he ordination of 17 Seventh-day Adventists during a Ministers' Summit in Papua New Guinea highlights the commitment of clergy in the Pacific, says a church leader.

"I would estimate that the majority of our ministers in the Pacific islands are caring for between five and 25 churches," says Pastor Anthony Kent, the secretary of the Ministerial Association for the church in the South Pacific. "Our Eastern Highlands Simbu Mission has 65,000 members and only 25 full-time ministers. I know of one minister who cares for 2,000 church members [scattered over a vast area]. That's an enormous challenge."

The Ministers' Summit is a quinquennial meeting of the ministers and their spouses from the church's 10 missions in Papua New Guinea. More than 500 people attended the summit, organized jointly by the church in the South Pacific and the church in Papua New Guinea and held at the Okari campus of the International School of Lae, June 9-19.

Some 250 ministers from the church in the Trans-Pacific met at the church's Tailevu, Fiji-based tertiary institution, Fulton College, for a similar meeting in the seven days following the summit in Papua New Guinea. It was the first time the ministers had met together in one place.

During the ordination sermon Pastor Laurie Evans, president of the church in the South Pacific, spoke of the importance of maintaining balance in ministry. Pastor Kent gave the ordination charge, while his colleague at the worldwide church, Dr James Cress, prayed the ordination prayer. Pastor Thomas Davai, the president of the church in Papua New Guinea, welcomed the ministers into ministry. Sharon Cress, Debora Kent, and Tiona Davai welcomed the spouses of the ministers into ministry.

Roy Adams, an associate editor of the worldwide church's weekly magazine, Adventist Review, presented the keynote addresses at the summit. Other speakers included Joel Sarli, an associate secretary of the Ministerial Association at the worldwide church, and Percy Harrold, Pastor Andrew Kingston, Bronwyn Mison, and Barry Oliver from the church in the South Pacific.

Danijela Schubert and David and Carol Tasker, from the church's Port Moresby-based Pacific Adventist University, also spoke.

Meetings during the summit began as early as 5:00 a.m. "The ministers were hungry to learn and to fellowship," says Pastor Kent.

Some of the ministers even ventured onto the streets of Lae. "Members from local churches joined us as we visited the marketplace at the Four-Mile Settlement on the first Sabbath of the summit," reports Pastor Kent. "Three hundred people--all Adventists--would stand behind the preacher. The visual message this gave was 'Hundreds of people are on this man's side. Listen to what he has to say.'"

Despite the number of church members a minister in the Pacific islands must care for and other difficulties such as low pay (for each dollar of tithe collected in Australia and New Zealand, the church collects only 20 cents in Papua New Guinea and the Trans-Pacific), demand for places in theology courses at Adventist tertiary institutions is high.

"One of the greatest needs we have is for married-student accommodation at Sonoma [an Adventist tertiary institution near Kokopo in the East New Britain province]," says Pastor Kent. "We can take only about 10 percent of the applicants who want to enroll in the theology course. The commitment of our ministers in the Pacific islands is stirring.

"We can learn so much about resilience, faithfulness, evangelistic zeal, and a passion to hasten the coming of the Lord from them."

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