The arrival of an Australian-led intervention force has made little difference to the work of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in the Solomon Islands.
The arrival of an Australian-led intervention force has made little difference to the work of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in the Solomon Islands.
“We feel 100 percent safe, but anything can happen at any time,” says Hennie Murray, who works in the capital as the general secretary of the church’s Eastern Solomon Islands Mission.
This is especially so on the Weathercoast of the island of Guadalcanal, the base for rebel leader Harold Keke.
Irving Vagha, the youth director for the church in the Eastern Solomons, used to work on the Weathercoast. “His life intrigues Harold,” says Murray, who adds that Keke “has taken a liking to him.”
“Irving is the only person Harold will allow in certain areas. I take Irving with me whenever I travel to the Weathercoast.”
Murray says at least five local Adventist churches are located on the Weathercoast. He has been visiting the members in these churches at least twice a year but plans to visit at least once a quarter now the church has a new mission boat. He says the church is also planning to organize an evangelistic series on the Weathercoast next year.
Dedily Masaea, principal of the church in the Trans-Pacific’s Honiara-based secondary institution, Betikama College, expects enrolments will increase now that the intervention force has arrived. About 400 students are currently studying at Betikama. A representative from the force, Sergeant Bob Sobey of the Australian Federal Police, even spoke during the school’s chapel, July 28.
“The students have had mixed feelings about the members of the force carrying guns,” says Masaea. “They were asking questions about what the members of the force would do with people they arrested. Sergeant Sobey’s visit helped answer these questions. The students are not worried anymore.”
Approximately 10,000 Adventists worship in 92 churches and companies in the Eastern Solomons.
