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Vanuatu (Torba)
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"And I,
if I be lifted up from the
earth,
will draw all men
unto Me."
|
Still Time, Still
Hope
Greetings again from Tropical
Vanuatu!
Teach, Baptize,
Teach
Before His ascension to heaven, Jesus
said:
"...All power is given unto Me in heaven and in
earth.
Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them
in the name of
the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
Teaching them
to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded
you:
and, lo, I am
with you alway, even unto the end of the world..."
Matthew
28:18-20
The plan is simple. Go. Teach before you
baptize. Baptize. Teach after you baptize. Sounds too simple? God is blessing;
we have seen how this really works. During the past few months, we have been
teaching our health educator students not only anatomy & physiology and
health principles but also Bible topics. We have been pleasantly surprised
to see so much fruit from our humble efforts. In December, the
Lord impressed 2 lay evangelists (church elders from Santo and Port
Vila) to fly in from other parts of Vanuatu to visit Gaua with a
singing group to run an evangelistic crusade. They came, paying their own way,
and sacrificed their time to preach and teach a series of night meetings on
doctrinal, health and practical topics. It was a long series for this part of
the world-3 weeks-usually evangelistic programs are one or two weeks here at the
longest. It was also unusual in that 2 main speakers were involved, one
concentrating on doctrinal messages, the other on practical subjects,
including family life and stewardship-which touched almost every aspect of
life-an excellent combination. I also had the privilege of presenting the health
topics. Hundreds of people attended to see the biggest evangelistic effort
ever held on this island. With convincing power they preached and taught, and at
the end of the series 23 were baptized by the district pastor (Pr
Mark), who flew up from Santo for the baptism. In spite of
constant downpours of heavy rainfall throughout the meetings, prayers were
offered daily that the evening meetings would be dry. At the end of the series,
we were amazed to realize that NOT ONCE did it rain in all 3 weeks of meetings
during the evening time. Though this was a statistical impossibility,
rain fell very frequently & heavily during the days and nights,
and often just before or just after the meetings, but never during the
meetings themselves!
Thank You Father! Why are we so
amazed when You answer our prayers?
Although we consider numbers to be
of secondary importance, we were still very glad that the baptism included
4 of our precious students and that 15 stood for the next baptism which is to be
held later this year. One of our students, John Foxe, was the
most significant influence in leading his mother, his father, his 2 sisters, a
half brother and a cousin, as well as another student to get baptized also!
Other family members are also showing interest. Recently we had to take
two boat loads of people to church-interest is growing
steadily! We are so thankful for what the Lord is doing on Gaua
island!
Visit from Newly-wed Australian
Volunteers
During the last week of our evangelistic
cruscade, we had the pleasure of a 5 day visit from Brayden and Rachel Godfrey,
from Western Australia. They were married less than 2 weeks before their
arrival. They had determined to put some time aside to be a part of the Lord's
work in the first days of their married life. God blessed-without any specific
planning, they happened to come for the very best week of the year-the final
week of our evangelistic cruscade! One big way they helped us was in bringing
cash up from Port Vila-we can't do any banking in this province
and we had run out of cash. They also brought some much appreciated DVDs
and a solar controller for us from Australia, as ours had died. Their fresh
and lively input into the fellowship and worship taking place was a catalyst
that made the week even better. We were surprised to see how quickly this couple
blended into a mission field situation-particularly as Brayden spent some time
in Papua New Guinea as a child with missionary parents. He even told some
stories during Sabbath fellowship in New Guinea Pidgin (a language
very similar to Vanuatu Bislama) which the listeners really enjoyed! We are very
thankful that God has blessed this couple with a missionary spirit. Please pray
for them...who knows, God may call them to be more involved in missionary
work some day?
Thank You Lord for sending Brayden
and Rachel our way!
