Vanuatu  (formerly New Hebrides)

Vanuatu

See Also: Transformation in Vanuatu

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, on Saturday, 6 April, 2002.

That Saturday 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 on the lawn and steps of the university square.  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 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 of about 30 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 a third year student and 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 as well as in visiting home prayer groups.  I 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 combined churches revival meetings, backed up with the daily early morning prayer groups meeting at 6 am Monday to Friday, praying constantly for revival. 

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.  Strong revival began in his village with widespread repentance, reconciliation, and evangelism. 

Another student, Simon, returned to 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.  His core group of leaders met with him for prayer from 4 a.m. daily.   He was President of the law school Christian Fellowship in 2004.

Click on one of the thumbnail pictures below to see a larger picture:

Mission team at Ranwadi High School, South Pentecost. Chaplain Dickson in front.

Mission team at Ranwadi High School, South Pentecost.  Principal Silas in blue shirt

Mission team at rural church on Tanna Island, Vanuatu.

  

Pentecost Island, Vanuatu

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 with for a weekend of outreach meetings.

Pentecost Island, named by Bougainville when he sailed past it on Pentecost Sunday, 1768, and rediscovered by Captain Cook in 1774, has 11,000 people living in village clusters.  Chief Willie Bebe  hosted the team there on South Pentecost in his “bungalows” - basic village style in bamboo and pandanus thatch buildings.  The chief is a Christian who expects revival there.  He has had revelations about God moving strongly in that area.  His life was powerfully changed after he had a vision of Jesus.

Many villages in that area have churches founded by pioneer “kanakas” who were blackbirded to work on sugar plantations in Queensland from the 1880s, and converted through a Churches of Christ “Queensland Kanaka Mission” at Bundaberg.  On their return they brought the gospel to Pentecost Island in Vanuatu, which had been named New Hebrides by Captain Cook.  The national Vanuatu Churches of Christ Bible College, near Salap village, is built on the site of the first Christian martyr there. 

Thomas Tumtum returned to his village on South Pentecost around 1901 with a new young disciple, Lulkon, from the neighbouring island of Ambrym.  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 Thomas, but his disciple Lulkon signalled for them to kill him instead so that Thomas could evangelise his own people. Just before he was clubbed to death as a martyr at the sacred mele palm tree, Lulkon read John 3:16 from his pocket New Testament, then closed his eyes and prayed for them.  The people who ate his body died of dysentery, but Thomas became the pioneer there.  Now the beautiful national Churches of Christ Bible College is located there at Banmatmat on South Pentecost.

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 including Christian Outreach Centre which had previously been separate.  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.

Other teams from the law school CF returned to South Pentecost with 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 Thomas 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. 

Estranged leaders in village churches were reconciled.  Many village leaders discovered a fresh anointing for preaching, praying and leading revival.  The visiting team prayed together for an hour each morning and again in the afternoon and evening, also repenting and praying in strong faith.

Teams from the CF also visited South Pentecost in 2004, including holding meetings at the national high school there at Ranwadi Christian College.  At the final meeting on the Sunday night, following one of the team’s testimony, almost the whole school of 300 responded quickly to the invitation to commit their lives fully to God.

The national Bible College there at Banmatmat has become a revival centre, after two years standing empty.  Now it holds regular two week teaching seminars and courses on revival and the Holy Spirit, following the first one in October 2004.  Leaders from the nation, and various churches, study these courses in a revival context, as a college community praying, learning and ministering together.  Then the leaders and teams visit villages on mission throughout Pentecost Island and Vanuatu.

God has opened the way for united co-operation in revival studies and training for leaders of many different churches and villages in Vanuatu, as well as in the Solomon Islands.  This will continue to include mission outreaches into the towns and villages, similar to Luke 9 and 10 in the gospels.

Click on one of the thumbnail pictures below to see a larger picture:

Youth Conference group sings to Jerry on beach at Bible College.

Youth Conference group with Jerry at Bible College

Mission Team visit Asur volcano on Tanna Island, Vanuatu

  

Pentecost On Pentecost

Grant came with me to Pentecost Island in Vanuatu in September-October 2006.
He grew up with missionary parents, saw many persecutions and miracles, and had his dad recounting amazing, miraculous answers to prayer as a daily routine. There was always a need to pray for miracles, and they happened.
From 14 years old he was involved in mission teams travelling internationally in Asia. Then he attended a youth camp at Toronto Airport Christian Fellowship where there has been revival since 1994, and he was then invited on staff as an associate youth pastor for 18 months before coming to study at Bible College in Brisbane. So he is used to revival - all his life! He was getting clear words of knowledge daily, and seeing people healed daily both in meetings and in the villages. That inspired and challenged us all.

