To Pause at the Threshold

 

Well, we are still in Vanuatu! We got a phone call around 8:30AM on Friday October 23, our day to begin our travels toward the USA. Our missionary partner, Peter Isaac, asked David if he had heard that our flight’s departure had been moved up. NO! I quickly called Air Vanuatu and discovered that it was true. Air Vanuatu never notified us of the change! We are very thankful for the Vanuatu “bush telephone”! We were thankful that we were packed and ready to go. We quickly made a plan and got out the door to pickup our COVID PCR test results at the hospital and drop our car and other things off at our old house with the Isaacs, and hop in their truck to head back to the apartment to pick up our luggage. We made it to the airport by 10 AM right on schedule and some of our friends were already there!

Well, to make the very long story shorter, after about 4 hours of waiting we left to go to the Air Vanuatu office in town. We were not allowed on the plane because the earlier departure time made our NZ transit visa invalid and NZ didn’t want to budge an inch on their 24 hour limit rule!

My dear husband taught me that it is far better to come to acceptance of bad news quickly than to grouse about it and let it eat you up. He’s a very wise guy! So, we got over the pain and disappointment as quickly as possible. We are tired of farewells and saying goodbye! We are considering not telling anyone our departure date so that we can just go to the airport and checkin and be off! That probably won’t happen.

We are now booked to depart from Vanuatu on Wednesday, November 3rd with our arrival in Grand Rapids on Friday, November 5, 11:01PM. Please pray that we are able to get the AU transit visa worked out in time. We’ve submitted the online applications and lots of different documents that were required. Pray that Air Vanuatu won’t change our departure flight!! 

Today, two passengers who arrived on a flight from New Caledonia last Friday and who have been quarantined in a facility were found to be COVID +. This is causing quite a stir for a nation that hasn’t had any cases other than a couple that came from outside and were in quarantine. We’re hoping and praying that the border will remain open for outbound travel, and that there was no transmission to the airport personnel or quarantine staff. 

There is one more little item that could cause some trouble. The simulation COVID lockdown that was going to happen the three days before our departure on Friday, has now been rescheduled for the three days before our departure next Wednesday. We will need to drive to the hospital to get our PCR test redone and then return to pick up the results. Please pray that nothing will interfere with that key piece in our ability to travel.

Thank you so much for your prayers! We have been at peace and mostly joyful in the midst of all that has gone on. 

By the way, To Pause at the Threshold is the name of a book I’m reading about transitions by Esther de Waal. It seems perhaps that we’ve been given a moment to “pause” and reflect on the place we’ve been and the people who've become family, and what we’re relinquishing as we open up to the new possibilities awaiting us across “the threshold." 

At the end of the day with its joys and disappointments, some friends invited us to join them at a restaurant down the street from our apartment.  We enjoyed a nice meal and a glorious sunset!

Making a List and Checking It Twice...

Sunrise over Efate

No, we're not thinking of celebrating Christmas in July! 😁But, we are making a list. With only 3 1/2 months till we bid farewell to our home of 18 years, our minds have been full of many things needing to be done before we leave. Some of the items on our list are training meetings where we spend time helping others be ready to take on our responsibilities. We're so thankful for the people who have committed to taking on those roles! Though they have much to learn, they come with skills and knowledge that makes the learning easier. They also have an eagerness to learn and willingness to give their time. We're praising God for our SPNTC administrative team!

Some of the items on our list are things we're really glad to be checking off the list! Things like registering our Toyota RAV4 for the last time and the last time to face the process of renewing our residency visa. The process to accomplish these tasks seems to change every year and involves many attempts to finally get them checked off. 

Our list includes some "lasts" that are difficult because they mean letting go of something that we've really enjoyed and found very fulfilling. David is nearing the end of his last SPNTC class, and Sylvia finished teaching her class last month. As difficult as it has been to be prepared and ready to teach each class, the opportunity to be connected with our pastors, church leaders, and faculty as their teachers has brought so much joy across the years. It has been exciting to see several of our graduates move on to become teachers who are eager to make a difference in the lives of their students. 

In the midst of checking off things from our list, things that are fairly familiar, we are having to learn some brand new things which then get added to our list to pass along to others. We appreciate your prayers as we get familiar with GNECsis - the Global Nazarene Education Consortium system of recording students, classes, and grades for SPNTC. This system has been under development by people in the Nazarene Church to help small schools like SPNTC with record keeping without the cost of expensive software. We have been joining other SPNTC principals and registrars from Samoa and Fiji and another Bible college representative from Portugal via Zoom to be trained by Kindra Bible from her office in the USA. It's a huge jump from the Microsoft Word and Excel documents that have kept our records for the last 15 years here in Vanuatu. Please pray for us as we figure out the tasks and procedures for entering our information and train our SPNTC registrar and new principal, Rev. Jenny Isaac.

Our GNECsis training takes place on Zoom across many time zones.

Meriam joined students from Samoa via Zoom.

