REVIVAL in the South Pacific
Pentecost Island in Vanuatu has seen many strong moves of God since converted “kanakas” blackbirded from the Pacific Islands to work on sugar cane plantations in Queensland returned home taking the good news of the gospel with them a hundred years ago. Now revival is stirring there again, and across the South Pacific.
Pentecost Island is a famous tourist destination because of the amazing land diving, where boys and men jump from high towers made of bush materials with vines tied to their ankles - the original bungy jumping.
The following is a brief account of revival in the area, centred on the National Bible College at Banmatmat on South Pentecost.
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The Lord poured out his Spirit in a fresh and surprising way at the Christian Fellowship in the School of Law in the University of the South Pacific in Port Vila, Vanuatu.
The weekend following Easter, 2002, the Christian Fellowship (CF) of the law school of the University of the South Pacific held an outreach meeting on Saturday evening, April 6, on the lawn and steps of the university square which faces the main lecture buildings, school administration and library. God moved on them in a strong way that night.
The University of the South Pacific, based in Suva Fiji, has its School of Law, the law faculty, in Vanuatu (because of the unique combination of French, English and local laws in Vanuatu, previously called New Hebrides). The very active Christian Fellowship (CF) at the School of Law regularly organises outreaches in the town and at the university. About one third of the 120 students in the four year law course attend the weekly Christian Fellowship meeting on a Friday night each week, and a core group pray together regularly and organise outreach and evangelism events. Students come from the many nations of the South Pacific Islands to study law at Vanuatu. Many of them are sons and daughters of chiefs and government leaders.
Romulo Nayacalevu, then President of the Christian Fellowship reported:
“The speaker was the Upper Room Church pastor, Jotham Napat who is also the director of Meteorology here in Vanuatu. The night was filled with the awesome power of the Lord and we had the back up service of the Upper Room church ministry who provided music with their instruments. With our typical Pacific Island setting of bush and nature all around us, we had dances, drama, and testified in an open environment, letting the wind carry the message of salvation to the bushes and the darkened areas. That worked because most of those that came to the altar call were people hiding or listening in these areas. The Lord was on the road of destiny with many people that night.”
Unusual lightning hovered around in the sky that night, and as soon as the prayer teams had finished praying with those who rushed forward at the altar call, then the tropical rain pelted down on that open field area. God poured out his Spirit on many lives that night.
Many of these law students will be leaders in their various Pacific Islands nations, both in civic and church affairs. Some of them experienced powerful conversions that night. Many were filled with the Spirit and began to experience spiritual gifts in their lives in new ways. Some students who had been heavily involved in drinking and night clubs found new freedom and zeal for God and have become effective evangelists through their changed lives.
A team of eleven from their Christian Fellowship (CF) visited Australia for a month in November-December 2002 involved in outreach and revival meetings in many denominations and as well as in visiting home prayer groups. We hosted them and enjoyed driving them 6,000 kilometres in a 12-seater van, including a trip from Brisbane to Sydney and back.
The team prayed for hundreds of people in over a dozen churches and home groups, and led worship at the daily 6 am prayer group at Kenmore Baptist Church (following their own 5 am daily prayer meeting in the house provided for them). One result of that visit is that some churches in Brisbane began holding weekly combined churches revival meetings, backed up with the daily early morning prayer groups meeting at 6 am Monday to Friday, praying constantly for revival.
2003 - Pentecost Island, Vanuatu
The law students from the Christian Fellowship (CF) grew strong in faith. Jerry, one of the students from Fiji, returned home after the visit to Australia, and prayed for over 70 sick people in his village, seeing many miraculous healings. His transformed life challenged the village because he had been converted at CF at the law school after a very wild, rebellious time as a youth in the village. The following year, 2004, Jerry led revival in his village. He prayed early every morning in the Methodist Church, eventually being joined by some children, then some of the youth. By 2005 he had 50 young people involved, evangelzing, praying for the sick, casting out spirits, and encouraging revival.
See Mission News: Fiji (South Pacific) on the main page for regular updates through the Photo Links
Another student, Simon, returned to his island of Tuvalu, also transformed at university through CF, and witnessed daily to his relatives and friends all through the vacation in December-January, bring many of them to the Lord. He led a team of youth involved in Youth Alive meetings, and prayed with the leaders each morning from 4 a.m. Simon became President of the Christian Fellowship at the Law School from October 2003 for a year.