This trip was amazing. So many things just "happened". Grant and I just happened to get row 3 on the plane from Brisbane - first behind business class with extra leg room. We happened to sit beside an American student studying in Townsville who came for a week's holiday, was converted a few months ago and attends Vineyard in America (Toronto Airport Christian Fellowship was part of Vineyard originally). I just happened to have the Nicky Cruz DVD "Run Baby Run" in my cabin bag, and it was exactly what she wanted as she has come out of the night club, drinking, drugs scene, so I gave it to her (I had grabbed those DVDs at the last minute).

On Sunday in Port Vila, the capital, we joined a Holiness Church in the morning - good message on holiness, but even better was a worship time with my favourite worship chorouses, and a beautiful strong anointing on us. We also heard another congregation singing at the back of that hall, so after the service went there to see what it was, and it was an Apostolic Church, where the preacher was still going. A problem was that the door in was beside the preacher! So we hung around but did not go in, but the pastor Zebedee came out (someone else was preaching) and took us in, found out I know Paul Grant - an early Apostolic missionary there he knew well - and so we got to speak after the message. We both took off - I reminded them of the revival with Paul Grant in Vanuatu in 1962 (see my book!) and Grant told them about revival in China in the underground church where his parents and grandparents have been missionaries for years, and also about revival at Toronto where he was on staff and was in the weekly core group of 12 with John and Carol Arnott (senior pastors). Then I invited people to respond, especially youth, and the whole church came for prayer.

We grabbed some lunch down town and walked back early for the 4 pm service with Upper room - the church I've worked with in Vila for 4 years now where the law students attended that I has on many missions in the South Pacific and Australia. When the Upper Room leaders arrived we found out the senior pastors were in Tanna Island on mission and the remaining leaders were so glad God had sent us to preach that night! It was fantastic. Worship was strong. At sharing time a nurse told how she had been recently on duty when parents brought in their young daughter who had been badly hit in a car accident, and showed no signs of life - the monitor was on zero. The nurse felt unusual boldness, so commanded the girl to live, and prayed for her for an hour - mostly in tongues - and after an hour the monitor started beeping and the girl recovered. What a start to preaching and ministering!

So I spoke the opening verses of Luke 8, 9, 10 - where Jesus, the 12 and the 70 all did the same things, with no money, preached the same message on the Kingdom of God, and had the same ministry of healing. Grant then spoke, and started with words of knowledge about healings needed and prayed for those people, then gave some of his testimony - including seeing Jesus at 8 with His face so bright that Grant could not see His face. Then he prayed for all the kids up to 12, many of them 'resting' in the Spirit. Then he got on with more of his testimony - the Toronto bit. Then I gave the invitation, and again most people came out for prayer - took ages, especially as most of them were falling like skittles.

On Tuesday, the day we flew to Pentecost Island I woke again at 3 am, as I had often in the previous few weeks, but this was different. I had just had the quickest and most vivid moving vision (while asleep) that I've ever had.
I saw accusations against me (from "the accuser of the brethren") on a large wall something like the former huge Berlin wall. Then it kind of tore apart, like paper, starting with a golden tear from the top, and in the widening gap (at first like a brilliant bookmark picture) I saw the most marvellous long cascade waterfall full of living colours much more brilliant than earthly colours, widening till it covered all the "wall". Then so fast it merged into a brilliant hillside scene with Jesus the Good Shepherd (shawl and staff and all) standing there gathering his flock to him. At first I thought they were sheep but the forms became children and people, rather like the old Sunday School large poster of Jesus and the children - with kids from many nations gathered around him - a boy from the Pacific, black curly hair, brown back looking at Jesus; an Asian; a European girl standing by him, and so on - but much, much more brilliant that that old painting. I didn't really see Jesus' face but felt his huge love for everyone - wanting them all to come to him and gathering them to himself. I woke up crying with joy. Significant timing as we started on Pentecost that night.

