Church

"Presem Masta" is a phrase you will hear over and over again if you ever get to visit a local church in Vanuatu. In Bislama it simply means "Praise God" and boy do the Christians here know how to praise God. It's really hard to convey in words the wonderful experiences we have been able to have through being part of one of the local churches in Port Vila. Hopefully our photos will at least help you see a little of what the atmosphere is like. We must apologise for the quality of some of the scanned ones which we will try to replace as new ones become available. The photo at right shows several people being baptised after a Crusade that our church held in the small village of Rentabao.
Eklessia Church - Malapoa
Simon in the yard of the church we attend in Port Vila. The church is the Malapoa Christian Mission Centre also know as Eklessia Church and is part of a larger network of churches throughout the Islands of Vanuatu and the Solomon Islands.
Simon and Kalo standing next to the generator which supplies power to the church. It was Kalo who first invited us along to church. We met Kalo when he was repainting our balcony. The church building is very basic, a tin roof, with open sides, concrete floor and wooden benches with no backs.
The musicians. What a talented lot. They are self taught and although they can't read music they learn very quickly by ear. Peter is on the drum machine, Jeffrey on the keyboards, Tatuki on the acoustic guitar and Kalo on the bass.
During services there is always lots of singing and items. This photo was taken during our 3rd anniversary celebrations. If you look carefully you may be able to see Karen amongst the singers performing an item.
Anniversary celebrations usually mean a big cake. Here the leaders of our church, and those of some of our sister churches gather around. Somehow even Geoff managed to sneak into the group. On this day everyone was presented with a salusalu (floral necklace). Some were made by hand from fresh flowers. Others were made from silk.
Emily, Mary and Jocelyn preparing to serve out bunia (food cooked under ground). This was specially cooked for fellowship kakai which followed the 3rd anniversary service
Lunch is ready to be served. In the foreground can be seen the bunia which consisted of cooked bananas, taro, sweet potato, manioc and island cabbage. The large pots contain rice and stews. At the far end were platters of salad. Karen's contribution was three cakes.
Geoff and the boys with our friend Olive. We met her when she came over to hold an umbrella over as rain poured down during the Independence Week Combined Church Service held at the Seafront. Olive attends the Assemblies of God Church not far from our house.

Rentabao Church
Simon in front of the church at Rentabao. We stayed overnight for one night in September 2000 during the Crusade. Then for New Year's Eve we stayed for two nights.
The ladies of Rentabao gathering around the cooking pit. During our stays in Rentabao we ate, bunia, rice, stews, bread, roasted goat, roasted bullock and locally grown fruit. On our second trip we brought some extra supplies of fruit, water, cereal, milk and biscuits to supplement the local diet.
The Rentabao River is a series of crystal clear cascades and waterfall. This was a favourite spot to retreat from the heat while we stayed at Rentabao Can you see Jeremy?
When Geoff swam down below the falls with our waterproof camera suddenly everyone scrambled in to try to get into the photo. Once it was taken there was a huge explosion of bodies as everyone tried to throw everyone else in.

Farewell to Pastor Joseph
In November 2000 we said farewell to Pastor Joseph and his family who have moved to Santo to do some more study at our Bible College there. During his farewell service the leaders and Geoff cut another cake. Check out those white legs. After seeing this photo Geoff refuses to wear shorts to church on special occasions anymore.
Being a special occasion the ladies made salusalus for everyone. There were two long poles to hold what must have been about 60 or more salusalus. Here Emma and Keith present Pastor Joseph and Cherilyn with theirs.
A group of ladies singing an item. Our family has now performed items on two occasions. A Christmas Carol during the Christmas Eve service and two songs during the New Year's Eve service at Rentabao. Items sometimes include song, dance or drama skits.

National Assembly in Santo
During November 2000 Geoff attended our church's 9th National Assembly on the island of Santo about an hour's flight North of Vila. People attended from all over Vanuatu and the Solomon's. Guest speakers attended from the US and Australia. About 50 people from our church made the journey by boat or plane. These are some of the people gathering for an outdoor event.
During the Assembly everybody marched down the main street of Luganville. Banners which were hand painted by each of the churches were carried. The crowd was very excited as they prepared to leave.
Some of the group from our church during the march. The one white man you see is not Geoff, but our friend Paul. Each year Paul comes over from Australia to put on puppet shows for the local children (and adults). This year he also brought over several bales of used clothes and set up a second-hand clothing store in Santo to help raise funds for the church's mission work.
Other activities during the Assembly were the opening of the new multi-purpose church building and the launching of a ministry boat to visit the islands. The church was constructed with help, including money and labour, donated by the other churches in Luganville. The boat was a gift from a church in the USA.
This photo was taken from the balcony of the new church building which was designed by one of Geoff's bosses Nathaniel, who is also an Elder at our church. Later that evening over 1200 people were fed from within the building. Some of these were from the Assembly while others were some of the locals living in Luganville.
Our Church Family
Below are some snapshots of some of our friends from Church




Presentation of gifts from Australia
At the end of 2001 we returned to Australia for a short holiday. During a visit to our old church at Singleton we mentioned we would like to take some musical instruments back with us. A special offering was taken up and we were able to give to our Malapoa Church, two guitars (with cases), some bongo drums, a keyboard stand, a box of bibles for use in the local prison and money which was used to help pay bible college students' fees and to help with various projects in three village churches. We praise God for the generosity of our friends at the Singleton Christian Family Centre (AOG)