Conversions Update

The church in Vanuatu has had several conversions of late, many of which have come about as a result of local Christians reaching out to their friends and family.

In Port Vila, Kalkot and Atison were recently baptized.  I studied with Kalkot and his wife, Joana, back in 2006 - she was converted then but he was not really interested in spiritual things at the time.  He passed a message to me shortly before our most recent trip to Vila that he was now ready to give his life to Christ.  We studied the Bible together several times in Sept/Oct, I baptized him, and it is great to have his entire family meeting together with the other Christians in Vila.  Atison is Flexon’s nephew, and we’ve had contact with him and his family in Malekula.  After finishing school in Malekula, Atison got a job with a resort in Vila and moved in with Flexon and Fiona.  Flexon began studying with him (as did one of his friends) on a weekly basis.  Atison realized his need for forgiveness, and was baptized into Christ by another uncle, Jean Claude.

In Etas Village (Efate Island), Joe has been attending public studies visiting the assembly for several months.  He also attended in the PIBC classes in Vila.  Having realized his need to be added to the Lord’s church, and after an impromptu study on baptism with me, he was baptized into Christ last month.

In Yatukun Village (south Tanna Island), Tom has been working hard to teach his extended family.  He taught and baptized his wife’s brother (Jake) and sister-in-law (Anna) a few months ago in Green Pointe Village, his uncle two months ago, and his brother’s mother-in-law, Margaret, last month.  Tom is an exceptional man, and one who takes the responsibility of “letting his light shine” very seriously.

In Lorakau/Loun Village (Central Tanna), the congregation saw four of their family members baptized into Christ one Sunday last month.  Joslyn is the teenage daughter of one of the local leaders (Harry).  John’s wife and brothers were converted several years ago in Etas Village and when he and his wife recently moved to Tanna, he continued his study of the Bible with the local Christians.  Marta is the teenage daughter of Margaret, who was originally converted in Etas and subsequently moved back to Tanna (Margaret’s husband has also been studying the Bible).  Miswel is another one of the leaders/preachers, and he taught and baptized his father.  That was an especially neat story, because his dad is deaf and mute - but also the happiest man you will ever meet, guaranteed.

What’s so encouraging about all this is that, of the ten conversions mentioned, I played a part in only two.  The locals that have been converted over the past several years have matured to the point that they are effectively sharing their faith with others.  In a word, awesome!

And this isn’t about numbers, it’s about changed lives (thus the title, “Conversions”).  We see the gospel of Christ changing peoples lives.  Brawlers have become peace-makers, drunks have become sober, abusive husbands have become tender and loving, lovers of money have become lovers of God and His people, just to name a few.

Indeed, the gospel is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes (Romans 1:16).  With whom have you shared it lately?

Atison (middle) with his uncles Jean Claude (left) and Flexon (right)

Kalkot, Joana, Lorenzo and Brenden

Tom baptizing Margaret into Christ

Jake and Anna (and Jake Jr.)

Congregation in Loun/Lorakau

Andrew baptizes Joe into Christ

Tanna 10/2012

Our family boarded a plane for Tanna Island on October 12, accompanied by Jean Claude from Malekula.  The Baker family lived and worked in Tanna in 2011, in a similar way to our being in Malekula.  Since they returned to the States earlier this year (Aaron was back in Tanna for two weeks in August), we have been looking forward to having an opportunity to go and followup with the work there.

We spent almost a week with the Christians in Yatakun Village, with is located on the southern half of the island.  Back in 2009, while in Tanna conducting Bible studies in the north, Aaron and Mike Green (Dupont, Washington) went and preached in the local market in town.  Margaret and Meriam were there selling their produce and were very interested.  They went home and told their husbands about what they heard, and went back to town the next day to get Aaron’s phone number.  Margaret’s husband, Tom, began calling Aaron on a regular basis and took our Bible correspondence courses.  When the Bakers later moved to Tanna, Tom and Aaron began studying together every Friday morning (Tom usually walked almost 4 hours one-way for the study).  Tom, Margaret and Meriam were all baptized as a result of these and other studies.  Subsequently, Tom’s older brother (and Meriam’s husband), Antwan, and Tom’s sister, Ruth, were also baptized after studying with Aaron and Cindy.  Earlier this year, Tom studied with and baptized his brother-in-law, Jake, and his wife, Anna.  Jake and Anna live in the southernmost part of Tanna, and walk about 3 hours to Tom and Margaret’s house every weekend to assemble with the Christians in Yatakun.  Eventually, they plan to begin meeting in their own village at Green Pointe, which will hopefully be an open door to share the gospel with the locals there.  We are planning to start teaching there next year.

