Nations of Faith

Vanuatu--Awakening the Nations 2009

It was a drizzly Sunday night during an outdoor meeting in Port Villa, Vanuatu. The service had started two hours earlier than scheduled because the band had 'just shown up early'. Preaching two hours earlier than expected was the last thing from Pastor Jim Newton's mind when he had returned to his hotel that afternoon, but as he stepped onto the stage, he trusted God for every word he was about to say.

Prompted by the Holy Spirit, Ps Jim made an altar call for the young people in the park to come up to the front to be prayed for. One after another they came on and on until it seemed there were more young people standing on the stage than there had been in the park itself only moments ago.

“I think the young people’s response affected everyone because they are the future of the nation of Vanuatu,” Ps Jim said. “It was just incredible.”

The call to the youth was the climax of a week of meetings designed to encourage the Vanuatuans to awaken the call from God to reach the nations, aptly called the Awakening the Nations conference and under the direction of Ps Roy Funu. Two to three hundred people turned up for each evening meeting.

Though the purpose of the conference is to encourage the people of the Pacific Islands to begin to reach other nations, God’s Kingdom in all areas of life—environmental, social, and spiritual—seemed to be a thread wound through this particular conference. On Friday Ps Jim preached on the Kingdom Lifestyle, encouraging those at the meeting to live out the checklist of right-living listed in James 5.

At the end of the conference the Vanuatuans passed Bibles on to Solomon Islanders who will be holding an Awakening the Nations conference next June. It was one of the most significant moments of the conference according to Ps Jim. More than 80 Solomon Islanders attended the meetings.

“This is what AFCM is all about,” Ps Jim said. “Sowing into another man’s ministry and supporting him. The idea is that eventually we can be organizing teams to go out to the nations and working toward ways we can partner together with the Pacific islands and awakening the nations.”

Praying for the Nations

The Pacific Islands are unusually Christian in their heritage and beliefs though in the faith message the people are unlearned. It is imperative that as the body of Christ we begin to bring sound doctrine to them. Because of this desire to know more about Christianity and the rich heritage their nations have, meetings like this often draw high-ranking government officials. We need to pray that the government officials will continue to be drawn to learn more about the Word of God, and that their national and international policies will be affected by the Truth they receive.

Danielle Philippi | Monday, October 26, 2009 | Comments (1) | Permalink