Solomon Islands District - Easter Campaign (Honiara)

Reports written by Aux Capt Wency Ramo'oroa and Fred Ganiomea

This year, 2023, the Solomon Islands District sent out teams to the Provinces for the Easter Campaign. Our theme for this year’s Easter Campaign was ‘Sacrificial Living’ and the Scriptures were Philippians 2:5-8 for Good Friday and Romans 12:1-2 for Easter Sunday. Almost half of Honiara Corps members, including our District Officers, went out on the Easter Campaign to our village churches in the Provinces. So, Aux Capt Fostina and I conducted the Easter Campaign at Honiara Corps with the few of our members who did not travel. Not much was happening at Honiara Corps during the Easter weekend but we conducted a service on Good Friday and Easter Sunday. Daniel Hagi led worship and preached on Good Friday on the theme ‘Sacrificial Living’ from Philippians 2:5-8 very powerfully. I did the Easter Sunday message under the same theme based on Romans 12:1-2. I can testify that people were very emotional about what Jesus did on the cross for us and the question on Easter Sunday was very challenging, because we were asked to respond to what God has done through Jesus Christ.

During Easters I have experienced and witnessed in the past, we only preached about the crucifixion of Jesus on Good Friday and His resurrection on Easter Sunday. That was our routine celebration year after year. But this year it is quite different, as we looked beyond the event and focused on the actions.

First, we focused on Jesus’ action to set the tone for the Easter campaign and also it is the essence for Easter celebrations. Secondly, we focused on Christian’s actions to respond to what God has done through Jesus Christ. I reflected on the action of Jesus on Good Friday message and that challenges me deeply in a sense that His action is why I have life and I can live. Without His sacrifice there is no guarantee of life for me to live. And He shows me the way to live in order for me to have victorious life as He did. On Easter Sunday, I was challenged by the message too. Instead of preaching about the resurrection of Jesus Christ, we preached about our action in responding to what God has done through Jesus Christ. I was in a moment of surprise because the Scripture has taught me to look beyond the event and not to get stuck in the event. If I still revolve around the event, then I will go nowhere.

So, after the Easter weekend, hearing those messages, I am very encouraged and that gives me a new lens to look at how I could move and look beyond the events. Coming back to the weekend, I am very blessed and the onus now is on me to imitate Christ’s humility and to respond to what He has done in order for the Easter theme ‘Sacrificial Living’ to be meaningful and to have an impact in my life as a person that has accepted Jesus as my Lord and Saviour. Thank you King Jesus for showing the way to eternal life.

All glory and honour unto Your Name. Amen.

Aux Capt Wency Ramo’oroa

During the Easter weekend campaign, those of us who were left behind at Honiara Corps were really blessed from the Word of God spoken by God’s servants Daniel Hagi and Auxiliary Captain Wency. I was once a real committed Soldier of The Salvation Army over the past years, then for the past seven months, I began to grow colder with my Christian life and I stopped attending church and other church activities that I usually attend. I followed my own desires and started hanging out with friends and work colleagues during my free time. I even ignored some of my church leaders who requested to visit me. Somehow during the Easter weekend, I made up my mind to visit church again. While I was sitting down and listening to God’s word, I started to feel guilt in myself. It was like a mighty storm started in my soul. As I opened my Bible, the Word of God spoke to me from Luke 15—’the parable of the lost sheep’, and it has encouraged me to recommit myself back to His presence. Now, I thank God for His greater love and mercy to send His only Son to save a sinner like me again. If He can do it for me, He can do it for you. God bless.

Fred Ganiomea

Solomon Islands District - Territorial Leaders Visit (Day 4)

Workshops, Cultural Tour & Fellowship

Tuesday, 15th November 2022

The day started with two skills-based workshops to provide the Colonels with an experiential insight into a new social enterprise project and sewing group that are having an impact on the livelihood and well-being of Solomon Islanders. Colonel Patti joined with a group of expat women who meet weekly to make reusable sanitary kits that are distributed to disadvantaged local women around the Solomon Islands. Colonel Garth joined with a group of local men for a session of melting aluminium cans and a lesson on different aluminium casting techniques. Unfortunately, the charcoal used to fuel the foundry didn’t burn hot enough to bring the cans to melting point, so the Colonel missed out on seeing this part of the process. The working theory behind this disappointing outcome to the workshop is that the charcoal contained too much moisture from exposure to recent heavy rain. 

