December 2017 I can t believe that 9 1/2 years have passed since I was called to the position of Adventist Women s Ministries Director (WM) of the South Pacific Division! Time flies when one is enjoying themselves, that s for sure. I ve loved this ministry and after 20 years in all as a WM leader at different levels of our church organization, it s time to hang up my hat and make place for a new person who will love this ministry as much as I do and who will put her own stamp on it. Ministering to the women of this part of the world is challenging, wonderful and exciting. I ve always loved seeing the change in the faces of the women I ve spoken to, either through sermons, workshops, or person to person, when they realise the potential just waiting for them to reach it. In 2008 I decided to use the slogan Helping women reach their potential and have promoted that over the years. To see the faces light up when they realise what their spiritual gifts are is wonderful. Some didn t think they had any and therefore finding out that they had in many cases 2 or even 3 was was a wonderful feeling. This Last Going Places From Me was such a pleasure to experience with them. Another ministry which I m happy to share was experienced by all WM directors right across the Division, was our ministry to our teenage girls and young women. In 2009 while travelling around the Division, I started to see and hear the immense need to reach our girls before it was too late. Way too many of them are experiencing abuse in many forms and it just broke my heart to see and hear. For example, in 2 of our regions, out of 147 girls, 98% were being abused. In another out of 595 girls, 85% were being abused, and 39% of them were in fear for their lives. These were girls attending WM events specially made for them. Tears streamed down my cheeks seeing these figures. I made a decision, and I m happy to say, was supported by everyone working in Women s Ministries that we couldn t accept the above and need to do something about this plague. All of the WM leaders and many of you, our sisters, have fought beside us. The sad reality is that not much has changed. We cannot let that affect us and we need to continue to fight this. I firmly believe that if a person accepts Jesus Christ as his/her personal Saviour, will show His characteristics and a certain way of life that shows whose they are. If this is correct, then we have to assume that the persons who are the abusers have not encountered Jesus. Because if they had, they wouldn t be abusing people they re supposed to love and protect. For me, it s that simple. I d love to hear from you, what you d propose we do in order to stop the abuse, firstly within our own brothers and sisters homes, and then in the churches and lastly in the communities. I d really like to hear from you, so feel free to email our office and share how you think we can help our brothers and sisters understand that any abuse, in any form, is totally against our beliefs. When you read the list of the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians, 5:22 and 23, you understand a little how we are to live our daily lives. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Then we go to the end of verse 23 it states: Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other. The book of Ephesians is so full of good advice on how to live our lives. If all of us only took the advice to heart and loved one another as God loves us, our lives would turn out differently for sure. I pray and hope that each and every one of us would look to Jesus before we say, do or anything to another person and ask ourselves: What would Jesus do? Jesus is coming soon, there s no doubt in my mind, so let s all live the way he would wish for us to live. May the Lord richly bless each of you and may His love live through you and me. In His service, Erna
French Polynesia On EnditNow Day in August, the French Polynesian Mission organized a march against domestic violence around their whole territory. Each church walked around their areas with police escort, pathfinders in full uniforms and the members bearing banners with messages from the bible on loving relationships. At the end of the march, at 10 am, Erna preached a sermon from the main church which then was diffused to all the churches in the Mission. Her message was: Loved by an everlasting Love. A retreat was held on the island Maupiti for the first time. We were really spoilt by our Island sisters. Vanuatu Training was held in Port Vila with 20 women on how to impact our teenage girls, then over the weekend we had 180 girls attended our event. The girls were thrilled to help Erna cut the cake celebrating 21 years of Women s Ministries in Vanuatu. This was a first event ever held for teenage girls in Vanuatu. We had girls from 12 to 19 years old who were grouped together by age. All asked, When is the next one going to be held. The Real Me initiative has been a real hit. It has ministered to a group of our church that has long needed this type of program. End-It Now march in French Polynesia. Training for ministering to teenage girls. Ladies sport their support from Maupiti. Training for ministering to teenage girls. Erna Johnson encouraging the ladies for EnditNow. Teenage girls Real Me weekend.
Samoa A training on how to impact teenage girls was held in Apia and 40 women attended. Then the event for the girls was held at a small motel for 120 girls. They had many groups blessing us with their musical talents. What a pleasure it was to see them so happy with the program. This was a first event held for teenage girls in Samoa. The women who attended this program were very enthusiastic about their training and promised that this wouldn t be the last event for the girls of Samoa. Like other places, the Real Me program has been a great tool to assist us in ministering to the girls and young ladies of our church. Kiribati Kiribati is a small Mission with only 3 people in the office, but Heather Dawn Small and Erna spent 3 days there in November speaking to the women and Erna spoke to the teenage girls as well. The GC WM department is going to help the women in Kiribati earn some money by giving 7 sewing machine which will stay in the local churches. The women will be trained to sew clothes and then sell them with the proceeds helping them with household expenses. We thank the General Conference for their generosity. This was Erna s third visit to Kiribati and our hearts go out to this Island threatened by climate change. The successful leaders training for young women. Erna, Anne Marie (Min. for Women s Affairs), Heather Dawn. Teenage girls Real Me weekend. Women listening to our talk. Teenage girls Real Me weekend. Women using our new resource - Women Discovering Jesus.
