Burden for the Distribution of the New Testament Recovery Version:
Praise the Lord for His move in the South Pacific. To date, the Lord has spread His testimony to Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu. The Lord has established three churches in Fiji and one in Papua New Guinea. Although the saints in the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu have already started to practice the church life, the Lord is yet to establish Lord’s Table meetings there.
Every four years, there is a continental multi-sport event for Oceania countries and territories known as the Pacific Games. This time it will be held in Honiara, Solomon Islands, from 19 November to 2 December 2023. This is the first time the Solomon Islands will be hosting this major event.
According to the Pacific Games Council (www.sol2023.com.sb), there will be 24 countries represented, which include Australia, New Zealand and several Pacific Island countries. Recently, the co-working brothers for the South Pacific had some fellowship about this matter, and we feel that this is an excellent opportunity to distribute the ministry and the New Testament Recovery Version, and sow the seed of the kingdom in all of these countries. In addition to this burden, we believe that through this labour, we will also strengthen the Lord’s move in Honiara with the view to establish His testimony there. Therefore, we would like to present this opportunity to the churches where the saints can participate according to their capacity.
Brief History of the Lord’s Move in the Solomon Islands
The propagation work in the Solomon Islands began in 1990. The Solomon Islanders are mostly God-fearing Christians, very open to the Lord and hungry for the truth. Through continuous labour, there are hundreds of “Stream Magazine” subscribers, which some brothers from Australia and New Zealand visit annually. Currently, we are still labouring on these subscribers through the ministry books and biannual conferences with a view to bringing them into the church life. Through our labour, we experienced a high demand for the ministry materials, especially the Recovery Version Bible.
Over the years, through the campus work at the University of the South Pacific (USP) in Suva, Fiji, a group of students were gained between 2006 and 2010. Some of whom are now practising the church life in Honiara upon their return. Some of these ones even progressed to attend the Full Time Training. To date, a total of four sisters, a brother and two married couples have graduated from Full Time Training in Hamilton, New Zealand. Three of them are serving full-time currently, and three others have finished serving and are still in the church life. Most recently, a sister has just started the full-time training in Hamilton.
From the year 2014, 8 saints began to practice the church life in two homes. They have also started regular Lord’s Day prophesying and Tuesday prayer meetings. After two years in 2016, the number of saints has increased to 28 with 5 home meetings weekly. In 2018, the number of saints has increased to 33 and 6 home meetings. By the year 2021, the number of saints had reached 38 with 12 home meetings. Since then, we have started to face challenges maintaining the increase due to a lack of manpower and financial constraints, and, of course, the recent pandemic.
With the above-mentioned blessing, there was a consideration to take the ground to have the first Lord’s Table meeting in May 2020. But unfortunately, due to pandemic it did not eventuate. The COVID-19 has affected the saints’ practising of the church life, which part of it is due to the movement of the saints back and forth between Honiara and their home islands.
Currently, there are more than 44 saints nationwide of which 35 are in Honiara. The average number of saints regularly attending the Lord’s Day prophesying meeting in Honiara varies between 15 to 25. An average of 10 saints attend the prayer meeting regularly. There are also regular weekly and fortnightly home meetings with more than 50 people meeting in 7 homes. In addition, we have 8 to 12 young people attending the young people meeting regularly. We also have 12 children above five years old regularly attending the Lord’s Day children’s meeting, and more than 20 children joined various Neighbourhood Children’s Meetings (NCM). A total of 10 saints have registered for the recent video training.
In terms of the campus work in this country, there are regular appointments with 20 university students, including 7 of our own church kids on two separate campuses.
The work in the Solomon Islands over the ten years has been mainly undertaken by the brothers from Brisbane and Sydney, Australia. We have continual weekly prayer and fellowship between the campus team in the Solomon Islands and the campus teams from Brisbane and Fiji.
How To Participate in the Bible Distribution During the Pacific Games:
To take advantage of this wonderful opportunity to further establish the Lord’s testimony in the Pacific Islands, we would like to extend the invitation to the saints in your locality to participate in a Bible distribution during the games. This can be done in the following ways:
A. Participation by Prayer:
Please pray for:
- Release of permits for us to set up tables at the selected locations.
- The openness of the sons of peace and the Lord’s seekers to receive the interpreted word.
- Release the local sons of peace that could be added for the Lord’s testimony in Honiara.
- The release of saints to participate by going to distribute during this time.
- Pray for the release of the finance needed for this work.
B. Participation by Giving:
Saints who are burdened can also participate in giving financially.
For saints in Australia, please transfer to this account:
Bank: Westpac
Account Name: Local Church in Sydney Ltd
BSB: 032282
Account No: 393434
Reference: “Pacific Games”
For saints in New Zealand, please transfer to this account:
Account Name: New Zealand Training Centre Trust Board
Account No: 04 2021 0072010 93
Reference: “Pacific Games” in all 3 reference fields
C. Participation by Going:
Saints who are burdened can also apply to go to Honiara to participate in this Bible distribution physically.
The Bible distribution schedule will be divided into two 10-day periods.
- The first period will be from Thursday 16 November to Saturday 25 November 2023.
- The second period will be from Lord’s Day 26 November to Tuesday, 5 December 2023.
Those who wish to participate must be available to serve for the entirety of one of the above periods. Due to practical arrangements and considerations, we are not able to accommodate those wishing to participate part-time. Saints may also apply for both periods should they be available to do so.
Hospitality is limited and most saints will need to stay in motel-styled accommodation. They will be expected to contribute to the share of the costs (accommodation, food and transport expenses). Saints will also need to fund their own airfares to and from Honiara on the beginning and end dates mentioned in the above periods.
Saints wishing to travel to Honiara to participate in the Bible distribution physically will first need to complete an application below to give an expression of their interest to join. The application is necessary due to the limited spaces, physically demanding environment and the nature of the work. Each application will be reviewed and approved depending on the suitability of each individual. The deadline to apply will be by Lord’s Day 15 October 2023.
The estimated cost:
- Return Airfares – NZD$1600 / AUD$1350
- Accommodation – NZD$380 / AUD$350
- Food – NZD$330 / AUD$300
- Ground Transport – NZD$90 / AUD$80
Total estimated per person: NZD$2400 / AUD$2080
To apply, please fill in the form below
Contact Persons for this Bible Distribution during Pacific Games:
For more information regarding the Bible distribution during the Pacific Games in Honiara, please send an email to thechurchinhoniara@gmail.com or contact one of the following brothers:
Lonsdale Solobola (Solomon Islands) +677 733 8030
Peni Lutubula (Fiji) +679 944 0065
Raymond Chang (Australia) +61 411 968993
Solomon Ling (New Zealand) +64 21728 174