A Close Shave with
Death
Other life and death happenings took
place during the 3 week evangelistic program in Gaua. Firstly I was called
to a remote village on the far south-east corner of the island to
retrieve a very sick boy. This village is very difficult to get to-walking
takes 6 hours from our base, and a 2 hour boat ride is impossible unless the
ocean is calm and the tide is high, as it involves taking the boat through a
very narrow and shallow passage in the reef. When there is too much surf, which
is 90% of the time, there is a high risk of ending up on the rocks. But I
managed to get our banana boat into the natural 'harbor' (not really a
harbor at all) through the surf-previous visits have taught me how to handle the
waves at this location appropriately. Seconds after coming through the very
narrow passage in the reef you must drop an anchor and turn the boat into the
waves to avoid getting pounded against the rocks! Meanwhile someone must
swim with a rope from the stern to hold the boat in a safe location for loading
or unloading. We figured the waves were too rough to leave the boat
unattended so while someone watched the boat we made our way up to the remote
village-a very primitive and dirty place full of precious people. As
soon as I saw the boy I could see the situation clearly. A one-week old ruptured
appendicitis with a history of recent & severe peritonism which was now
subsided, plus severe dehydration and extensive muscle wasting-probably from
earlier illness and exacerbated by his current physical state. He hadn't eaten
in more than a week and was vomiting even the smallest amount of water. The 10
year old boy's eyes were deep sunken, his skin was dusty, lips severely cracked
and parched, and his thin body was extremely weak. I could see
that he was nearly dead, and immediately I made plans to evacuate him. As
we left the village, family members began to cry mournfully for him-taking turns
to kiss him as his father carried him down the steep hill to our banana boat.
They were convinced they would not see him again. The surf was tossing our
boat around like a toy, but we managed to get him into the boat with some
relatives-everyone got totally wet in the process. I was very
concerned for this little boy but sensed that God would was with us
and that He would give him enough energy to make it on the rough waves back
home, together with Mama, Papa, two sisters, uncle and aunt. Soon I had an
IV line in his arm and his body began to revive. For him
water was life. The first sign of revival was a severe
fever-his body was unable to raise a fever in such a weak and dehydrated state.
It was then I recognized tell-tale signs of malaria too-his depressed immune
state had provided an excellent situation for malaria to attack him. This
is malaria season-nearly everyone gets malaria every year, sometimes
suffering chronic recurrent episodes. So this little boy had two
serious infections to battle with-and in addition he had gastrointestinal
worms-a very common problem here especially among children. Often worm
infections go untreated for months and years, and can cause chronic emaciation
and anemia, leading to weakness and suppressed immunity. But with prayers
for wisdom and skill from the Great Physician, the Lord enabled us to see him
through this very dangerous period. Had he been stronger, I may
have considered an emergency laparotomy to clean up the mess in his
abdomen, but as he was so weak, I knew that an operation would have killed him.
I knew that IV therapy and God's grace was his only hope. It took 3 weeks of
careful and gradual improvement before he could walk again normally. During this
time we bonded very closely to him and his family. We spent many moments in
prayer and consideration of God's goodness. We shared a Bible with the boys'
father (his mum cannot read) and encouraged them to follow a more healthful
lifestyle. We marked texts in his Bible that mention the Sabbath and also
several encouraging promises. At the end of their stay the family left
our base with lifted spirits and a focus on a much happier, healthier life, and
a debt of gratitude to what God had done for them through us. We also
discovered that this father had previously been causing trouble for the small
group of Sabbath-keepers in his village, but now had a much improved attitude.
How grateful he and his family are for the life of their precious
son! The little boy still has slight occasional pain in his
abdomen-likely due to significant adhesions resulting from a healed but heavily
scarred appendix. Judging from other severe ruptured appendix cases I have seen,
I suspect he has a mat of scar tissue attaching his scarred appendix to his
intestines. But rather than organize an operation, I decided to give him time-it
is possible that the scar tissue will stretch slightly. If there is no
improvement in the next couple of months I will be considering his need for a
laparotomy to sever at least some of those adhesions. In retrospect, we see that
this incredible experience was a mighty opportunity to share with, witness to,
and encourage, not only this former enemy of our church, but also his whole
extended family and village! Praise be to God!
Comatose Patient's Death Opens Doors for
the Gospel
As if I wasn't busy enough during the recent
evangelistic cruscade, another call came for another emergency case on the West
Coast of Gaua. This time, the call was very serious-a deeply comatose patient.
The clinic on the north of the island does have a small boat (there
are only 5 boats operating on this island) but the clinic was out of fuel.
