Currently I live in Port Vila, which is the capital of Vanuatu. This city is on the island of Efate. Last weekend, I was invited to go along with Elder Ann (see earlier post) to a commissioning service (seemed like a "starting the year off and encouraging you to do well" kind of deal) for her daughter's school. Her daughter goes to a secondary school in a village called Onesua up on the north-eastern side of Efate. Incidentally, 3 women in charge of the women's groups for their individual islands (the islands of Tanna, Malakula, and Santo) came along with us, along with Elder Ann's older daughter and her friend. We all piled into her truck and drove on the western route around the island. Vanuatu was a recipient of the Millennium Fund from the US so a project was started back when we were here last to pave the road that rounds the island. The road has made it around to just past Onesua so it took us only about an hour to get around. In 2008, Tania and I went around the east side and stayed in a village called Ekipe so as of now, I'm just about 3 miles short of having gone on every bit of the road around Efate. It was a considerably different experience this time around going on a paved road as opposed to the hours of whip-lash and jostling last time on the coral/mud road on the other side of the island... Thanks America for the great road! :)
It was a beautiful drive, great fellowship, and a great chance to learn more Bislama and culture. I also ate duck (they call it dakdak) for the first time. Unfortunately, I was too much of a chicken to ask for pictures of the ladies I was with, but I did get a few of the view from the beach we ate lunch on. In the distance are a few other tiny islands. Whew, beautiful, huh?!
We recently got to be a part of the Vanuatu Bible Translators meeting (VBT- a national organization chaired by ni-Vanuatu men). Our friend, Pastor Peter, who went to Summer School with us last year in Australia, is the chairman so it was great to get to see him again! We learned a lot seeing how the VBT is organized, and we had an opportunity to meet the new members who were appointed this last year, and have a chance to share with them our vision and leading for ministry here in Vanuatu. They were very welcoming and the committee member in charge of the province that includes Ambrym island, where we are praying about serving, was willing even to go with the guys in May to further survey Ambrym. He was interested in giving advice concerning land disputes and talking to local leaders about our coming. It's exciting what VBT is doing in the country to reach Vanuatu with God's Word!
We also had a chance the last few weeks to reconnect with our friends Philip and Sophia. Philip is our main contact from Ambrym island and he and Sophia were in town for a preaching conference. The language group organized a committee with representatives from each village in N Ambrym and the chairman of this committee was also in town for the conference. We had a meeting together to get to know one another and to answer each other's questions. We also had several days to hang out with Sophia in particular, storying with her and getting more help on our Bislama. She's a gem for that. :) They've all headed back up north now, but we enjoyed our time and look forward to all being together again in the future!
