The Challenge of Ongoing Support

Dear Colleagues,

From time to time Barry and I and a few others receive newsletters from around our Pacific schools. Last week David Rogers, Principal of Aore Adventist Academy, managed to get one off after trying many times to get it finished. The problem wasn’t technical as much as time. He related that he had had five fly-and-builds from around Australia this year and that had kept him fairly busy as one can imagine. What I found interesting was that each of the teams that visited was headed by someone who was one of David’s long time friends. In other words these were the results of long-time connections and relationships.

And here lies the challenge as I see it. What about all the other schools being run by principals who have no connections with folk here in Australia or New Zealand, that have access to the necessary resources to help improve their institutions?


Sadly it has been one of the prices the missions have had to pay as both their country matured in administrative ability and the resultant repatriation of expatriates. No longer is a Division budget going into the local economy, nor are there extra funds being sourced from the homeland, nor are the stories of the real need being told adequately. Those dynamics have all but finished now that very few expatriates serve full time in these developing areas.

It is not all doom and gloom however. There does seem to be some light at the end of the tunnel. And it comes from the participants of the fly-and-build teams themselves. There are a number of young participants who have seen the need and are keen to return. These young people I believe hold the key for the future assistance of needy schools. Now I know that some are already committed to very far away places outside of our Division area. Why one would head to the other end of the world when right on our own doorstep we have needs that equal if not surpass those others doesn’t make sense to me. But that is my personal feeling on it and I’ll leave that there. I do believe however, that as a system we should be urging our young students to become involved in service projects in areas that will stretch them, challenge them and have very little ‘exotica’ attached.


I am working with the Volunteer Department to see how we can work together to ensure that those students who have participated in overseas mission service activities in particular, are kept track of and encouraged to become involved in an ongoing relationship with a particular project.

May I encourage each principal to think seriously about the value of a serious service activity. This invitation is not just for the post primary level either. Primary principals need to see the benefit of laying service foundations in the lives of our very young pupils as well. I know that such an activity is a huge undertaking involving many hours, dollars and organisation that none of you needs. But the long term impact that these service activities have both on the giver and receiver can never be fully measured.

“You know, when you help one of these really needy groups, I like it, because you are really helping me” Jesus, according to Weslake’s paraphrase.

God continue to bless you as you take on the new and very busy term.


Ken Weslake,
Associate Director,
Education South Pacific Division, SDA Church



PS Just as an extra how do you like this e-mail just in from David Rogers, Principal of Aore Adventist Academy in regards to the recent tsunami warning

Dear family and friends,

Just a short note to let you know that Aore is still high and dry. We received the Tsunami warnings from a myriad of sources – phone calls and radio announcements. Then, very shortly after the first warning we received news that the Tsunami Monitoring Centre in Hawaii was monitoring the situation and could see no sign of a wave or waves building up.


We were thus prepared to continue on school, until the Ministry of Education broadcast a blanket directive (about 10.00 am) for all schools to be evacuated. I made the announcement for all staff and students to evacuate the classrooms and to meet up on the high ground behind the school by the ‘in ground’ water tank. We were to wait there 30 minutes and then return to complete the day’s program.


The boys obeyed the first bit (evacuate the classrooms), but then just kept going. They just disappeared into the bush to the sound of much merriment. There was absolutely no chance to do a head count. Most had still not returned by 2.30, four hours later. Various individuals came back mid afternoon with reports of the successful hunting (and roasting) of wild fowl – completely oblivious to the fact that a whole half a day of school program (including lunch, incidentally) had been lost.


Now we have a few classes to catch up, some learning to do about boundaries (both spatial and time) and then a few carefully regimented disaster response practices!

News about the Seventh-day Adventist Church in the South Pacific.