God's Plan of Redemption for the People of Tanna

The Lord will accomplish what concerns me;

Your lovingkindness, O Lord, is everlasting;

Do not forsake the works of Your hands.

Psalm 138:8

We are so thankful for all that God accomplished in our recent trip to Lawangi on the island of Tanna!  We flew from Port Vila on January 3rd, and were met by the lay pastor, Morrison, at White Grass Airport just outside of the provincial capital of Lenakel.  We were transported to Lenakel and together with Morrison's wife and little boy, Abraham, we journeyed on to Lawangi.

 Abraham had grown so much since we saw him last June!

We had a smooth ride to Lawangi in the back of the pick-up.  This was Wes' first trip to Tanna.

The road had obviously been quite muddy in the not too distant past.

We stopped briefly at the Enapuas market for some island cabbage and 

for some of Abraham's "aunties" to love on him before continuing on to Lawangi.

We were delivered a short distance off the main road and walked the last couple kilometers, 

down, 

down, 

down 

to Lawangi village.

We were greeted by a slight rainbow over the ocean as soon as we got there.

We were honored to stay in Morrison and Rehab's home.  Their coconut leaf roof had sprung some leaks so we brought along a tarp to help keep us dry inside.  

It was only a short time before the rains began!  It rained so hard that small rivers formed and ran past our front door. We were so thankful for this dry place of refuge as the rain continued for the next 3 days.

It was so fun to meet up with our friends again!  Selah had a new baby sister since the last time we were here.

This is Tom.  His son George is taking SPNTC classes in Port Vila and being discipled by Pastor Gideon.  Tom was so proud of what his son is doing.  We were glad for the time we had getting to know Tom while we were at the village.  God is working in his life and family.

These are 2 sweet little friends that share the same name - Selah and Selah!

We started teaching the Bible Overview course on Tuesday morning.  We taught several hours each morning and evening for 3 days.  We were really glad to see the same people returning each time.  It surprised us that no one had ever been told about God's plan of redemption from Genesis to Revelation.

The house that we had used in June for our meals and meetings was our classroom.  We were able to post our biblical historical timeline along with the visual aids to teach how God had worked throughout history to accomplish his plan.

David is teaching here with the 12 sons of Israel acting out part of the story.

George's brother Andrew became Judah, and Wesley became the tribe of Reuben.  We didn't have enough men so John's mother, Wesese, played the part of Gad and Serah was the tribe of Benjamin.  The stories of God's love for his chosen people came to life through drama.

The rain continued most of the time.  This pot was strategically placed to catch the water as it ran down the tree.  It was full most of the time!

Wesley made a hike down to the waterfall one day for a swim, but discovered that the river had become very dirty with all the run-off.

The moments of sunshine were enjoyed by people and chickens alike.  We also scrambled to get our "sola laet" (solar lights) out in the sunshine to charge them for the evening class.  We were glad that we fully charged the lights before we left Vila.  It gave us about 6 - 8 hours of light. 

The Port Vila churches had given an offering that made it possible to purchase these solar lights to give to the 3 Tanna congregations so that they can meet in the evenings for worship and Bible study.

 On our third day at the village, Sam told us that his garden had literally fallen off into the river.  And, his was not the only one that had slid off into the river.  By the next day, he reported to us that he had re-planted the place where his garden had been.  This week Cyclone Vania passed over Tanna and devastated the gardens that survived last week.  Banana trees were blown down and taro leaves were whipped in the wind and ruined.

On our way to class one morning, we found this hen protecting her chicks from the rain.  If you look closely you can see one little chick peeking out from behind her wing.

Once the rain stopped, all 8 chicks emerged from the safe shelter.

 Louise and her husband, Aleck, are the shepherds of the Enapuas "flock."  We were glad that she was able to come on Wednesday for the second half of the classes.  Patrick the lay leader from Imarapu also came, so every congregation was represented. In the final meeting together on Thursday, many of the class members prayed to receive Christ into their lives and many also prayed for God's Spirit to fill and empower them.  Praise God!

All our meals were lovingly cooked over this fire and in these pots by Rehab and Morrison.  On Friday, Sylvia took time to teach them how to make bread in those cooking pots.  She had made a cake in a pot before but not bread.

Sylvia and Rehab made 3 batches of rolls and they all turned out quite nice!

