Dear Prayer Partner,
I want to thank you so much for partnering with us through your prayers. Also I want to thank you for your faithfulness in your church’s Faith Promise offering and other gifts to the World Evangelism Fund.
Extension Bible College Class in Munda:
We held a very successful Bible College Class recently in Munda at our newest church Sovereign Grace Church of the Nazarene. We had eight (8) students in attendance. It was very encouraging because we started on time each morning and the students were faithful in their attendance. That was quite an accomplishment considering we were competing with the World Cup. There were a couple of places in Munda with TV set ups so people could go and watch the soccer match [pay for viewing]. Soccer is big in the Solomon Islands and these matches drew 
large crowds and attention.
Trip to Iriiri Pasapasa:
From Munda we took a trip to Iriiri Pasapasa. It was encouraging to see the new people coming to the church here. Chris is a nurse who recently attended school in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea. While in PNG he was involved in the Church of the Nazarene. He is now back in Solomon Islands as the Director of Nurses at the Helena Goldie Hospital, outside of Munda. He has been on holiday [vacation for USA partners] near the Iriiri church. He attended all the services and will be quite a resource person for the church in the Western Province.
The name Iriiri Pasapasa means “a well of bitter water”. The name came from the shallow well dug that is mixed with sea water and has a bitter taste. Their new church is near completion and they decided to change the name of the church to Petra Church of the Nazarene, because it is literally built on a rock, but more than that they want the church to be built on “The Rock”, Christ Jesus. Thank you to those who gave money for new church buildings that has made this possible.
The pastor, Jimmy Kwaisui, and two young men (Raymond & Apollos) have been teaching early childhood classes in the pastor’s house. They have 20 students enrolled in these classes. Apollos is now in Honiara attending a class to learn how to teach phonics and he plans to stay on for at least one term to observe at our Zion School.
Trip to Vella la vella:
Vella la Vella is an island in the Western Province, accessible only by outboard motor boat from the provincial center, Gizo. I went the Vella la vella to check on a couple of churches there. We have mission churches in two locations Barakoma and Malesova with requests to start more. Pray for strong spiritual leaders for this work and for many other areas throughout the country where doors are opening. Pray that the Lord will give wisdom, strength, and patience as Christ-like disciples are being developed to pastor these churches. Pray for God to call men and women who will be servant leaders and will rise to the challenge to pastor these new works.
The Barakoma Village completed their church building and so we went to dedicate and take some photos. They decided to rename their church in honor of the church in the USA that donated the funds to erect this building. They have a school with a current enrollment of 20 students.
Malsesova Church currently meets in the home of one of the members. They also have a weekday school to teach early childhood, phonics so they can read well. They minister to 10 students through their school.
Education:
Pray for Rev. Dolasi Baesi, our Nazarene National Education Secretary. Dolasi went with me on this trip to the Western province. For much of the travel two people can travel as cheaply as one. Dolasi went to check out the schools operating or planned in each of these villages. Teaching reading is one of the big needs in the Solomon’s. For some reason children here, as a general rule, tend to read very late (3rd – 6th grade) if at all. Our Nazarene education system (ACE curriculum) using phonics teaches them how to read, so by the time the child is ready for the 1st grade they can read. So many of our new schools teach Kindy (equivalent to USA pre-school) and ABC or Prep (equivalent to USA Kindergarten). In addition to that they many times will offer after-school remedial reading for students of any grade from the public school system. We have seen remarkable results.
National Election:
Pray for our national election coming up. It took a while to settle on a date but it is set for August 4th. Following election then the parliament will vote on the new Prime Minister. Last election time sparked a riot that burned China Town. Pray that this election will proceed peacefully. Pray that the election of Prime Minister and transfer of power will go smoothly. The police are making preparations and have been holding “riot drills”.
ZCA (Zion Christian Academy):
This is the final week of school break for ZCA. Of course the teachers are not on break. Pray for Nancy as principal and the teachers, esp. Martha, head teacher for the primary, and Salome, head teacher for the High School. They need wisdom, as this is a huge ministry opportunity for our church. Many of our high school students have failed out of the Solomon Island system. We take these “drop outs” {Those whose test scores are not high enough to get a place in a high school.} and we give them a second chance. Unfortunately some of the students have been cheating by stealing test score keys. Pray for the challenge Nancy and the teachers face.
Schmelzenbach’s visit:
We were privileged recently to have a visit by Harmon Schmelzenbach, our FSC (Field Strategy Coordinator) and his wife, Cindy, and son, Quinton. We are privileged to have such caring, servant leaders, over the Melanesia/South Pacific fields. The main purpose of their visit was to visit with and disciple the two Nazarene missionaries in the Solomon Islands and especially to look at our “Clifton StrengthsFinder” results. For those who are not familiar with this, it is from Gallup and involves an on-line assessment which we completed. We received the evaluation now we know our top 5 strengths.
For those interested here they are in order 1st-5th:
Nancy:
Learner – Loves to learn; Input – Inquisitive, likes to collect things; Intellection – Likes to think, mental activity; Belief – Has certain core values that are enduring; Responsibility – Takes psychological ownership for anything committed to.
George:
Responsibility– Takes psychological ownership for anything committed to; Developer – See potential in others, try to help others experience success; Positivity – Generous with praise, quick to smile, and on lookout for the positive in any given situation; Woo (Winning Others Over) – Enjoys meeting new people, strangers are rarely intimidating; Empathy – Sense emotions of those around, ability to feel what they feel.
That explains a lot. Those who know us well can comment if you agree with that assessment. It would be interesting to see what our next 5 strengths are, because as I read through the book I saw others that describe me pretty well. When we return from home assignment I plan to bring some of these books back and have our district team and English literate pastors take the assessment. As we train our key people to utilize their strengths.
CBHC:
We have an upcoming visit by Dr. Becky Morsch. We are planning CBHC visit into two communities, Munda and Iriiri Pasapasa. Pray for this outreach. We will have some local volunteers accompany Dr. Becky on her visit. This visit is scheduled for August 21st – September 4th. Begin now to bathe this in your prayers. We will keep you updated on this in future news letters.
Your Partners in His Ministry,
George and Nancy
George Miller, District Superintendent
Solomon Islands District - Church of the Nazarene
PO Box 712, Honiara, Solomon Islands
Office/Home: 677 25-109 Mobile: 677 74 68920
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