Mathias' son Geoff (my namesake - and Chief Willie named his grandson born this year Geoff also!) was born on the day we arrived in Vanuatu, 22 September. So I got to see him on the eighth day when they brought him home from the clinic, and was able to dedicate him to the Lord. We were based in the village of Panlimsi, near Chief Willie's Bungalows, where Mathias is the young pastor. We slept in a house with bamboo walls and floor and thatch roof, and usually ate with the team there in the village. From the beginning the Spirit moved strongly in all the meetings. Repentance.
Reconciliations. Many healings, daily. Confessions. Anointing. Healings included Pastor Rolanson's young son able to hear clearly after being born partially deaf. A land diving jumper's neck was healed. An elderly man no longer needing a walking stick to come up the hill to the meetings. The son of the paramount chief of South Pentecost from Bunlap, a heathen village, was healed when Grant prayed for him, and he invited us to come to his village to pray for the sick - which we did later by divine appointment.
Grant prayed for so many people be got worn out, so after that we told people to come to the meetings for healings, where the Spirit moved so strongly and the faith was high, so healings happened more strongly. Later on one lady told how she was healed in a meeting without anyone praying for her.

We obeyed Luke 10 - going with nothing but what we wore in the middle week of the 3 weeks there. We went on a week's trek, beginning with a 5 hour walk across the island to Ranwas on the eastern side. Strong moves again, including me spitting on the dirt floor, making mud to show what Jesus did once, and the wife of the President of the Churches of Christ in Vanuatu then jumped up and asked me to pray for her eyes. Later she testified that the Lord told her to do that when I spat, and now she can read without glasses. Many visions there for many people.

We trekked through the 'custom' heathen village (where the paramount chief's sons lived), and prayed for more sick people. Some had pain leave immediately. We continue on for 7 hours to Ponra, a small village north on the east coast. There we really had revival meetings. The Spirit just took over. Visions. Revelations. Reconciliations. Healings. People drunk in the Spirit. Many on the floor getting blessed in various ways. I told them about "mud in the eye" at Ranwas and said if they wanted that they would have to ask me, and immediately 3 came out for mud packs!
One of the girls in our team has a vision of the village children there paddling in a pure, pure sea, crystal clear. They were like that - so pure.
Not polluted at all by TV, videos, movies, magazines, worldliness. Their lives were so clean and holy. Just pure love for the Lord, especially among the young. That challenged me more than I can describe.

There I heard angels singing about 3 am in the church. I thought it was packed for a prayer meeting and they had not woken me, then I realised the team was still sleeping all around me. The harmonies were high descant as I heard "For You are great and You do wondrous things. You are God alone" and then harmonies (not words) for "teach my your way O Lord. I will walk in Your truth, unite my heart to fear your name" [because angels never need to sing any of that - they already do all of that], and then words again for "I will praise You O Lord my God with all my heart, and I will glorify Your name for evermore" with long, long harmonies on "forever more". Amazing.

On the last day there - and we stayed two extra days there - everyone got prayed over, and many people surrendered to the Lord both morning and night.
Everyone was repenting, just as the Spirit moved on us all.

Grant's legs were sore and cut from the long trek (I was OK - like in PNG), so they arranged a boat ride back around the island from the east back to
the west for our return. Revival meetings continued back at the host
village, Panlimsi, led mainly in worship by Mathias, with Pastor Rolanson organising things. Also at two other villages - Wali (where 3 kids had the same weeping with God's strong love that Priscilla got there in our previous law student teams) but God broke through anyway, and also at a COC village with much reconciliation and dancing in worship. People in the village heard angels singing there also, at first they too were thinking it was the church full of people but the harmonies were more wonderful than we can sing.

A mission team of 18 from South Pentecost went with Grant and me and some other Brisbane students to the Solomon Islands in November 2006.

We returned on a one hour flight to Vila after a strong final worship service at the host village on the last Sunday morning, and we gave our report at the Upper Room Church in Port Vila on Sunday evening, and again the Spirit moved so strongly the senior pastor didn't need to use his message. More words on knowledge, more healings, more anointing in the Spirit, and many began praying in tongues as we prayed over them, or just rested in the Spirit, soaking in grace.
Now God seems to be putting together very strong international teams for us to journey on mission together, and is preparing the Pentecost teams to continue moving in revival more strongly than ever before. Your prayers from around the world (Australia, Fiji, Vanuatu, Solomons, China, Nepal,
Kenya) are part of it all. What a mighty God we serve.

I will praise You O Lord my God with all my heart, and I will glorify Your name for ever more.

 

  

You can contact Geoff by e-mail through the Renewal Journal, or mail to P.O. Box 1081, Kenmore, Brisbane, QLD 4069, Australia.