March 11, 2011

Dear Friends, Brethren and Family

Bula Vinaka

Vanuatu Trip
I finished the last newsletter saying we would be "flying out the next morning (cyclone willing)". It was not! Cyclone Atu closed down the Port Vila airport in Vanuatu so the Tuesday flight was canceled just like the Sunday one had been. I called and was told the 08:30 flight was cancelled but then noticed around 10:00 it had been rescheduled to 10:30 am. When I called they said the airport had reopened in Port Vila but they were taking the Sunday passengers so they said we would be on the special make-up flight the next morning. So the next morning we got there in time for a 07:30 take-off to find that our names had not been transferred to the special flight. The check-in person said we should go to the service desk (which I knew to be unoccupied at that hour). So I called the hot line, they said yes, we were on that flight, I told them to tell the check-in person and gave him my phone. He talked with them. (I was not leaving my place in line!) He still could not find us on the manifest but did find us on the manifest of the flight that had taken off the day before. He was able to change the booking and we checked-in. It was a full flight and not fun!

When we arrived in Port Vila, Vanuatu we cleared customs and immigration with no problems (other than the waiting in the immigration line). I bought a new SIM card for my cell phone (to use the phone system in Vanuatu) and we went outside to see if we had a ride to Stephen's house. Mike Olson, a missionary in Vanuatu, was also on our flight and so we shared a cab to Stephen's house and then he went on to his house.
It was just before lunch so Stephen was off getting the girls from school and Rose Hanna from work. We talked with Morris and Rebekah until Stephen arrived and he took us and our stuff up to the government house where we would be staying. It is a house that he has been allotted because he is the chief magistrate but they are still living in a house that Rose Hanna's mum owned before. He was also just finishing the registration of his truck so we could have transport the two weeks we were there. He has a government supplied vehicle.

While living and working in Vanuatu in 1998 the Eton congregation built a new building. The first building funded and built by the local brethren in Vanuatu.It was my privilege to help by providing the power tools and technical help. One of the purposes for our trip was to help in the renovations of that building. Eton village is located 21 miles from Port Vila and the around the island road has been completely tar-sealed since we were there in 2010. It is a pleasure of a trip out to the village however the roads inside Port Vila are like driving on the moon.

Grand opening November 1998: wooden siding, thatch roof

2011: metal roofing, cement block walls

When the building was first built the roof was thatch but that was replaced with metal roofing as funds became available, the wood on the walls was eaten by termites and was changed to cement bloc last year by Goman Mesa and the windows were wooden frames with masonite covering which had to be opened inward to protect the masonite. Due to bush-man leveling the windows on one side of the building could not be closed properly because the cement brick wall was too high. So they asked if I could bring a power saw and help them modify the windows so they would shut and help them recover the windows with sheets of tin and design them to open out instead of inward. I was able to do so with the help of several of the local brethren. Lunch was provided by the gracious sisters. Sul showed his appreciation of our friendship by providing a lobster to me for lunch one day. He had caught it the night before while out reef fishing/diving.

Window work

Lobster for lunch

We even had the help of the littlies. Maxwell had to help Abu Morris count the strings that we used to hold the locking bolts onto the windows. Always a teaching moment.

Morris with grandson Maxwell (Kathy in the background)

The brethren are getting together and putting a cement floor down to replace the coral gravel that they currently have (thus the pile of gravel outside the building). It will help Morris move around in his wheelchair better. They also are planning to put a small porch on the front to protect the front door from rain. The cement floor, alcove and windows were made possible by funds which came from the sale of the Hoverounds there in the USA last year. Morris is also planning on cementing a small path area in front of the room they have in Port Vila at Stephen's house. Currently they spend weekdays in Port Vila where Rebekah takes care of their youngest grand daughter, Alviola, while Rose Hanna works. They then get a ride back to Eton for most weekends. Since I had Stephen's truck Morris went out to the village with us most every day and then in the evenings when I had my Bible classes for 4 nights.

