Solomon Islands - Seeing God's encouragement is awesome! - Ros Jackson

Recently, my husband and I took yet another team to visit remote villages in the Renbel Province of Solomon Islands. This was our 7th year of ministry and still we get excited at how God lovingly meets with these beautiful people who have many needs and are in desperate situations yet they are so peaceful, managing their dilemmas with calm resolve. Let me introduce you to a few of the wonderful people we met along the way this year

There was James, a nervous, jumpy young man in his late twenties. His fingers brown with nicotine stains, teeth absolutely black so that it appeared he had none and a cowering stance. As we entered his tiny three room hut to pray with him, he nervously searched for a shirt, while we sat around on the floor waiting for him to return. He sat timidly in a corner, giving us no eye contact. He spoke in response quietly and jerkily. We asked questions to build relationship but it was very difficult. We told him how much God loves him, that he was very precious to God and to us. As we spoke love and encouragement over him a flicker of a smile met his lips on the odd occasion. We later learned that he had taken drugs at high school while in Honiara but not for that long. It was suggested that most of his problems come from a dominating mother who lives with him in this small house. She is constantly yelling at him, swearing at him and he is now reduced to this cowering pitiful man. Mother has her own issues resulting from a violent past in which fighting often occurred and on one occasion resulted in her husbands death and she herself being extremely injured, causing much pain with stiffened fingers that had been cut off and reattached. In 2008 we met with her and prayed for her hands to be healed and although we never saw the physical restoration, we heard again this time that she is still free of pain. She has a bitter heart that is angry with God and when I prayed with her to experience God's love.  She shed tears and asked us to pray for James.

The next day, after spending time praying with James, we searched for a bible as he said he had none. Our boxes of bibles had arrived the day before and so we visited him again and his eyes lit up as he thankfully handled the bible. When we looked back at his hut we saw him sitting on his front step reading intently. We visited him several times in the three days we were in the village and each time he was breaking through the tough exterior set up around him over the years. As we left the village on the final morning, I visited him once more expressing God's desperate love for him and great desire to reach his heart and encouraged him to read his bible. He responded  "I read it last night" with a big smile. He actually came out of his hut and stood with the crowd to wave to us - smiling very big!!! We saw in this man a really soft, gentle person desperate to break free. Our prayers are for James that he will experience the Kingdom of God in his life.

Then there was Margaret. When we arrived in her village, she was in the local hospital (nothing like one would see as meeting health standards in any Western Country) suffering from what they suspected was a stroke as her left side was paralyzed and she could not speak or respond in any way. She would occasionally writhe in pain that was evidently in her stomach. She had a drip in her arm. As we prayed for her she reached for me with her "paralyzed" arm!! We continued to pray and praise God and her eyes opened and started to follow us. There would be the raised eyebrow (very much the language of Solomon Islands people) response to questions. We were seeing the first glimpses of light. The next day we came back because we heard that, after we left the day before, she uttered her first words. But when we reached her, she appeared to us to be right back where we started. We worshiped God over her and asked several of the young women with us to sing a praise song in their own tongue. She repsonded again. Later that night, at the evening service, her son, who had never left her side, was there in the crowd.  He announced to his people that night that he had seen a miracle. She was up, drip out, talking and moving around as normal. They sent her to Honiara on the next plain to have tests. In Honiara they suspected it may have been some kidney problem, but she is still completely well again. We are rejoicing in the love of God.

We saw many lives changed, "backsliders" returning to God and bodies healed. We saw children enjoying songs and activities and we enjoyed hearing their songs. We were amazed at seeing how Mums were so keen to make (and wear) the craft items and we suspected it was because they missed these activities in their childhood. It was a real buzz to meet with the women in each village. We really wanted to encourage them as they manage in such difficult circumstances. These villages have no electricity, no toilets, showers or beds.  Food is scarce, especially when the ship doesn't come for 6 months at a time, rain ruins their crops and birds and beetles destroy what ever is left. Sickness is a major problem in each village with sores, boils and many other health problems unable to be treated because of lack of medicines and inability to afford airfares to the major hospital. There are clinics in most villages manned by a nurse and usually a hospital in the major village which is also manned by a nurse with a doctor visit about every 6 weeks - if the planes are flying in. A visit to this hospital entails a truck ride over bumpy roads - if the trucks are mechanically functional.

Our prayer and purpose for visiting them is to see these people equipped with the tools of the Kingdom to manage their lives and to stay encouraged in these times. There are still remote places in the world that God is longing to reach through us. We praise God for the privilege of being his agents in this small part of the earth.