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Dear Friends of SSEC, Welcome and Greetings in the Lord's name, from the SSEC family in Solomon Islands. We have recently said farewell to our dear brother and friend the Late Rev Bishop Festus Suruma in Services in the nation's capital, Honiara as well at North Malaita, (Festus' family area.) On this page you will be able to browse some of the tributes and the photo gallery of the services that were held. I want to thank all who have sent sympathy messages and to all who loved and supported our brother in prayer throughout his ministry. I invite you to continue to pray for his widow Mrs Helen Suruma and all of his 10 children. At a time when the issue of world mission is increasingly in the forefront of the church's attention, it is essential that our understanding of the church's calling and destiny will be more and more in accordance with God's plan for His world and mankind. As for those who live and serve in these end times, we must all dedicate our lives and ministries to the birthing and for the fulfillment of those aspects of God's redemptive plan, until His salvation shines like a blazing torch into all the nations (people groups) of our world. Together, let us fulfill the Great Commission of our Lord in our time. Your servant in the Gospel, Rev. Bishop Matthias Lima Nius Blong Sikos Quarterly Newsletter of SSEC: Eds Note: Pages in the Newsletter not directly related to SSEC news and some items have been edited or omitted from the print version. New Chapel at Su'u School Now Open Story by Ken Taylor (Pictures follow the story) It was a special weekend in many ways. The Honiara ex-Su'u Committee arranged for the "Baruku" to take about 250 people from Honiara across to Su'u for the weekend. Several truck loads came down from Auki, so there were perhaps almost 700 outside people there on campus for the weekend. Saturday was the Graduation Day for the Form 5 students, with the ceremony being conducted in the School Dining Hall which has been the meeting place for all such activities for many years now. The students do well to decorate it up for the special occasions, but for normal Sunday services it has always been clearly a dining hall with little atmosphere to promote a healthy spiritual environment. The day for the Dedication was very overcast with many heavy showers - just like Su'u has always been. But we managed to complete the first part of the ceremony outside with most of the guests hiding under their umbrellas or under the eaves of the Big House. One of the photos (062) shows the bright pink corner of the Big House so that will help you to get your bearings on the position of the New Chapel - to the back left hand side of the New Chapel is the old concrete water tank and what is left of the old chapel floor. There was a lot of last minute finishing of small jobs on the building, but the workmen had things pretty well set up for the day. Some people made comments on a few of the finishing works. One was the plastering of the walls - the standard was not professional, but when it was considered that many of the older girls had been involved in the rush to complete the task, the lack of professionalism was replaced by an admiration for their courage. The painting was a little bit the same. So it became obvious that the students had contributed a lot of hard work to have the building ready for the occasion. In his opening address the Chairman of the Honiara ex-Su'u Committee, Elton Osiagalo, announced that his Committee had raised $388,292.90 for the purchase of the building materials, transport and other sundry expenses, completing everything up to that date with $3187 still in the Bank. A very commendable effort when it is considered this was all done in the last two years during these difficult financial times. There were plenty of big names over there for the Dedication - Hon. Peter Tom the local MP for the West Kwaio constituency was the Guest Speaker, Malaita Premier Richard Irosaea, our Bishop Matthias Lima performed the Opening and Dedication, with a many from our Head Office. Deputy Prime Minister, Fred Fono, and the present Minister for Education, Mathew Wale, both ex-Su'u and both overseas on Government business. There were lots of speeches and testimonies but nobody was impatient - quite the opposite. In fact things got a little emotional several times. As I was reading out the email replies to the initial email invitation, it was all that I could do to finish the one from dear Margaret, and there is still a lump in my throat as I think about her prayerful support for Su'u over all these years. I went on to read the short history and so many people were really blessed by hearing something of the way that the Lord has used that place to His glory, over a much longer period than most had realised. In one of the photos (116) you will see some of the men dancing, lead by Andrew Fanasia - he had a great time and it was a pleasure to see him up on his feet. One special person who was there was Shemuel Siama. At the end of the program the MC, Jesimiel Waleilia, called the ex-Su'u up to the front, and Shemuel was the first to stand - 1954 if I remember rightly. The three last photos show different stages of that progression with the last one showing all this year's Form 5 graduates gathered in front. Chairman of the Su'u Board, Eddie Ronia, conducted the singing of the School Song with a lot more gusto than it is normally done. It was an awesome time and a privilege to be a part of the occasion. Last month, Alfred Sasako, who many of you would know and who is living in Brisbane, contacted the Head Office with the news that he had located a College in Brisbane that is wanting to dispose of 1,100 chairs in good condition - gratis. He, being an ex-Su'u, thought that they would be ideal for the new Su'u Chapel but he does not have the funds to pay for the shipment up to Honiara. Apparently the cost to send up a container load would be around AUD4,000. We could not help him from the Head Office and the Honiara ex-Su'u Committee is in the same situation, so I would like to open up the opportunity for anyone to help with this appeal.
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