Why the Solomon Islands?

When people asked us where we were going this year after our medical mission in Fiji, most were surprised to hear it was the Solomon Islands. One might conclude that it was because of Tom’s family history of serving in the military. His father and uncles all served in the South Pacific during WWII thus sparking Tom’s thirty seven year Navy career. Even with this history the Solomon Islands are still not a place one would normally have on their travel itinerary. However, tonight we realized the real reason we are here.

It really began a few years ago with conversations we had with a friend of ours from Fiji. Pastor Villi (aka Pastor Bill) is a powerful man, and I don’t just mean his 6’6” stature, which is even big by Fijian standards, I mean his heart. This is a man works endlessly to help the people

in his region better all aspects of their lives. Spiritually and physically he validates the importance of their education, and works to instill hope in their future.

Pastor Bill has talked with us about the need to travel to the Solomon Islands. He feels that this area struggles far more than even the more remote spots in Fiji. So when it came time to travel this year, this was the area that was heavy on our hearts. We were given the name of a man in this area that Pastor Bill had met a year or two before and off we went. He assured us he would send a word of introduction and we would contact him when we arrived. Well, not really to our surprise Mataiasi Lomolomo did not know to expect us (the ability to communicate is always questionable around here) but received us warmly.

He is actually here on a long-term peace keeping mission with the Regional Assistance Mission Solomon Islands (RAMSI) and is the assistant to the Special Coordinator. A powerful, gentle, Godly man who chose to give up an easier job to serve here to help restore the infrastructure of the country. The earlier part of this century brought ethnic tensions and violence to the area. A coup left the country in shambles with widespread poverty everywhere. At this point Australianformed a coalition called RAMSI to bring peace and restore the rule of law to the region. Mataiasi works village-by-village to help restore stability and teach sustainability. He does it as a Godly man and has been able to reach many communities.

Masi (short for Mataiasi) was very excited that we came and immediately contacted some of the local pastors. In our last meeting we meet with a Fijian pastor who is now a pastor in the Solomons. He had been in Fiji a couple of years ago when we brought a medical team to a village near his village. He said the local pastors have been praying for someone to bring a similar team to the Solomon Islands and that they and the government will assist us in any way possible to make this happen.

In our hearts we feel like this is an open door to an area that desperately needs help. We left with a sense that we will return in the future as God opens the door.