Following the two workshops, the Colonels were taken out for lunch before embarking on a cultural tour around Honiara CBD. The tour commenced at the Arts/Craft Market and Art Gallery, where they were treated to the creativity of Solomon Islanders through wood carvings, shell jewellery and paintings. The next stop was the “Pride of Our Nation” memorial to the indigenous Scouts & Coast Watchers who played a pivotal role in supporting the Allied Forces during World War Two. The memorial is a reminder to all Solomon Islanders to feel pride in the selfless sacrifices that their ancestors made. Finally, the Colonels were taken to the Guadalcanal American War Memorial, situated on top of the Skyline ridge, offering panoramic views of Honiara. 

The scheduled evening Prayer Meeting was relocated from the usual location at the ‘Prayer Mountain’ to Festus brother’s home, where another Fellowship Service was held with the grieving family. A group from Honiara Corps gathered together for this time of worship and prayer. During the evening people were invited to share words of encouragement with the Ganiomea family. Auxiliary Captain Wency, Major Robert and Colonel Garth spoke into this space from Scriptures that brought comfort and support. A powerful time of prayer followed in the Solomon way, creating a collective chorus of a heartfelt cry out to the “God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles” (2 Corinthians 1:3-4).

Solomon Islands District - SAES

The Salvation Army Emergency Services (SAES) Team engaged in their first public deployment during the National General Election (NGE).  For six days over the  election period the SAES catered for the Royal Solomon Islands Police Force (RSIPF) in Guadalcanal at the Henderson Police Station.   This partnership with the RSIPF enabled the newly formed SAES team to gain valuable experience catering for large numbers and provided a high profile introduction of this new service to the Solomon Islands.  Our team was well supported by the RSIPF Quartermaster, who provided daily food supplies and other logistics support throughout the week.  The food supplied by the RSIPF enabled us to provide a  quality menu that earned us the reputation of having the best meals across the three catering locations in  Guadalcanal.  Even the Commissioner of  Police  commented favourably when he called into Henderson Police Station on election day.

The National General Election evoked a huge security operation by the RSIPF, with support from local Correctional Services, the AFP and ADF personnel who flew in specifically for this event.  For the Solomon Islands, this was the first national election since the departure of RAMSI (Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands) in 2017 after the period of the “Tensions” with law and order  restored and policing returned to the local police force.   While there was no specific threat, maintaining security was of high concern for the government and police in a nation where ‘wantok’ allegiance runs deep and emotions are high.  Fortunately, the effort paid off with the week of the general election being largely incident free (the election of the Prime Minister is on the 24th April and similar security  operations are in force).

The opportunity to serve the RSIPF during such a significant national event provided The Salvation Army with a unique opportunity to demonstrate its capability to provide valuable community services.  For most of the members of this newly formed SAES team, they have never before had the opportunity to engage in such a voluntary role.  It is also a first for the RSIPF who have never before been served in such a manner by the  Churches in Solomon Islands (according to Provincial Police Commander Evelyn Thugea).  During the week a number of police personnel and even members of the public asked our team members if we were being paid to provide this service.  The response by our SAES Chaplain captured beautifully the spirit behind our service, “No!  We are serving those who serve our nation.” This is a powerful testimony to the attitude of our team who have fully embraced the Army’s “Heart to God, Hand to Man” mission.  I  believe the amazing performance of our SAES team during this operation has laid a positive foundation for future service opportunities, not only with the RSIPF but other agencies at community events or in disaster situations.  

In the lead up to the NGE week, two training sessions were conducted to prepare our team in the following areas:  Trailer Set-up & Equipment Management, Personal Hygiene & Food Handling, Menu Planning & Preparation, and Community Engagement.  From day one of this deployment we saw immediate evidence of this training through the way the team participated in all aspects of their catering roles and responsibilities.  Even the local phenomenon known as “Solo Time” gave way to the rare occurrence of punctuality, which I like to call “Salvo Time”.   

The equipment provided in the SAES  trailer introduced our team to methods of food handling and preparation that are unfamiliar in a village context.  Of particular interest to not only our team, but the RSIPF personnel, was the sophisticated hand washing unit. Everybody was impressed by this unit and didn’t mind being asked to ensure their hands were clean before handling food or receiving their meal.  The stainless steal food preparation trolley and utensils we take for granted also provided new experiences for our team as they applied existing knowledge in a new context.  The new experiences, however, did not just apply to our team members, we also learned how to cook large volumes of rice in a much more efficient manner that sped up the process of cooking 20 kg of rice for a single meal.  It was impressive to watch a village method of accurately measuring just enough water to eliminate the need for draining and wasting water once the rice was cooked.

