Easter Time at Zion Church

Easter Time at Zion Church, Honiara

Children Palm Sunday Drama and program.

The Zion Church of the Nazarene, Honiara, held an Easter Camp over the Easter weekend.
Easter is a time of memorial, to remember and reflect upon the death and resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Hannah Konainao, a lead singer on the worship team, reports, “Easter weekend at church was a blessed time for me which has really helped me understand the real meaning of Easter and how our Savior, Jesus Christ, really sacrificed his heart to die as a physical being for us. I was really challenged.” [The picture is of the youth group, Hannah is the one in the center of this photo holding the mic.]

The Easter camp began on Thursday evening, with our men’s fellowship group leading the worship service. The men presented the first of a number of dramas during the camp. The men’s drama portrayed the Last Supper of Jesus. The men did a good job portraying Jesus as the servant leader, who ministered to the disciples even washing their feet.

On Good Friday the NYI (Nazarene Youth International) led the worship. The worship time began with a family communion service.

[Each family took communion as a family unit and a pastor prayed God's blessing over each one, as they came to the altar as a family.]

The youth presented their drama of the crucifixion of Jesus. This was such a powerful act that those present could all feel the presence of Jesus. The message came through with such power that everyone present was in tears. It was hard to hold back the tears. It was totally awesome.

Saturday we had group discussion classes. The youth and men class was taught by Brother Dickson Manongi, and the women group was led by Nancy Miller.

There was also a children’s program and the girls learned how to do flower arrangements, which beautified the church for Easter Sunday morning. The boys painted Easter sign boards, which were displayed in church on Easter Sunday also. The young children colored pictured. There was something for all ages at the camp. Saturday night the Sunday School led the worship service.

Easter Sunday service began early with a sunrise service. It was a beautiful time with the Lord. They put on the drama of the ladies going to the empty tomb. Then during the morning worship time led by the women’s ministry we had the drama of the resurrection of Jesus. Then we once again celebrated the Lord’s Supper. The Sunday evening service was the final service at Zion.

Monday, following Easter is a Public Holiday too in the Solomon Islands, so we took the entire church to the beach. We spent the day relaxing, picnicking, and swimming. It was a fun time to be together and fellowship with the church family.

Prayer Update 30 March 2010

Dear Prayer Partner,

Thank you for your prayers.  It has been too long since the previous prayer letter.  Our internet in our house was out of order for nearly 4 weeks.  So we didn’t do much on-line except emergencies. 

 

The Cyclone missed Honiara, at least the brunt of the cyclone missed us.  We had some high winds and lots of rain but nothing serious.  The Bible College students I asked you to pray for in their travels home, did not get far as they held up for a week at Russell Island before proceeding on to the West.  They did arrive home safely, even though it was a week late.  We tried to convince them to stay in Honiara for a week but the ship was sailing and they were anxious to get home.

 

Easter Programs:

Pray for the Easter camp and program at our Zion Church and other churches in the Solomon Islands.  Our camp in Honiara begins on Thursday night and goes through Monday.  We have services each evening and Good Friday morning and Easter Sunday morning.  Remember me as I preach the Good Friday message.  Our NYI will lead the service, and perform the crucifixion drama.  Actually each service we will have a drama re-enacting a different part of the Easter story.  The men’s ministry on Thursday will dramatize the Last Supper.  Then the women’s ministry will dramatize the resurrection on Easter Sunday Morning.  Nancy taught a course (or rather facilitated a time of discussion) at the women conference.  I just passed by as they were discussing some interesting things about marriage.   I was asked some questions and threw in my ten cents worth.  I’m not sure what exactly I told the women, but they have requested us to teach this same “good stuff” to their husbands.  So on Saturday we are to teach a class to the married couples.  I guess I need to try to remember what I shared.  I’m not sure if the men and women are separate or together.  I guess I need to find out soon, as I was thinking I’d leave the preparation to Nancy and just throw in a few nuggets here and there.  Pray for Nancy or maybe both of us as we prepare to answer their questions and lead a discussion.  We do want to equip couples so they can live together in harmony and really be “Team mates”.

 

ZCA School Break:

School one-week break begins on Thursday 1 April and classes will resume on Monday April 12.  Pray for Nancy and the school during this break time.

 

Trip to Malaita:

I have a trip planned to Malaita on April 9^th, to return to Honiara on 12^th or 13^th.   Pray for this trip.

 

Solomon Island Infrastructure:

Pray for the infrastructure in the country, as we are now go without public electricity for 4 hours every day.  They cut the power from 10 a.m. to noon and from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.  The most productive part of the day we have no power.  I do have an electric generator but it is not powerful enough to run the photocopier and many other things around the house.  Daily power outages have been going on for years, but it is progressively worse.  We now have our own water from our well.  So far we have good sunshine and so our solar pump pumps during the day but by the next morning the storage tank is empty.  I am looking into another pump to transfer the water to our storage tank.  Our public water supply is pretty poor and we have to be able to transfer enough water from our well so the storage tank will not run dry at night.  Pray for us as we conserve water.  Mobile phones have been hopeless.  They have installed a new system and we are optimistic that this will solve a lot of the problems.  I was wondering when I awoke this morning and had no bars on the phone and SIM card had failed.  We are about 500 meters as the crow flies from the nearest tower.   I don’t know if the bugs are all out of the mobile system or not.

