Port Vila Outreach/ Back to New Zealand

Sorry it’s been so long since the last update! It’s been a busy couple weeks as we wrapped up our outreach in Vanuatu and arrived back in New Zealand- but here’s a short summary of what we’ve been up to!

Port Vila:

                After returning back from Nguna, our original plan was to spend a week at the V2 Life Base, however plans changed and we ended up staying at the Grace House for the remainder of our time in Vanuatu. Each day we had a different ministry opportunity- we went to the outdoor fruit market in town, down to the slums in town, walked around shops, and visited the hospital to meet and pray with the locals. Each day, we would split into pairs, and set out to talk to whoever the Holy Spirit directed us to. All of us have stories of how God intervened and spoke through us, which was life-changing! After setting out quite apprehensive, we were all amazed at the ways God led us.

                We spent two days working at the V2 Life Base helping with the foundation of the Kindergarten. We shovelled coral, sand, and mixed cement alongside a group of builders from New Zealand who were volunteering at the base. It was awesome to see the progress of the brand new Kindergarten being built!

                On our last day of ministry in Vanuatu, we put on a program at the local prison- singing worship songs, performing our skits, and sharing testimonies and sermons. This was a huge highlight for everybody, as we got to bond with the prisoners and share some incredible conversations with them afterward. It was awesome to witness how open and curious the people of Vanuatu are. They were so approachable, hospitable, and loving to us!

                We spent our last couple days in Vanuatu at Iririki island- snorkelling, sailing, and swimming on the resort island, and doing some shopping in town. On our very last night, we were treated to a fancy dinner with a stunning sunset at the Grand Hotel in Port Vila.

Back to New Zealand:

                We arrived back in Tauranga on the 25^th and have been staying on the Pacific Hope ever since. Our typical schedule is working during the mornings- chipping paint, grinding, scrubbing walls, and painting- and doing outreach in town in the afternoons. We’ve spent a couple afternoons down at the Mount on the beach having worship with Matt on guitar and Kiki on violin, and have had some really neat conversations come from that gateway! On Thursday, we went on a team sailing trip around the Mount, and later today we plan to serve at Open Homes- a foster care program here in Tauranga.

We need PRAYER:

                There are a couple things we need prayer for right now! First of all, almost everybody on our team has been sick at one point or another- fighting bugs in Vanuatu, and getting colds, various injuries and allergies here in New Zealand… please pray for the health of all of us and that it wouldn’t be a hindrance to our ministry here!

                Second, our original plans for the remainder of our outreach here in New Zealand was to sail up the North Island to the Bay of Islands on a sailboat called Grace. Because YWAM doesn’t own the boat, one of the men who do was going to skipper it for us during outreach. Unfortunately, he can’t take the time off of work anymore, which leaves us without a boat. We were planning on heading out on February 2^nd which is only a few days away and we still have no word on someone who can skipper for us. However, we were offered a new sailboat called The Mandolin to be used. We tested it out as a group yesterday and it has quite a few problems with the plumbing and piping that we will be trying to fix these next couple days. The Mandolin is only 10 meters in length and will only sleep 6 people, so if this is what we use, only a small amount of our group will be able to sail out to the Bay of Islands, otherwise we will all drive up on Tuesday. Please be praying for The Mandolin to be mended and ready to go as soon as possible, or even for one of the families to be able to skipper on Grace. As you can imagine, we’re all a little apprehensive as to what the next few weeks will look like. Regardless, we’re trusting in God’s direction and provision as we try and work out the details.

                We all send our love, and thanks for your prayers- I’ll try and post more photos once we get regular internet back!

Slum in Port Vila where we did a prayer walk


Outdoor Fruit Market


Local Prison




Iririki Island

Sand Castle Building Competition back in NZ :)

Chipping Paint on the Pacific Hope

Nguna

                Our time at Nguna as a team was such an unforgettable experience. We were all stretched in different ways, and united like never before. We began our journey by taking a boat to the island along with our luggage and Bibles. We spent our first two nights at the tiny village of Nekapa on the coast, and began administering Bibles the second day. We split off into pairs and went into all the houses of the village- gifted a Bislama Bible to each family, and prayed for any requests they had. It was an eye-opening experience to envelop ourselves in a completely different culture- sleep on straw mats on the floor, and manage the hot, humid, and rainy weather!

                Each day, we would wake up around 6 with the sunrise, eat breakfast, and set out for our Bible distributions. We worked our way through four different villages over the nine days we were out, and were able to take two days off. In each village, we put on a church service and performed our skits, led worship, and took turns sharing testimonies and sermons. Each of us have incredible stories of how God has worked in our lives through conversations, prayers, and experiences on Nguna.

                We arrived back at Grace House on the 13^th- a few days earlier than anticipated because it turned out half of the island had already been distributed Bibles to. Yesterday we had debrief, and today we had the opportunity to help serve at the V2 Life YWAM base about 15 minutes drive from Grace House. We worked construction, painted, and helped out with food prep. On Sunday, we will be staying at the V2 base through next Thursday for the last part of our Vanuatu outreach.

Enjoy these photos from Joshua!

Boat ride and emptying Bibles

Typical Nguna home

Bible Deliveries and treks

Typical Island Meal

Song Performed to us at the Last Village

Church Services- skit, dance, prayer

Days 1-3: Port Vila to Nguna

                We arrived safely yesterday afternoon here in Port Vila, Vanuatu! We got picked up from the airport by Jared, the Outreach director of the Grace House and rode in the back of a pick-up truck with our luggage to the house where we have spent two days. After unpacking, we had orientations from both Jared and Tony, (who is also involved with YWAM here in Vanuatu) about the culture, expectations, and outline for our outreach here. After a long day, we all headed to bed to get some rest.

                We woke up bright and early yesterday morning to a delicious coconut pancake breakfast with fresh mango, watermelon, and pineapple- we’re getting spoiled! We headed to a local church service at the International Christian church and were able to worship God with a myriad of other cultures. It was an awesome experience to gather together and experience an entirely new way of worship. Yesterday afternoon, many of us walked down to the beach and enjoyed the hot and humid 80 degree weather by the ocean- we swam, relaxed in hammocks, and sailed around in a catamaran!

              This afternoon we will head out to Nguna- an island north of Port Vila that we’ll get to by boat. We will be carrying both our luggage and a plethora of Bibles. There’s roughly 300 homes in Nguna that we will be reaching out to in the next two weeks- delivering Bislama-translated Bibles (the most common language of Vanuatu). In the evenings, we may be putting together programs for the children, and on Sundays we will be leading the church services, both in worship and in the Word. We don’t know exactly all the details of each day, but we’re trusting in God’s leading and direction with every decision we make. We can’t wait to get out and share God’s love with the people in Nguna- please keep us in your prayers!

Last group pic at the airport

The Grace House- where we've been staying until this afternoon

Church Worship service

Adventures at the beach