Our menu choices captured the attention of not only those being fed, but those preparing the meals.  Common meals in the Solomon Islands lack variety and have given way in the town centres to imported processed foods (such as instant noodles).  The inclusion of soup meat, pork chops, minced meat and chicken pieces to the menu, combined with garlic, soy sauce, curry powder, and fresh produce created an  interactive “Learning Space” where culinary imaginations were ignited.  Meals like homemade hamburgers, Thai beef curry, Bolognese mince, marinated pork chops, soy chicken wings, chicken fried rice and tossed garden salad were enthusiastically prepared by a team that was excited by what they were learning and eager to apply these recipes at home.  The other valuable learning experience was about managing preparation time to feed large numbers of people on time. We started serving around 80-90 meals for lunch and dinner at the beginning of the week, with these numbers increasing to 240-260 meals by the end of the week.  It was incredibly encouraging to see the “aha” moments about value of time and planning emerge as our team realized their management of time had a direct impact on the roles of others.  With the change of RSIPF shifts and Police Response Units needing to be deployed to multiple locations throughout the day, our team realized that the importance of “time” is not just an Australian (or Robert Evans) obsession!

When the service of our team was offered to the RSIPF during the weeks prior to the NGE, I had a strong sense that our involvement would mark a significant transition in the development of The Salvation Army Solomon Islands District.  And it did!   This was in many ways a “Word became flesh” (John 1:14) moment where The Salvation Army took Jesus out of the sanctuary into society through a meaningful act of service.  Our “Salvation” mission was personified through a public demonstration of Christ’s love during a pivotal time in this nation’s history to those who serve this nation.  We could not be more proud of our SAES team!

Solomon Islands District - Music Workshops

After months of planning we were very excited to welcome music teacher and professional musician David Hedges at Henderson Airport in Honiara on Thursday, 1st November.  David is a friend and colleague from Melbourne who we got to know during our previous appointment as the Corps Officers at Cranbourne in the south east suburbs of Melbourne.  David is a music teacher at several schools in Melbourne and plays in a jazz band and a Bruce Springsteen tribute band on the weekends.  He is also an active member  of the worship team at Cranbourne Corps where he plays piano and saxophone. David’s musical talents across a variety  instruments and his teaching experience made him my first choice when considering who to invite to the Solomon Islands when local musicians expressed their desire to learn how to read music and how to play a brass instrument.

Prior to Vanessa and I coming to the Solomon Islands, another colleague, Andy Postlewhite from Wonthaggi Corps, indicated that they had a supply of unused brass instruments that the Corps would be happy to donate should they be needed.  At that point in time, we had no intention of imposing a brass band onto the Solomon Islands, as we wanted the expression of worship in The Salvation Army to emerge from within their culture. However, their enthusiasm to start a brass band led us to accept this generous offer.  So, together with a number of  other donations of music and instruments organised by David, these brass instruments made their way to Honiara.

The Music Workshops commenced on Friday, 2nd November at the Rove Police Band Hut where our learners joined in with the Royal Solomon Islands Police Force (RSIPF) Band. We were warmly greeted by the Police Band members who allowed our learners to sit in on their rehearsal and then invited our guest music teacher to conduct their band as they played an arrangement of ‘The Young Amadeus’.  Following their rehearsal, the RSIPF band members remained for the afternoon to sit alongside our learners to provide support and coaching.  Their presence was an enormous encouragement to them and a great help to David to ensure our learners got the most out of the workshops.  It was such a joy to watch the interaction between the RSIPF and The Salvation  Army!  By the end of the afternoon the newly formed brass band learners were playing simple tunes.  Following the brass workshops, the Honiara Corps Worship Team gathered in the evening for a session with David.  This provided an opportunity for our very  talented musicians to showcase their skills along with David on his saxophone, to everyone’s delight.  The local musicians really appreciated David’s feedback and input into furthering their musical development. It also provided a good opportunity to introduce some brass charts to familiar worship songs to demonstrate how contemporary and brass can complement each other in worship.  A brass arrangement of 'I Give You My Heart’ demonstrated this well and was practiced up for use during our worship service on Sunday.

On Saturday we moved from the Police Band Hut to the Police Youth Club for the day, which provided a larger space to accommodate members of the public who had expressed interest in joining our music theory workshops.  Solomon Islander musicians have amazing talent in being able to play music entirely by ear but most of them have never learnt how to read music.  This evoked a high level of interest on the Facebook Event we created for David’s visit.  The Saturday workshops built on the knowledge learned the day before for the brass learners and provided more detailed music theory that was applicable for all of the musicians in attendance.  It was also great to see a number of the RSIPF band members join in on these sessions for their own musical development, with some commenting favourably about the quality of David’s teaching and the materials he used. The day ended with ‘An Evening with Dave’ where I interviewed David about his music background, faith journey and why he agreed to accept my invitation to come to the Solomon Islands.  In between David’s compelling story he performed a couple of items on his saxophone and trumpet.  Of particular  enjoyment was David’s rendition of the gospel hit “People Get Ready”, which had the audience singing and clapping along.

