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Report on Solomon Islands 10th Anniversary Celebrations

Father Mike McVerry, SM

Fr.Sulio, Wane & Nia, the National Ecclesial team for Fiji, and myself left Fiji on Thursday evening, 13th October and flew via Vanuatu to Honiara, the capital of the Solomon Islands, getting into bed at the Archbishop’s place at 3.30am Friday morning. Friday afternoon, together with Solomon Islands National Team of Fr. Pio, Clement & Saniela, plus John & Maria Maefaididia and myself - the Oceania ecclesial team, we set off for the 10th Anniversary weekend celebrations of the establishing of Worldwide Marriage Encounter in Solomon Islands in 1995.

The venue was Visale, one of the more beautiful picturesque parish sites of the Solomons. A slow bumpy three-hour trip over the unkempt road that has seen no maintenance since the troubles began. Those of us from Fiji were delighted to see the big signs beside roadside villages that read “weapons free village”. The sadness was to see the many burnout shells of houses and various facilities on the roadside that reminded us of the terror that was so divisive and wreaked havoc among the people. Many of the people in Guadalcanal still do not have confidence to come back down from the bush although there is a relative peace with the presence of the Regional Security Forces and people have a growing confidence as they begin to rebuild their lives and country.

In this atmosphere we all sat up alert when a policeman appeared suddenly in the middle of the road to stop us. Then there were terrifying shouts as mud painted warriors leapt out of the bush alongside the road and surrounded the mini bus we were traveling in. Fears dropped, to be replaced by a startled joy as we realized this was part of the traditional welcome for us and around the corner came the bamboo band which serenaded us into the welcoming scene of hundreds of couples lined up in specially made Marriage Encounter 10th anniversary weekend T-shirts. The numbers of couples, the obvious joy, the unbounded enthusiasm, was like being welcomed by 50 weekends of Sunday night couples all in one place. The traditional welcome with flowers and betel nut continued as the bamboo band escorted us to a specially erected dais. Speeches abounded by the Vicar General, parish priest, some of the pioneer couples and then there was a three minute silence for the recent death of Talemo Tukidia, who together with his wife Lusia was the admin couple on the original outreach and who returned to the Solomons many times for formation and workshopping. The tears for Talemo (who died in late August) dominated our initial meeting with the individual couples … something that was to continue in the other venues we held formations. Other touching speeches spoke lovingly of the wonderful place Bishop Gerry holds in the hearts of the family in the Solomons. Sadness was also expressed at the disappointment of the Pacific Ecclesial team (Mike & Lesley Griffin and Fr Brian Taylor) not being able to be present due to the financial situation. Going through my mind as I spoke on behalf or our Pacific Leadership whose pain I deeply share, was a high degree of consciousness that we from Fiji would also not have been present but for the last minute financial assistance of Fr. Ron Nissen and the Marist Mission Centre in Sydney, Australia who paid our fares with just hours to spare.

Solomon National Team priest, Fr Pio, celebrated the opening anniversary mass, followed by specially prepared mead, and during which the various image groups presented originally written songs and action dances that proceeded until midnight. During the night more canoes and trucks arrived with couples from the far away weather coast of Guadalcanal and about 30 couples from Malaita. The last of the Malaita canoes arrived in very, very rough seas after eight hours of bumping on their backsides across the open ocean and there had been some concern for their safety, but they piled out beaming with delight at being there, dripping wet and cold, babies and all.

Early Saturday morning I toured the half mile of beach shaded by big old trees where many had their own couple tents erected, others less flash home-made bush shelters, and others were camped in classrooms of both the secondary and primary school. People washing under the few common taps, each image group seemed to have its own cooking fire going, and the whole place was inundated with kids and bigger youth. I think it is called logistics. How it worked I don’t know but it was a wonderful sight of happy enthusiastic people milling all about on land and sea.

By eight o’clock all the various age groups were supervised into activities of all kinds, while we began the anniversary formation in the church, the only venue big enough to hold the 170-plus couples there. Wane & Nia and myself of the original outreach team presented “The five steps of the fall and five steps of the Rise of Peter” which took the whole day and was still short as we began mass at 6pm.

Saturday night those of us from outside continued to be showered with flowers, music, gifts and all kinds of signs of love and affection as we were treated to another special meal. Then it was off to a big marquee erected during the day for another night of image group items of song and dance with the kids also involved. They had obviously put months of preparation in as we had another long night. on backsides as the special guests. A compulsory stop came at 2am as it was the scheduled time for the men to carry in all the pigs for slaughtering for the anniversary feast on the Sunday. The squeals of pig and peoples delight did not stop most of us from getting to sleep.

