Vanuatu
Vanuatu consists of about 80 islands in the south Pacific
Ocean, about three-fourths of the way from Hawaii to Australia,
which cover an area of 11,800 square kilometers. There are
about 12 large islands; the rest are very small. The people
of Vanuatu, called Ni-Vanuatu, are dark-skinned Melanesians
with short, curly hair. They migrated by canoe from islands
to the north and west and were settled on the islands by 2000
B.C. They separated into many different cultures, each of them
enemies of all the others and practiced continual warfare and cannibalism.
The population now is over 200,000.
Vanuatu became an independent nation in 1980.
The country had been under the colonial rule by the United
Kingdom and France for 74 years. The history of Vanuatu dates
back to 1300 B.C.
The first contact with the Western world came in 1606, when
a Spanish explorer visited the islands. Captain James Cook
came in 1774 and named the islands the New Hebrides. He was
followed by other traders and explorers. The first missionaries,
who were Presbyterian, arrived in 1839 and were killed and
eaten. Others followed, and the Presbyterian Church became
the largest Christian church, followed by the Catholics and
the Anglicans. Presbyterian missionaries took an uncompromising
stance against many time-honored Melanesian customs such as
cannibalism, ancestor worship and polygamy. A visible Scottish
Presbyterian tradition can be felt in the life of the Presbyterian
Church of Vanuatu even today.
The Presbyterian Church of the New Hebrides was established
as an independent church in 1948. When Vanuatu became free
from British and French colonialism in 1980, most of the new
government officials were Presbyterians, because the Presbyterian
Church was the only denomination that had established a seminary
and concentrated on educating the Ni-Vanuatu. Many Presbyterians
have served the nation as members of Parliament, government
ministers and even as prime minister. The Presbyterian Church
of Vanuatu continues to be a powerful force in the modern society,
working tirelessly in evangelism, development and social justice
issues.
The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) works in Vanuatu through
mission
personnel and in partnership with the
Presbyterian Church of Vanuatu.
It works closely with Onesua Presbyterian College, which was
founded in 1954 by the Presbyterian Church of New Zealand.
Education in Vanuatu is difficult because of the lack of resources,
including teachers, teaching materials and schools. Most children
attend elementary school but then take an exam at the end of
grade 6. Only about 30 percent of the students can be accepted
into schools like Onesua. At the end of grade 10 there is another
exam, and fewer than one-half of the students can find places
in years 11, 12 and 13. Overall fewer than 10 percent of young
people complete high school.
PC(USA) mission priorities are leadership development and
faculty development and strengthening the library and computer
facilities at Onesu. |
