Vanuatu

Spanish, French and English navigators discovered the various islands of Vanuatu in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The exploitation of the islanders by whalers, loggers and slave-traders generated a legacy of hatred towards Europeans. The nineteenth century saw the arrival of two more groups of Europeans. Traders and missionaries risked their lives to further their purposes.

Presbyterian missionaries were the first Christians to evangelise Vanuatu. But this happened with loss of life. The first European, Samoan and Cook Island missionaries and Vanuatu converts were all killed because the local inhabitants blamed them for sickness or death in their villages. The area bounded by the Santa Cruz Islands to the north and the Loyalty Islands to the south, with Vanuatu in between, witnessed more martyrdoms than anywhere else in the South Pacific.

Seventh-day Adventists first came to Vanuatu in 1896, during the fifth voyage of the "Pitcairn" boat. The captain only called in at safe Presbyterian mission stations. People on board took note of the dense vegetation and rugged peaks.

The Australasian Union Conference relinquished its responsibility for the work of the church in South-East Asia in 1912, in exchange for the care of the expanding of the South Pacific missions. The dream was for an Adventist presence in Vanuatu, New Caledonia, the Solomon Islands, Kiribati and Tuvalu.

The decision to begin work in Vanuatu was made in late 1911. Calvin Parker and his wife Myrtle were asked to go. Harold and Clara Carr, graduates of the Sydney Sanitarium, accompanied the Parkers. Medical work would be the focus of their entry. The couples stopped at Norfolk Island. The men then went ahead to Port Vila. They arrived on June 10, 1912 and stayed at a Roman Catholic school. Their application for a building site was successful and they started to build a weather-board mission home for their families there.

At Port Vila the Presbyterians were operating a hospital and school. The Parkers and Carrs sometime attended their services. During a boat trip among the northern islands, Parker learned of a possible site on Atchin for his mission. Atchin was a tiny island close to the north-east coast of Malakula.

The experienced viewpoint of Pastor Butz from Lord Howe Island was sought before a decision to buy property at Atchin was made. Buying was considered the best option and the Atchin property was purchased for $300.

The missionaries began to renovate the buildings immediately. Parker and Carr visited every village on the island dispensing medicine as needed. They also began to learn the local language.

Tragedy stuck when little Harold Carr died of bronchitis at just eight months of age. Clara too became dangerously ill. Although the doctors at the Presbyterian hospital in Ambrym were able to save her life, it was important that the Carrs return home.

Around the time the islanders requested that all whites leave. Seven Presbyterian islanders teaching in Malakula were shot and eaten. Their two counterparts in Atchin were withdrawn, leaving the Parkers alone with the local people. But Parker felt safe. During daytime he continued his renovations, finally transforming the old copra shed into a building to be used as church and school. It was dedicated on Sabbath, January 17, 1914. It seated about seventy people. Only men and boys would come, local women not allowed by local custom to enter the same building. Myrtle Parker had social meetings with groups of women, playing music on her portable organ, and serving rice, rolls and cereal coffee. Myrtle also started a school for boys.

In mid-1914, the mission's auxiliary launch arrived on a cargo ship from Sydney harbour. Its sails were supplemented with a 5 horsepower engine. Parker named it the Eran, meaning "the light".

More trouble erupted when a combined British and French force arrived in Malakula to punish the villagers who had killed the seven Presbyterian teachers. The locals asked Parker to be a peacemaker. Parker arranged a meeting at the mission station between the government and the tribesmen. A truce was made. Parker played mediator again later. He had indeed earned the respect of the islanders and cemented trust in his mission.

Alma Wiles

Norman and Alma Wiles arrived at Atchin on April 1915. The atmosphere was friendly. The couple had done a course in simple medical treatments at the Sydney Sanitarium. By this time the local women showed some interest in attending services, but at a different time to the men. Myrtle and Alma conducted these.

An unsettling influence came in mid-1915 when an English anthropologist arrived in Atchin to do some fieldwork. He encouraged the islanders to return to their local customs.