In our last newsletter we mentioned that the CALD program from Nazarene Theological College in Brisbane, Australia, was set to begin for Nazarenes in Vanuatu. Rev. Meriam Naunga has completed her first 25 hour intensive and is now working to complete her assignments in the first CALD class, Introduction to Pastoral Theology. She is finding it to be very challenging with all the lectures and discussions in English, as well as the reading assignments. She is learning to submit assignments online that she first writes in Bislama and then translates to English. Thank you for your prayers for Rev. Meriam as she pursues this training, and pray that other Nazarene graduates will join her.

Pastor David and Rev. Meriam Naunga

"See, I am doing a new thing!

Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?" 

Isaiah 43:19

Learning in Our New Classroom

Our first SPNTC class of 2020 was taught by Rev. Gideon in the new classroom! Three newly enrolled students and four continuing students met for three hours each evening during the first two weeks of March to learn about Johannine Literature - the Gospel of John, the letters of John and the Revelation. We are very thankful for this dedicated space for our pastoral training courses to take place. We are looking forward to setting up the library, computers, and teacher resources to increase learning opportunities for both the teachers and the students.

Discipleship Training Seminar

We praise God for all who participated in the Discipleship Training Seminar that took place February 29th! Three ni-Vanuatu pastors and all four missionaries worked together to translate into Bislama the materials that we received at our Asia Pacific Regional Conference in October. Pastors and leaders from all the Port Vila churches and two from the churches on Tanna attended the one-day training seminar. We are so excited to see how God will use this training to help us be disciples of Jesus who lead others to be disciples also! 

Pastor Gideon (upper left), Brother William, and Pastor Taku (lower right) listening 

as the Asia Pacific Regional Discipleship Model is discussed.

We had many break-out sessions to give all of us a chance to talk. 

Pastor Anthona (front left), Pastor Morison from Tanna (second row center) and Malo from Tanna (second row right) share with each other about how they each came to be followers of Jesus.

Pastor Meriam shared the concept of "Equipping" (Bislama - Mekemrere) 

and how important it is to help people grow in their understanding of God's Word.

Three of the presenters: Pastor David Naunga (left), his wife, Pastor Meriam (center) and Pastor Jenny Isaac (right). We all learned from each other! 

It turned out to be one of the hottest days of the year (notice the fans, electric and handheld)!

Pastor Aileen (right) and Pastor Metas (center back) discuss with their small group 

about what discipleship might look like for Women's Ministries. 

Please pray for our pastors and leaders to continue to grow as disciples, 

and that God would continue to lead our churches to be faithful in making disciples in the nation of Vanuatu.

The SPNTC Board of Trustees Meeting Comes to Vanuatu!

(L to R): Rev. Pau'u, Principal of Fiji Campus; Rev. Leilani, Chancellor; Joani, Field Financial Coordinator; Inise, Fiji lay delegate; Selina, Pau'u's lovely wife; and Rev. Ulisese, Principal of Samoa Campus

You may wonder who would ever get excited about a board of trustees meeting!! WE DO!! We really enjoy getting to be with the other leaders that make up this four-nation Bible college. It only happens annually, unless we happen to have a regional conference, then we might see some of them twice in a year! We have been attending these annual meetings for many years and have come to love and admire the people who make up this board. 

Samoa and Fiji campuses have hosted all the meetings for the last 10+ years, but at the 2019 meeting, Vanuatu leaders agreed to see if we could work out all the details of accommodations, meals, transportation, hosting, and venue for the group of approximately 20 people to meet in Port Vila for the meeting of February 3-4, 2020. With the help of a small committee of our Vanuatu pastors, plans were set in place for all the details and preparations were made. And together, WE did it!

L to R: Rev. Gideon (Welcome and Farewell Coordinator); Rev. Meriam (Guest Reception Coordinator); and Pastor Seul (Transportation Coordinator). Not pictured: Pastor Raela (Venue Preparation Coordinator); Pastor Anthona and wife Emmie (Meal planner and cooks).

None of us had predicted that COVID-19 was going to take hold in many countries at the very time when we planned to gather. Our own airport in Port Vila began to institute strict health precautions the very day that our first delegate from Solomon Islands arrived. Each passenger was screened by medical personnel as they arrived at the airport. A few days later, the Fiji delegates were delayed for hours because they found out at their airport that they needed a health certificate in hand before they were allowed to board the plane. The principal from Samoa departed from his airport and was detained in Fiji because he was required to get a medical certificate after landing in Fiji, and arrived a day late to Vanuatu. By the first day of the meeting, all the board members finally arrived!

Those that arrived on Saturday, were taken to various Nazarene Churches in Port Vila on Sunday morning to share the message and be hosted for a meal with one of our congregations.

Rev. Leilani shared the sermon with the Bellevue Park Nazarene Church and Sylvia translated to Bislama.

We were pleased that our small SPNTC classroom was sufficiently completed and large enough to seat everyone around the tables. It turned out to be the hottest days we had experienced in months! With Rev. Kafoa Muaror, Field Strategy Coordinator and Chairman of the board, the agenda was completed in just 1 1/2 days.

