16 August 2006 - Vanuatu

Last Sabbath, we took the boat to church. It's about an hours walk, or we can ride the boat for 20 minutes. If the tide is up, we can take the boat, but when the tide is out, the reef is too shallow (even exposed), so knowing the tides it quite critical. This week we'll have to walk to church, as the tide will be out. The church is at Mattavanga, which is on the north-eastern edge of the island. "Small Water Bungalow" or Kerliu (the nearest village) is 1 hours walk south (about 5km) of Mattavanga.

I was asked to preach last Sabbath, which is a first, and I was keen to take the opportunity. I took the talk on the 6 "conflicts" in the first 6 chapters of Daniel. In each conflict, God and His people prevail against opposing forces. It's a facinating story. The message of the talk was "God always wins... if you stand for Him, you will win also."

After church, we had some local foods and visited a sick member of the SDA church. She was at Mattaka, a village 20 minutes walk west along the northern edge of the island, in the government health centre there. Some of the youth sang some songs, we prayed for her, and Pastor Philip gave a mini-talk. I'm slowly getting to know some of the church members and youth there. They're happy friendly people. Pastor Philip is the volunteer pastor for the island, sponsored by "Volunteers in Action" ministry.

Can't remember what happened Sunday. Something like clothes washing and emails etc.

Monday we trekked down to Durig. Pastor Philip, Reggie (recently trained Bible worker), Alan, Tania & Flora (two youth girls), Dr Mark, Jared (my bro) and I all took the journey. The first third of the trip the track is a muddy foot track cleared either side and fairly evenly sloped. After that it is really steep and slippery in places. Very wet (rained a bit), green and tropical. Wore thongs all the way and thankfully no blisters. Shoes would just get too wet. It was about 20 km and took 7 hours, including an hour or 2 of stops to meet people, have a drink, or eat a fresh coconut on the coral and sand beach (with overhanging palm trees... get idea :-) So there were some plus's to the trip. Good company to travel with. We travelled through about 10 villages, and people are very willing to talk, and to offer food. That's something that really sticks in my mind, and that is that people have time for you, and they are so keen to offer you food. One village, just before Durig, made a full-tea for 8 of us! They heard we were coming and gave us dinner for the night.

We finally made it to Durig. It was dark when we arrived, and met plenty of people in the dark (the kids were just amazed to see some whiteman again, there were plenty of them just wanting to see us). They boys went for a wash in the dark in the nearby water stream. Nice large water pool and clean fresh water... beautiful (but bit hard to see, which was probably a good thing... didn't bother with soap for that wash). We then had sang some songs in the dining/kitchen hut of one of the village cheifs. Hard dirt floor, quite low (need to duck your head), some mats to sit on, water-proof roof, and about 30 people bunched into the hut. Again, very hospitable people. We really owe them.

After singing, Pastor Philip gave a message in Bislama (the local language), of which I understood most, since it is quite similar to English. The message involved talking about how we should not hold on to any sin, even the smallest sins. One small sin (while we continue to choose to do it), impacts our eternal destiny. After the talk, they offered us more food, including island cabbage (quite nice, much like spinach) and laplap (a root vegetable mashed and cooked, with coconut cream on top). I was sooo full afer eating it, in fact I could not eat all of it. I had one mouth full to go, but could not fit it in, making things a little awkward. Slept in the cheif's house on the concrete floor (which is quite something if you have a concrete floor). Had a mat underneath and used a sheet I brought. We were privileged to have this accommodation.

After trying to sleep on a full stomack and hard floor, I awoke and did some Bible reading and washed my face. Breakfast is not really a bit thing for the locals, but they offered us some coconut (I love them now) and bananas, which was perfect for what I felt like having. The Anglican church across the courtyard had worship and communion, so I went across to visit. Many of the people are quite committed to faith.

The reasons for visiting Durig, was because Pastor Philip was asked to preach there, Dr Mark was able to help some of the sick there, and also there was a need to share Bible teachings with them. The village has about 100 people, and all are related quite closely.

During that morning Dr Mark was able to help many people, treat illness and give medication etc, a very good work. I helped by talking (or at least trying out some of my Bislama using the "Lonely Planet" book on Pidgin) to the locals, and giving out information flyers about the seventh-day Sabbath, the day of rest God set aside at the end of each week. Only Dr Mark and I came back yesterday. Philip is going to preach each night until Sunday, the youth are going to sing, Jared is going to reach sign language to two of the deaf locals. We pray that God is able to reach people, as Philip and the others help and teach these people.

Dr Mark Turnbull is a volunteer (trained) doctor for the Vanuatu Government. He also works as a medical missionary, providing free medical treatment, in return for local foods. His wife, Naomi, and 16-yr old daugher, Kay, help out. I'm staying in a simple bungalow (small hut with concrete floors and slightly more water-tight that the average hut), which is a few meters from the main bungalow. Jared and I have worship and eat meals with them. They're really nice people, and have helped make this whole trip possible for us. I'm quite indebted to them for the experience here.

Today, Dr Mark gave a two-hour class to the health students. About 15 local people come (some 1 hour walk away) to learn how to be medical workers. Most are youth people. It's one of the wanted needs, to have health training and principles. Some are very keen to learn. Today we learnt about the circulator system, and a simple hydrotherapy procedure. After that, I gave the second Bible class, covering the the basic outline of the the Old Testament, and how God lead His people. Adam, Noah, Abraham, Israel, Joseph, Moses, Joshua, David, Solomon, Daniel were among some of the key people in the overview. A very brief overview of Old Testament history, revealing that the earth is only about 6000 years old! It was about a 1 hour class, and the students appreciated the class. The first class I did last week was last Friday, and was about the Bible itself, being a compilation of 66 books, written by 40 vastly different authors over 1500 years. This coming Friday, I'll give another class, covering the life of Jesus, and how one can obtain eternal life.

We arranged with John and Jackie, two locals, to go up to the waterfall tomorrow. I'm quite excited. They stayed for lunch after, and we had a good talk, sharing our different cultures. I enjoyed that. They speak fairly good English, which made things easier. The waterfall is 3 hrs walk one way, and there's plenty of nungalut (stinging plant), so jeans and long sleeves will be my attire for the day.

Friday there's classes, church on Sabbath, then Sunday through to Thursday will be youth mission and revival programs each night. I've been asked to speak for three of the nights. I'm looking forward to meeting with more of the youth that week, and hearing their singing. It's great. May also get a chance to go the lake at the top of the volcano on this island! The Friday after that, Jared and I fly back to Vila. Do church at the mission there. Sunday, we have a tour booked to go to some really nice island :-) Monday fly back to Australia. Tuesday back at work at USQ.

So far, I've just enjoyed it all. The culture and the people are the best part of the trip. I love the relaxed, friendly, very hospitable attitude. Nature here is just nice. At times I wish I was at home. Sometimes I wish I had my own bed to sleep on, and have an "Australian" dinner. Home is quite a nice place, but I wouldn't swap this experience. I'm thankful I have the opportunity to come here, to meet the people, help them out, see the culture, and learn about life.

2:00 pm, Fri 18 Aug.

Just quickly, everything is fine. Even the weather is sunny! It's great to see some sun. Went to 120 metre waterfall yesterday and was totally aweseome. Will have to write more later. Take care, God bless,

Brad in Vanuatu