Dear Brethren and Friends;
Greetings and Peace in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
On November 15, 1998 the Lord's church in Vanuatu moved into a new worship facility built on land deeded to the church. After 18 years this is the first time where the church has its own facilities on land which has been given for the sole use of the Lord's church. The new building is located in the village of Eton on Efate Island where the capitol of Port Vila is located. Brethren from three congregations (Eton, Ebao and Port Vila) met in celebration of the event. Over 132 men, women and children were present. The local village chief, a PNG judge currently serving in Vanuatu, local Seventh Day Adventist leaders and other village dignitaries were in attendance. The lesson was brought by Sombo Dowara, a Papua New Guinea national who had worked with the Eton brethren prior to moving to Port Vila earlier this year to help the church become established there. Services were followed by a fellowship meal and fellowship (horseshoes and boule) well into the afternoon. It was also the first time all the brethren made use of new song books which have been compiled in English and Bislama.
A lot has happened in the past couple of months and the days and nights seem to just go by in a blur. Even moving into a culture which is similar to the one we just left (both are Melanesian) there are a number of things which stay the same (waiting in every line and even waiting in a line to be told what line to wait in, island time telling, shortage of store items until overseas ship comes in, potholed roads throughout town and out to the villages) and many things which are different enough to be frustrating at times (most of town shuts down from 11:30-1:30 daily, no mail delivery to post office box on Saturday, no mail delivery to post office box any day before 3 pm, having to pay $1.25 for every parcel you pick up which is too big to fit in your small post office box (done under the name of user pays), inability to use callback phone system to the USA many times because we have a very limited number of incoming lines to Vanuatu, the use of the road in front of our house as a drag strip and parade route with shouting, screaming banshees at all hours of the day and night, the neighbors chickens using our verandah as a short cut to our front yard, lack of any use of turn indicators on vehicles, normal stopping of vehicles in the middle of the road to chat with passing friends, normal stopping of buses in the middle of the road to load passengers).
Kathy and I both celebrated birthdays in September. I turned the 5-0 which to some of you is just a spring chicken (right Jerry C.!). Over the past two months I have been very busy on the computer preparing my Weds night class (Denominational Doctrine) and my Sunday PM class (Old Testament History) into the Bislama language, compiling the worship songs in Bislama/English and Fiji/English and replying to correspondence. On Saturday morning Kathy has a ladies Bible class here in Port Vila. On Tuesdays Kathy and I have been going out to Eton village. I have been assisting in the building of their new building and Kathy has been teaching a ladies Bible class followed by a short Bible story to the children and letting them apply crayola wax to the pictures, to the mats, to each other.... It is a 40 minute drive out over a dirt road full of potholes which follows the coastline. It pretty well shoots the whole day. Even though the road parallels the coastline, when one trys to enjoy the view one invariably clunks into a pothole. Eyes on the road please!
I have had to wait several times (1-2 weeks) for parts for the copier machines to come from New Zealand or Australia. They seem to be working alright for the moment.
Paul Vuhu dropped by in September. He is a Vanuatu man who attended South Pacific Bible College in New Zealand for a short time when we were there. He had to return back to Vanuatu due to some personal problems. He and his wife now have 4 children and they live on the outer island of Ambae. He came in for a government agricultural course. He was here at the course for a week and when he returned home we sent out a box of school supplies, medical supplies, reference books, presents for the kids and formula for their baby. They started a pre-school in their village and started the Lord's church meeting there as well.
The first Sunday in October we were fortunate enough to have Kevin Dye (from Lebanon Tenn) drop by on his way back from a mission to Papua New Guinea. (He graciously brought us two 3 lb cans of like gold, Crisco shortening that is.) He spoke to the Port Vila group at our house on Friday night and to the combined island group on Sunday morning. The combined island group represents three congregations on the island of Efate where we live. We have a combined worship scheduled the first Sunday of each month, rotating between congregations. There were 65 in attendance this weekend. There was a fellowship meal and playtime at the waterfront park after services. An afternoon class was also held before everyone broke up and returned to their various homes. It is a very very good time of Christian fellowship and spending of quality time together as brethren. Unfortunately I had severe abdominal pains and spent the whole day in bed. The pains subsided later that day and I was OK the next day.
The combined worship was held at Ebao village in November. We, the Port Vila group, hired a bus which picked up brethren from Eton on the way to Ebao. There were 74 of us in attendance.
The local hospital was so short of pill bottles in September that we airmailed in several boxes for them. They had started using old film containers and clean glass jars to dispense pills and liquids. We were able to get the pill bottles from the brethren at Healing Hands International in Nashville. The pill bottles were presented to the administrator in the name of the church. We were also able to donate other medical supplies as well. We have also been able to give out school supplies, which we had shipped from HHI, to several of the local schools.
I am in the habit of walking down to town in the late afternoon to check the mail after spending much time at the computer terminal. I also usually carry an umbrella if it looks like rain. This one afternoon while walking back I had picked up some things (mandarin orange sherbet) from the store and had looped the bag on the umbrella and was carrying it like a hobo sack on a stick. As I passed a group of young boys playing on the side of the road, one of them jokingly (at least I hope he was joking!) called out, "Father Christmas, Father Christmas!" At least they weren't scared of me. (But they didn't get my sherbet either!)
Please remember our travels in November & first of December. We are going to New Zealand and then on the Fiji to speak at a youth camp at Lautoka. We leave here Nov 28 and return Dec 22nd. The Dowara family are to go home to Papua New Guinea on leave from Dec 12th - Jan 11th. We are praying that the necessary funds are available by month's end to ensure their return to work here in Vanuatu for an additional two years. They still need $2,000 for their tickets be able to return. Please pray for this need! Please also pray for a local Vanuatu family who will be going to Melanesian Bible College next year in Lae Papua New Guinea. Their names are Shem & Rose Gabriel and small son Jonah.
This will be our last newsletter this year so we wish to take this time to wish you and yours a very festive and safe holiday season.
In Christian service.
Tobey & Kathy Huff