In 2023 I wrote an article for Adventist Record about the Warragul church family who supported me so wonderfully in an appeal to raise money for the people in the Santa Cruz Island group of the Solomon Islands Mission. This group needed a range of equipment to conduct evangelical programs, and through the church’s generosity, we were able to supply these items—alongside eight boxes of Bibles, 4000 Spirit of Prophecy books and clothes. We also sent two water tanks for a community with no access to fresh water.
In 2023 our next ambitious project was to raise funds to help purchase land and build a pastor’s home and church in the port town of Dendu. The church needed to have a centre of influence and a visible presence in this busy port town to spread the gospel message. The amount needed was approximately $A35,000. It was our prayer that we could make a major contribution towards this amount. At the close of 2023, when all donations and pledges had been counted, the Warragul church had raised $23,180.
A sister church in Springwood (Qld)—responding to my appeal in Adventist Record for other churches to partner with us for this project—very generously raised $2800. We were so grateful for their support. We had another very generous outside donation of $5000 from a very kind sister from Tumbulgum church (North NSW), who heard about the project. We were overwhelmed with such wonderful support. The total raised was $30,980. An incredible effort from a small country church in Gippsland!
What an amazing God we serve—all things are possible when we work together with Him. May all the praise and glory go to our wonderful Lord.
My partner in the work in Lata is elder John Peter Peniop, who works tirelessly for his people of the Santa Cruz Islands and believes the amount we raised will probably be sufficient to complete the whole project. They received a local donation of all the timber needed to build the pastor’s home and church.
Today, the pastor’s home is almost completed. There is a strong interest within the community to complete this project so that the resident pastor can be based there and support the growing church family. They are expecting more baptisms from Dendu and surrounding areas later in the year. Once the pastor’s home is built, they plan to start building the church.
During the years that the Warragul church has been partnering with the Santa Cruz Islands people, there have been several baptisms and many studying the Bible. It has been such a blessing for our church family to contribute to the growth of God’s kingdom in this part of the world. I would encourage other churches to become missionary churches—to share our abundance with those who need assistance and to spread the gospel and the three angels’ messages.
As a result of the success of the previous projects, Warragul church has embarked on two new projects. We want to raise funds to build a simple church structure to support worship in a new community school in Taipe. The community has asked for the Adventist education system to run the school for them. We pray that the church will be used by the families of the children as well.
The second project is to urgently raise funds to purchase land for an existing Adventist church school in Nela, which needs to be dismantled and relocated. We need to help them purchase this new land as soon as possible so the disruption to the children’s education is kept to a minimum.
The amount we need to raise is $25,000. The Lord has shown us that we can do anything when we work together with Him.
I once again invite other churches to join us in helping to finish God’s work, so we can all go home together. My email address is <lorrainejmitchell44@gmail.com>. If you would like any further information or would like to partner with us, please contact me.
Lorraine Mitchell (nee Henry) attends Warragul church in Victoria.
