Mission on Pentecost Island, Vanuatu, South Pacific

Pentecost Island, Vanuatu

Some of the signs of revival we have seen include a whole mountain ‘on fire’ one night during revival meetings at their Bible School, witchcraft items revealed then removed and destroyed by prayer teams, everyone prayed for in ‘custom’ villages healed, and angels filling a village church with songs in the night in a small village where the worship had been strong, lasting for many hours.  Everyone prayed for there was healed and all unbelievers repented during the worship and many were baptized.

Photo Report – Andrew and others on Mission in Vanuatu:
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10153417636371912&type=1&l=c0d498ed0b

Photo report – Grant Shaw on Mission in Vanuatu:
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.6091736911.8437.544796911&type=1&l=d2ec2184a8

Photo Report – Joel Shaw and team on Mission in Vanuatu:
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10153110738631912&type=1&l=4df07da74a

Photo Report – previous teams in Vanuatu:
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.5798796911.7292.544796911&type=1&l=31e6d45ef6

Andrew surfing

Andrew Chee from Hawaii lived to surf.  Now he lives to serve – for God [Photo: Andrew surfing].

See more photos on the Facebook Album

21 year old Andrew came with me on a three week mission to Vanuatu in June-July 2012 (and again two years later in 2014 and again in 2015 with Ben Gray and Noel Missingham – see below).  A great way to escape winter!  We saw God’s blessing and many miracles. 

Andrew sensed God telling him to go on the trip, and he booked his flights only one week before we left when flights were full because of school holidays.  At first he was wait-listed but the next day a seat became available on all my four flights!

His cousin Grant Shaw came with me to Vanuatu and the Solomon Islands in 2006 when he was 22.  See photos on the Facebook Album

Grant founded Kingdom Culture Church on the north side of Brisbane.  He encouraged Andrew to join me [Photo: Andrew and Grant].

Grant hit the news in 2012 with a front page article in the Sunday Mail and guest appearances on TV shows because they take keen young people to nearby shopping malls and pray for the sick and for anyone wanting prayer.  Grant’s brother Joel, also a pastor, began doing this kind of outreach some years previously.  Joel and Grant saw God heal hundreds of people, especially non-Christians.  Many of those prayed for are now keen Christians also.

Andrew loves praying for the sick because he sees God constantly taking away pain and healing people.  He has strong faith in God’s Word, such as Mark 16:17-18.  Jesus said, “these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; … they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”

We saw all that in Vanuatu, literally.  Daily.  Both in 2012 and 2014 with Andrew, as well as in 2006 with Grant and 2013 with his brother Joel and his team from Glory City Church in Brisbane – see Photo Reports listed above.

See photos and maps on the Facebook Album  Huge numbers were healed, and leaders challenged and helped.

 

Port Vila

We flew into Port Vila late on a Friday night and stayed at the Churches of Christ transit house above the church there.  Next morning at 6am we heard young people worshiping in their beautiful island harmonies, so joined them.  They welcomed us and invited us to speak briefly and pray for anyone sick.  Andrew had words of knowledge about people with pain who then came out for prayer immediately.  Our praying continued for everyone wanting prayer after the closing prayer.  Nice fast start to mission!

That morning we flew for an hour in a very small plane on the windy trip to Pentecost Island – the bumpiest I have had on my dozen visits there.  Fortunately we only had time for one bread roll at the airport before leaving, so did not get sick! 

I went to Pentecost Island first in 2003 to see their famous land diving, when men dive from 20-30 meter towers with only vines tied to their ankles.  Chief Willie, my host, invited me to return with teams of young people from the Law School Christian Fellowship of the University of the South Pacific.  I had met them in 2002 and hosted a month’s mission trip they had with me in Australia that year.

So now I was returning again, with another keen young firebrand for God.

 

Pentecost Island

This long, narrow island was sighted and named on the Day of Pentecost, 1764, by explorer Bougainville, and also seen by Captain Cook in 1774.

Pastor Rolanson met us at the airstrip and we walked 300 meters to the beach to ride for half an hour in the outboard canoe 10k south to Pangi village.  There Rolanson’s sons met us to carry our bags along the muddy track half a kilometer inland to their village, Panlimsi. 

I stayed there many times, including with Grant in the bush house behind Andrew and Rolanson in this photo.  Rolanson, pastor and evangelist, keeps asking us to return to encourage revival, pray for people, and help him train leaders.

We had our first meeting there that Saturday night in the village church, partially lit by a couple of old fluorescent lights when the generator was started, usually after everyone has arrived – to save fuel.  So most meetings begin in the dark with torch light or candles.

Early in the worship Andrew again had words of knowledge about people’s pain so worship included praying for the sick.  Their pain left.  After we both spoke that night, we prayed for many more.