Besides, after consultation by radio, the nurse wasnt sure what to do with
this case. (When nurses cant cure an illness here, the general opinion is
that it is a 'custom' disease, meaning that only witchcraft can cure
it.) Sabbath was drawing nigh, but I knew I had to go.
Immediately I sensed that God was calling me:
"It is lawful to do well on the
Sabbath." Matthew 12:2
So I set out by boat with Jackie, a strong
young guy from the church. Soon we were on the west coast but realized that we
were both unfamiliar with the entrance to the natural harbor. Fortunately we
were able to see some figures on the beach and they guided us in safely by
waving arms and yelling across the waves. We discovered that we had chosen the
very best spot to get into the sick man's village. We were guided up to
a large hut packed full of people-usually a sign that something serious is
going on. In the middle of the hut lay the strong 40 year old sick man on
a coconut palm leaf mat, with his eldest son supporting his comatose
body. It turned out that he had been in a coma for 7 days now-with almost
no fluids during that entire period! He had a history of severe right upper
quadrant pain before losing consciousness. He was hot and his pupils were
poorly reactive. His urine was darker than coffee and his eyes were bright
yellow-one of the worst cases of jaundice I have ever seen. I suspected that he
was in overwhelming liver failure-likely due to severe advanced viral
hepatitis (a huge percentage of adults in Vanuatu are Hepatitis B
carriers) with fulminant hepatic failure and a resultant deep coma. A coma score
of well below 7. His skin had the strong odor of concentrated sweat and urine,
and the stench of highly concentrated toxins which were leaching out of his
body. As I examined him on the floor of his dirty hut, I knew that this man was
about to die. There was so little I could do for him. I hung an IV bag on
the dirty post in his room and discussed the situation with the family. If he
could survive two more days the plane would be arriving from Santo and we could
get him down to Northern District Hospital. I knew his main problem would be his
airway-comatose patients have a habit of dying in their respiratory secretions.
But there was still a slight ray of hope for his survival, so we evacuated him
and kept the IV line going on the extremely rough trip home. While the boat
crashed heavily on the waves, water spraying over the boat, the patient slept
deeply in his comatose state. His wife and children came with us back to Mataka
clinic, where I admitted him under the care of the resident nurse. (By God's
grace we may anticipate the use of an aircraft for this project, so that we can
evacuate cases like this.) I visited him there repeatedly between the many
programs, work and activities that were happening on every side. We were
doing charcoal poultices to his liver, IV fluids and frequent skin
washing. I knew that any drug would have killed him-liver failure is
virtually impossible to treat with drugs. But on the night before the plane
was to arrive, his airway became compromised, and we started to lose the battle.
His respiratory secretions became thick and soon he was gasping for every
breath. I called the nurse to use the foot-operated suction pump
while I prayed with the family and told them that he was now in an
extremely critical situation. Within 20 minutes of that prayer, he was dead.
After the battle was over, (and lost) I thought that we would lose ground with
this family. But the following morning the question of his body
came to the fore, and I decided to offer to take the dead man with his family
back home. Little did I realize how significant this was to the dead man's
family. They knew that I had done my best to retrieve him and keep him alive,
and now they were greatly appreciative that I was willing to take his dead
body back home to be buried. So my day's plans were changed (once again),
and with 22 alive and 1 dead on board in our small banana boat,
[heavily overloaded] including Minister Philip and some youth from the
church, we made our way back to the West Coast of Gaua. En route, an important
join in the fuel line of one of our outboard engines broke, and with this large
load and very few tools on board we were forced to use only one engine. In
the process of trying to fix the situation, I mistakenly dropped two of my
few tools into the ocean! But after prayer and some creative thinking, I
discovered a way to by-pass the broken join and restart the dead engine, which
necessitated running the engine without the engine cover. It was noisy, but we
made it round the point and got into the bay near Ontar. A crowd of several
hundred people-virtually everyone on the West Coast of the island-had gathered
for the mourning session that was to follow. This was my first opportunity
to witness a mourning occasion in Vanuatu. I was quite overwhelmed at the
shrieking and sobbing that ensued. (I have since realized that mourning is
regarded as an obligation here-for many it is performed as dramatically as
possible as a sign of respect to the family! Sometimes family members even
pay visitors to mourn loudly and convincingly!) Philip the Evangelist had come
with the youth boys to sing and to preach, but we wondered for a while if he
would find opportunity amidst the loud din of horrible wailing and sobbing
that was going on. They had just killed a cow for the occasion and right next to
the butchering spot, only a short distance from the mourning activities was
a bull who knew his cow was dead. He also joined the throng of mourners-the
mournful sound of human and bovine voices mingling for their dead! It
was time for us to go-we had a meeting to attend that night on the east coast
and a long way to get home. Our time was limited. Philip knew there was only one
way break through Satanic spell of hopelessness and darkness that
covered that dwelling like a thick cloud. He gathered his singing group together
and they began to sing a most beautiful song that Philip had composed about the
resurrection. How appropriate were the words! Somehow angels seemed
to back the singing, and the spell of gloom and despair was
cut as if with a knife. The entire place was hushed suddenly to complete
silence, as they were distracted from their miserable mourning to hear words and
sounds so completely out of their world of spiritual fear and
confusion.
