Solomon Islands update

This update is from Rod Matthews who is GCI missions director in Southern Asia and the Pacific.

GCI is blessed with some marvelously remote congregations, including the one in the village of Qiloe (pronounced ‘gee-low’) located on the island of Ranongga in the Pacific nation of Solomon Islands. Most of Qiloe’s residents belong to our GCI congregation—it is traditional in Ranongga that all villagers belong to one denomination.

Recently, my wife Ruth and I visited Qiloe for their annual family festival. It was quite a trip, with a 3½ hour flight followed by a couple of boat rides (with beautiful views like that shown at left). We were accompanied by Henry and Elisabeth Kuper. Henry is our national coordinating pastor for the Solomon’s. He retired from the Solomon’s National Police Force some years ago, and served for a time as aide-de-camp to the Governor General.

During the four-day festival, we had the privilege of ordaining a second elder for the Qiloe congregation, Allowin Ketohebala. He is a fine younger man who has demonstrated his integrity and service to the people of Qiloe. He is also an excellent help with the large number of youth in the church.

I had gone to Ranongga anticipating one baptism but found on arriving that there were three other young people waiting for baptism too. We had to walk about 20 minutes through thick tropical vegetation to reach a clear stream coming out of the hills that had a pool deep enough for the baptisms. On arrival I discovered that some ladies had preceded us and built a small wall of stones across the stream to deepen the pool. It was an inspiring natural location to witness their public acceptance of Christ as Savior and Lord and to celebrate their part in the Body of Christ.

On our final evening, we had a traditional “Island Night” of songs and dancing with a banquet of local dishes and fresh fish. The children sang and groups danced with humor and skill, including the “gecko dance,” which imitates the little insect-eating lizard that lives in every home.

When we left, virtually the entire church bid us farewell at the shore. We left a growing church, a new elder and over 70 members led by Pastor Derek Jiru and his wife Pinque. They touched our hearts forever.

We are thankful for all our members in the Solomon Islands. They are a wonderful example of dedication and faithfulness. We’re also thankful for Doug and Marg Lewis from Melbourne, Australia who for over a decade made an annual trip to the Solomons as our national pastoral coordinator—lovingly guiding our members through our theological transformation. Doug still helps in keeping our members in the Solomons connected to our international fellowship.