The visit of Seventh-day Adventist Church president, Pastor Jan Paulsen, to the Solomon Islands is “a token of the Adventist Church’s solidarity” with the people of this country as they deal with ethnic tensions, says the Reverend Philip Funifaka, secretary of the Solomon Islands Christian Association.  Funifaka’s comments came at a February 18 luncheon with civic and Christian leaders welcoming Paulsen to the Solomon Islands.

Prime Minister Manasseh Songavare addressed the group, saying that without the “silent efforts of people behind the scenes, there would be no peace” in the Solomon Islands. He added that his government is encouraged by the fact that Adventist Church members around the world “are praying for this country.”

Paulsen also met with the 14-member Peace Monitoring Council, representing the ethnic groups and provinces of the Solomon Islands, which was set up last October to oversee the Peace Agreement between the parties of the conflict.  Paulsen was briefed on the peace process, as well as the surrender of weapons and the de-militarization of the affected provinces.

Over the past two years, leaders of the Adventist Church were involved in negotiating a cease-fire between warring groups from the Guadalcanal and Malaita islands and are working alongside other Christians in overseeing the peace process.

The Honorable Paul Touva, a prominent politician and vice-chairman of the Peace Monitoring Council, identified a need for all Christians, not only those on the Council, to make better “use of church pulpits to persuade” those who are resisting the peace. Paulsen commended the Council’s work and said that the “process of securing peace cannot be secured by itself. It requires intentionality, a deliberate effort, but also a dose of humility.”

Laurie Evans, president of the Adventist Church in the South Pacific, accompanied Paulsen and said that the “answer to the problems of the Solomon Islands cannot be found in the use of arms.” He appealed to Adventist Christians, alongside those from other churches, to continue to pray and actively participate in “living out the by being good neighbors to each other.”

The Solomon Islands visit was the second stop of Paulsen’s two-week pastoral visit to the South Pacific region. En route to the Solomon Islands, on Sabbath (or Saturday), February 17, the Adventist Church president spoke at a spiritual convocation of more than 3,000 believers in Brisbane, Australia.