Introduction to Rano Village [3.2.11]

We were invited to Rano Village by Bernard and his family.  When I announced our family’s intention of traveling there after worship one day, we learned that one of the Christians here in Tulwei (Stellen) is married to Bernard’s younger brother.  She and her brother (another Christian in Tulwei, Williamson) both agreed to accompany us on the trip, as they knew the lay of the land and would be able to provide support in various ways.

Williamson’s family (he was converted in early 2010, and subsequently taught and converted his wife, sister, and mother) invited us over for dinner on Sunday night before we left on Monday morning.  We had “Malekula-style” laplap, which means they cook a chicken in the middle of the laplap.  Then, the juices are mixed with coconut milk and used as a soup in which to dip each bite of laplap - definitely THE BEST way to eat laplap, as it makes every bite taste like chicken.  We also enjoyed the time of fellowship with this good family.

We woke up early Monday morning, got our things together, and walked out to the road to catch a truck to Lakatoro (the hub of the north part of the island).  Our family ended up taking a different transport than Williamson and Stellen, but we all met back up in Lakatoro.  This trip was a new record for how many people you can fit in the back of a truck - we were squished in there like sardines.  It wasn’t comfortable, but being so crammed in meant that we weren’t quite as fearful of falling out as we normally are - we couldn’t move even if we wanted to!

I quickly went and uploaded/downloaded emails at the internet cafe, bought some rice and sugar to take to Bernard’s family, and made it back to the market just in time to catch the truck Stellen had arranged to take us to Rano.  Thankfully, I had met a couple the week before from New Zealand who are in Malekula as volunteers for two years (similar to US Peace Corps) - they live in Lakatoro and agreed to hold on to our ice chest for a few days so we didn’t have to lug it to the village and back.  Tulwei Village is on the northwest side of Malekula, and Rano is on the northeast.  The distance from Lakatoro is about the same, but the road to Rano is much better because there is not as much of an increase in elevation that way. 

I had arranged with Bernard to call him on Sunday afternoon (he has cellular reception throughout his village, but we have to walk to a specific location to get a signal) to talk logistics.  I tried to call him several times on Sunday, but never could get ahold of him.  I tried again on Monday morning, but still no luck.  I thought he might meet us in Lakatoro, but he wasn’t there either.  I was a bit concerned, but figured there was probably a logical explanation as this is Vanuatu after all!  Since we had people with us who could get us to the village, it really wasn’t that big of a deal - I just hoped there wasn’t a problem with us coming.  Much to my delight, Bernard was standing at the road as we pulled into the village.  He was actually planning to get on the truck and head to Lakatoro to meet us, but we beat him to it.  Rano is right on the coastline, and unlike our coast on the west side, they have sandy beaches - it was quite beautiful.  The village is actually split into two parts - half on the mainland and half on an island just off the coast. 

We were quickly introduced to the family and taken on a short tour of the village.  Rano reminded me a lot of Marou Village on Emao Island - the houses were practically built on top of each other, with some houses having only a couple of feet between them.  Bernard serves as the village “pastor” with four or five denominations all meeting together every Sunday.  Interestingly the locals claim strong ties to their various denominations, but really have no distinctions other than that, as they all worship together with Bernard as their sole leader.  Bernard was raised in the United Pentecostal Church, so that is the doctrinal leaning of the group.  However, he named the church “House of Refuge Incorporation.”  The church building (really just a tarp held up by bamboo poles) is right next to his house.

Bernard, Willamson and I walked down to the ocean, as it was at least 15 degrees cooler down there with the breeze.  We talked for about an hour about spiritual things, mostly me trying to get a handle on what Bernard believes, practices and teaches.  It was obvious that he is a very religious person, and I really do believe that he wants to know the truth and do what’s right.  Unfortunately, he has been “brain-washed” (his own words) by many different groups, and has developed quite a hodgepodge of strange (in the biblical sense) beliefs.  My Personal Evangelism teacher at Bear Valley used to tell us that the hardest person to convert to the truth is someone who really has no standard, and I quickly realized that this might be more difficult than I had hoped (Bernard is an “anything goes” type of person).  Nonetheless, God had presented this open door and I was going to do all that I could to present the truth in the clearest of terms. 

Over the next day and a half Bernard and I visited and studied pretty much non-stop.  He had previously completed our series of Bible correspondence courses, so my first order of business was to look over them and see where we were.  From his courses we derived our two main topics of discussion: instrumental music in worship and the Godhead.  We started with the fact that Jesus established one church, and that we must strive to follow the New Testament pattern for that church.  I explained to him the principle of biblical authority, and the importance of speaking where the Bible speaks and remaining silent where the Bible is silent.  From there we discussed God’s desire for true worshipers, those who worship Him in spirit and in truth (John 4:23-24), and noted the “truth” regarding worship in the New Testament never once included the addition of mechanical instruments.  I fielded a few of his arguments (the use of instruments under the Old Covenant, “but the people like it”, etc.), and he seemed to grasp the concept quite quickly.  Then a look of concern came over him, as he realized what the application was - he was going to have to change his practice if he was going to follow God’s plan for His church.  I really appreciated his honesty with the text, and hope that he will decide to do things God’s way.

From there we moved on to the core doctrine of the United Pentecostal Church - “oneness theology.”  They believe that Jesus alone is God; that He functions as the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit simultaneously.  They equate the doctrine of the Trinity with polytheism.  Overcoming this false doctrine proved to be a far more difficult task.  We read verse after verse after verse showing the distinct persons of the Godhead, and I think that after a while he really began to understand the truth.  Teaching three persons and one God is a difficult task, especially in Bislama.

Unfortunately, our short time together was cut even shorter when the Minister of Health,  who is from that village, asked Bernard to travel to another village for some official business that evening.  He was extremely apologetic, and was willing to tell the minister no, but I told him that I was pleased with all that we had accomplished on this trip and that he could go ahead and fulfill his duties, as we were going to leave early the next morning anyway.  We arranged for me to come back and teach publicly, which I tentatively plan to do the third week of March.

I am now working on a study of the Godhead that I hope to pass on to Bernard during our trip to town next week.  The door to this village is definitely open for the truth, but I also realize that the road ahead is a rather long one (we haven’t even broached the subject of modern-day miracles yet).  Please be praying for soft hearts and open minds in Rano Village!  To God be the glory...