Tom has many leadership qualities and is well-educated.  His spiritual maturity is amazing, especially given that he has been a Christian for less than two years.  He is very dedicated to working for the Lord and is a great example of a Christian husband and father.  Needless to say, I thoroughly enjoyed getting to spend some time with him and getting to know him better.

Titus and I visited Yatakun with Aaron once last year, but this was Shawnda and Alexis’ first visit.  Our main purpose for this trip was to come and spend time with the local Christians - getting to know them better, answering questions, and studying together.  I taught a series of lessons each morning on some “Big Picture Bible Study Helps” that seemed to be well received.  Everyone followed along in the Bible and took diligent notes.  We had some good questions after the studies, and several impromptu Bible discussions throughout the week.  Shawnda had prepared 10 studies based on the fruit of the Spirit which she went over with the ladies each day (and they plan to use those 10 studies in a less-intense time frame over the next few months).

Outside of our formal and informal study times, we enjoyed walking through their coffee plantations and gardens, swimming in the river and ocean, and singing together every night.  Though we were only a few voices, the sound that was produced was strong and uplifting - and they would keep singing even after our family had retired for the night.  Shawnda was able to establish some really strong relationships with the women, basically spending every waking hour with them.  All the Christians there are around our age, and we really hit it off well.  A highlight of our trip was Meriam’s mom being baptized into Christ.  She had studied previously with Tom, and had a good discussion with Shawnda before making her decision.  Including a great uncle a couple of months ago, Tom has now taught and baptized four people.

We were sad to have to depart Yatakun, but excited to move on to Lorakau Village further north.  The truck we had arranged to pick us up at 8am never showed up, and Tom actually ended up going all the way to town to find a truck that would come and get us.  We made our way down the bumpy, winding, dirt road to town (about 45 minutes) and made it to town where we met up with Miswel.  We restocked our supply of rice, crackers, peanut butter, and noodles, and headed for the village.  Miswel was actually converted in Etas Village (near the capital city of Port Vila) several years ago, but moved back to Tanna when Aaron and Cindy came so that he could help establish the church in his home village.

It was bittersweet to arrive in Lorakau - we were very happy to be with the Christians there, but staying in the house that the Bakers had lived in really made it sink in that they are no longer in Vanuatu (and it’s quite obvious that they are dearly missed by everyone).  We quickly got settled in and I met briefly with Miswel and Harry regarding our plan for Bible studies.  Harry was the first convert in Tanna back in 2009, and lives in Lorakau, whereas Miswel lives about a 45 minute walk away in Loun Village.  There are Christians in both villages, and they rotate meeting places each Sunday so that they can all assemble together.  We ended up rotating our daily studies back and forth in a similar fashion.  Thus, the Christians in this area are more spread out than what we dealt with in the south (where we were all together all day long).  I was pleased to learn that they had baptized four people the previous Sunday, all of whom were family members of Christians.  

Due to timing and distance, the attendance at our daily studies was about 6-8 Christians, but there were 16 Christians present at our Sunday assembly, along with 4-5 visitors.  When you add on the 20 or so children, it was a full house!  They asked Jean Claude to preach, and he did a fine job.  I have mentioned before that I am making a conscious effort to include locals on all my mission trips, and it continues to bear fruit for all involved.  We had a tearful goodbye meal with the Lorakau/Loun brethren, a good night’s sleep, and got on the truck early the next morning to head back to town for our flight back to Vila.  All in all, our transportation situation worked out well for the whole trip.

Upon returning to Malekula, Jean Claude gave a short report of our trip to the brethren at the close of our assembly, and that evening we gathered again to show photos and videos from our trip.  This type of thing is important here, because small congregations can tend to think that they are the only faithful Christians around, and are encouraged to see the faces and conditions of their brethren living in other parts of the country.  We are already looking forward to our return to Tanna, Lord willing in April 2013.

