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 - Return to Kwai

After teaching the newly written Soldiership Training Course to our congregations in Moscom and Honiara, it was time to return to Kwai to conduct the final test round of this new material.  The timing of this trip was two-fold:  To finish the final edit of the Soldiership Training Course for presentation at the Territorial Leaders Conference in PNG and to prepare the next round of recruits for enrollment at the upcoming Salvation Army Convention in North Malaita.

Since our first visit to Kwai in January, we have been delighted to discover that the mission outreach of the North Malaita Fellowship has extended well beyond the Kwai River into the neighbouring villages to further north onto Manao'oba Island and down south into West Kwara'ae.  This outreach brought eager recruits into Kwai for the Soldiership Training Course from Lolu, Kolefe, Tabarara, Ona and Manao'oba Island!  Praise the Lord for this extraordinary mission growth, which we pray will produce many new congregations in Malaita!!

The beautiful simplicity and deep spirituality of this village provided the perfect atmosphere for our ministry trip with early morning prayer meetings and evening worship services creating a spirit of anticipation among those gathered.  Once again, the words of the chorus "You are my God, You are my Father, You are my King and I worship You" in both English and To'obaita languages united our spirits with the Spirit of God and became an anthem for the weekend, just as it did during our ministry trip to Moscom. Another song that added to the tone of the weekend was 'Mighty Man of War', which was introduced by my ministry partner Joshua Henry from Honiara Corps.  It somehow seemed very fitting to our purpose to train new Soldiers of The Salvation Army - "Mighty man of War, Lion of Judah.  We bow down and worship you.  Yahweh Yahweh, come and do what only you can do." Well, we are certainly seeing what only God can do with the rapid expansion of The Salvation Army throughout Malaita!

Our schedule for these trips is always fluid to fit into the rhythms of village life.  This weekend was no exception, with our course being moved from Saturday to Sunday morning after the worship service to allow time for those traveling from afar to arrive in time.  The resulting four consecutive sessions in one day didn't seem to phase the very enthusiastic recruits who were eager to engage with the new course material.  Their eagerness was matched by the enthusiasm of the existing Soldiers from the North Malaita Fellowship whose curiosity about the new material had a number of them stay behind after worship to join in.  Of the 22 participants who completed the Soldiership Training Course all 13 of the new recruits signed up to be enrolled at the Convention in July by the Territorial Commander.  

Beside the numbers, the feedback from the participants was equally encouraging.  To hear consistent comments that the material is easy to understand, well formatted and culturally appropriate (my paraphrase of their comments) affirmed the reasons behind the rewrite.  More helpful than the encouraging words were the comments and questions that have contributed to minor edits along the journey.  It is our hope that the final draft will provide a resource that will serve The Salvation Army in the Solomon Islands well into the future with a new generation of well-equipped Salvationists rising up in every Province! Joshua's presence was also a real blessing as a translator (when necessary) and an evaluater to assess the effectiveness of the course.  It also served as a training opportunity to prepare him as a future facilitator.

We left Kwai with a deep sense of satisfaction that our purpose had been achieved and God was glorified!  Our expectations were exceeded and our excitement for the mass enrollment of 10 recruits from Moscom, 5 recruits from Honiara, and now 13 recruits from Kwai is almost akin to the early church who celebrated that "the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved" (Acts 2:47).

Solomon Islands Ministries - North Malaita Visit

Before arriving in Solomon Islands we read about a new Salvation Army Fellowship that had commenced during May 2017 in North Malaita after two newly enrolled soldiers from Honiara Corps returned to their home village on the Kwai River.  Their arrival home was good news for their village as the church they left behind had disbanded due to the infidelity of the pastor.  After sharing their joy of joining The Salvation Army in Honiara, their witness led to a number of conversations among the community leaders that resulted in their decision for the discouraged church members to become the first Salvation Army Fellowship in North Malaita.  Previous leader of The Salvation Army Solomon Islands Ministries, Major Malcolm Herring, visited this fellowship just before returning to New Zealand and 15 new soldiers of The Salvation Army were enrolled!  As the newly appointed leaders of The Salvation Army in Solomon Islands we knew straight away that we would need to plan a visit to this Fellowship early in our role to see for ourselves the progress of what God had commenced in this remote location and to encourage this newly formed Fellowship of The Salvation Army.  We also wanted to make a strong statement to these new Salvationists that our appointment was not just to Honiara but to wherever The Salvation Army extended throughout the Solomon Islands. 