The volcano on Tanna, Mt. Yasur, was quite active during our stay, making a large ash cloud that could be seen from Lawangi.  We started to notice that when we would feel an earthquake, the volcano would rumble and spit!

 Because of all the rain throughout the week, the bush road that the truck drove down on Monday was completely washed out, so on Saturday, we hiked out all the way to the main road.  This was complicated by the fact that Wesley and Sylvia had spent the night with very sick stomachs.  But, we took it very slowly and with the Lord's help we made it to the top.  Morrison and Tom helped to carry our gear.  When we reached the main road, Wes and David went up to Lonialu Lookout to view the volcano. It put on an impressive show for them.

Our truck driver decided to take the road through the "Middle Bush" to take us to the airport and ended up getting stuck in the mud for about an hour.  At one point the truck was tipped so far forward and to the right that the left rear tire was not even touching the ground.  David and Wesley joined the helpers that literally came out of the "bushes" to give us a hand.  There were so many ideas being thrown around that we wondered if we would ever get to the airport.  Finally, with some pushing in the front and the rest pulling on a rope from behind, the truck was able to get out of the deep hole and re-directed to the left. 

We finally made it home to Port Vila by the evening very thankful for indoor plumbing and comfortable beds!  We praise the Lord for the opportunity we had to build up the body of Christ in Tanna.  Please continue to pray with us for these new believers that God's plan of redemption will be shared over and over again with others in their villages.  Thank you to all who were praying!

Dogs, Distractions, and the devil

A not so great picture of the Bible study taken at Prima a few weeks ago

This blog is long overdue for a bit of news!  I (Sylvia) have a mark from a red ink pen on my right forearm as a reminder of the interesting time I had this afternoon at one of our new preaching points here in Port Vila.  As I was driving to the other side of town after lunch to meet with the ladies at Prima, I heard someone yell from the other side of the road.  That's not uncommon and most of the time I ignore it, but today I glanced that way and caught a glimpse of Pastor Gideon.  I pulled over to the side of the road and saw him, his wife, Aline, and Baby John along with Pastor Gideon's disciple, George, making their way toward the truck. Prima is Gideon's first pastorate.  Everyone piled into the truck and we drove the short distance further to Prima. 

I was not surprised that no other ladies were ready or even in view since Pastor Gideon and Aline had not been there to remind them about the Bible study.  I had made the announcement on Sunday about the ladies' Bible study, but no one lives by a calendar or a clock here.  It was nice to sit and chat with Aline while we waited.  The congregation has built a small shelter in an area of the village that has been designated for the future church building.  It is basically some posts that support a framework that has some sheets of corrugated tin resting on it.  They have constructed some low benches using some large bamboo and planks of wood.  Aline and I chose the more comfortable woven mats on the ground.  As we were sitting and chatting together, a large German shepherd type dog named Blackie came and nestled up next to me, wanting me to pet him.  I was told that he is always quite aggressive toward strangers, which made me wonder what to expect.  He wanted to be as close to me as possible even putting his large head in my lap!  I am not generally afraid of dogs, but do have a healthy respect for them especially if they do not know me.  Pastor Gideon was able to coax him away and we decided to start our study with the few children that had gathered.

As we sang some songs, two young teenage girls joined us.  Then, just as we started reading the scripture for our Bible study, a couple mothers and their small children arrived.  I have been going through a study book that looks at the lives of 13 different women in the Bible.  Today, we were looking at Priscilla from Acts 18.  A man from Australia came several weeks ago to Prima, showed the Jesus Film, and then handed out several cartons of Bislama Bibles to anyone who wanted them.  We are very thankful for this man whoever he is!  As a result of his generosity, many of the people who came this afternoon had their Bibles, but only two ladies could read!  (Please join us in praying about this problem.)  While Mary was reading a portion of our text, her little child Alfin decided to wail very loudly.  About that same time, Blackie decided to return and cozy up next to me again.  Aline tried to lure him away and I began to hear some of the women whispering, "Satan."  It sure seemed like Satan was doing his best to distract and disturb our study, so we stopped and prayed for God to put a "fence" of his peace around us so that we could learn from his Word!  Even though there were still some children playing and wandering in and out of the shelter, after we prayed, we all sensed that God had brought his peace.

