Before retiring, outgoing South Pacific Division women’s ministries director, Erna Johnson, toured the Pacific, holding a series of meetings for teenage girls.
Significant events on the tour included the first Adventist meeting for teenage girls to be held in Samoa and Vanuatu, a prayer breakfast attended by the Tongan royal family and the opportunity to speak to hundreds of women in Kiribati, Fiji, Vanuatu and Papua New Guinea.
Mrs Johnson was accompanied by General Conference women’s ministries representative Heather-Dawn Small.
In Kiribati, where there are only three employees at the Mission office, the GC donated seven sewing machines that will stay in the local churches so women can sell clothes and earn some money.
In Fiji, training on how to reach out to teenage girls was held at Fulton College. Forty people, including four men, attended. After the training, the team went to Navesau school and talked to students about domestic violence before holding a “Real Me” conference, attended by 200 girls.
Vanuatu Mission celebrated 21 years of women’s ministries with a cake during the “Real Me” program.