During May, 2003, the Christian Fellowship (CF) of the Law School of the University of the South Pacific held Easter meetings at the university campus in Port Vila and at a local church called Upper Room which many of the students attend. Soon after that another team from the CF flew to Pentecost Island for a weekend of outreach meetings on South Pentecost. The national Vanuatu Churches of Christ Bible College, near Salap village, is built on the site of the first Christian martyr there.
Tomas Tumtum returned to his village there on South Pentecost with a new young disciple from a neighbouring island. They arrived when the village was tabu (taboo) because a baby had died a few days earlier, so no one was allowed near the village. Ancient tradition dictated that anyone breaking tabu must be killed, so they were going to kill Tomas, but his disciple Lulkon signalled for them to kill him instead so that Tomas could evangelise his own people. Just before he was clubbed to death, tied to a palm tree, he read John 3:16, then closed his eyes and prayed for them.
See Mission News: Vanuatu (South Pacific) on the main page for photos of the site of Lulkon’s death and regular updates through the Photo Links.
The CF team of six led meetings in Salap village each night Friday-Sunday and Sunday morning - in Bislama, the local Pigin and in basic English. It was a kind of miracle. Salap village church sings revival choruses, but the surrounding villages still use hymns from mission days! The weekend brought new unity among the competing village churches. The Sunday night service went from 6-11 pm, although it had been closed three times after 10 pm, with a closing prayer, then later on a closing song, and then later on a closing announcement. People just kept singing and coming for prayer.
God has opened a wide door for on Pentecost Island (1 Cor 16:8-9), preparing for revival, with further visits planned during 2003 by the team of law students from the University of the South Pacific.
Another team of four students from the law school CF returned to South Pentecost in June 2003 for 12 days of meetings in villages around Salap. Again, the Spirit of God moved strongly. Leaders repented publicly of divisions and criticisms. Then youth began repenting of backsliding or unbelief. A great-grand-daughter of the pioneer Tomas Tumtum gave her life to God in the village near his grave at the Bible College.
Evening rallies were held in four villages of South Pentecost each evening from 6 pm for 12 days, with teaching sessions on the Holy Spirit held in the main village church of Salap each morning for a week. The team experienced a strong leading of the Spirit in the worship, drama, action songs with Pacific dance movements, and preaching and praying for people.
Mathias, a young man who repented deeply with over 15 minutes of tearful sobbing, is now the main worship leader in revival meetings. When he was leading and speaking at a revival meeting at the national Bible College, a huge supernatural fire blazed in the hills directly opposite the Bible College chapel in 2005, but no bush was burned.
By 2004, the Churches of Christ national Bible College at Banmatmat on Pentecost Island increasingly became a centre for revival. Leaders’ seminars and youth conventions focused on revival. During 2005 the college hosted regular courses and seminars on revival for a month at a time, each day beginning with prayer together from 6 a.m., and even earlier from 4.30 a.m. in the youth convention in December, 2004, as God’s Spirit moved on the youth leaders in that area.
Morning sessions continue from 8 a.m. to noon, with teaching and ministry. As the Spirit moves on the group, they continue to repent and seek God for further anointing and impartation of the Spirit in their lives. Afternoon sessions feature sharing and testimonies of what God is doing.
Each evening became a revival meeting at the Bible College with worship, sharing, preaching, and powerful times of ministry to everyone seeking prayer.
Every weekend the team from the college leads revival meetings in the village churches. Many of these go late as the Spirit moves on the people with deep repentance, reconciliation, forgiveness, and prayer for healing and empowering.
See Mission News: Vanuatu (South Pacific) on the main page for regular updates through the Photo Links
As Australians intervene in the Solomon Islands, ‘to help a friend’, God is already intervening with revival there with revival in the Western District as well as in many churches in Honiara.
The Lord has poured out his Spirit in fresh and surprising ways in New Georgia in the Western District of the Solomon Islands in 2003, and this year has also been touching many churches in Honiara with revival and strong moves of the Holy Spirit. All across the islands of Solomons, 2003 has seen a fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit especially on youth and children. This includes many conversions, many filled with the Spirit, many having visions and revelations.