Welcome to Yatakun Village (with Jean Claude)

Sunday AM assembly in Yatakun

Abu Margaret baptized by Tom

Tom's house

Our family slept in a 5'11" x 5'11" x 5'11" room - how do I know?  Because no
matter which way I stood/laid, my feet and head hit the perimeter!

Visiting Antwan's coffee plantation - he has approx. 1,000 heads

Shawnda studying with the ladies in Yatakun

Jean Claude and Tom

Sleeping quarters in Lorakau

Sunday AM assembly in Loun

Teaching in Loun

Meeting place in Loun

A Great Day

Our month back in Vila was scheduled around the Pacific Islands Bible College (PIBC) classes that were to be taught in Port Vila and Epau Village.  We always enjoy being a part of the PIBC classes because of the fellowship and excitement that they bring.  This year, I also wanted some of the brethren from Malekula to take part in the classes.  Williamson and Jean Claude from the northwest and Aiel from the southwest were all willing and able to come take part in the courses.

The Epau congregation has been wanting/needing new benches in their assembly house for a long time.  Since they were to be hosting the PIBC courses this year, they really wanted them ready by the start of classes.  They ordered the timber from a local sawmill, and I volunteered to bring the Malekula brethren with me one Saturday to help assemble the stools.  

Even though they placed and paid for their order two months in advance, the timber still wasn’t ready in September, so I went ahead and bought the timber from a lumber yard in Vila.  Claude in Vila heard about our plan and wanted to come along, as did Sam in Etas (Williamson and Jean Claude were staying with him while in town).  Claude and Sam each brought their sons as well.  When we arrived in Epau, Bob, Arthur and Samson were ready to work.

We made a prototype bench first, and then formed a sort of assembly line to complete the rest.  There were brethren measuring, marking, cutting, hammering, sanding and painting - all the while everyone was laughing and visiting.  There is just something about working together that is fulfilling.

When the benches were complete, the Epau congregation “paid” us in the customary way - by providing lunch.  As we were eating I sat there and looked around the room at the brethren “fellowshipping” in the truest sense of the word. They were sharing stories about their families, their conversions, their congregations, etc.  It was heartwarming to see these men, many of whom were total strangers to each other only a few hours prior, now getting along as if they were family.  And really, that’s just what they are - God’s family.  Sometimes the pessimist in me gets down about the work and I begin to wonder if anything is really being accomplished in Vanuatu, but then I am shocked back to reality by a great day such as this one.  God and His gospel are awesome.

L to R: Williamson, Claude, Bob, Samson, Arthur, Sam, Aiel, Martino, me, Jean Claude
Kids: Titus, Tari, Thomas

New sister - Becky

Becky [red shirt, center of photo] has been a part of public Bible studies, Sunday morning assemblies and ladies fellowships for several months now. She began attending right before we headed back to the States in January of this year. She is about 22 years old, not married and lives with her parents.
Unfortunately over a year ago when she expressed her desire to start following Williamson and Massi (Christian neighbors) to worship and Bible study, but her parents did not approve. She obeyed them at first by not going, but still had the desire and prayed that God would open the door and give her strength to stand up to them and do what she felt was right. So after talking with Williamson and Massi over the next several months and asking the church to pray for her, she finally told her mother & father that even though they were “in charge” of her physically, they weren’t the “boss” of her soul. She said, “I really want to go with them and study the Bible. Will you please let me do this?” They reluctantly agreed, so she started coming. She rarely missed an opportunity to gather with the church.

 When we arrived in Malekula in June, Eric encouraged me to ask her if she wanted to have a “private” study to have a chance to hear and obey the gospel. She agreed, and we actually had another young lady (Eva) join the study as well (she has also visited Bible studies/worship off and on). After several weeks of studying, Becky decided she was ready to obey the gospel and was baptized into Christ. We all walked down to the river and listened as she made the good confession, declaring Jesus as the Son of God and naming Him the Master of her life. It was a precious moment seeing this young lady, whom we had already come to love, put on Christ and be added to His body.

