The government of Vanuatu has appealed to the Vanuatu Mission (VM) of the Seventh-day Adventist Church and Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) to extend their Blossom publication to other Christian denominations.
Dorosday Kenneth, director of the Department of Women’s Affairs for the Vanuatu government, met with VM president Pastor Nos Terry to discuss how the Blossom project—an ADRA family life education program—could strengthen family units, which many argue form the fabric of society.
Ms Kenneth expressed that she would like to see Blossom training programs implemented throughout all Christian denominations.
Pastor Terry was quick to assure Ms Kenneth that VM is most willing to share its resources with the community and to contribute to the government’s “People’s Plan 2030”.
“If things go right [at home], things will go right everywhere,” explained Pastor Terry. “If things go wrong there, things will go wrong everywhere.”
Blossom was jointly launched by Pastor Terry and the Vanuatu Institute of Teacher Education principal Ben Bulekuran in May.
According to the ADRA website, the Blossom project aims to reduce teenage pregnancy in Vanuatu, provide reproductive health education programs, and address the issue of domestic violence and sexual abuse.
According to the program’s “Training Facilitator’s Learning Objectives”, the Blossom project manual aims to:
- Define “family” in the Vanuatu and Biblical context
- Discuss research findings on domestic violence in Vanuatu
- Explore and identify problems families face at home
- Discuss solutions for creating a healthy home
- Develop a “forward plan” for all eight Seventh-day Adventist districts in Vanuatu
- Train leaders to implement the Blossom project in their respective churches, communities and schools
Adventist churches in other Pacific Island countries have now learned of Blossom and requested copies for their local churches.