In spite of, and perhaps as one result of, the ethnic tension (civil war) for two years with rebels armed with guns causing widespread problems and the economy failing with wages of many police, teachers and administrators unpaid, the Holy Spirit has moved strongly in the Solomon Islands.
The weekend following Easter, from the end of April, 2003, youth and children in the huge, scenic Marovo Lagoon area were filled with the Spirit, with many lives transformed. Revival began with the Spirit moving on youth and children in village churches with extended worship in revival songs, many visions and revelations and lives being changed with strong love for the Lord. Children and youth began meeting daily from 5 or 6 pm for hours of praise, worship and testimonies. A police officer observed that the number of reported crimes has been reduced and that former rebels are now attending daily worship and prayer meetings.
Methodist missions established strong churches in New Georgia a hundred years ago. These are now part of the United Church of the Solomon Islands. Munda, on the south-west of New Georgia where the pioneers began, has the church’s headquarters with its administration, hospital and schools. It lies 50 miles from Seghe on the south-east coast in the Marovo Lagoon, with its 40 miles of lagoon with 1,000 islands. Seghe Theological Seminary is the national Bible College for the United Church. James Mitchener in Tales of the South Pacific said, “I think Segi Point, at the southern end of New Georgia, is my favourite spot in the South Pacific. Behind the point, hills rise, laden with jungle. The bay is clear and blue. The sands of Segi are white. Fish abound in the nearby channel.” Seghe (formerly spelt Segi) in the south east of the island and Munda in its south west both have airstrips.
Revival continues to spread throughout the region.
My first experience of this revival was near Munda, on a nearby island. We took the outboard motor canoe with Rev Fred Alizeru from Munda (Fred had previously been in my classes at Trinity College in Brisbane). Two weeks previously, early in July, revival started there with the Spirit poured out on children and youth, so they just want to worship and pray for hours. They meet every night from around 5.30 pm and want to go late every night! I had to encourage the kids to see school also as a mission field, to pray with their friends there, and learn well so they can serve God better. So they need to get to bed early enough to do that!
At Seghe and in the Marovo Lagoon the revival has been spreading since Easter. Now many adults are becoming involved, also repenting and seeking more of the Holy Spirit. Many outpourings and gifts of the Spirit have emerged, including the following:
Transformed lives - Many youths that the police used to check on because of alcohol and drug abuse are now sober and on fire for God attending daily worship and prayer meetings; a man who rarely went to church is now leading the youth singing group at Seghe; adults are publicly reconciling from rifts or strife that may be many years old.
Long worship - This often includes prophetic words or actions and visions. I visited Sunday services in July in a village of the lagoon. About 200 youth and children led worship at both services with 1,000 attending. They sang revival songs and choruses accompanied by their youth band. I prayed individually for over 200 people from 9.30 to 11.30 pm. They just kept coming - mostly adults. On the Monday night at Seghe the congregation there worshipped from before 6 pm to after 9pm, then I taught, and then prayed with each of the family groups there.
Visions - Children see visions of Jesus (smiling at worship, weeping at hard hearts), angels, hell (with relatives sitting close to a lake of fire, so the children warned them); some kids saw Jesus with a foot in heaven and a foot on earth, like Mt 28:18 - “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.” One boy preached (prophesied) for 1 1/2 hours, Spirit-led.
Revelations - especially words of knowledge about hidden things, including magic artefacts and good luck charms. Jesus will have no rivals at all! Kids show parents where they hid these things! If other adults did that there would be anger and feuds, but they accept it from their children. One boy told police that a man accused of stealing a chain saw (and threatened with the sack) was innocent as he claimed, and gave them the name of the culprit, by word of knowledge.
Confusion - Adults asked many questions at teaching sessions. I realised that my study in renewal and revival over 30 years has given me experience in the areas they were confused about, such as traditional and revival worship, deliverance, discernment of spirits, gifts of the Spirit, understanding and interpreting visions, tongues, healing, Spirit-led worship and preaching, leadership in revival, and so on.
Doors have flung wide open there, and they all want teaching on revival. So on New Georgia as well as in Honiara revival is spreading.
See Mission News: Solomon Islands (South Pacific) on the main page for regular updates through the Photo Links
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