"For we are saved by hope." Romans
8:24
The 'sound of the light' of the hope of
Jesus shone like an intense and burning light in the midst
of intense spiritual darkness! After that singing had silenced every
single mournful voice, soon Philip had the entire crowd feeding on the hope of
the gospel. He preached a rapid, powerful, impromptu sermonette and carried his
hearers forward, in hope, to the resurrection. He pled for them not to
sorrow as those who have no hope, and conveyed our respect for the family and
their loved one. Following more touching singing and a closing prayer, I
also had the opportunity to share the mechanism and cause of death, and a chief
arose to the occasion and delivered a speech in which he showed great
appreciation for my help and for our visit. After treating a few sick and
sharing a Bible with another chief, we assured them we would return. We
left the community to go ahead with their mourning and with the funeral-which
was to take several days. Through death the battle had been seemingly lost, but
somehow a victory had been won. As we made our way home we were glad to be a
part of what God is doing on Gaua!
More Severe Illness and another Death on
Gaua
During the evangelistic meetings another severe
case, this time an elderly lady with a severe urinary tract infection needed
stabilization, and again our mission base was utilized as a temporary hospital
for her recovery over 2 days. During the meetings I was able to share a
presentation on the dangers of alcohol and kava drinking (kava is a local
intoxicating drink which can have dangerous side effects.) These presentations
on the dangers of social & excessive drinking were repeated by gossiping
voices accross the island via what is called here "the coconut news"
(elsewhere called "the grapevine"!) It caused no small stir because kava
drinking is a big part of Vanuatu culture and social drinking of both kava an
alcohol is a big part of end of year festivities here. Many drink to excess
and mix all kinds of home brews with their kava, including rotten coconut 'wine'
and rotten papaya (pawpaw) fruit 'wine'. Sometimes pure alcohol is
purchased in Santo which is mixed with various drinks in dangerously
high concentrations. Sometime marijuana is included or used, as well as a
bell shaped flower from the bush which has powerful and dangerous
anesthetic properties. It seems to me that a mixture of alcohol and kava is
a dangerous combination, especially in large doses as both are
hepatotoxic, both are CNS depressants and both cause cardiac muscle
weakness. For a frail heart and too much exertion, the combination could be
fatal. I have never tasted kava but I was told it takes like
mud mixed with bark. That is certainly what it looks like. It causes
many, many health problems, and can even kill a person in strong doses
by paralyzing the respiratory and/or heart muscles. Kava drinkers are
known for their extensive sleeping habits and lack of productivity-the bane of
Vanuatu society. Following the meetings, I was doing an operation on a
small girl who had a large congenital lump on her leg, when a man arrived with
urgent news of a very sick man at a wedding that was taking place on the north
of the island. Being in the middle of the operation, I had to complete the
procedure and clean up before I could leave with some emergency supplies. I made
it to the sick man just in time...to find the family gathered about his body, as
they suspected he may be dead. I found his body still warm, but
could detect no spontaneous respirations or pulse and his pupils were fixed
and dilated. As I announced his death another session of mourning set in!
