth of worship and unrestrained passion pour out from the hearts and mouths of such young lives.  Words seem so inadequate to describe the full impact of this event, but I am certain it will be spoken of for years to come.


We are immeasurably grateful to Charles, his family and the congregation in Kwai for all their hard work to host this event and for their gracious hospitality; to the Territorial Commander for making the trip to North Malaita and for providing the right word for the right occasion; to Paul Harohau who funded the transportation of the Moscom contingent; to the neighbouring churches who joined us in fellowship and provided musical support; and to those who travelled all the way to North Malaita. Most of all we give glory and honour to God for the mighty movement of His Spirit throughout this weekend!

Solomon Islands Ministries - Red Shield Appeal Dinner

It all began with an accidental encounter from tagging along to a social event where we weren't invited.  In other words, we gate-crashed a party! 

To put this into perspective, a friend of ours who was the Interim Country Director of World Vision in Solomon Islands back in January, asked us to tag along to a double birthday party he was invited to attend for two Australian High Commission employees. Near the end of the party (where we were graciously made to feel very welcome) Vanessa and I were approached by another guest who is an Australian Federal Police Officer.  He introduced himself and asked us how we were connected to the birthday boys.  After a bit of a laugh about how we came to be at the party, he inquired further about our role with The Salvation Army.  This conversation revealed that the AFP Officer, Darren McClelland, was looking for a 'project' outside of his work role to engage in while in Honiara that would make a difference in the lives of the people he is here to serve.  A follow-up coffee appointment at the Lime Lounge Cafe (aka our 'Office') found an alignment of opportunity between Darren's desire to engage in a philanthropic project and our vision to explore the possibility of starting a Red Shield Appeal in the Solomon Islands.

An accidental encounter and an alignment of opportunities led to the formation of the very first Red Shield Appeal Committee for the Solomon Islands with Darren appointed as the Chairperson.  Darren wasted no time in recruiting three other committee members from among his AFP colleagues working with the Solomon Islands Police Development Program (SIPDP).  This brought together some powerhouse volunteers who have expertise in procurement, planning and event management.  It was truly a pleasure working with such a motivated team who leveraged their networks to obtain some amazing sponsorship for our first RSA event, a Fundraising Dinner at one of the premier venues in Honiara, the Heritage Park Hotel.

After a couple of months of planning, the Red Shield Appeal Fundraising Dinner was held on Friday, 13th July with 115 people from local businesses and community organisations in Honiara gathering to support the The Salvation Army Solomon Islands Ministries.  A very fine buffet dinner was accompanied by the musical talents of local band 'Set Wan' and followed by the auction of sponsored items, which included:  3 night package for two including double/twin share bungalow, continental breakfasts and return airfares (Sanbis Resort & Solomon Airlines); 3 nights accommodation package (Papatura Resort); ten $100 vouchers (Bulk Store); designer chair (Ozdesign Furniture); Garmin 64s handheld GPS (Y-sato Marine); $3,000 donation, Samsung Galaxy phone, Huaweii Y3ii phone (Our Telekom); 2 night weekend dive trip for 1 person (Bilikiki); Smootharc Welder (BOC); personal care package & spa vouchers (Jings Spa); remedial/therapeutic massage vouchers (Charles Gauba); gift baskets with soaps, oils & lavalavas (Kokonut Pacific & Salvation Army); aluminium framed mirror (Tropic Glass & Aluminium); WW2 Guadalcanal Battlefield tour for 4 by former US Marine.

The dinner and sponsored items raised a combined total of SBD$89,200!  This is a phenomenal result for our inaugural Red Shield Appeal event.  The money raised will be used by The Salvation Army to purchase a DME (Direct Micro Expelling) set-up from Kokonut Pacific to establish a coconut oil plant at Gateway Corps in North Malaita to provide employment for the surrounding villages, foster community development, and generate income to resource our rapidly growing mission and ministry across Malaita.

We are delighted with the success of this event, not only for the money raised, but for the new networks established that will provide a platform of ongoing supporters for the future development of The Salvation Army in the Solomon Islands.  All of this because we gate-crashed a party six months ago!

Solomon Islands Ministries - Territorial Leaders Conference

Last month Vanessa and I had the opportunity to spend some quality time interacting with Territorial and Divisional leaders from The Salvation Army Papua New Guinea Territory.  Our time in Port Moresby commenced in response to an invitation to attend the Territorial Leaders Conference, which gave The Salvation Army Solomon Islands Ministries representation at the TLC for the first time.  While Solomon Islands has been a part of this Territory since it's launch in 2011, the TLC ushered this relatively new expression of The Salvation Army into a new era of growth with an announcement by the Territorial Commander that IHQ had approved a name change for the Territory, which will now be known as The Salvation Army Papua New Guinea & Solomon Islands Territory, with the Solomon Islands being granted 'District' status.  So the Solomon Islands Ministries is now officially the Solomon Islands District, which means Vanessa and my position has been changed from 'Officers in Charge' to 'District Officers'.

The TLC was led by Commissioners Willis & Barbara Howell from the USA Southern Territory, with Colonel Julie Alley from PNG setting the tone for the weekend with the keynote address by declaring, "The kingdom of God does not rise and fall on our ability.  We are to lean into the supernatural ability of Jesus Christ."  This powerful introduction was followed by two days of amazing teaching from the guest leaders who spoke around the theme 'Following Christ, In Leadership.'  In the opening session, Commissioner Willis spoke on the importance of 'guarding your heart' from Proverbs 4:23 - "Above all else, guard your heart, for it affects everything you do."  Later, Commissioner Barbara led an interactive session inviting the leaders present to share the characteristics of leadership we found most inspiring and then spoke about the nature of servant leadership.

On the Sunday morning of the conference Vanessa and I gave a presentation about the growth in the Solomon Islands over the past six months, which was enthusiastically received by everybody present.  During our presentation, Vanessa spoke about our new Solo Army Lavalava project and presented the Commissioners and our Territorial Leaders with a lavalava each as a gift from the Solomon Islands. This gift made a real impression on Commissioner Barbara who ordered 40 to take back to the USA Southern Territory for a Divisional Women’s Weekend. 

During the week following the TLC, we engaged in a number of meetings at THQ with Cabinet Secretaries and department heads to discuss some of the new initiatives ready to launch in the Solomon Islands.  These meetings proved very productive with a strong commitment of support coming from THQ for the ongoing development of The Salvation Army in this emerging district of the Papua New Guinea & Solomon Islands Territory.