Fr Sulio of Fiji led the packed and very alive anniversary mass with the local community of Visale on Sunday morning with six other priests concelebrating. Celebrations after mass moved up a notch with the smell of pig in the air as we were treated to more items, gifts, speeches, and a newly written song about the anniversary compiled by a group from Malaita on the Saturday night. Very moving and many mentions of Bishop Loft, thanks to those in our bigger Worldwide Marriage Encounter family who have supported the movement in the Solomons, and wonderful outbursts of love and appreciation of what the movement has done for the many couples in the Solomons, especially in light of the national troubles. Archbishop Smith was unable to be there as he was away giving Confirmations in an isolated area but had written a wonderful speech of support and encouragement that the Vicar General read. Heaps of love should be landing into the minds and hearts of our bigger Pacific and Worldwide family.

Canoes and trucks started to fill after the feast and the nine of us climbed into the mini bus bolstered by farewell song, flowers and hugs about 5pm and set off on what turned out to be a five hour haul out the other side of Honiara to begin our Oceania meeting. Sunday night program dashed but we were a happy group sitting down to share our ecclesial team relationships as we started our weeks meeting. Our venue was the Holy Name of Mary seminary and we lived with the seminarians and went off each day to nearby catechetical center to meet.

After reformatting ourselves on our vision, mission, principles, values and present needs etc we selected Eric & Makarita Narayan and myself as new Oceania Ecclesial Team to carry forward the impetus that colors our movement at present. Those of you that know us well know how difficult it is to communicate with us, and so to it is with ourselves. It was over three weeks before Eric & Ma heard that they had been selected. However Eric & Ma and Fr Mike live only an hour apart. They have six children and were previous Fiji national team leaders and attended three years of Pacific Secretariat meetings prior to Oceania being formed. They are now looking forward to hosting both Pacific and Oceania meetings on their home island of Taveuni, Fiji next year.

Friday afternoon we uplifted and went off to Bishop Epalle School right in the middle of the capital of Honiara to begin formation weekend in the evening for community couples in the middle of Honiara. Wane and Nia and I presented Sacrament Weekend, a formation we have written here in Oceania, to 38 couples and one priest. Youth catered. Great weekend.

Early Monday morning Fr.Pio, Maria & John and I farewelled the Fiji team and boarded a boat to Malaita. On arrival in mid afternoon we transferred to canoe and proceeded to Rohinari in the South where 48 beautifully decked in Marriage Encounter T-shirts were lined up on the wharf with Parish Priest and the Honorable Parliamentary member, welcoming bamboo band for another round of formal welcomes and anniversary celebrations well into the night. Tuesday morning John & Maria and I started to present the Sacrament Weekend and went on for three “full days” finishing at 10.30 each night. In a recent letter from Bishop Gerry Loft he mentioned “hoeing the same row over and over again”. I must say the desires, enthusiasm and love of these couples lifts the weary bones like no other tonic. As the sacrifices they had each made in paddling long distances to get to the weekend with babies and food weighing down the canoe, unfolded for me in listening to them, a deep privilege of being amongst God’s Tall People, albeit poor and isolated, warmed my heart. Our worldwide family can be proud of having penetrated to the most distant, isolated, economically poor, educationally limited, and culturally traditional in terms of clearly defined roles for men and women and broken open in miraculous way an explosion of couple power that continues through daily dialogue.

Early Friday morning after farewelling our “Thursday night” Sunday night couples, we were into the canoe again to go to most southern most part of Malaita at Tarapaina which is Fr.Pio’s home parish. We arrived in the later afternoon to be welcomed again this time by 52 T-shirted couples on the small wharf and serenaded up the hill by another bamboo band. More anniversary speeches, gifts, song and dance, but shorter this time as we had to start another Sacrament Weekend in the evening. Again listening to the sacrifices, the shouldering of long term sickness which could be healed with any normal medical facilities, the distances paddled to get to the weekend, the hunger for the more, the joy of newness and hope that daily dialogue and the weekend have brought, the effect on the youth who catered filled my basket with amazement and wonder at the gift we hold in our family for God and his people. Love doesn’t count so I don’t know how many weekends I have given in the last 30 years but the freedom that comes from the truth we speak makes it ever old and ever new.

Monday morning had backsides back on seat in the canoe for a final nine-hour run back to Auki that we ended up breaking in half with a night stopover back in Rohinari. Auki on Tuesday night where the couples there arrived at the bishop’s house with another evening meal and gathering. Again there was silence for Talemo and more tears before the meal. At this point the new bishop said quietly to me: “I never met this Talemo but he must have been a great teacher.” I didn’t respond with much at the time.

However arriving home later in the week and presenting a Deeper Weekend to our Fiji team couples I was scratching around towards the end of the weekend amongst the first and second mass readings for some appropriate short thought. Then when I saw the Gospel was the talents and I knew what I should have said to the Bishop. Talemo was not a great teacher, he possibly wasn’t one of those with 10, or even five, but with the one talent he had “he let God be great in him”. There was not a head not nodding, neither an empty eye amongst Talemo & Lusia’s old team community… with good sprinkling of new ones of course for the “Onward”.

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