So began a week night meetings at Panlimsi.  During the day we rested, recovered, washed in the nearby river where water taro grew abundantly, and usually walked back to Pangi to swim in the ocean.  Every time we went out into the villages people asked for healing prayer. 

So, like Jesus sending out the 12 and 70 (Mark 6:7; Luke 10:1) in pairs, we too went through the towns and villages proclaiming the kingdom of God, healing the sick and casting out spirits.  Many illnesses there result from curses or witchcraft.  Often we had to break curses, bind afflicting spirits and cast them out in Jesus’ name. 

The first time I went there, in 2003, my host Chief Willie asked me to throw out an afflicting spirit giving him a headache, literally.  He said that ‘enemies’ had cursed him.  So we prayed together, bound and cast out attacking spirits, and he felt fine.

At other times people asked me to help them get rid of strong invading spirits such as one that haunted a house by ‘jumping’ onto the stones on the floor at night.  We prayed and it was gone after that.  However, that impudent one ‘jumped’ on the stone floor in my bungalow that night, so I had to cast it out in Jesus’ name, and it never returned.  Rather weird to hear someone/something ‘jump’ into your dark room at night!

This time we experienced strong witchcraft.  On our last day there, when Andrew and I were weary, Andrew was hit by severe aches and headache.   That night I saw a strange dull light, like a reddish torch light, moving horizontally just outside our village hut.  We began praying against powerful spirits.  God’s Spirit reminded Andrew to bless those who curse you and pray for your enemies.  He did.  The strange spiritual connection was immediately broken, and pain started easing off.  It took a day to recover from that one.  “All hail the power of Jesus’ name …”

Every first Sunday of the month the Churches of Christ have a combined service for all their churches in South Pentecost. We shared in one in the packed Panlimsi church.  Before the service Andrew had words of knowledge about pain in a man’s shoulders and the right side of a woman’s face.  Both came for prayer as people were gathering in the church.  It turned out that the man was the leader of the service and the woman preached that day!  Many times, the words of knowledge Andrew received, we discovered later, were for pastors and leaders, and then later we prayed for others.

At that Sunday service I was strongly led to call people out for prayer during communion.  That was a first for them.  It never happened in communion before.  A large number came for prayer and healings were fast and strong.

One night Andrew felt led to wash everyone’s feet.  That took the whole service!  We put a bucket of water near the door (regularly refilled) and Andrew washed everyone’s feet as they arrived while we worshiped, prayed, spoke and called people out for healing and empowering prayer.  I was led to wash the leaders’ feet that night also [Photo: Andrew washes the chief’s feet].  That happened many times through the years – following Jesus’ example.

Our adventures included another outboard motor canoe trip an hour north for a combined churches youth rally on the beach with a large campfire at the end of the meeting.  We joined forces with another mission team from Gladstone (in Queensland, Australia).  That night we also prayed for many people after the service.  Healings were the fastest and strongest we had seen till then.

Bunlap

The ‘custom’ village of Bunlap on the east coast is famous as the spiritual base for native witchcraft and curses.

I went there in 2006 with Grant on a five hour trek across to Ranwas village and then via Bunlap on a seven hour trek to Ponra village where we saw the power of God at every meeting and I head angels singing in the night, like the church was full, although no people were there. 

Grant had prayed for the paramount chief’s son whose groin was healed at Pangi village, so we offered to go to Bunlap and pray for the sick.  A couple of days later we heard that the chief had invited us to come and pray – the first white people to ever be invited to pray for people there.

This time Andrew and I were swimming off the jetty near Pangi when one of chief’s sons from Bunlap and his friends wandered onto the jetty.  Two of those young men had pain so Andrew prayed for them and the pain left.  The chief’s son told us they would be there when we came to Bunlap the following Saturday to pray for sick people again.

This year we enjoyed the luxury of a four-wheel truck trip across the island through the dense green mountains.  We had three nights of meetings at Ranwas village, Friday to Sunday, including the Sunday morning service there.  On Saturday we trekked half an hour through the jungle to Bunlap.

People were even more welcoming this time at Bunlap.  We prayed for dozens of people, and their pain left.  We talked about the kingdom of God and how Jesus saves and heals.  Some of the people told us they believed that and when the chief allowed it they would be part of a church there. 

The paramount chief once burned a Bible given to him by a revival team from the Christian villages.  Now he is willing for a church to be built on the ground where he burned the Bible.   Hallelujah – what a testimony to God’s grace and glory.

For the first time ever that paramount chief asked for prayer.  He wanted healing from head pain.  Andrew placed his hands on the sides of the chief’s head and we prayed for him in Jesus’ name.  The pain left.

