Saturday 5 February 2011

Vanuatu update: Tanna

Just about a year ago, I was getting ready to travel with a Kudjip delegation to the country of Vanuatu.  Our international group went to the small island of Aniwa, where we spent a week teaching community health.

On the way to and from Aniwa, we briefly stopped to change planes on the island of Tanna.  Both Tanna and Aniwa have been strongholds for the John Frum cult.  Tanna has been especially closed to Christianity because of the influence of the cult... until recently.



Last summer, a Youth in Mission team from America spent two weeks on Tanna.  The team made friends, organized kids clubs, showed the Jesus film, and shared the gospel in several communities around the island.  Many became believers as a result of the ministry.  Praise God!  The Potters wrote a 3 part series about the trip on their blog.

In January, the Potters returned to Tanna to hold discipleship classes for the new believers.  Here is the story...




The South Pacific has been pounded with several cyclones (a.k.a. hurricanes) over the past weeks.  Cyclone Vania hit Tanna directly, devastating the island.  The Potters have been in touch with some of the people they met on their trips.  The cyclone has damaged houses and destroyed gardens.  It will be some months before food is growing again.

But Tanna is not forgotten.  Local churches in Port Villa are collecting offerings to help the people of Tanna.  Nazarene Compassionate Ministries is also organizing a relief project for the island.  (If you would like to give toward this project, click here.)  Please pray that new Christians will be strengthened in their faith, others will believe, and that God will use this disaster to advance His kingdom!

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