Our trip to Malaita started at the port of Honiara on a passenger ferry that took three hours to sail to Auki on the west coast of Malaita.  From there we climbed onto the back of a public truck with nearly 20 other passengers and a mountain of luggage for a bumpy four hour drive to the furthermost point of North Malaita.  The road trip took us through some stunning tropical landscapes, over some precarious river bridges and along the beautiful western

coastline of Malaita.  We were greeted upon arrival by a very enthusiastic congregation dressed in their full uniforms eager to meet their new leaders.  This warm welcome extended to a weekend of generous hospitality and rich fellowship that expressed deeply the kingdom values of Christ and their cultural values of community.

While our visit was certainly to meet and greet the members of this Fellowship, it was also to provide some teaching and to participate in their worship services.  Each day commenced with a 4:30 am Prayer Meeting and concluded with a two hour Fellowship Meeting that featured some of the most passionate worship and prayer we have ever experienced!  In many ways, Vanessa and I felt like spiritual dwarfs among these people.  If we thought the singing in Honiara was inspiring (which it is), this church took it to another level.  

On the Saturday I conducted a Teaching Seminar in two parts to teach on 'Salvation Army Symbolism' and 'Salvation Army & Sacraments'.  For such new Salvationists, these themes filled in a lot of gaps in their knowledge and understanding about the distinctives of Salvation Army worship and culture.  They fully engaged with the teaching and asked appropriate questions to seek clarity and to make sense of my Aussie accent.  During this Teaching Seminar Vanessa took 17 children through Junior Soldiers Preparation Classes, which is a young people's discipleship program in The Salvation Army.  At the end of the classes 7 children indicated that they wanted to become Junior Soldiers; which is the first group of Junior Soldiers in the Solomon Islands.  

Sunday Worship was something special!  Their church building is an old wooden, open-walled structure, positioned on top of a very steep hill that stimulated nearly as much physical energy to get to church as the spiritual energy that was generated during church.  A congregation of 46 gathered to celebrate their love for Jesus in their usual passionate style.  One of their leaders led a lengthy testimony time that had people eager to not only share their testimony through words but also through song.  Vanessa then had the absolute pleasure of enrolling the 7 Junior Soldiers before I had the privilege of preaching the Word of God.  It is always humbling to see people respond to the Word of God, but to have 13 of these soldiers kneel at the make-shift Mercy Seat (that I had taught them about the day before), recommitting their lives to God and His mission in North Malaita, was a truly overwhelming experience.  The afternoon included a Leaders Meeting, another first for North Malaita, that completed the picture for us about the scope of ministry already occurring in and beyond this village.  To listen to their leaders express their vision for the future was energising.  I cannot wait to write up my report for the PNG Territorial Commander about this growing ministry!

Throughout our stay in North Malaita we enjoyed fully engaging in the simplicity of village life.  From swimming in the river with the kids, watching food being prepared with cultural methods, eating food grown in the village, to showering under a tap behind a canvas screen out in the open air; life in this village offered an unexpected richness that is rarely experienced in the city.  

Returning home to Honiara was a bitter sweet experience.  Despite our enjoyment of village life, we did miss being connected to the wider world.  Yet, leaving this place, even after only a few days, was like being separated from a sense of family again.  There is something supernatural about the body of Christ that transcends culture and language through a deep unity of the Spirit, I imagine much like the disciples experienced in the early church.  We left North Malaita with a great deal of excitement for the future of this Salvation Army Fellowship.  We also left with enormous anticipation for what might be ahead in the second part of our journey to visit another Salvation Army Fellowship in South Malaita next week.