Following this I was able to discover the probable cause of death-he was an aged
man who had been a ring-leader in heavy drinking of alcohol and kava over the
past few days, as well as behaving in a riotous fashion! On the day of his death
he had drunk still more kava to alleviate a severe headache and had
been behaving like a fool. He got carried away in the festivities and
starting running around before he suddenly collapsed, had a convulsion, and
died. The wedding feast, with hundreds in attendance, was suddenly
converted into a mourning session. I am not sure of the exact mechanism of
his death but as kava is a muscle relaxant it is possible that that
he overexerted his weakened heart muscle which could have resulted in
either a heart attack or an arrhythmia, which in turn possibly threw a clot into
his cerebral blood vessels causing a stroke. Whatever happened, I am pretty sure
that all his drinking was at least partly responsible. The community
knew this man was a heavy drinker so the general opinion now prevails
that he drank himself to death. My opinion on this matter has been repeated from
lip to lip and this has turned out to reinforce my public warnings about social
drinking. This is just one more example of how the Lord is taking almost
everything that happens here and is turning it out for the furtherance of His
light & truth on this island!
"For we can do nothing against the
truth, but for the truth." 2Corinthians 13:8
And "the things which
happened...have fallen out rather unto the furtherance of the gospel."
Philippians 1:12
Student
Aspirations
We are glad to report that one of our students,
after completing a year with us, was able to get a place in nursing
school at the beginning of this year. Competition to enter nursing school
is fierce, but at her interview she performed well and told us that our
course provided her with the right answers to the questions in her interview.
(She happens to be the daughter of the politician who is allowing us to use
his bungalow here on Gaua as our base. God is keeping our doors
open!) Other students are aspiring to nursing and may leave
for training at the end of 2007. Two other students are
expressing interest in medical school! We have been inspired at how aspiring
these young people are, in spite of overwhelming difficulties in getting an
education! One student has particularly warmed our hearts: a young, energetic
and enthusiastic 15 year old girl who is probably our keenest student. She would
make an excellent nurse. We are praying that God will do something special
with the lives of all our students. We can see clearly that an institutional
approach to teaching would do two things: 1/Make us much more effective in
reaching young people, and 2/Commit us to full-time teaching ministry that
would keep us extra busy for many years to come. We have decided not to
take that route because our workload is too full as it is! We would rather
delegate and facilitate than get too involved ourselves. But we see almost
infinite potential for teaching ministry at primary, secondary and tertiary
levels here in Torba Province. Educational ministry is the key to reaching
the people of this province. Adult literacy is also a huge need. We know of
no place in the world where the need for education exceeds this place, nor where
educational ministry is capable of accomplishing so much good.
A Plan to Set the Captives
Free!
We are now working on a tract on religious
freedom. The concept of religious freedom exists in Vanuatu, at least in
theory-it is embodied in the constitution of Vanuatu. But in Torba Province, the
old-time religion of Church of England missionaries who passed through some time
ago has left the people with the legacy of religious intolerance and a church
controlled by bishops and priests (from a distance) with no regard for the Bible
and little concern for their church members. Controlled by the ritualistic and
spiritually dead hierarchy of a spiritually dead religion, the chiefs are
generally misled into believing that all other churches must be regarded as an
intrusion or menace. Anyone who shows interest in any other church
is sometimes treated as accursed by the local priests, especially in
the more remote villages where superstitions abound. The curse of a priest is
taken very seriously and fearfully-just like the anathemas of the Roman
church upon her subjects during the Dark Ages. The general community
are mostly very open to the truth but feel oppressed and greatly fear
to offend their religious leaders. But slowly things are changing for
the better. Our aim is to encourage the people to prevent any church
from controlling the chiefs or the consciences of the people, leaving the
people to follow God freely with Bible in hand. And we want to invite
people to find true freedom in God's law (as opposed to 'freedom from
God's law', which other protestant churches tend to introduce).
Therefore we are working on a tract on 'Religious Freedom in
Vanuatu'-emphasizing freedom in God's law. The Seventh-day Adventist Church
is growing steadily and interests are to be found everywhere. We feel sure that
God will set the captives free if the chiefs can be encouraged to stand
independently and courageously to provide religious freedom for their
communities so that all may worship according to the dictates of their
conscience.
