Six members of West-Ark church of Christ, Fort Smith, Arkansas, did mission work for six days at Eton Village, Vanuatu. Each participated in the annual Christian workshop which consisted of lectures, sermons, and singing in the mornings and evenings. Children's Bible classes, conducted nightly in a VBS fashion, served 95 children. A medical clinic during five afternoons at the village provided free health care to 158 people. All patients were given religious literature and most were taught the Gospel. Two people were baptized during the week.

A detailed account of this mission follows:

Doug Allison, Michael and Jeannie Cole, Roy and Joyce Dunavin, and Randy Lewis were invited by the members of Christ's Church of Vanuatu to participate as speakers at the second annual Christian workshop, as well as conduct a medical mission and vacation Bible school. The American team departed Fort Smith on 21 September about 3PM on American Airlines. Five heavy boxes of supplies were checked in at the airport at 11AM and were sent to Dallas on an earlier flight. Travel required changing planes in Dallas and Los Angeles.

Doug and Randy left Los Angeles at 9PM on a Quantas flight. The remainder flew out at 9:30PM on Air New Zealand, stopping briefly in Honolulu. The team arrived at Nadi (pronounced NAN-dee), Fiji at 2:40AM and 6AM on 23 September, having crossed the International Dateline. After providing an explanation to customs officials about the purpose of the trip, the 5 boxes of drugs, Bibles, song books, and VBS supplies were not opened. Transportation to Raffles Gateway Hotel was provided by the hotel after a phone call from the airport. The boxes of supplies were stored at the hotel.

To connect with a flight to Vanuatu it is necessary to spend a day in Fiji. The hotel charged Fiji$71.50 per room. (Exchange rate F$1.30-1.35 = US$1.) On Saturday morning the team members rode public transportation to downtown Nadi for shopping and lunch. After an afternoon nap, the team met for finalizing plans and to get a half-hour telephone call from Randy English, missionary to the South Pacific. All ate supper together at the Tokatoka Hotel next door.

Sunday the team left the hotel about 6:30AM. Check in at the airport was uneventful. Due to a delay of 4 hours, the airline provided breakfast at the airport cafeteria. Lunch was served on the 1 3/4 hour flight to Vanuatu.

On arrival at Port Vila, Vanuatu, immigration officials laughed when told the team was going to be staying at Eton Village. Customs officials had a letter alerting them to hold our drugs till Monday when final approval was expected from their director. No baggage was opened for inspection, including the box of medications. There was no reasoning with Customs about why the drugs were needed immediately, in spite of the letter they had from the Ministry of Health.

Pascal Temakon, a local Christian, met the team at the airport. Doug Allison served as driver of a 12-seat, rented van from Thrifty. It is not likely the luggage would all fit if customs had not kept one box. It took about 1 hour to drive the rough, dirt road from Port Vila on the southwest side of the island to Eton Village on the southeast coast.

Immediately upon our arrival about 3PM at Eton, the brethren began their communion service. The unleavened bread was uncooked. Jab Mesa, a native preacher from Papua New Guinea, and Jerry Soko, a native preacher from Fiji, both presented lessons. All visitors from countries other than Vanuatu were introduced to the congregation. After a dismissal prayer, the American team drove to a ranch about 5 miles beyond the far side of the village.

The ranch is owned by Americans, Robert and Linda Bond. The American team stayed on this ranch in a house with 4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, a kitchen, and a sitting room. There was electricity from 6AM to 9:30PM. A house maid, who arrived about 7AM daily, kept boiled water available and cleaned the house and washed clothes. Each person paid 1000 Vatu per night for Sunday through Friday nights. (Exchange rate 105 Vatu = US$1.)

Supper was provided by the local Christians at 6PM each night, but the American team ate with them only Sunday and Friday nights. Services usually began about 7PM, an hour later than scheduled. The schedule was only loosely followed. The printed schedule provided by the local church listed somewhat different speakers in a somewhat different arrangement than what was provided to us prior to leaving the States.

The first evening began with lights from a generator, but this malfunctioned early into the sermon. Kerosene lanterns were used the remainder of the week. Services generally ended about 9PM.

Sunday night was very hot till a storm passed through. The team was awake Monday morning before the sun was up at 5:30AM. The birds became noisy after 4AM daily. After a devotional at the ranch house, the team left for Eton Village about 8:30AM. Classes proceeded as scheduled in the morning. All understood English in the men's classes. Not all could understood English well in the women's classes, but none of the ladies would serve as interpreter.

Doug, Dr. Cole, and Eddie Karris (a leader in the Eton congregation) travelled into Port Vila on Monday morning, stopping first at the office of John W. Simbolo, Director of Customs and Taxes. He provided papers giving his approval for importing the drugs duty free. This letter was carried to the airport. After considerable searching for an agent who could locate the drugs, the box was returned to Dr. Cole's control. The van was then driven to the Ministry of Health where 3000 Vatu was paid for the certificate allowing Dr. Cole to practice medicine in Vanuatu. The van was filled with diesel, airline tickets were reconfirmed, groceries were purchased, and money was exchanged prior to returning to Eton Village about 1:30PM.

