There have been some unexpected helpers come our way and we are so grateful to each one of them…Jim and Carol, new friends all the way from Saskatchewan, Canada, for a resort holiday but took 2 days to do construction work! What a personal encouragement that was to me! Thanks so much guys! Then Pastor Peter Avock and friends came by and started plastering and pouring floors! So we are moving along though still needing a few more qualified hands! The whole time Ben has been toiling away every day with or without help! Thanks Ben! More reinforcements should be arriving today!

Looks like we have most of our supplies on hand except the glass for the windows which is out of stock…so pray that it will come in on the next boat!

Still a lot to do in the next month before the students arrive back at JBI! It’s going to be great to be teaching in a regular size classroom with a white board mounted on the wall!

Thank you so much for your love and support in 2011! It was a busy, demanding year of ministry but we feel so blessed to be in Vanuatu and specifically at Joy Bible Institute. Keep us in your prayers!

Wishing you all a Happy & Blessed New Year 2012!

Next, we need more skilled workers to come and join Ben and Morris in finishing the building…Christmas holidays can really be dragged out here and it is hard to regain momentum. Classes resume at JBI on February 14th and we plan to dedicate the building and move in! Thank for praying for Lori and the work crew as they finish this much-needed building!

Two months ago, in a faculty meeting, I reminded everyone that this was the 30th anniversary year of the school and it would be nice to plan a special celebration at graduation. The idea caught on and though we had very little finance or time, everyone was excited and got busy planning!

The first major decision was to rent a tent and have the graduation ceremony on campus. We normally have graduation at a local church because our school chapel is much too small for such events. Next, we contacted former missionaries who had served at JBI and asked for old photos. Immediately, letters and photos started arriving and everyone got excited! The end of August is regional church conference time so word was sent to all the island conferences that JBI was inviting alumni back for graduation on Oct. 30, 2011.

Here are some photos of the special day:

In the photo to the right (pictured left to right) are: Pastor & Mrs. Robert Laumai, honored for 30 years of service to the school. Pastor Robert came to JBI in 1979 and helped build all of the first buildings. He remained to serve as a teacher and then later as maintenance and grounds manager. His wife, Edna, served as school cook. They retired from JBI in 2009. Pastor & Mrs. Tom Ierongen, were also honored as they served on the first school faculty when JBI opened in 1981. They went on to pioneer churches in Vila and on the island of Tanna. Pastor & Mrs. Youen Atnelo, were honored for their 23 years of teaching ministry to the school. Pastor Youen is currently the General Supt. of the Assemblies of God Vanuatu and pastors Evangel temple in Port Vila. Pastor Willie Naias served as campus staff and cook when JBI opened in 1981, with his wife Mary (not pictured). Their son Philip Naias was just a toddler then and today he is a pastor and a JBI faculty member. Also pictured are current JBI principal, J. Gary & Lori Ellison.

We would have never been able to host such an event if it had not been for the help of so many friends. Local churches donated food, Women’s Ministries groups from four villages came to cook and served a delicious buffet meal to over 500 people. A big thank you to everyone who helped make the day a most memorable graduation and anniversary celebration. Thank you also to all the former faculty and students who came and celebrated with us!

Pastor Jimmy Obas and congregation have broken ground and started the foundation work for a new sanctuary as they have outgrown their present building (blue building photo above). They plan to raise $100,000 over the next 3 years to complete the new sanctuary. They are currently harvesting mangoes and selling them at the Port Vila fruit market for the building fund. If you would like to give to their new building, please feel free to get in touch with us.

We have been so busy this year but today we paused for a school photo. Not everyone was present but we went ahead anyway. Graduation is coming up on Oct. 30, 2011 with 4 students graduating each returning to a different island for ministry. Thank you for your prayer and financial support this year.

The Lafayette team has been very busy doing the electrical wiring and ceiling work now that the roof is on! Today they also went to English class and gave the students some practice with conversational English! The students were quite nervous at first but quickly the room was buzzing with friendly conversation! Thanks everyone for your willingness to help out in other areas!

Some of you may remember that Pastor Randy walked 250 miles a year ago to raise money for our project. Well, he is at it again and taking Pastor Pete along for the ride! They plan to start in Angola, Indiana, which is in the northeast corner of the state and ride all the way to Evansville, Indiana, in the southwest corner. Their FB page is called Ride For Joy.

They depart on their bicycle adventure today!!

I know they would really appreciate some pledges for their efforts so if you would like to encourage them and at the same time support our classroom building project, please contact them here.

UPDATE: Pastor Randy and Pastor Pete completed their 371 mile ride from Angola, Indiana to Evansville, Indiana, in just 8 days! They are still happy to take donations for their cycling efforts which in turn go to our new classroom building project.

We took the Lafayette team out to Mele village this morning for Sunday worship. Pastor Todd gave an encouraging word from Psalm 77 and his personal story will not be soon forgotten!

A week ago, 12 people from Lafayette First Assembly, Lafayette, IN, arrived to finish the rafters and purlings and begin putting on the metal roofing. By Friday, half of the metal roofing was already on! So they have already made a big difference in the new building! Needless to say, we are all very excited to see the progress and looking forward to teaching in the new building very soon!

The Lafayette team has another week of work before they fly home so we plan to keep them busy until they get on the plane! We are so grateful to all of you who have supported this construction project. We have now spent all the money that has been raised. So we would appreciate your prayers and continued support. We need approximately $70,000 to finish!