 

Your Partners in His Ministry,

George & Nancy Miller

Prayer Request from 14th March

Dear Prayer Partner,

Urgent prayer is requested for Solomon Islands as we are in the path of two cyclones. Cyclone Ului is not moving fast and should arrive in two to three days. Right behind Ului is Cyclone Thomas and is much larger. We have been through a lot but this is our first cyclone, if it hits us. We are preparing according to the directions issued from the Disaster Management and the US State Department.

Our internet has been out at our house for 2 weeks now. We will get back to you as soon as we can but the turnaround may not be as fast as you have come to expect with email.

Thank you for your prayers for the Bible College class it went well. I had 21 students in the Homiletics (preaching) class and 23 in the Church History Class. There were some spiritual victories too. Prayer for five Bible College Students who left this morning by ship to the Western Province. The sea was rough due to the approaching cyclone. They are traveling away from the cyclone but I still ask for your prayers for their safety.

Praise the Lord our water well is now pumping water. We have a Solar pump and of course that involves a solar panel on top of the roof, so as part of our preparation I will take that down and lock it away for safe keeping. I want to thank everyone who contributed. We still need to plumb to the buildings and add a few rain collection tanks.

Your Partners in His Ministry,

George & Nancy Miller

PO Box 712

Honiara, Solomon Islands

george_nancy@reachone.com

Phone: (677)25-109

Prayer Requests 19 February 2010

Dear Prayer Partner,

Please pray for the following:

1. Bible College Classes that begin on Wednesday 24 February. I will be teaching two classes Homiletics (Preaching) in the morning and Church History in the evening. We expect 20 students give or take for each class.

2. Water Project is moving ahead we have ordered the tanks and pumping system. We have ordered a solar pumping system as it will save power bill. Thanks to all who have contributed to this project. The two tank platforms are completed and ready. Some of the plumbing supplies are out of stock so pray that they arrive soon. Hopefully within a month this will be up and running.

3. Pray for our church in Malaita, where Satan is working hard. One of my pastors committed adultery which has essentially closed the church. In another church there was some strong disagreement between the pastor and the one who ‘owned’ the church so he forbid them from worshipping inside the church house. {I know in the Western culture it doesn’t make sense about a person owning the church, but that is the reality of many SI churches.} As I was going through all these issues I was reading in our family devotions from our denomination’s daily devotional book and this past week it has been from Nehemiah. The opposition that Nehemiah faced was very similar to things that are going on here. Pray that we can keep focused on mission and trust in the Lord to build the church in the Solomon’s just like Nehemiah and the Jews rebuilt the broken down wall in Jerusalem.

4. We have a new secretary, Mairy. She works part time in the mission office and part time helping Nancy at Zion Christian Academy.

5. Pray for Nancy as she is Principal of ZCA and she is doing more teaching in the High School this year. She has faced many challenges and really needs you to lift her in prayer.

6. Pray for two high school students at ZCA that are staying here and going to school.

a. Hannah Konainao is a wonderful Christian young lady. She is on the church’s worship team. She is quite a blessing to us and is really a help in the ministry here and around the house too.

b. Ezra Kuki is a high school student and was pastor of one of our churches for a couple of years as he attended high school. He was going to school in the province and his schooling was not going well. He wanted to come to the Nazarene’s school ZCA so he could finish his High School and enroll in the Bible College too. He wants to start a poultry project and grow a garden to make money for his school fees.

7. Pray for James Age our resident carpenter who is doing a lot of the work on the water project. He is just a general handy man and is doing the work for very little pay. He opens and locks the doors and really takes pressure off of us. We feed him and give him a little to tie him over. He is bothered with boils and a sore/stiff neck.

8. Pray for the youth in the

Solomon Islands. We have some that are really serious about serving the Lord and we really want to encourage them in their faith. A missionary colleague once told me as he approached the end of his missionary career that he wished he would have invested more time in the children and youth as they are not as set in their ways as the elders. Then I purchased a book written by S Truett Cathy, the founder of Chic Filet entitled “It is Better to Build Boys than Mend Men”. How true!

I was reading from Oswald Chambers, “My Upmost for His Highest” a few months ago and one of the devotionals struck me when it made reference to the fact that salvation and sanctification is receiving from God. He said there are lots of conversions but many who are converted have not received anything. Salvation is more than merely a personal decision to become a Christian and be a good boy, it involves a born again life changing encounter with God. In the Solomon’s we have many conversions, that is they have converted from their old life to a life of going to church and following the church rules. But it appears by the way people can easily revert back to their former lifestyle, without even feeling remorse, that many have not received that gift from God, the gift that transforms the heart. Pray for the Christian Churches in the Solomon Islands, including the Church of the Nazarene, that we can make a difference at the heart level.

