One of the joys of being a Seventh-day Adventist is experiencing Sabbath every week. For me, that can be in places all around the Pacific and the world—each Sabbath has a special blessing. Here are a few that I experienced recently.
At the start of Trans Pacific for Christ, Pam and I were in Honiara. This was the Sabbath that we held the South Pacific wide prayer for the Trans Pacific Union Mission. Mamulele church was excited to have guest pastors from Sydney preach in their church and in their new church plant during Solomons for Christ. There were welcomes, special introductions, prayer and great singing.
At the end of Solomons for Christ, Pam and I were in Buala. There were people from four different village churches from Isabel Province for a combined Sabbath. Just being together brought exceeding joy as I baptised 10 people from these churches. Sabbath school was also a joy as the various SS ages had larger groups of participants. I noticed that there was one SS lesson book for each division. I also noticed that no-one did any of the craft activities—they are just too expensive for village Adventists.
Before the Papua New Guinea Union Mission mid-year meetings I accompanied Union president Pastor Danny Philip to a regional camp meeting. There were about 1500 Adventists from the Wau-Wari and Bulolo districts camped in small dome tents under a corridor of tarpaulins in an old garden beside the main road. There was a baptism of 15 people in a dammed-up section of the alluvial river where many pan for gold. Another 15 people responded to the call for baptism. At the end of the Sabbath Bible studies, sermon, news sharing and mission stories the people wanted to shake my hand. Perhaps a thousand did that and gave me bilums and other gifts to show their gratitude for the Division’s presence.
Worshipping at the Adventist University of Asia Pacific just out of Bangkok was special. The student music groups and choir sang with finesse and gusto. A couple of traditional groups played instruments I had never seen or heard before. Pastor Erton Kohler preached an excellent sermon on mission—”Someone is waiting for you”—based on Acts 9. Another highlight was meeting and talking with South Pacific missionaries on staff—Mark and Sharon Vodell—and meeting the pastor who runs the Church’s training centre on the border between Myanmar and Thailand that the SPD funded.
What are the joys of your Sabbaths in the past few weeks?
