After arriving in Honiara – the capital of the Solomon Islands – the Apostle flew to the Western province region and met up with the area leaders for a two day condensed trip. They travelled by boat to visit the various village congregations, and conducted sealings and meetings, and enjoyed fellowship together.

From there, Apostle Lodewick went to the South Malaita area, where he again met with the leaders and visited the various village congregations. This involved more boat travel, and hours of mountain climbing. Finally, after returning to Honiara, the Apostle completed his visit with a divine service in our city congregation, White River.

In the capital city he also visited a preschool education centre run by volunteers, to gain more understanding of the situations faced by the parents and children who cannot afford this. As NACare is investigating the possibility of assisting in this sector from our White River church, this visit proved to be most informative.

All in all, despite the many challenges faced, the brethren in the Solomon Islands are joyful and are keeping their faith.

Over one picture-perfect, sunny beachside weekend in late November 2019, more than 100 members of all ages attended a whole district wide enRICHment Retreat, a first for Western Australia. The aim was simple: take the year’s motto “Rich in Christ” and plan something special where everyone from the young to the young at heart could equally experience some enRICHing fellowship. 

A number of events targeting the interests of all brothers and sisters were planned as part of the “Road to EnRICHment”. These included a cultural walk through King’s Park with one of the Aboriginal Elders of Perth, an indoor sports night, a “foods of the world” festival and an evening of karaoke. The engagement of our members was incredible and by the time they arrived at the Ern Halliday Camp, strong relationships had already been formed.

A number of activities – including a Mexican Fiesta and impressive dance off – took place on the Friday night. Saturday brought with it archery, tunnelling and a BBQ lunch at the beach. In the evening carols by candlelight capped off the day beautifully.

District Apostle Schulte and his wife Tammy joined the members at the camp for the entire weekend. The District Apostle enRICHed the group by participating in a question and answers session where the doctrine and its application were explored further. A little later a surprise guest all the way from the North Pole stopped by to hand out some presents to the Sunday School children.

Santa’s visit aside, the weekend’s highlight was undisputedly the divine service, where more than 250 members were in attendance. This was followed by a valedictory concert for the confirmands, which provided some insight into who they are. All agreed that the weekend was truly enRICHing!

The annual youth convention for New Zealand youth took place in late November 2019. The motto for the weekend was “Come as you are”.

Youth from all over the country travelled to the Waikato region to enjoy a weekend of spiritual development and fellowship. The weekend activities commenced on the Friday evening with opportunities to get to know each other better around the campfire, sharing of stories, and marshmallows.

On the Saturday, youth commenced the day in the prayer chapel, meditating and praying. This was followed by breakfast and workshops which focused on LGBTIQ, with a representative from Rainbow NAC USA present at the workshop via Zoom.

Later in the morning youth enjoyed a music jam session, and the facilities of the camp which included swimming, kayaking, hydro slides, and boating. There was further opportunity for meditation in the prayer room and spiritual counselling sessions with leaders.

In the afternoon youth gathered with Apostle Williams to have a deep dive into their spiritual development, focusing on mental health. The day concluded with dinner followed by a quiz night. At the end of the quiz each youth member was gifted a bluetooth speaker with the motto engraved onto it as a memento of the weekend.

On Sunday morning the youth gathered together for a divine service, conducted by Apostle Williams. They were joined by members from congregations in the Waikato region including Hamilton, Tauranga & Taupo. The bible text was taken out of Psalm 126:3-4 and the focus was around the streams of blessing.

After service the youth enjoyed a final opportunity for fellowship before packing up and going their separate ways. The weekend left lasting impressions and the youth look forward to the next opportunity to be in each other’s company.