The Talk Place

Kim Knight told me this true story about his recording sojourn to the coasts in March 2007.

"We had a demanding job to do in the Solomon Islands. Not just recording! Travel was to be a large component of our time. Our plan – to fly to Mbambanikira, to proceed to Guadalcanal, then to move along the weather coast where the KOO, TOLO and VEURU MOLI language speakers live.

"Want know what really happened? How things panned out?

"Well, the flight to Mbambanikira was cancelled! We flew to Marau and went by dinghy to Avuavu.
We achieved recording “Good News” and some songs in TOLO. Moving along the coast the recordings were done in Komu Vaolu village in THE VEURU MOLI language. These recordings went at snail's pace. It took nine days to do forty five minutes!

"Monday arrived and we walked the three kilometres to the coast. Here we planned to catch the “MV Bellama”. For some reason it got to within a few kilometres then turned around and went back the way it had come. So we waited.

"Another vessel, the “MV Ability”would probably “be coming along this week”. So we waited.

"Pursuing another option for travel, we tried to get on the supply helicopter for the Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands, Aussies helping out with law and order. We had no idea if that would work out. So we waited.

"Hey! The airstrip at Avuavu had just reopened. The next flight was a week away but we had no way of knowing if it would actually come. So we wait.

"By Thursday the “Ability”, a slow overnight boat, was in the area. Was it a probability? So we only waited the night!

"We eventually went on board the “Ability” on Friday morning and headed back to base – Honiara, thankful to be under way, albeit at a snail's pace, and in the position to return to Sydney.

"Thankful for the prayers of our supporters, without whose backing less would have been accomplished, we could see, in retrospect, that the difficulties, the frustrations and the waiting could have been far greater. And the good news of salvation was taken to the coasts. Nothing is insurmountable for the Lord."

Hoping you enjoyed hearing of this sojourn in the Solomon Islands,

Royalene