They were supposed to leave Port Vila and fly down to the island of Tanna on Friday, August 26th, but the cargo ship which was to pick them up on Tanna and take them to the island of Erromango was delayed. So every day we waited for word on the ship until Monday night we got news that the guys needed to be on the flight for Tanna the next day. Sleeping bags and mosquito nets were packed and off they flew to Tanna. On Wednesday, they boarded the T. Uaraken with about 100 conference delegates and set sail for Pongkil, Erromango. The sea voyage took about 4 hours.

T. Uaraken loading passengers and cargo for Erromango.

Jeremy on board waiting for the ship to set sail…leaving Lenakel, Tanna.

The ship was large enough for everyone to sit or sleep on deck during the 4 hour trip to Erromango. At Pongkil, Erromango (below) everyone was ferried ashore in a small boat.

Erromango, is the home island of our General Supt. Rev. Youen Atnelo. Pongkil village is situated in a beautiful bay by a wide river along the rugged western coast. The ship anchored out in open ocean and the delegates and their baggage were ferried by small boat to a rocky outcropping along the shore. It took many trips for all the people, a couple of goats, piles of baggage and cartons of food to be ferried to the shore and carried up to the village. A lovely Assembly of God church sits in the middle of Pongkil village and a large outdoor bamboo shelter and platform had been erected for the five days of special meetings.

Pongkil village, the church (above right) and delegates singing and marching to the official opening of the conference (below).

The conference opened on Thursday, Sept. 1st  and continued for the next five days. Gary taught every morning for a total of 12 hours. Various pastors gave morning devotions and spoke in the evening services. On the Monday morning as Pastor Tom Ierongen was giving a morning devotional a 5.8 earthquake shook the place…they are so common here that he never missed a beat and just kept on speaking!

(L to R) Ladies bringing flower leis (called salusalu) to welcome the conference visitors. People listening to morning speaker.

Special choir music and evening crowd.

Prayer time and baptismal service.

The conference ended Monday night, Sept 5th, but the ship which was to pick everyone up was docked on another island with engine problems. A second, much smaller ship was then chartered to go to Erromango and pick up everyone but it too had engine problems and was docked in Tanna. By this time, we were wondering when Gary and Jeremy would get home. Communication was very limited as there are no landlines or mobile phone connections in the village. A twenty minute climb up a steep hill would put Gary in range of the national mobile network so twice he and Jeremy hiked up there and called to give us some much awaited news.

Finally, on Friday, I received a text message that they were already out to sea headed for the island of Tanna in a small boat, standing room only on deck for a seven hour trip! At one point I had a short phone connection with Gary, as he was telling me about the overcrowded boat and a big rainstorm up ahead, I heard several people scream and we were cut off! Needless to say, I was very concerned and went on FB to ask people to pray…thanks to so many who prayed and sent messages! What an encouragement you were to me! That evening they made it safely to Tanna (missing the storm completely) and the next morning caught a flight back home to Port Vila! They had been gone 12 days!

Thank you so much for praying for the conference and everyone’s safety while traveling! Outer island travel is anything but predictable in Vanuatu!

Here are some photos of our Sunday:

Pastor Sope Timothee and the Macedonia Church.

Shaking hands at the end of morning service. Preparing the lunch table.

Jasmine playing “elastic” with the girls and feeding rice to a chick.

Jeremy and friend racing by…while Gary and Pastor have a cup of coffee.

On the way home we were amazed to see an huge private yacht moored out in this quiet bay of North Efate. Quite a contrast.

Next they tackled Gary’s new office. The stark white walls and bright blue trim were repainted in cream and brown. The girls moved all his office furniture and bookshelves from his old office to the new one. This was such an unexpected and welcomed surprise! We have been so busy since taking over in January that we have not had time to do these things! The campus pastor’s office and Gary’s former office were also painted and fixed up! Thanks so much ladies, you made quite a difference on campus!!

On June 28, we welcomed 22 friends from Indiana and Pennsylvania, who flew to Vanuatu to put up the walls of the new JBI classroom building and do various renovation projects around campus. The team was the first construction team we have ever had visit us from our home district in 29 years of missions. So it was quite an exciting event for us! The group was from New Life Church (Kokomo, IN), Life Church (Fishers, IN) and one pastor from Pennsylvania. Even after 24 hours of travel, the team was eager to see the school and the building site so after a quick lunch we walked up to the campus from their motel.

Next morning, the guys started laying cement blocks. Bob McCauley, an electrician, began to fix the faulty electrical wiring as the school had been experiencing many power outages! The ladies got busy with plans to transform a dingy chapel storage room into a prayer room, renovate a new office for Gary, and numerous other renovation projects. What a boost to have so many helping hands on campus for 10 days! The two photos above show the building foundation BEFORE and AFTER the team had put up the walls!

Four different pastors were with the team, Randy Blankenship, Pete Campbell, Nathan Peternel and Dan Peternel. They preached in JBI chapel services, at local youth meetings and Sunday services. Many lives were touched.

The young people in the group came prepared to do a children’s outreach complete with black light puppet show, tricks, and songs. Black light has never been used for any church event here to our knowledge, so the glowing fluorescent signs and puppets were a real hit!! The kids of Blacksand settlement gathered at the church on a Saturday night and were totally enthralled by the puppet program. The puppet program clearly explained the Salvation colors and at the end every child got a bag of treats, a balloon animal and a Salvation bead bracelet.

It was a wonderful two weeks and we hated to see them leave!