"The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me,
because He hath anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor;
He hath sent me to heal the
brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives,
and recovering of sight to the
blind,
to set at
liberty them that are bruised."
Luke 4:18
Uplifted Jesus Still Draws the
Crowds
Recently we were given a DVD video called "Who
is Jesus?"-a simple video portraying the life of Jesus in a compact form. We
decided to show it to the family nearby who were recently baptized...but
word got out. Within an hour, a large group of people had crowded into the house
to watch the Jesus video. Among the visitors were people we have little contact
with-including some who we would certainly not expect to be interested in a
Jesus video! But we have been amazed to see who is receptive to the old,
old story of the cross! The barriers of prejudice here seem strangely different
to what we are used to-sometimes we think there are barriers here when in fact
the barrier is of our own making! It seems that almost anyone we put time
and effort into reaching here can possibly be reached! The real limits are time
and energy, and our limited desire to look for potential in a precious soul! Our
prayer is that we will not become weary in well-doing, nor in lifting up
Jesus as the hope of the world. The world is big, there are so many to reach-so
many jewels who could one day shine in the crown of our
rejoicing!
The Power of Christian
Missions
What is the power of Christian Missions? I need to
share this powerful statement with you.
"It is a law of
heaven that as we receive we are to
impart.
The Christian is to be a benefit to
others;
thus he himself is benefited.
'He that watereth shall be watered also
himself.' (Proverbs 11:25)
This is not merely a
promise.
It is a law of God's
divine administration,
a law by which He designs that the streams of beneficence shall be
kept,
like the waters of the great deep, in constant circulation,
perpetually flowing back to their
source.
In the fulfilling of this law is the power of Christian
missions."
RH.1909-08-12.010
This is not just
a promise of God, but a law of Heaven also. It
works like the waters of the great deep-the ocean and the rain.
Thanksgiving for God's
Leading
We would like to thank God for His special
leading in our lives:
-
For multiple financial contributions,
donated items and encouragement from many supporters in US and Australia-Thank
You Giver of all good gifts!
-
For God's blessing on our project in multiple
ways, in spite of our unworthiness-for His name's sake-thank You
Father!
-
For open doors for the work in Vanuatu-support
from key people in Government, Local community and (SDA)
denominational positions-thank You Lord!
-
We are extremely thankful for the special
privilege we have of working very positively with the government, the SDA
church, and with Laymen Ministries. We are official volunteers of all 3
entities. This is a unique situation and gives us many advantages for which we
are most thankful. But primarily, this medical mission project
operates out of, and is accountable to Laymen Ministries. Financial reports
are sent to Laymen Ministries on a monthly basis, and our baseline level of
support comes to us from this ministry. Laymen Ministries is a 501(c)(3)
nonprofit corporation based in St Maries, Idaho, USA. Any donation or
gift or support provided to this project is channeled to Laymen
Ministries. (Funds from Australia can be channeled to our Laymen
Ministries account in Vanuatu via Volunteers in Action in Queensland.) We
really appreciate the privilege of working with this small and very
active/productive ministry which has multiple similar mission projects around
the world. Every donation is accounted for. Please feel free to contact us or
Laymen Ministries about any questions you may have about use of donations or
gifts for this work. We feel intensely, our obligation and privilege to be
responsible and accountable with the incredible support we have received for
carrying this project forward. This places us in a most honored situation as
missionaries. Though unworthy of this high trust & honor, we thank God and
pray that He will find us faithful.
"Moreover it is required in
stewards, that a man be found faithful." 1Corinthians 4:2
Upcoming Visit to Australia February
& March
Much activity is planned for the next 4 weeks,
leading up to our departure for a 6 week stay in Australia. Dates we are in
Australia will be Febuary 6 to approximately mid (to late) March. We hope to
share with supporters in various places about what God has done here in Vanuatu,
and to show accountability to donors who have supported the work in good faith.
We feel confident that the fruits of their help will be convincing. If you want
to arrange for an appointment of some kind, please contact us by email at hope@go777light.com.
