SOLOMON ISLANDS: As I sit to write this report, the ache in my lower back is at its tormenting worst. But my heart is full of joy at what we have just achieved. Twenty-seven participants from the Solomon Islands have just completed the H.I. national seminar conducted in their region. The transformation in life and attitude is reflected in the radiance of their faces. Heaven must certainly be rejoicing.
So what is a little backache before that angelic dance?
The committee had not known how many participants would attend until the actual opening date of the seminar. This is common in Solomon Islands — very few are ready to give commitments. The committee sent the invitation to churches and asked the pastor to send two deacons or assistant pastors to attend the seminar. In fact, according to their estimates, the committee had assumed that only 15 persons would attend. God’s provision exceeded their expectations.
Incidentally, this is the largest group H.I. has put together at Solomon Islands. The venue was provided by the Bible Way Centre which has an open-air church building, very reminiscent of a Greek amphitheater. Participants sat in the ‘galleys’ of the ‘classroom’ for five days at a stretch. Now you may understand about my back pain!
I was amazed by the way the committee had specially arranged for sponsoring churches to provide support by way of meals for the participants. Most of the meals were prepared by church members. They cooked and served us healthy lunches and dinners.
Participants came in from different islands:
Cosmos, who came from Makira Island, had to travel for 76 hours to reach the seminar venue. Others had to take a 20- to 25-hour journey.
Queenie was the only woman participant in the seminar. She and her husband are a very committed couple. They own a night club which they had started before their conversion. Once they came to know Jesus, their first impulse was to close it down. On prayerful consideration, however, they decided to keep it open, for there would be no better place to find lost souls reaching out for comfort. Now that Queenie and her husband are acquainted with "the Way, the Truth, and the Life," they realized their nightclub would be a wonderful place to encounter hurting and lonely persons, who they would then lead to Christ. That is what they are doing, and they have been successful.
Queenie shared tears of joy when she spoke about how the H.I. training has changed her perspective. She views all faculty as God’s messengers, similar to prophets and evangelists. "God speaks through the H.I. faculty," she declared, "so that through them, participants would be able to identify their weaknesses." She realized that life in the ministry and workplace starts in the home. If we look after little things, big things will not be a problem to handle. "Without changing our personal lives, we can do nothing for the nation," she said in conclusion.
Yusuf Gunawan, faculty from Indonesia, has lectured at Indonesia, Philippines, Maui, and Singapore. He normally uses PowerPoint for his high-tech presentations. For this seminar, the committee could only provide for him an overhead projector — a low-tech device. With that, too, the bulb burst, and ultimately Gunwan had to bank on sheer Holy Spirit power and the white board that had been kept as “back up” support.
Alfred Alufurai, head of Church of the Living Word, said that this seminar is the best among seminars he has ever attended, and he felt confident about how Christian leaders would now serve their church and their country.
Yoshua, who came from Auki, six hours by boat, is a senior pastor. He commented that this seminar is very good in quality. He received many new insights which are applicable in his area, he said.
Anos Leo meanwhile traveled two days for this seminar. The hardship was worth it, he said at the end, because the seminar had simply changed his life.
Peter Talo commented (following the “Leaders and Family” session) that he needed to change his character and become a leader in his family first and foremost. Only then, he said, would he be able to get successfully involved in ministry.
Jonah Rusi’s said with wonder, “I realize now that to be a Christian leader, one must not manipulate people. One should instead motivate them. A true Christian leader fulfills his responsibility first and foremost toward his family. A good leader must have clear goals which he shares with his family and with his colleagues.”
Benson Babby frankly admitted that he’d not realized how important integrity was for a Christian. In retrospect, he was unhappy about some of the things he’d done. The H.I. seminar had taught him that “time” and “money” are given to us by God in “stewardship.” We will have to account for them, so we’d best tread warily. He was going back to his church and working world as a rejuvenated man. On the first day of the seminar, he’d come feeling like an ant, totally without self-confidence; during the five days of the seminar, his self-image got a boost and he now saw himself as a lion for God’s Kingdom.
The enthusiastic response to the seminar led the Honiara Alumni Association to decide there and then to conduct a special national seminar in November this year, exclusively for business entrepreneurs.