Please pray for Becky and for Eva as we will continue to study with them in the coming months.

~SB

New sister - Lius

[Note: this is a reprint of an article from our August e-Scrapbook]

Since establishing a new congregation in Lembinwen Village (Southwest Bay, Malekula) last month, it has become a priority to return each month to encourage and strengthen the young Christians there.
Our family made another trip at the end of August to visit Aiel and Nancy.  They continue to be very excited about their newfound faith and eager to share the truth with others. We spent the majority of our time together answering their questions, visiting about the Christian life, and enjoying some genuine Christian fellowship.  Though we have only known them for a short amount of time, we feel an amazing connection with this family.

A highlight of this month’s trip was studying with and baptizing Aiel’s sister, Lius (pronounced “lee-oos”).  She has a very unique story.  When Lius was about 13 years old, she had a severe boil on the inside of her upper leg that required lancing.  As the boil healed, her entire leg slowly began to lose feeling and progressively got worse.  At first she merely had a slight limp, then a very pronounced limp, and ultimately required the use of a walking stick (unable to put any weight on the leg).  After several years of the walking stick’s assistance, she began sitting more and walking less, to the point that she quit walking altogether.  It appears that this entire process took about 30 years.  After several years of dragging herself around (no longer standing up at all), she began laying down more and sitting up less.  About three years ago she became totally bed-ridden and has lost control of her entire body except for her right hand, neck and head.  Aiel, Nancy and their son, Jansen, have become her full-time care givers. 

I must admit that I have had an uneasy feeling since I heard about her during our first trip - Aiel had asked us to go in and pray with her, but other than that I had no interaction with her at all.  Can you imagine laying in bed all day everyday in a 5’ x 10’ bamboo cottage with basically nothing to help pass the time?  Though it was obvious that Aiel was not comfortable talking about her situation, I felt obligated to begin pressing the issue with him during our second trip.  He assured me that she still had full mental capabilities, and I inquired as to her possible interest in studying the Bible.  Aiel said that he would talk to her about it, but she basically remained a mystery to us.  We knew that they took a plate of food to her each time we ate, and we could occasionally hear her sing or cough, but that was the extent of it.  I began praying for the situation, as I was at a loss as to what I should do.  The story of Lazarus (Luke 16) kept running through my mind, and I really wanted to help her both physically and spiritually (not to mention emotionally and mentally).  I did not want to be “the rich man” who did nothing.

A few weeks later Aiel called me and as we visited he said that she was interested in studying, and I put it in my mind then that I was going to do whatever I had to do to talk to her during our next visit.  Thursday of our August visit passed with no mention of Lius, and so I made it a point on Friday night to talk to Aiel.  It was obviously difficult for him to talk about, but he shared with me her story (as above).  He was teary-eyed as he spoke of his love for her and his hurt for her condition.  He and his family have indeed sacrificed a lot to care for her.  I told him that I would like to visit with her, and offer to study the Bible with her as well.  We decided that we would make the visit on Saturday morning.

I thought and prayed a lot Friday night and Saturday morning about what to say/do.  I must confess that I was really unsure as to how to approach the situation, because it was indeed a unique one and I knew I would be outside my comfort zone.  Aiel and Nancy got Lius ready and put a chair in the small house for me to sit on.  She only lays on her right side, facing the wall, so my chair was placed at the head of her bed and she looked up at me as I talked.  I introduced myself, apologized for not coming to visit during an earlier trip, and told her why we had come to Vanuatu.  Aiel had already visited with her about the reasons for his conversion, and so I started out by visiting with her about heaven.  I encouraged her to put her faith and trust in Jesus, as the One who has power to forgive sins and reconcile man to God.  I have no doubt that Lius wants to go to heaven even more than the average person, because her life here on earth is so full of hardship.  She gladly received the gospel message and stated her desire to obey.  Aiel and Jansen carried her down to the ocean where she was immersed into Christ.  In spite of all the difficulty she faces, you’ve never seen a bigger smile.