How You Can Help With 'Mission Critical' Needs
-
Order a free copy of
the "Ring of Fire" DVD of this project in Vanuatu,
& share it with a friend; just email us
or: <lmnpubint@imbris.net> or
checkout www.lmn.org
-
Are you talented,
adaptable, mission minded, in good health, not dysfunctional, and a people
person? Laymen Ministries urgently needs someone like you
to help in:
1/ assisting with the Laymen Ministries project on Mindoro Island,
Philippines (Single or Couple with management
skills); or
2/ St Maries, Idaho, USA doing
video editing and computer work (Single with IT
experience/training).
If you
can help, contact Jeff Reich by emailing: <lmnpubint@imbris.net> or
checkout www.lmn.org
-
To help financially with
much needed Bibles, books, tract publication or
a church building project in Vanuatu, please email: hope@go777light.com
-
To help sponsor a translator and/or a Bible worker evangelist, please email: hope@go777light.com
-
To help
provide high-yield equipment for evangelism in
Vanuatu, please email: hope@go777light.com
-
To help provide hydroelectric power equipment for mission base on Gaua
Island, please email: hope@go777light.com
-
Still Time, Still Hope
Friend, JESUS is still in the Sanctuary, pleading His
precious blood in behalf of men...
And Time still lingers...
People are still responding...
The gospel is still being preached!... (See Matthew
24:14)
While hope lingers, the hands of Jesus are stretched out
still... (See Isaiah 5:25)
While time lasts the light is yet to shine...
God is still using unworthy people like us... We covet your
prayers. Thanks for your interest in this project.
Mark Turnbull
Laymen Ministries Volunteer,
Vanuatu Mission of Seventh-day Adventists
mmm...More News from Naomi
Mosquitoes, meetings, mud, motorcycle, mildew, mourning,
misgivings, medical ministry.... What do all these things have in
common? Yes, all these words start with "m". But more than this,
they have formed a large part of our lives during the past few months! What a
blessing it has been to have the 4-wheeler motorcycle! It has dramatically
changed our lives, enabling us to get around so much more efficiently.
Without the 4-wheeler, we wouldn't have been able to get involved with the
3-week evangelistic program being held up on the northern part of the island,
and we would've missed out on many opportunities to share with others.
Mark was able to have evening health lectures before the evangelistic meetings,
and I was able to hold a small cooking workshop and another children's ministry
workshop for those attending the meetings. Plus, we have the privilege of
now having a way to carry stuff around that helps with running these programs.
For example, the generator, the PA System, and other resources used for sharing
and ministering.
The Generator that Refused to Die
The kind, self-sacrificing donation of a very good quality
generator came just in time for these evangelistic programs. That
generator was kept busy every day, for three weeks, clocking up many hours a
day. It refused to stop working up to the very end of the
program. But after we had carried it home on the 4-wheeler, in spite
of much effort at trying to repair it, the generator completely
refused to start. After some time of cleaning and a lot of examining, Mark found
that the exhaust was packed full with soot and the spark plug was
completely dead and would not produce a single spark! He was able
to clean out the exhaust but realized he had no spare spark plug. It
seemed that the generator would not be repairable without getting a spark
plug imported from Australia. But he tried a spare from the boat which is
much shorter and theoretically shouldn't work. We were delighted
to hear it fire up again and now we have our generator back in
use-a mission critical power supply for us! We were elated to realize
that God had He kept that generator going right to the end of the meetings (we
wouldnt have had time to repair it without disturbing the meetings!), and that
we had some spare spark plugs that will do the job till we get a proper
replacement from Vila or Australia!!
Rejoicing at the Baptism
December 23-25 were the happiest days
of the year-especially for our church members & newly
baptized brothers and sisters. December 23 was a very special day when 23
precious souls were baptized in the lagoon near the church. Many of
these people have been waiting for a year or more to get baptized, but since our
lay-minister is not ordained, we have to wait for an ordained pastor to come to
perform baptisms and marriages etc. Also, it was a very special occasion
for us as the whole family of one of our keenest students, were baptised
too. Even now as I write this I feel choked up to see what a miracle has
happened with this dear family in less than a year. The Lord is gracious,
and we feel so unworthy to have been a small part of what the Lord is doing
here. Please keep this family in your prayers, as Satan is already trying
to disturb them. They are the John Foxe family.