But another positive opportunity presented itself - this time in Malakula. The missionaries' simple medical treatments, their neutrality during hostile times, and the obvious desire to help the local people had broken down barriers. Invitations to start outposts in Malakula began to come in. Parker and Wiles chose to establish a station at Matanavat on the north-west coast of Malakula. They purchased a tiny piece of land there for $4.

The Parkers remained at Atchin while the Wileses pioneered at Matanavat. As the new property was being cleared, Wiles conducted a school under the trees. Eventually a place to house the school was built. Wiles also published a little hymnal of twelve songs translated and typed in the Matanavat dialect.

Matanavat was important because it provided a gateway to the inland mountain people knows as the Big Nambus. In November 1915 Wiles and Parker made an inland tour from Matanavat to familiarise themselves with the outskirts of the Big Nambus territory. Parker decided to meet the chief and his people by himself, leaving Wiles behind for safety reasons.

The Big Nambus offered a stone for a seat and queued to be treated for illnesses, both real and imaginary. Parker then hung his picture roll on a tree and began to sing. When he prayed, the islanders sat down with their backs to him and covered their heads as a mark of respect. During the visit, Parker was shown a tract of land near the village that was offered to him as a site for mission schools. He determined to appoint a missionary for the area.

In May 1916 the Parkers left Atchin for Fiji. Before Parker left, he had the satisfaction of completing a European-style mission home at Matanavat and holding the first Sabbath service there. The Wileses remained at Matanavat. Parkers' replacement, Alexander and Jean Stewart arrived in Atchin in mid-April.

The Big Nambus folk continued to build a thatch school in readiness for the Adventist teacher, but then there was another outburst of violence. The local murdered an English trader and his four children, and took away his thirteen-year-old son. The atrocities on Malakula were carried further when a punitive expedition by the police resulted in more loss of life. The atrocities did not prevent Stewart and Wiles from dispensing medicines and telling Bible stories from the picture rolls. But dramatic changes in lifestyle were slow to emerge.

Stewart became frustrated with the lack of progress. Late in 1916 he explored the Santo region for a potential mission site there.

By the end of 1917 the Wileses fell ill often. Norman grew thin and feeble and the family had to return to Australia to recuperate. In 1918 Ross and Mabel James arrived to replace them. Ross had done some training at the Sydney Sanitarium followed by ministerial work in Victoria. Mabel was a business course graduate from Avondale. At the same time Jope and Torika Laweloa and their little boy arrived from Fiji to help. This dedicated Fijian couple served three years in Vanuatu. The Wileses returned to Vanuatu in better health some months after.  

For a time all missionaries worked at the Atchin station, waiting for the murdering sprees to subside. Some hymns were translated into the local language and a tract about the Second Coming of Jesus was published. The missionaries targeted those who had learned to read in the Presbyterian schools.

In 1919 Stewart gained permission to establish a mission station north of Santo, at Big Bay. The site gave them access to the islanders on Sakau Peninsula. All missionaries worked hard to build a hut at Big Bay. The bare earth served as its floor. The building cost only $10. The James family moved into this home and developed the station. Jope and his family joined them in 1910 when a small church-cum-school was established.

At the same time, the chief of the Big Nambus people requested that Adventists resume work in his village. The Wileses returned to Malakula and re-built a home at Tinmaru, closer to the usual pathway leading up into Big Nambus territory. Each Sabbath Wiles would climb the mountains and conduct a worship service for a group of people there. But he suffered from frequent malarial fevers until on April 24, 1920, only a few months after he resumed work among the Big Nambus people, he fell very sick. Norman was too ill to travel anywhere even if a boat was available, so Alma had to nurse him as best she could. Over the next days, Norman's condition grew worse, until he passed away on May 5, aged only twenty-seven.

Alma buried her husband at sunset the following day in a shallow grave close to their home. She then made her way to the Stewarts' home at Atchin.

Norman's death cut short progress among the Big Nambus people, and mission efforts were not renewed until some years later. Following his death, Big Bay and Atchin stations were the only ones still in operation.