The following morning, the family put an island dress on her (probably the first time she’s worn “real clothes” in years) and carried her over to our meeting place for worship.  She laid on the ground on her pillow and tried her best to sing with us.  She listened intently as Aiel described the purpose of the Lord’s supper, and for the first time ever was a part of that wonderful memorial.  Having left her house two times in two days, her excitement was evident (and I am sure that amount of activity really exhausted her as well).  I can only imagine that Sunday will be a day that she looks forward to with great anticipation each week, which is a good lesson for us all.

I would encourage you take a moment and thank God for your physical abilities, and reevaluate how you might be able to better serve Him each day.  If only we all felt a sense of discomfort here on earth, as a daily reminder that this world is not my home!

I scream, you scream...

Our family tries to be as involved in the community as we can, in an effort to get to know the locals and initiate relationships that might turn into opportunities for spiritual conversations.  Of course, being in the village has also reminded us of the importance and necessity of helping people when you can.

One of the ways I have been able to help out in the community is with the installation of solar-powered electrical systems.  With cash crops like copra and cacao being prevalent in our region, many people are able to save up enough money to buy a system that allows them to power lights, DVD players, and recharge cell phones (the average cost is between $800-$1000, so it is a MAJOR investment for them).  A few weeks ago I helped a family by installing their “solar system”, which included a 12v deep-freezer.  For the first time ever, you now buy ice cream in the village - $1 a scoop.

As you can tell from the pictures below (and you may recall from my previous discussions), people really enjoy watching other people do something they haven’t experienced before (and the interest seems to be multiplied if the worker has white skin?).  We have actually sort of gotten used to it, as it at least provides more opportunity for interaction.

Best of all, we’ve established a good relationship with Betwel and his family as a result of this particular effort.  Customarily, when you work with/for someone, they provide you with lunch and dinner that day to say thank you (we did the same thing when we were building our house here in the village).  While they are “religious/believing” folks, they are not active with any church.  We are tentatively scheduled to study with them during our next trip to the village, and pray that this opportunity will prove fruitful.  

In the meantime, all the kids in the village will be enjoying ice cream and popsicles!

Jeff and Josh

We’ve been praying a lot lately for open doors as we seek to share the truth of God’s word with the people of Vanuatu.  We’ve also received several requests from brethren stateside wanting to know about specific prayer requests.  We submit the following blog entry in answer to both.

Recently, I made a quick two-night trip to Vila to meet with Aaron and purchase some supplies for Malekula.  The taxi driver who took me to the airport, Josh, was a young man from Tanna Island.  As most do, he inquired about our work in Vanuatu and I was happy to talk to him about it.  He shared with me that he works regularly with an inter-denominational youth group.  As we drove past the building where the church in Vila worships, I pointed it out, and he excitedly responded that he lives only a couple of blocks away, and had considered visiting services several times.  I gave him a formal invite to services, and also encouraged him to attend our upcoming Pacific Islands Bible College courses.  He seemed very interested, and I hope that I will indeed be able to catch up with him then.

Since I was relying on public transportation to get me to the airport, I ended up arriving quite early.  After checking in for my flight and taking a seat in the waiting area, a well-dressed man sat down beside me and introduced himself as “Jeffry Liu, but you can call be Jeff” (our entire conversation was in Bislama, though it was clear that he speaks English very well).   I soon learned that he is from Ambae Island, but is living in Vila fulfilling a four year teaching contract - he tutors students to prepare them for university courses.  He too inquired as to where I was going, and how long we had been in Vanuatu.  I gave him a brief overview as he asked the usual questions (where are you from, what church, on what islands is your church present, etc.) and he then asked a question I had never been asked before: “what is your mission?”  I told him that I came to Vanuatu to teach the word of God to those who are interested in changing their lives to fall in line with His plan.  Jeff really lit up with that answer, and said that he wanted me to come to his village in Ambae sometime to teach the Bible.  He has a break from school in December and January, at which time he plans to return to Ambae, and we tentatively set up a plan for me to go with him early next year.  He also told me to contact him next time I am in Vila for a month, and he will give me the opportunity to preach one Sunday morning to his denominational group.  We exchanged numbers, and Jeff actually called me a few nights later, “just to say goodnight” and confirm our plans.  

Please be praying for these exciting opportunities.  God is good!