Pastor Tomas is the only ordained SDA pastor on the island of Tanna. In this part of the Pacific, a man that is not ordained is called a minister, it is only after ordination that he is given the title of Pastor. So far it appears that all the pastors are in leadership with several ministers serving under them and rather than having their own churches, they oversee a large area (a group of islands). The ni-Van are very respectful and they address people in leadership by their job… Pastor Tommy, Minister Peter, CFO Tom, Mission President John, General Secretary Pastor Damien, etc. Pastor Tomas has 6 ministers that he oversees and mentors on the island. Between them they take care of 12 organized churches and 54 companies with a total of around 1,650 members.
The people on Tanna have very little, but with the clean sea air and the variety and abundance of things they eat from the land, they are healthy. You see smiles and acceptance everywhere, they appear to be a very happy people. They are also devote in their worship of God. They believe in tithing… but how does that work when you do not have money? Each church has a tithe house, for the faithful to leave a tenth of their increase…It is all on the honor system, anyone can come and get the produce and leave cash in a little receptical that is also in the tithe house. We have found that it is not always well maintained, left over produce allowed to sit and rot and the money not picked up for days. Supposedly, this is the purview of the head elder or head deaconess. 
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