We have returned to the Solomon Islands after nearly two years away. While I am sure it seemed like a lifetime to those waiting for us, to me it seemed just the blink of an eye since the last time we were here. While not necessarily an easy place to be it certainly is one of my favorite places. My heart is burdened with this place and consumes my thoughts so it never seems so far away to me. Each time I return it seems as if I am coming home again after a short time away.
Our work in Malaita, one of the many small islands that make up the Solomon Islands, has been a work in progress for nearly three years. There is a small village in the highlands called Guialaala and it is the place of our dear friend Pastor Willie. We have talked and dreamed of coming here for the last eight years to help this area with both a medical clinic and a church and after much work it has come to fruition. As Pastor Willie would say, it will be a history making event.
These things do not happen overnight. The roads needed to be forged that would allow the building supplies to even get into this area. It is about three and a half hours from Auki which is the main port of this island. They have worked on this both by hand and with a road grader over the last three years. While they have had the support of the Honorable Member of Parliament, the work was left up to the village men. No small feat when you consider the terrain, the amount of work, the weather and the equipment available.
The building supplies were shipped by MMI along with medical equipment to establish both the clinic and the church. A lot of work went into this before the container full of supplies was shipped to Honiara. From there they were transported to Malaita via ferry and then trucked three and a half hours up to the highlands. A team of five men made up the construction crew from the USA along with the village men to build both the clinic and the church in less then two weeks. The village had been hand-making the bricks for the last year to enclose these buildings. To say this work was phenomenal would be such an understatement.
The medical team saw patients everyday in the neighboring villages and then held the first clinic in the completed building on our last night in the area. It was an honor that I can not even begin to describe.
At our welcoming ceremony a gentleman who was born in 1941 spoke. He was referred to as the old man of the village but we just called him the wise man. He said that never in his lifetime nor that of his ancestors had anything like this ever happen in this area. It was a history making event that would be the legacy of this village for the generations to come. How humbled we felt to be a part of this.
The Minister of Health of Malatia has agreed to send a visiting nurse to the area once it is completed with the hope of a full time nurse in the very near future. They will supply the medicines, vaccines, and supplies needed to sustain the clinic and to help improve the overall health of this remote area. For us, we are in awe of what we were able to be a part of.
I am thankful beyond words. Thank you for the answer to prayers that are so much bigger than we are.
Lord, make us an instrument of your love…
Tom and Nancy’s Journeys 