Expansion of True Worship in the Solomon Islands
JUST ten years ago the first one of Jehovah’s witnesses arrived in the Solomon Islands to preach the good news of God’s kingdom. By 1958 there were still less than a dozen Kingdom preachers in all the islands. But in the years since then this small group has multiplied many times over until, in May 1964, a peak of 366 active ministers was reached!
Several months ago it was the pleasure of these zealous islanders to make arrangements to hold an “Everlasting Good News” Assembly. The Kingdom publishers in the small village of Magi on the island of Malaita served as hosts for the conventioners. They were happy for this privilege, and worked for months in advance in order to assure that their brothers would be well fed and comfortably accommodated.
A large garden was planted exclusively for the purpose of supplying the cafeteria. The women harvested over 7,000 sweet potatoes, and, after washing them in a stream, carried them to the convention site. Surely this would be enough for everyone, they thought. But as more and more people kept arriving another trip to the garden had to be made. By the end of the assembly all the foodstuffs had been consumed, including additional supplies brought by conventioners from other places.
The men also were busy making preparations. They built dormitories, for it was obvious that there would not be enough space in the private homes to accommodate the numbers expected. But where did they get the idea for erecting such quarters? Why, from the motion picture “The New World Society in Action” in which they had seen the sleeping accommodations that the African brothers built for their assemblies! So with that as a pattern, the islanders constructed their dormitories from poles and sago palm leaves sewed together, using as thread the vines of the jungle.
What a surprise it was to find that even before the first day of the assembly all available space was filled! However, nobody was upset because of this. Instead, all warmly welcomed the new arrivals and immediately volunteered to help build additional shelter. Before breakfast, when the tropical heat had not yet dispersed the morning crispness, a group set out to gather building materials, and, with the cooperation of many willing helpers, a structure fifty feet by fifteen feet was completed by early afternoon.
The Kingdom Hall was the assembly auditorium. Despite the fact that it had been enlarged for the occasion, it was filled to overflowing right from the start. The remarkable attendance for the first session was 500, nearly 200 more than the total number of Witnesses in all the islands! How happy the installation workers were to pull down the side walls and to extend the sago-palm-leaf thatch! Trees were also felled and cut into suitable lengths to be used as benches. These last-minute extentions were certainly appreciated as the assembly progressed, for by the time of the public talk the crowd had swelled to a peak of 675!
Included in this large audience were Melanesian people from several language groups and, in addition, persons from Australia, Canada, Indonesia, Lithuania, New Zealand, Pakistan and Sweden. Some sixty Witnesses from the city of Honiara on the island of Guadalcanal chartered a ship to make the trip. An outstanding delegation of about two hundred men and women, along with their children, came from the north coast of Malaita. Some of them had to travel three days on foot and by canoe on the open sea in order to be present. Thirteen of the twenty-one that were baptized were from this area.
These conventioners had not traveled long distances to attend a social event. No, but they had come to take in life-giving knowledge concerning the true God, Jehovah, and his Son Jesus Christ. (John 17:3) To help them do this, every discourse was supplemented by illustrations on calico or on a blackboard, and at the end of every session the people would crowd around the boards lined up on the platform to copy down the information.
This zealous desire to learn Bible truths and to become better ministers is what has been responsible for the rapid expansion of true worship in the Solomon Islands. As we watch the delegates tuck their notebooks away in their luggage and head for home, we feel sure that the good news of God’s kingdom will realize even greater proclamation in the islands in the days to come.