Two more dogs came to check me out before I was finished with our lesson and prayer time.  They didn't linger, but it made me wonder what made me so attractive to them!  The red ink mark on my right arm came during the prayer time.  The ladies all shared their prayer requests, and as I was making note of them in my little notepad I noticed that a little guy seated next to me was decorating his body with a red ink pen.  It surprised me a little that while I was praying, his ink pen wandered over to my arm!  Apparently, someone else noticed as I heard a quiet gasp!  What a privilege to be able to share the love of Jesus and God's Word with this group of mothers, young girls, children and pets! 

After we were all finished and ready to leave, one of the mothers named Eka, asked me if I remembered the young mother that we had prayed for about a month ago.  Her husband had left her, so we prayed for their relationship to be healed.  Eka proudly reported to me that God had answered our prayer and this young mother was with her husband again.  Then, who should come up but this very lady!  She was beaming and smiling so big!  God is doing some incredible things at Prima!  Please join us in praying for Pastor Gideon and Aline and this growing congregation that the light of Christ will shine brightly in Prima.

It was funny that when I got home and was relating the afternoon's events to David, he commented on the fact that I smelled a bit like a dog. 

Outreach to Tanna Part 1: Getting there

Team departs from Port Vila

On board the MV Malekula

After 25 hours on-board the MV Malekula, our team of eleven finally arrived to the western seaport of Lenakel on the island of Tanna.  It had been a harrowing trip with rough seas and high winds.  Our little cargo ship had pitched and reeled all night and much of the day as well.  Even after we were safely on land, it seemed like the concrete wharf was rocking and rolling!

Sam Iakabas

We were met at the wharf by Pastor Gideon’s father, Sam, who had become a member of the Nazarene Church when he lived in the Black Sand area of Port Vila.  Pastor Gideon’s wife, Eileen, and Baby John arrived by plane soon after our ship docked.  By dusk we had located a pick-up truck that was willing to deliver our team with all our belongings (food, 25 kg. rice bags, Jesus Film equipment, bedding and backpacks) to the village of Lawangi.  I (Sylvia) rode up front with the driver and Eileen and John while the rest of the team clung to truck and gear in the back. 

David was riding in the back and noticed that the clear night sky and brilliant stars were often obscured by dark, murky clouds.  He enquired of Pastor Gideon who laughed and informed him that those clouds were ash from the nearby volcano, Mt. Yasur.  We began to notice the soon to be familiar feeling of “dust” in our eyes.

We left the main road after about 30 minutes and slowly began to descend a precarious stretch of road.  It was dark and one side of the edge of the road fell away, being a steep precipice!  A young man ran in front of the truck indicating to the driver the deep ruts and dangerous holes that he should avoid.  This went on for what seemed like hours (although it was really only 3 miles) before we finally came to stop in a village. 

Our meeting house at Lawangi

We all tumbled out of the truck and discovered in the dark that a welcoming party of children and young people were eager and ready to help carry our belongings to our destination.  Sam began to lead us, exhausted as we were by the sleepless night on-board the ship, up a dirt path that became increasingly steep.  At one point my heart was pounding so hard, I thought I might have a heart attack.  I discovered after just a few more yards, that we had arrived at the village of Lawangi, where Pastor Gideon’s family lived.  Sam led us to a meeting house where we were encouraged to sit down and catch our breath!  A meal had been prepared for us after which we headed toward our assigned homes to get some much-needed rest.



The next morning we woke to what sounded like Swiss alphorns.  We could tell that the beautiful, haunting melodies were coming from a distance and from various directions.  I thoroughly enjoyed this music that I learned was made by blowing into the end of very large Triton shells (called a bubu) as a part of their custom of circumcision.  May to August is the time when young boys are taken by their mother’s brothers (called uncles) to a separate place where the circumcision is performed and then the boys are cared for by their uncles for about a month.  The mothers and other women are not allowed to enter this place.  Every morning as the sun comes up, the shells are blown, as well as throughout the day.  The only time that we did not hear the shells being blown was the 24 hours when we drove to the south of the island.
 

Sunrise from Lawangi village

In the daylight we realized that the village of Lawangi had a lovely view of the ocean with the northern part of Tanna stretching to the northwest.  We weren’t near the ocean as the YIM team soon found out.  They asked if Morrison, Pastor Gideon’s oldest brother, could take them to the ocean.  It didn’t look that far away, but took most of the morning for them to hike down to it and then hike back up.  Every place we went required either a hike down or up.  We soon learned that to bathe, we would need to hike down to the river and waterfall.  I think everyone enjoyed the cool water of the two rivers that flowed on either side of our village.  Getting back to Lawangi without getting dirty and sweaty was another challenge.  All of our water had to be carried from a distance, so we learned to really appreciate the water that we drank or used for washing hands and brushing teeth.

