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Pacific Island Missionaries First School of Missions
Island missionaries from six nations gather for training
The first Pacific Oceania School of Missions was conducted
in 2010. This was a time of missions awareness and training
of missionaries sent from our national churches throughout
the Pacific.
Four Pacific general coun cils are sending missionaries and
at the recent Pacific Oceania general superintendent’s
meeting, it was suggested we begin a Pacific-based school
of missions (SOM).
Six Pacific Island nations were represented at the first
SOM—American Samoa, Samoa, Fiji, Marshall Islands,
Solomon Islands, and Tonga. AGWM Pacific Oceania missionaries
were ready to participate, and the presenters for this
first SOM were Diane Laws, Dave Beard, and us (Jerry and
Karen).
The event was held at South Pacific Bible College (SPBC)
in Fiji, an Assemblies of God school, on a Monday through
Friday. We involved the SPBC dean of students, a former
Fijian missionary to Samoa, as the devotional speaker each
morning,
and the Holy Spirit met us in chapel each day!
We were overwhelmed at the positive response, with a total
of 44 students in attendance. The theme for the week was “Everyway,” and
those who attended were challenged with theology of missions,
cross-cultural servanthood, managing stress, building relationships,
transition and change, finishing well, and other issues facing
missionary families. 
One of the highlights of the week was to see Pacific island
missionaries share—many for the first time—their
experiences of culture shock and heartaches. It does not
matter what island or country is home, the effects of transition
and change are the same. It was a great week of growth,
sharing, fellowship, and thinking out of the box to reach
the islands
with the gospel!
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