We were glad that Rev. Bruce Allder, Asia Pacific Regional Educational Coordinator, was able to join us from Australia.

Alice, first on the left side of the table, was elected by the Vanuatu SPNTC board to be the lay delegate this year for Vanuatu. Alice is a student in SPNTC-VU and a faithful member of the Malapoa Nazarene Church.

Most of the Board of Trustees: Back row: Inise (Fiji), Rev. Pau'u and Selina (Fiji), Rev. Dolasi (Solomon Islands), David (Vanuatu), Rev. Ulisese (Samoa); Front row: Sylvia (Vanuatu), Rev. Leilani (Chancellor, Fiji), Alice (Vanuatu), Mary Esther (lay delegate, Solomon Islands). Missing from the picture: Rev. Kafoa Muaror (PNG), Rev. Bruce Allder (Australia), and Rev. Peter (Vanuatu D.S.).

After the meeting was finished, there were a few hours for the board members to visit Port Vila downtown and do a bit of shopping before the final meal together. That evening, we had an amazing farewell with the Vanuatu teachers and students serving the meal followed by a beautiful program of giving gifts and songs. 

 The success of the meetings was celebrated with ice cream - four different flavors, because that's how David Potter celebrates! Needless, to say, there was none left over.

 One of the things we loved about this board of trustees meeting is the connections that were made and the friendships that were formed as the members of the board worked together for the best Bible college possible and as the members from the various nations got acquainted with the Nazarenes of Vanuatu!

Inise (FJ) and Mary Esther (SI) with their new friends, feeling like the time was altogether too short!

SPNTC Classroom Completion

Last September, Sylvia received the news that her Aunt Phyllis had passed away at the age of 92 years old. Phyllis had faithfully lived her life for Jesus, and had designated that a tithe of her estate would be given to the Lord's work. What a surprise when we were contacted by Sylvia's cousin David letting us know that $7000 was being given to support the ministry in Vanuatu! 

The timing was just right for the gift to be designated to help in the completion of the SPNTC classroom. Lots of work needed to be done: Electrical outlets needed to be installed; the walls needed to be plastered and painted; the floor tiled; a dropped PVC ceiling installed; curtains and fixtures installed; and equipment like computers, printers, scanner, file cabinets, and security doors would need to be purchased. 

We were so thankful for the volunteers that pitched in to do so much of the work - the Isaac's sons, Ennrich and Junior, and a high school student from one of the Port Vila churches, Christopher, joined his uncle, Pastor David Naunga. Even David and Sylvia put on their carpenter hats for the month of January. The goal was to have the classroom and district office sufficiently completed to host the SPNTC Board of Trustees meeting planned for the first week of February. Here's a few pictures of the guys at work:

District Assembly and Ordination 2019

Once a year, all the Nazarene Churches in our country get together to celebrate what God is doing. This year we had delegates from nine churches on two islands, Efate and Tanna. We were disappointed that the Ikaokao Nazarene Church was not able to make the journey this year from Aniwa Island. The celebration started on Sunday evening, November 10th with Pastor John Nato sharing a tremendous drama showing what it was like for him to bring the light of Christ to the village of Inapoas on Tanna Island.  

We began to get acquainted with Pastor John Nato when he was just a small boy at the Black Sand Nazarene Church in 2007. David had the joy as his pastor to dedicate him to the Lord when he was 12 years old. The church was right in his front yard, so it wasn't hard for him to attend Sunday School and Bible studies. 

Six years later, David issued John his first local preacher's license. Three years after that, he graduated from South Pacific Nazarene Theological College with a Certificate in Ministry. We are glad for John's commitment to serve God and the fruit that is being produced in him and through him. 

Pastor John with Jimmy, a special member of this church with a chronic sore.
John is learning how to be nurse as well as a pastor.

In April of this year, he took a ship to Tanna to share the light of Christ. The village of Inapoas is a "kastom" village where the people have chosen to remain separated from the influences of education and Christianity. We had visited this village 9 years ago. Within 7 months, Pastor John had built relationships within the community, baptized 7 new believers, built a church, and received 15 people into the fellowship of the Nazarene Church. He was also able to teach a course for South Pacific Nazarene Theological College. 

Inapoas Nazarene Church

We were excited that this year, he was ordained an elder in the Nazarene Church with 10 of his church members to witness his commitment to serve God and the Church throughout his lifetime.

God met with us during that ordination and many people came forward when Dr. Eugenio Duarte, the Asia Pacific General Superintendent, invited anyone who would like to make a deeper commitment to Christ to come forward for prayer. We give praise to God for the way he is unleashing his power and love in his church and in his people through his Spirit!

Our pastors and district leaders

The delegates wore name cards for the first time.

(L) Rev. Dr. Eugenio Duarte's first visit to Vanuatu.
(R) Rev. Kafoa Muaror, the Melanesia South Pacific field strategy coordinator and his wife, Aggie.