Pastor Jenny, Andrea and Lisa's home in Lawangi

 





 Lawangi became our “homebase”.  The people of the village had vacated 4 of their homes so that we could use them while we were there.  All their homes were built off the ground on stilts and some were actually built in the trees.  We were often aware that a pig or some chickens were resting beneath the floor of our house.  Throughout the night, we were awakened by the roosters and once the sun came up, the chickens had a clucking convention right outside our house.

Lawangi's chickens

Mt. Yasur, the volcano, in the distance

Another sound we never became accustomed to was the ominous sound of the volcano erupting.  It resembled the noise that thunder makes when a storm is still a long distance away.  One day, David was able to hike up to a point above Lawangi where he could see Mt. Yasur across the valley with the smoke ascending from the cinder cone.  The ash coming from the volcano is having a devastating effect on the gardens of the people of Lawangi and other nearby villages.  We were grateful that Nazarene Compassionate Ministries made it possible for us to contribute several 50 pound rice bags to the villages that we visited.

Stones being heated to cook laplap

All our meals were prepared by the women of the village.  Although we brought rice, tinned meat and other food for our own meals, they also generously contributed to our meals from their own gardens.  Food preparation in the village is an all day affair and requires lots of energy.  They gathered firewood to cook with and the water was carried from a pipe located a distance away.  One of their traditional foods called laplap required that stones be heated over a fire, cassava or cooking bananas had to be grated, and coconuts were “scraped” so the coconut milk could be squeezed over the laplap.  Lots of work!  We owe these ladies a huge debt for their incredible effort on our behalf!

Siyabwa carrying firewood

I had not anticipated how many people would be in need of medical care.  Lenakel is the provincial capital and has a hospital located there.  There are smaller clinics located around the island in many of the small villages, but they are not always staffed and don’t always have medicines available.  Our first morning in Lawangi, I met a young mother who was holding her infant girl all bundled in a thick blanket.  She was hesitant to speak to me since she usually only spoke her vernacular language and was not as familiar with Bislama, the national pidgin language, that I knew.  With some effort, she was able to communicate to me that her baby had been sick for the past 2 months with fever and cough.  She had recently gotten some medicine from the local clinic that she was giving to her baby, but she was not seeing any improvement.  The baby was listless and wasn’t breastfeeding.  I had brought a bag with some basic medicines, but had failed to bring any antibiotics for babies and children.  I joined several people together and we prayed for the baby’s health and the mother’s peace.

The next day, this young mother came to our house early in the morning.  She was carrying her baby who was now sucking on a “lolly” (candy).  Her and her husband were planning to take the baby to the hospital.  I was amazed at the difference in the baby’s countenance.  She was now very alert and mother reported that she had slept well during the night.  It seemed obvious to me that God was healing this baby.  I encouraged the parents to do what they felt was best, but commented that it seemed the baby was doing much better.  We prayed again, this time thanking God for the improvement.  One of our last nights in Lawangi village, during a worship service this mother stood and shared how God had healed her baby! 

The children loved the puppets!

Our team’s first ministry effort was a Kid’s Club on Friday afternoon in Lawangi.  The three members of the Youth in Mission team plus the six ni-Vanuatu young people did a great job of leading this part of our outreach.  Puppets, songs, stories, and learning the simple story of the Gospel through the colors on the Evange-Ball and colored bracelets were effective in communicating the love of God.  It seemed that the Lord used the joyful, happy interaction with children to break down the walls that previously closed doors to the message of Jesus especially in two of the villages. 

The adults had as much fun as the kids

As soon as the Kid’s Club was finished, the guys started setting up equipment to show the JESUS film as soon as it got dark.  We were really thankful for Jacob’s help with this.  Unfortunately, the video projector kept automatically shutting itself off.  Would all the Jesus Film equipment that we brought be of no use during the entire trip to Tanna?

The answer to this question and Part 2 of this incredible adventure will be posted to our blog in the next day or two!  In the meantime, here are a few more pictures that you can view on our Facebook Click here!