Meanwhile Stewart concentrated on developing the Atchin station. He built a new and larger church and operated a school for a group of young men. James had also built a European-style home at the Big Bay mission station.

Don and Lilian Nicholson transferred from the Solomon Islands to Vanuatu around the same time. It proved to be the start of a lengthy stay for the Nicholsons at various stations in Vanuatu. When James returned he brought a donated horse with him. This he used to extend his visits to nearby villages. A number of out-stations were established in the next four years.

The first baptisms were held in 1923, more than a decade after the Adventist mission in Vanuatu began. The early baptised members were then employed to care for the out-stations. Among these early workers were Niala and Lois, Amos and Malupisa and Jekavu and Eunice.

James continued to care for the Big Bay station until 1926 when Anton and Bertha Weil took over.

When the Nicholsons arrived at Atchin station, a major breakthrough occurred. An islander, who had briefly attended the mission schools and visited with Parker, returned to his home island of Ambrym and started work among his people. He sent a message to Atchin to request help. Nicholson made several trips to Ambrym. He returned with twenty-four young men to train at the school. In December 1922, the Nicholsons transferred to Baiap, south-west coast of Ambrym, to pioneer a mission school there. About sixty people formed the initial core and approximately half attended school.

A strong team of missionaries developed from the groups of young Ambrymese who trained at the mission schools. Sixteen were baptised in 1923 and a church was officially organised later that same year.

Not everyone at Baiap was pleased about the Adventist mission being established there. Several Adventist converts were poisoned, but that did not disheartened the little faith community. In fact the domino effect in out-station development was nowhere more evident than in Ambrym.

Following the eruption of Mount Benhow, the Adventist mission at Baiap was destroyed under metres of lava. Church companies on the northern and eastern coasts continued on unaffected. Adventist mission work did not resume in the Baiap area until some years later.

During the 1920s mission work on Malakula fluctuated amid recurring promises from the Big Nambus on the one hand and murderous attacks on the other. Renewed interest was evident in Wo Wo, Matanavat, Espiegle Bay, Tonmiel and Malua Bay.

But such development met with fierce opposition; threats and fighting initiated by Big Nambus witchdoctors. They thought that continuous harassment would frighten the companies to return to heathenism. Their ploy failed. The converts remained loyal even after loss of life.

Two further advances were made in the 1920s. A translation of 126 hymns was published in 1925, and a site for a central school began to be developed that same year.

On October 1925, a tract of sale was completed for a 976 hectares on the south-west corner of Aore Island. The property included two small off-shore islands. James first built a shed on the mainland and placed some goats on Ratua Island. With help from the locals, gardens were planted and building materials for a sawmill and home were landed.

In 1927 Jack and Rose Radley arrived to build the station. Rose was a trained nurse and Jack was handy with engines, construction work, boating and anything practical. The training school opened on this property on October 27, 1927.

Several Frenchmen challenged different sections of the new property. Compromises were often sought. In 1927 the Adventist missionaries suggested that a strip of "no-mans-land" be established around the property. In 1928 they offered to reduce their claim to only 405 hectares, and even further to 324 hectares a year later. Neither of these offers was accepted.

In 1932 a joint court ruled in favour of the French. No real legal settlement was therefore reached. In 1944 and 1945 more court hearings were conducted to resolve the case. The Aore Training School remained, but its early history proved to be one of the most frustrating sagas for the Adventist mission in the Pacific.

By 1940, Adventism had spread to the islands of Malo, Aoba, Pauma, Tongoa and Tanna. Inter-tribal fights and murders continued in Malakula during the 1950s. They hindered progress. However, by 1950, Vanuatu had regained its pre-was membership of five hundred. Membership continues to grow.

Conversions in Vanuatu were all the more amazing because of the culture from which they emerged. The Adventist mission progressed slowly in the face of many difficulties. Nevertheless, the numerous victories in changed hearts demonstrated the power of God and the dedication of the missionaries and early converts among the native islanders.

Source:  Hook, M., "A Mission Among Murderers: Early Adventism in Vanuatu", Seventh-day Adventist Heritage Series 28.