Our Sunday morning worship service provided the first opportunity for our newly formed brass band learners to perform before an audience after only two days of tuition.  The congregation were amazed and delighted to hear their progress in such a short time.  The room was filled with cheers, laughter and applause at the sight of the very first Salvation Army Band for the Solomon Islands.  A couple of the Corps leaders even commented that this was a significant step forward in the growth and development of The Salvation Army  Solomon Islands.   The inclusion of brass into the worship by David and myself with the song ‘I Give You My Heart’ really lifted the worship musically to another level and David’s reprise of ‘People Get Ready’ was a huge hit.  A  prayer of dedication was offered over the donated instruments and the brass learners, dedicating this new music ministry to the glory of God.

The final event and climax for the weekend was a Sunday evening concert at the AOG Church in Burns Creek.  This 4 hour concert featured our guest musician, The Salvation Army Brass Learners, RSIPF Band, Honiara Corps Worship Team, Destiny Church Dancers, The Holy Cross Boys (Honiara Youth) and a number of other individual items.  There is so much that could be said about this event but words cannot quite capture its significance and impact for the Burns Creek community.  Burns Creek has been a hot spot for crime and anti-social behaviour for many years with the police only ever entering the community in a law enforcement capacity.  So, when a bus load of police officers disembarked outside the church armed with musical instruments, it didn’t take long for a very curious crowd of people to gather.   The RSIPF Band was definitely a highlight of the evening, but so was the performance of our brass band learners.  Over 180 people witnessed this historic evening and celebrated the musical talents of young local musicians.  The atmosphere of worship was electric and the strong sense of community extraordinary in this settlement of Malaitans on the fringe of society.  Both the RSIPF Band Director and the local Pastor acknowledged the evening as a significant moment in the development of community relations between the police and the community.  Our expectations for the weekend were far exceeded!  

We are immeasurably grateful for David’s generosity of his time, talents and resources to turn our vision into a reality.  He has left a musical legacy that has laid the foundation for the ongoing growth and development of this music program in the Solomon Islands.  We are also very grateful for the new partnership that has been forged with the RSIPF Band and look forward to continuing this relationship into the future as we work together to raise up a new generation of brass musicians.

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 - Easter

Throughout our ministry we have always placed a special emphasis on Easter, creating an atmosphere of worship that engages the whole person with its significant redemptive message.  Typically for us, this commences with the Passover on Maundy Thursday, a Good Friday Service, a sunrise Dawn Service on Resurrection morning, climaxing with a celebration Easter Sunday Service.  In each of our appointments these services have taken on a different shape as we have sought to lead people on a journey of discovery through a teaching series and a dynamic encounter with God through a visual display.  Our first Easter in the Solomon Islands has been no exception!  

This year our teaching theme leading up to the Easter weekend was "Fo Mekem Yufala Biliv" based on the Gospel of John, exploring the reason he wrote his gospel:  "These are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name" (John 20:31).

On Thursday night we held a Passover Service at our Quarters where 35 people from Honiara Corps gathered to participate in the liturgy of the Passover that Jesus would have shared with His disciples during the Last Supper.  Unlike other years, we opted not to have a full meal (for practical reasons) but nevertheless we had a meaningful time of worship around the Seder plate.  We incorporated a scene from the animated movie 'The Prince of Egypt' to help tell the story of the Exodus, which really captured the attention of both the kids and adults!  The outdoor setting and tropical environment provided a very pleasant atmosphere for such a special evening.

The next morning the congregation that gathered for the Good Friday Service in the same location increased to 50 as we continued our journey through John's gospel, drawing upon his own testimony at the cross, "The man who saw it has given testimony, and his testimony is true. He knows that he tells the truth, and he testifies so that you also may believe" (John 19:35).  Our youth led a powerful time of worship, the crucifixion story was read by a number of our soldiers and everyone was challenged to become one of the witnesses at the cross by taking a small cross made of palm leaves to share with someone who does not yet believe.

Easter Sunday morning commenced with a very early start before dawn at the American War Memorial on top of the Skyline Ridge.  A few of us joined with Kukum Campus SSEC Church for an Easter Sunrise Service to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ.  As we watched the sun rise our hearts were joyful as we lifted our voices in praise and shared in fellowship with other believers on this significant occasion.  Later that morning we returned to our regular place of worship at the Rock Haven Inn for our Easter Sunday Service, with 90 people packing into the conference room.  The atmosphere of worship was electric as our youth once again did an amazing job at leading worship.  It is hard to describe the extraordinary sound when Solomon Islanders express themselves in worship, except that the presence of God is tangible!  Easter Sunday was one of those God-honouring occasions.  Our Easter series was brought to a fitting conclusion with the witness of Mary Magdelene declaring, "I have seen the Lord!" (John 20:18).