Our man in the South Pacific
MOVE now has a team member based in the Solomon Islands. His mission field is the South Pacific. I know, it's a tough calling, but someone has to do it.
Grant Morrison (glasses and beard) has returned from a trip to Tonga. Here's his report.
Tonga is meant to be a Christian kingdom but the reality is very different. People are religious, everything shuts on Sundays, many people are in churches but most people have not accepted the good news of Jesus. So, I was asked to come and train and equip believers in how to reach their people. An added ‘bonus’ for this trip was not everyone in Tonga speaks English so this time I got to train and be translated. The great thing is God showed up as I trained.
Let me tell you about Tito. Tito is a bit of a ‘wag’, he likes to kid around, however he took hold of the training. On the Monday he went out on the street to meet people with another young guy, Jacob. Down near the market they met someone Tito knew from a nearby village and shared the gospel with him, he believed. Then they arranged to follow him up because we are trying to make disciples not just getting people praying a prayer. The next day Tito and Jacob went into town again and met a girl Tito knows. Tito told his story, then shared about Jesus and the girl believed. The next day they caught up with this girl again and took her through the first of the simple discipling lessons. At the end Tito and Jacob challenged this girl to tell five of her friends about Jesus and the change in her life. By Friday she had led her sister to faith in Jesus, in the next week she led another 2 friends to Jesus, and the discipling continues.
The training is simple. It’s easy to remember and to pass on to someone else. We practice everything before we go. For the first time everyone who was trained in Tonga passed the training on to others. Some of the key tools I gave people are: how to tell their story of believing and following Jesus, in three minutes. Even in cultures where time is slower three minutes works. I train them in a simple gospel presentation, just enough of the gospel of Jesus for someone to believe. I introduced them to Share Jesus Without Fear. It works because at the end of the training at least three people commented the best thing for them was finding out how to share about Jesus without fear. I helped people see the importance of meeting in houses with plenty of evidence from the New Testament. Then I train people in how to lead a group in a home where people are discipled. I train people how to pass it on so others are trained and how they then train others who train others.
There are so many stories as people were obedient disciples. From these few days of training there are now over 150 believers. Meetings have begun in at least many homes and at one of the local schools where people are being discipled. Another young man has travelled to his home island to train people there.
