Solomon Islands PM Calls on Adventists to Live Like Jesus—Not Only on Sabbath

The prime minister of the Solomon Islands called on Seventh-day Adventists to live like Jesus lived every single day of their lives and not only on Sabbath. Addressing thousands of members from the capital city of Honiara on July 18, Matthew Wale said that “living the life of Christ every day” is a challenge across Christian denominations. “There are people who go to church on Sabbath, or on Sunday, but when Monday comes, they leave their Christianity somewhere else . . . and the life of Christ is somehow abandoned,” Wale said.

Wale shared that in his service to the South Pacific nation he tries as much as possible “to live the life of Christ and do the things that honor Christ.” He explained that it implies making one good decision at a time, “because if you deviate one degree in your decision . . . eventually you will get off course, and this country will suffer.”

To that end Wale reminded Adventist members that the work of the church is “to continue to preach the gospel, to live the gospel, and to reach out with the gospel, because all need the gospel of Jesus Christ.”

A Special Guest

During the July 18 worship service Wale gave a warm welcome to James Marape, the prime minister of Papua New Guinea (PNG), who traveled from Port Moresby to attend the closing day of the Solomon for Christ evangelistic initiative. The two-week series of meetings saw hundreds of preachers from across Solomon Islands and beyond lead evangelism initiatives across the main island of Guadalcanal and several of the other inhabited islands. Guest speakers included about 150 preachers who traveled from PNG to support the initiative. Speakers from Australia, New Zealand, and the United States also led meetings.

Marape, a local Adventist church elder in Port Moresby, celebrated the privilege to be there in person to witness the event and thanked all those who made big efforts to attend and support the evangelistic meetings. He paid homage to “to those pioneer Christian missionaries” who arrived in PNG many decades ago and helped his family to eventually become Seventh-day Adventist.

At the same time, Marape addressed attendees, especially the hundreds of new members who had been baptized a couple of hours before. “Don’t ever lose your first love,” he advised them. “The Lord is coming very soon.”

According to national press sources, both prime ministers were expected to meet after sunset to discuss cooperation opportunities between their nations.

A Wholistic Ministry

Before Wale and Marape addressed the crowd, Willie Atu, premier of the Guadalcanal Province, also thanked the Adventist Church for its service to the capital city and the nation. Atu, a practicing Christian, said he had witnessed people giving of their time, money, and resources for the evangelistic program in Solomon Islands. “Every investment you have made is a heavenly investment,” he said. “Human beings who have accepted Jesus will be called up to meet Him in the air, as we are reminded in 1 Thessalonians 4:17.”

Drawing on the theme of the series, “Reaching Beyond Borders,” Atu celebrated those who were willing to sacrifice out of their comfort zones to reach others. He emphasized, however, that there’s a simple reason for it—Jesus told us to go and preach the gospel to reach every nation. “I would like to believe that Solomon Islands for Christ is not an event, but part of our daily lives as we live for Jesus day by day.”

With Anything and Everything You Have

During the worship service message later that morning, Anthony Kent, associate secretary of the Ministerial Association of the General Conference, called on old and new Seventh-day Adventist members, regional church leaders, and guests to keep “grounded in the Bible and focused on the mission.” “We all need to be focused on mission, but in order to do that, we must be grounded in the Bible, spending time with God’s Word every single day,” he said.

Delving into the commitment of the early Christian church as recorded in the book of Acts of the Apostles, Kent asked people to reflect on what they can do to keep focused on mission. “Early Christians would commit their time, their resources, to mission,” Kent shared. “What tool do you have at hand? No matter how small and insignificant, use it to reach out to others. Use it for mission!” he said.