Church

Since we are part of the Assemblies of God, we will be spending the next few weeks visiting various AoG churches here on the island of Santo.  Before we left the states I had looked at a map which depicted the location of several places of worship that are affiliated with the denomination.  At the time it seemed the churches were remarkably close, geographically, to each other.  Now that we have been on-island for a couple of weeks I am beginning to understand why.

People here use their feet as their primary mode of transportation.  Weird.  I know.  Coming from a society where people drive 15-20min to jump on a treadmill, I am quite vexed by this situation. There are a few paved roads—called, "coltar"—but mainly heavily pockmarked dirt "white roads".

Oooo. Side note.  I LOVE the word, "coltar".  Just saying it makes me feel like I am in some futuristic sci-fi movie battling against forces of eeeevil.

"Quick SpaceBrink.  Activate the Voltron!  Coltar is here!!"

"Coltar, you nasty Veeble from...Veebro... taste the cold energy from my transducer fusion ray of death!"

Ahhhh...I had to get that out of my system.  What was this post titled?  Oh, "Church",...good...right on track.

When my family and I travel the 4-7min into the town of Luganville, people strike up conversations and ask where we are living while in Vanuatu.  When we tell them we live in Palm Estates they are surprised we live so far out of town.  Taxis are available and abundant but too cost prohibitive for most locals to use regularly.  Travel by foot does not just include walking but forging through dense jungle, avoiding huge puddles of water, and undulating terrain.  Our 7min drive is at least an hour's walk for the Ni-Vanuatu pastor who currently lives below us.  So, even though the two churches we have visited, so far, are less than 5 miles from each other, they are very different.

What we know as, "Pastor Dick's Church", has tile floors, a sound system, electricity and a few buildings as part of its campus. This is the first service we attended in Vanuatu.

I had been taken to the property earlier in the week but was on my own to try and find it once again.  My memory served me well and we turned our Assemblies of God owned Toyota Tundra down a dirt road lined with churches. The first building on the left belongs to the Latter Day Saints, which is situated next to the Kingdom Hall, followed by a Seventh Day Adventist on the right.  It's kind of an obstacle course to truth.  Like a religious version of American Ninja Warrior, dodging various false teachings in pursuit of obtaining the Truth. We have been told that, due to culture, the Ni-Van people are very works oriented.  The idea of giving or receiving unconditionally is apparently rather foreign to Ni-Vans.  This could be part of why religions like Mormonism and Islam are on the rise in Vanuatu.  Our prayer as we pass these locations is that the Spirit would minister to each one, that none would be lost!!

Parking at the church is kind of a non-issue since congregants don't own vehicles.  This is awesome for me as I am always forgetting where I park!  Now there is no wandering about turning in circles while pressing the unlock button on the key fob.  I simply walk out and, "BAM!", there it is.

Our family had been warned the some events run on "island time".  This service was not one of them.  We arrived shortly before 10:00 and worship started shortly after.  One of the first surprises of the day was that the songs were done in English!  Not only could we understand the words but we were familiar with the songs.

"Majesty;  Worship His Majesty;  Unto Jesus, be all glory honor and praise..."

The Ni-Vans voices soared in all kinds of fantastic harmonies above the peaked out sound system.  In Vila we were warned by fellow missionaries that Ni-Vans like their sound loud.  The Brinkerhoff family has verified that observation.  Each member of the worship team was very talented and played/ sung skillfully.  About 30min in to worship the pastoral team filed onto stage, with some pomp, and took seats on the platform.  I have not inquired if this is a cultural thing or is a practice with AoG roots.

During the service there was a baby dedication which included a little girl with 5 or 6 given names.  Over here, what we refer to in the States as a "last name" is the "surname" and "given names" are first and middle—or in this case the first, second, third, fourth, and fifth.  Our new friends from Australia told us that any one of these given names can and will be used to refer to the person.  So, for instance, if I were a Ni-Van I would respond equally to either Jeremy or Scott.

Pastor Steve got up and gave a short but impassioned message on each person's value to God.  While he preached in Bislama, any scripture either read or referred to was in English—our second major surprise.  Most of those in the church can hardly offer a greeting in English, let alone carry on a conversation in that language.  "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."  I am a firm believer that, as Christians, we come to know Christ more through the Word because he is the Word.  If people are not exposed to Him in a way where they can hide his Word (Him) in their hearts then how do they cultivate a relationship with their Savior?  We expect to run into many things that we do not yet comprehend from a cultural standpoint, but it is certainly difficult not to question this practice.  Merissa and I hope to learn more about why things are done a certain way and in no way want to be missionaries who insist on "our" way.  Please join us in praying for wisdom as we learn more and more about how to share Christ's love to the wonderful people in Vanuatu.

Now, on to our second week's experience.  The setting was AWESOME!  I kept expecting Indiana Jones to come running through the door, a dust cloud clinging to his signature fedora and leather jacket, holding some valuable artifact.  Only half of the building is complete and jungle is starting to send emerald tentacles into and around pillars of deteriorating concrete. Newly constructed wooden benches, without backrests, were arranged in three sections 5 rows deep under the portion with a roof.  Freshly cut tropical flowers adorned the front where a simple podium stood alongside tables used for communion and offering baskets. Facing the podium one can look out of two large unscreened openenings into a dense jungle of banana trees, coconut trees, tarro plants and tons of vegetation that I am excited to learn the names of.  Well, excited to know which ones are edible and which ones might reach out, pluck Daniel out of the baby backpack, wrap him in leaves like a burrito and slowly digest him.

Once again the songs were in English but there was no sound system—just an acoustic guitar and about 30 people singing to the Lord.  The children were the best part!  Pure joy filled the air as they sung (sang?) with abandon.

In this church we experienced our first "split" seating arrangement.  Men sit in one area, women in another, and children in the front.  Ethan and Ella hardly even looked back at Merissa and me before accepting a 9 year old Ni-Van's invitation to sit with the other kids.  I was a little shocked when Mer muttered, "thank goodness," when she realized she didn't have to sit by me. Nah...is joke (read in Russian accent).  I was kind of surprised though that I didn't feel as disconnected as I thought I might.  The women seemed very comfortable with Mer and the Ni-Van children certainly loved having E and E close by.

We had been told that Ella's hair would be a source of interest for the girls because of its color, length, and silky smoothness. But, it was Ethan's super-short fuzzy fade with spikes on top that attracted the most hands and giggles.  My kids continue to impress me with the way they are adapting to all this change!  Most of the signs of their stresses come out in moments between the two of them but, wow, I am very proud of the way they have jumped right in to a lot of situations they have no point of reference for.

The message was delivered by a guest speaker from another island.  He referred numerous times to the title of his message, "Building Your Life with Kingdom Materials", in English, but delivered the message in Bislama. All Bible passages were, once again, read in English.

There was an alter call at the end of service to which a few ladies responded.  Merissa was able to go and minister through prayer to these women.  It was very powerful to see her so freely pouring out upon the people we came to serve.  Something I love, absolutely love, about our Father is that He is the same yesterday, today, and forever regardless of location.  How incredible it is to watch the Spirit—the same Spirit shared by Christians around the globe—work in an environment as foreign to us as any.  Looking back though, there was nothing foreign in that moment of interceding through prayer.  We were joined together, children of the same Father, as he reached out to show His insatiable love for us.