The church had informed the village that the clinic would be at the Community Hall. Therefore, Monday afternoon patients were seen at the adjoining clinic in the center of Eton. Starting quite late, only 22 patients could be treated by 4:30PM. Though there was no problem teaching the Bible there, arrangements were made to conduct the clinic at the church building the remainder of the week so that everyone in the village would understand that it was the church providing the free medical services.

Roy Dunavin preached Monday evening with 30 adults in attendance and many others sitting outside listening. A question and answer session followed each evening lesson. Jab Mesa translated the lessons into Bislama. Children's Bible classes were taught by Doug, Randy, Jeannie, and Joyce. Eddie Karris served as translator for the children.

Beginning Tuesday the team had devotionals each morning at the beach halfway between the ranch and Eton. Monday evening the "acting" head mistress of the primary school was at the church services and was asked permission to let the American team teach in the classrooms. Those not giving lessons for the workshop Tuesday morning spent a couple hours at the school teaching the Bible and telling about life in America.

Each morning the workshop began with singing around 9AM. Then the men and women divided into separate classes for about an hour. There was usually a break for tea, followed with a combined class for about an hour. Lunch was provided to everyone in attendance at the workshop every day. All water was boiled prior to using in food preparation. Even the salads were found to be safe to eat.

The weather was pleasant during the week with early morning lows in the lower 70's and afternoon highs in the upper 80's. It did not rain during the daytime, but there were a few nights with showers. The cloudy nights were incredibly dark. There were plenty of mosquitos. Lariam was taken weekly for protection from malaria. Cipro was taken daily to prevent diarrhea. No time was lost by any team member due to illness.

The ocean is about 1/4 mile from the church's meeting place. At the beach at low tide sea urchins, sea cucumbers, starfish, and colorful tropical fish can be closely examined in the tide pools.

Tuesday afternoon 44 patients were seen at the clinic at the church building. (The church property consists of a cool lumber and grass hut, a palm-leaf covered area, and a hot tin building with a concrete floor.) Many people travelled by truck from Ekipe Village, about 1 hour away, to be seen at the clinic on Tuesday.

The Presbyterian church holds the greatest power at Eton Village, but granted permission to the children to attend the nightly Bible classes. This resulted in a great many adults bringing their children. Though most of the adults did not enter the assembly, they would sit close enough to hear the lessons. Emphasis on baptism by immersion caused considerable discussion in the village.

Wednesday morning's men's class, taught by Sombo (a native preacher from Papua New Guinea) had 24 in attendance. Sombo and Jab continued to travel about the island and preach after the workshop was completed.

On Wednesday the rear door of the van would no longer open and close properly, necessitating the loading and unloading of medicines and other supplies through the side door. As this was the only van available from the rental agency, there was no option but to tolerate this inconvenience.

Around 4PM on Wednesday the team returned to the ranch house, eating supper together, then returning to the church building around 6:30. Jab Mesa preached to 41 adults, after which Felix Morris (a leader in the Eton church) responded for prayers. His specific problem(s) were never translated into English, so the details of his request cannot be reported. There were 81 in the children's Bible school that evening. The team left about 8:45PM to return to the ranch.

Immediately after lunch Thursday, the American team was guided to a farm in the bush. Half the group waded into a pool there to feed fish from their hands. At the clinic that day there were many who came from Epao Village. It was discovered that they said, "huh-uh," for "yes." This is the same sound we grunt for "no."

Thursday evening the adults and children traded rooms to allow for the large number of kids in attendance. The village children were very well behaved allowing in a small space for such a large number to listen to the lessons without much distraction. Thursday night about 11:30PM, two men were baptized.

The Ministry of Health said a representative would be sent to Eton to retrieve any unused medications at the end of Friday's clinic, but no one arrived. The drugs were delivered to the hospital in Port Vila on Saturday morning by Doug and Randy. This gift was presented as a donation from Christ's Church of Vanuatu.

Friday evening the church prepared a feast to begin at 7PM. Those visiting from other countries were presented with gifts. The preaching did not get started till 9PM. There were 95 children in the Bible school that evening. There were many questions after Roy's sermon about Heaven and Hell. The Americans departed about 10PM to return to the ranch where final packing had to be done with flashlights.

Saturday morning everyone was up at 4AM to leave at 5AM for the drive to the airport. Before departing the ranch, the Bonds were paid 36,000 Vatu as the total fee for the team's lodging. Brother Pascal returned with the team to Port Vila. The group arrived at the airport at 6:15AM (which was 2:15PM Friday afternoon in Fort Smith, by the way). The Dunavins and Coles departed for New Zealand on Air Vanuatu at 7:30AM. Doug and Randy left Port Vila at 5PM on Air Pacific for a 1 1/2 hour flight to Fiji. After 2 1/2 hours they boarded another plane for the return to the U.S.A. They returned to Fort Smith before midnight Saturday, 30 September.

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