Your Partners in His Ministry,

George & Nancy Miller

PO Box 712

Honiara, Solomon Islands

george_nancy@reachone.com

http://oceanianazarene.org/

Prayer Update 26 January 2010

Dear Prayer Partner,

Thank you for your prayers.

On 15^th of January I left by ship to travel to Auki and then on to Northeast Malaita to dedicate a new church [see below]. It was a wonderful trip. I traveled over on the Bikoi and returned on a new small ship (or maybe large boat), 360 Discovery. The Discovery is a passenger vessel and very fast, making the trip in a mere 3 hours. I praise the Lord for this ship. I understand they just began the service at Christmas time, but when I went to Malaita was the first time I heard about it. They have daily service to Malaita which is very handy for our work because now I can go for a one day trip or meeting and return next day without having to pay the high air fares. It will be handy if we have teams visit because we can take a one-day excursion trip. The sea on the return trip was rough however and a number of people became sea sick. I also praise the Lord that I am not bothered by motion sickness. The Bikoi ship travels once weekly to Auki and then to the Western Province. I thank the Lord for the Bikoi ship as it is owned and operated by a Christian man and friend who allows us to transport cargo for ministry or pastors belongings free. That is a huge saving when we move equipment and relocate a pastor. Also our pastors have an opportunity to hold devotional services for the fellow passengers on board the Bikoi while enroute.

New church plants,

Bethany:

I returned Wednesday 20^th January from this trip to Malaita. I went there for the dedication and opening of a new church named Bethany. The Bethany church of the Nazarene is located at the village of Anasao in Northeast Malaita. Our Bethel church, led by pastor Joel Sada, and his nephew Stephen Miki, is the mother church of this new church. This was the smallest church building I have ever seen, and has a maximum seating capacity of 24. I think with children we crowded 30 or so into the building for the opening service. The opening Sunday I counted 70 people, over half of them were standing outside. They had erected a tent to have the meeting in because they were expecting a number of visitors. Due to the heavy rains the ground was wet under the tent so we only used it for the food. Sunday morning the rain stopped and it was a beautiful day until the program was over.

John Lofta, the head man of this place who invited the Nazarene Church into his area was sick for two weeks before our arrival. He was so excited to have us come that as soon as we arrived he was encouraged and got up from his sick bed and I actually didn’t realize he had been sick until we left his village. Once I was told that he had been sick I thought that he didn’t act all perky. Pray for John and his family.

Tautaumalefo:I went back to Auki and visited another area where they are beginning a new church, Tautaumalefo, where a Bible College Student Revelation Kalia, is pastor. They are struggling trying to get the church going there. This is among Revelations in-laws.

Masupa:

Then Sunday, 24^th a group visited our Honiara Zion Church from the village of Masupa in the Are’are area on Malaita. They have been holding prayer cell meetings and are starting a church in their village. This village is the home of the wives of, Jeremiah, our Zion Church pastor and, Osborn, our district NMI president. These family connections are instrumental in getting the work going there. There have been students from there attend our Bible College too.

Please pray for these new works.

Zion Christian Academy:

ZCA began classes yesterday, Monday 25^th. Nancy is the Principal of the school again this year. She is also going to be teaching High school English for half the day. Last year her main goal for the school was to get the school out of debt and she accomplished that paying off the SB $300,000 debt (US $40,000). At the end of last year all bills were paid and we had SB $6,000 (US $800) in the bank. This year her goal is to work on the procedures as some of them were a little lax last year. Pray for her, as she has a tough job. There are challenges with getting teachers to come to work on time, and toward the end of last year it was discovered that there was cheating among some of the students, and the student record keeping needs help too. Pray for Nancy as she faces these challenges

Office Secretary:

One of our devout members has retired after 21 years with NPF (National Provident Fund-equivalent to our US Social Security). We have hired her on as a secretary. She will serve where needed. She will assist Nancy in the school as well as in the District/Mission office. She will bring a lot of experience as she desires to serve the mission.

Water Project:

Here is an update on the water project. WE have completed the well house and are obtaining estimates for the pumps. We are looking at solar pumps which will cost more initially but should quickly recoup the money, especially considering our electric rate. We have constructed a stand for one tank and are ready to work on the second stand. We need a couple days of dry weather now, but as much as we have been without water, we are not complaining. Thanks to everyone who has contributed to this project.

Pastor and Family Needs Prayer:

Please pray for one of my recent Bible College Graduate pastor’s family. This pastor committed adultery with a high school student. This is also one of the things I had to deal with when I went to Malaita. I am in tears about this deal, and I need your prayers. Enough said about this request. Pray especially for his wife who just delivered a healthy baby girl around Christmas.

Your partner in His Ministry,

George & Nancy Miller

http://oceanianazarene.org/