"Christian Marriage & Family Life" in the Melanesian context
The main purpose that I was asked to go to Vanuatu was to teach a series of lessons on "Christian Marriage & Family Life" in the Melanesian context. I had just completed a 286 page workbook on the subject for the Bible Institute and was able to use it as a guide. I taught 4 nights (Tues-Fri) 6:00-8:00. Well more like 6:30 or 7:00 to 8:30 - 9:00. We had rain most all the time we were there and heavy rain in the evenings which kept people close to their houses. We did not sell out the house but we did have a good series. We used generators to provide power for the lights. I say generators as we had to change out a couple of times when generators failed. Try to continue teaching a lesson with only cell phone headset lights until the generators are working again, that was fun! Again the mobile phone craze is here also, there wasn't any phone service in Eton when we came in 1998.

Night teaching at Eton

Cerebral Malaria
Because of all the rain mosquitoes were out in swarms there in the village. At one point as I was reading the text from the Bible I had both hands flaying the air on either side of my head trying to keep the mosquitoes out of my ears, off my neck and from landing on my head. We used repellant spray but that just seemed to excite them. It wasn't until the last night that we found out that the Eton area was the highest region of cerebral malaria on the islands. That was what almost killed Kathy in PNG in 1976 so we will be monitoring our blood levels over the next few weeks. We don't need that bug back!

Kathy chillin' while waiting for the nightly class to begin

Whether many of us recognize it or not marriage was one of the first acts that God sanctified. I am a firm believer that if there are not strong Christian families in society then we are just whistling in the wind and we will not have strong congregations nor strong nations. So goes the Christian family - so goes the church and society! Vanuatu is struggling with families and we are reaching out to the church to get their marriages more stable to get the church more stable. Something sorely needed throughout the church and the world today!

Nouthetic Counseling Approach
My teaching and counseling is based on the Nouthetic Counseling approach. This unique approach to teaching/counseling presupposes four main concepts.
 * First, it presupposes that the Bible is totally and singularly sufficient as a resource for dealing with the most difficult challenges of living (Psalm 19, Second Timothy 3:16-17 and 1st Peter 1:3).
* Second, it presupposes that it is entirely unnecessary and generally detrimental to depend on the psychological insights, opinions and theories of unsaved men as a primary means of understanding and treating the human condition (Jeremiah 17:9 and Psalm 1:1-2).
* Third, it presupposes that sin is often the primary factor leading to personal discomfort and individual dysfunction (Genesis 4 and first Corinthians 11:30). The heart of the problem is usually the problem of the heart (Mark 7:18-23).
* Fourth, it presupposes that Christians are inhabited by God’s Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19 and Ephesians 3:10). They live directly under the influence of His grace (Titus 2:11-12 and 3:5) and as a result they’re capable of tremendous behavioral and attitudinal change, i.e., spiritual growth (Ezekiel 36:25-26 and Ephesians 4:22-31).

I was asked to preach in Port Vila the first Sunday and the second Sunday at Eton. It was great to see children of brethren who are attending services. Some of these children are coming even when the parents are not, and the children will lead them!

Help for the Christian Institute of Biblical Studies
I am confident that this time next month we will have some positive movement in regard to the securing of land and future building of CIBS. Please bear with us and pray with us! We feel there is light at the end of the tunnel - we just pray that it is not a train coming at us! There is much thought and discussion that technical classes need to also be taught to help our Bible students gain skills to help them have jobs once they graduate from the Bible School. Our main focus will be Bible training. These classes in the afternoons will include basic carpentry, small engine repair, basic electrical, sewing, mat weaving, agriculture.

I have received email that some people are wanting to know specific needs that the school has that can be broken down to individual needs instead of just a collective monetary target of $125-150,000 (of which we have only $11,000 to date). With tax season coming up some have said they are expecting tax refunds that they would like to put toward a specific need. Perhaps you too will consider helping this way!

Well, here are some specific needs: guttering, water tanks and pumps ($1,800), a solar hot water unit ($1,800), a generator ($5,000), a solar/wind power unit ($2,500), 220 volt tools for the carpentry school (lathe $2,200, planer $2,300, table saw $2,100), septic system ($1,200), headmaster house ($35,000), a classroom ($12,000), a student duplex ($15,000), another vehicle/small truck ($10-15,000) (our car is not suitable and only worth maybe $2,000), a door ($80 x 4), a window ($75 x 12), a roofing panel ($45 x 40). Can you help?

Again we appreciate and thank all of you who make it possible for us to be here and assist in the workings of the Kingdom of God here in the South Pacific. Your prayers and support are a God-send in times we feel we are but spinning our wheels.

Your seed sowing workers in the Kingdom.

Tobey & Kathy