Pastors Willy, Gordon, Rolanson and his son David with Andrew and the paramount chief (seated)

Then another chief there prepared lunch for us so the pastors in the team and Andrew and I ate in his house – again the first time ever for white people on mission eating with him there.

Like Jesus’ disciples, we returned to Ranwas church rejoicing that afflicting spirits were cast out, people were healed in Jesus’ name, some believed in Jesus, and they now plan to have a church there someday.  Our host chief told Rolanson he can bring his guitar and have meetings in the chief’s house anytime.

Some Christians at Ranwas were amazed to hear the reports.  They have endured witchcraft and curses from Bunlap for a century.  Again, during communion on Sunday large numbers came for prayer for healing, and healings were fast and strong.  They also had never done that in communion before.  At all the meetings Andrew had specific words of knowledge about healings, and pain left quickly.  In the beginning of our trip we had to pray for some people two or three times before the pain left, but as the weeks passed and faith rose, healings were much quicker and stronger.  By the end of the mission trip people in the congregation were praying for each other in faith and seeing God touch their friends. We really encourage them to keep doing that.

Andrew especially encouraged leaders to pray with him for people’s healings, just as he had learned from leaders in his church.  Soon those village leaders and others were praying more strongly in faith.  Many of them do that constantly anyway, so we were just encouraging them to believe and take authority in Jesus’ name even more fully.

We returned to Ranwas village, and Bunlap village in 2014, with similar results.  The sick were healed.  Hearts were opened to faith in Jesus.

In 2014 we also spoke and prayed with many people at the Independence Celebrations held every 24th July for a week.  Many responded, and many youth came for prayer during our time there.  We slept one night with a local football team and woke up to them singing:

For I was made in His likeness
Created in His image
For I was born to serve the Lord
And I can’t deny Him
And I will always walk beside Him
For I was born to serve the Lord.

I challenged them all to live fully this way and the whole team responded in prayer.

Some of the signs of revival we have seen include a whole mountain ‘on fire’ one night during revival meetings at their Bible School, witchcraft items revealed then removed and destroyed by prayer teams, everyone prayed for in ‘custom’ villages healed, and angels filling a village church with songs in the night in a small village where the worship had been strong, lasting for many hours.  Everyone prayed for there was healed and all unbelievers repented during the worship and many were baptized.

Santo

The largest island in Vanuatu is Espiritu Santo (usually just called Santo) with Luganville the second largest town in Vanuatu, after Port Vila the capital.  That’s the island where Pedro Fernandes de Queiros in 1606 named the island group La Austrailia del Espiritu Santo – the great south lands of the Holy Spirit, from which Australia gets its name.

We flew from Pentecost Island to Santo Island on a Wednesday and from Santo back to Brisbane, via Port Vila, on the Friday.  At Santo we stayed for two nights in the Churches of Christ transit house near the main church.  We had time to relax, eat café or restaurant meals, instead of village fare, and swam in one of the Blue Pools, a unique tourist attraction where the fresh water is a cool, clear bright blue.

There I met again two of their leading pastors who had worked with me in previous visits to Vanuatu, and we were invited to the youth meeting at the church on Thursday night, our last night in Vanuatu.

What a beautiful end to the mission trip.  About 30 youth practiced a new song to sing on Sunday, and the leader invited us to speak briefly and pray for them.  Again, Andrew’s words of knowledge proved to be first for their leaders who were immediately healed.  Then we prayed for other needs and finally asked all who wanted to be filled with Spirit and empowered by God to come out.  Everyone came!  What a wonderful atmosphere of faith and expectation.

We went to our beds rejoicing in the goodness of God and all we had seen him do in three weeks with the warm, friendly and faith-filled people of Vanuatu.   We especially appreciate your prayers and participation in the work of gospel of Jesus in Vanuatu.
Port Vila

On our return via the capital, Port Vila, last year (2014) Andrew was led to arrange for a hydro-electric plant to be shipped to Pentecost Island, to use in Panlimsi with Pastor Rolanson.  It’s much better for their lighting and band for revival meetings.  The hosted a national revival conference there on Pentecost Island in December 2014.

2015 Update

Vanuatu

Calvin Ziru (one of the team of law students who came to Brisbane in 2002) is helped to co-ordinate with various churches in meetings arranged by Pastor Alpheus.  We had meetings in different churches every night as well as in some home groups.  We prayed for many people each day with many being healed and empowered. Flora Meir from Kingdom Culture Church is the South Pacific supervisor for the Global Development Group (GDG) and was able to help people there in Honiara and also in Vanuatu plan for self-sustaining projects.  We value your prayer support – even now as you read this! I have truly appreciated your support in these mission trips over the years, and it looks like God keeps opening the way for more.

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