Tearful Goodbyes
December 24 was the farewell program for the evangelists,
singers and helpers who had come from Vila to run the evangelistic program.
These people spent their own money, gave freely of their time (I doubt that any
of them get paid leave from their jobs in Vila!) and were definitely used by God
to bring new light and truth to Gaua. We were told that there has never
been such a big evangelistic program held in Gaua before by any of the various
denominations represented here, so it caused quite a big stir! Some of the
local church leaders were very upset about the meetings, but they couldn't find
any fault with what was presented, since it was all Bible-based and historically
factual. On some evenings almost the whole congregation went forward to commit
themselves to God and accept His truths. Not all those who went forward
have been baptised, but seeds have been sown that we pray will spring up and
produce fruit in time. Hence now the reason why this was such a sad day for the
church here in Gaua. They have never been the recipients of such love and
service before, and during the farewell program, many tears were shed, as they
presented the visiting speakers with hand-made gifts to show their love and
appreciation. The atmosphere of love in the group was outstanding. We all sensed
the presence of God during these meetings!
Doves & Parrots Fly Air
Vanuatu
December 25 found us all at the airstrip to bid farewell our
new friends. The plane (an Air Vanuatu twin otter) had to wait much longer
than usual for all the passengers to board, as there was a long line of people
wanting to shake hands and bid farewell. They carried their gifts of love
with them in the plane, which was quite an interesting sight. There were mats,
baskets, fans, doves, parrots tied with a string onto a little perch (no
tickets, box or label necessary!) plus all their other equipment and
baggage.
Mildew, Mold & Must
During the past month we have had a lot of rain, which
probably isn't very unusual for this time of year in Vanuatu. During the
evangelistic meetings, many of the days were extremely wet, but somehow not one
of the evening meetings were interrupted with heavy rain! The crowds still came
out and sat under the cloudy skies with umbrella in hand. However, the
road to and from the meeting place became incredibly muddy and washed out in
places. One Sabbath we were not able to pass until late afternoon when the
water level had subsided in one of the little gullies that cross the road. We
usually have to wear raincoats or take a change of clothes when the road is so
muddy, as our good clothes end up being splattered with mud! Another
problem we face in very wet, humid weather is mildew. Our newly organized
bookshelves that just came from Australia are now a mottled pattern instead of
white! It's time to get out the bleach solution and wipe off all the books
and the shelves to remove the mildew. We also have a constant battle with
shoes, clothes, bags, linen etc. getting either moldy and/or musty. How
thankful we are when the sun appears again after several days of heavy rain, and
we quickly take everything outside to freshen up.
Thanks for the Books & Bibles
For those of you who donated library and Spirit of Prophecy
books, Bibles, and other materials, I want to say a BIG thank you on behalf of
the people here. They are so excited with having their own Bibles and
books to read, those that can read, that is. We face a big challenge to
help some of those newly converted to the faith who do not know how to read, and
one way that we think we can help these people is with children's Bible story
books. We are very thankful for a couple of sets that came, however we
cannot supply the demand. If you have some sets of Arthur Maxwell's
Bible stories or similar books which portray real-to-life stories from the
Bible, please let us know. Also, two of the three sets that came in the
shipment are missing volumes 9 and 10 in both sets. If anyone has some odd
volumes, these can be put to great advantage here. We have small children
coming from villages over an hour's walk away, just to look at these books!
Often the adults take them off the children and look at them too!!
Thank you all for your prayers and support in many and varied
ways. Without your help, our mission here wouldn't be successful. May God
bless each of you in the coming year, and may you also enjoy the wonderful
experience of being a co-worker with God in saving souls for eternity.
Naomi Turnbull
Volunteer
Vanuatu
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Would you like to help...?
God
has entrusted to us so many advantages and
opportunities! We feel the time has come to use all of
them to push His work forward!
If, after prayerful consideration, you
also feel impressed to help out in some
way with this project,
then for your own benefit, we encourage you
to decide now
to run the risk of being richly
blessed!
We have found that the spirit of generosity
brings about a 'reflex blessing' on the giver,
and we want you to experience this, just as
we have-so we can all become part of the channel of God's grace &
blessing together!
Why not claim Luke 6:38, take the
risk, and see what might happen to you?
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