Over 400 women attended a training seminar on how to reach our teenage girls, held in Port Moresby in September. The photos here below are from some of the activities. Listening skills was hilarious as I told them to do things Papua New Guinea contrary to what I taught them and they had loads of fun doing them as you can see! A week later some of the women helped with the Real Me program for our teenage girls. There are over 600 who attended this successful event. Leaders training for Real Me. Teenage girls Real Me weekend.
A prayer breakfast organized by the WM department of the Tonga Mission was held with Erna and Heather Dawn as key note speakers. The Queen of Tonga was the honoured guest with women from all the different denominations on the island attending as well. We received so many thank-yous from the women, it was amazing to listen to their comments. The queen shared with us that she has Adventist on both side of her family her grandmothers and that she respects our church Tonga immensely. She asked us if we would think of this as a yearly event, which was a wonderful affirmation for the women of the Tongan Mission and their effort in making it really beautiful and well run. A program for the teenage girls was held as well. A good group came to participate in this. It was not the first time a program was held for the girls in Tonga, Erna has gone twice before and held a weekend program for the girls. Her Majesty Queen Nanasipauu, gives her support. Community church leaders of other denominations meet with SDA World Leader, Heather Dawn Small. Erna being introduced to the Queen of Tonga. Naomi Hopoate SOS scholarship recipient 2014. Teen girls Real Me attendees.
Fiji Over 40 people, amongst them 4 men attended the training on how to reach out to our teenage girls in Suva, Fiji. We then went to the Navesau School where Erna talked to the students, both boys and girls on domestic violence, how it starts and how to recognize when it starts and what to do about it. Then we held a conference over a weekend in Suva for 200 girls where the girls learned about who they are and how to use what they learnt to help them as they grow in maturity. Heather Dawn Small and Erna visited Fiji (as well as Tonga and Kiribati) in November and held meetings at Fulton College with a big group of women from the Nadi area and spent the day encouraging them and empowering them. Many teenage girls came as well and Erna shared with them about self-esteem and domestic violence. Then met with the pastors and their wives for a full day. They also held prayer breakfasts, a Friday night meeting and a full day on Sabbath with women from all over Suva and surrounding area. The church was full to the brim with women sitting outside because of lack of space. Teenage girls Real Me training. Suva Womens -day meeting. Ministers and spouses meeting. Navesau School s boys and girls listen to Erna. Filling in a temperament analysis for Real Me. Choir for special day for women in Suva.
Resources - Contact Jan at SPD Office Women s Ministries Seminar Series Women Discovering Jesus Adventist Women Leadership Certification A Twelve-Lesson Course of Study By Lea Hardy Participant s Workbook Produced for the General Conference Department of Women s Ministries
Adventist Women South Pacific Division 148 Fox Valley Road Wahroonga NSW 2076 Australia Postal Address Locked Bag 2014 Wahroonga NSW 2076 Australia Director Erna Johnson Departmental Assistant Jan Bolst jbolst@adventist.org.au We are here to help women reach their potential! My Last Going Places Erna Johnson Retiring Woman s Ministries Director, South Pacific Division I love this time of the year - Christmas in Iceland is usually white and cold and I remember walking in brand new shoes in the snow as we went to church on Christmas Eve. As a child I loved the Season when all my brothers and sisters and their families came to our parents place and where we sang Christmas songs and just spent time together. As an adult, I ve spent most of my Christmases in places where Christmas isn t cold and white, but hot and humid. It took me a long time to enjoy a hot Christmas, but now I love it. We know that Jesus wasn t born on December 25th, but he was born, although we don t really know for sure what time of year it happened, but to me it doesn t really matter. The fact is that he was born, and lived to show us how we should live. That s why I celebrate Christmas. It s a time when our family gets together and we look at our lives and see how we ve grown over the year in between Christmases. May this season be a blessing to you, and may you be a blessing to others. Happy Christmas! Raquel Arrais Associate Woman s Ministries Director, General Conference Farewell to a Good Friend I don t like to say good-byes because I know Erna s legacy will remain for years to come not only signing this newsletter that has been a blessing to the women in the South Pacific, but also for me personally. In this beautiful season of the year we are celebrating God s blessings and what He has done through Erna s leadership and through each one of you who accepted Gods call to lead, love, guide, nurture and inspire women to reach their potential where you are. Thank you, Erma, for taking an unhesitating stand in campaigns against abuse and violence against women and young girls in South Pacific. Your voice and courage through your faithful work has reached many who had no voice. Thank you, Erna for training thousands of women to be better leaders inspiring them to look beyond impossibilities. Your efforts have prepared them to serve more effectively in their local churches. Thank you, Erna for your vision that each woman can do something in God s Kingdom. Your voice helped them to reach their God-given potential. Thank you, Erna for your articulated voice that brought change and new ways for women to grow in difficult places. Well done faithful servant! Well done! Thank you for being a woman after God s heart. May God bless you and keep you. May you be blessed as you blessed others. But as for you, be strong and do not give up, for your work will be rewarded. (II Chronicles 15:7)