Thank you everyone for your prayers for Seth and the guys hiking! They made it back safely with no issues. We appreciate you all back home thinking about us and praying for us. Stay tuned for more about the trip and other exciting news here.
Your feet in Vanuatu,
-Seth and Nicole Stokes
Part of the road
View from the trail
The past few days have consisted of lots of lesson writing for the Bible College and now the next thing on the agenda for Seth is three day trip to a village about nine hours away. I (Nicole) will be staying back and having my young girls Bible study and holding down the fort. 
Please pray for Seth, Daniel (Bible school student), and Patterson (pastor in training), as they have a long road to trek. Patterson will be taking his turn in this village to cover for their pastor as he has been studying here at the Bible College. Isaiah (Pastor in training) has been up there for the past few weeks and now it’s time to switch one last time before the school year ends. Please pray for Patterson during this time as he leads Bible studies, church services, youth events, and more during these next four weeks. Continue to pray for all of the students as the end of the school year can be a time where “senioritis” can set in; we want them to continue to be fully engaged in the lessons and glean as much as possible before they depart.
Your feet in Vanuatu to the Tiale people,
~Seth & Nicole Stokes
We wanted to share some highlights and testimonials from the marriage seminar, we are still hearing many positive testimonials from the 15 couples. Continue in prayer that all of the teaching and counseling will impact not just the families that were involved, but also other families and communities by proxy.
The group that helped cook
The Marriage Conference Group
One of the men in attendance said; “its like heaven came down to us”, he said that because now he better understands “how to love my wife…and how to train my children according to God’s Word”. He continued, “I have been saved for years, I have heard various teachings on this topic, but they always felt as if it was a hawk flying high above my head, I could see it, but it never came down to me. Now, it is as if the teaching came down and walked on the earth with me, now I can see it, touch it, and understand… now I know what the teaching is actually and how it applies to my life”.
Another man said; “the teaching made me have a feeling of refreshment, now my marriage has a chance to go on the proper path that God wants for my family and I”.
Another man stated, “now 15 families have the opportunity to reflect God’s purpose in marriage to all of those around them”.
While Seth was reflecting upon some of the teachings with one of the men, the man replied; “now I want to focus on training my son to be a godly man, I see now that it is my job to do so”. This is a very encouraging perspective and revelation, many of the people here, Christian or not, a church member or pastor; have a very mystical approach with God. They believe that God will move and do everything, and they themselves do not need to do anything in the process. One man once said, “I pray that God will teach my children”. Seth replied, “why don’t you teach them”? The shock on his face, the surprise, the realization that he was missing ‘his opportunity’ with his kids, because now all of his children are grown up and out of the house. This is a very real truth we continue to see here; their animism greatly impacts their Christian walk. This mystical approach to God hinders them, and they forget (or don’t know) how to apply their personal responsibilities that God has commanded them to do.
The following Sunday of the seminar at church, a man stood up during “open time” and said this to the congregation; “the marriage seminar encouraged me because I know now it is not too late to start anew in my marriage. God is like a source where water comes out, it has no end. He can make anything become fresh again. While I was in the study, it made me feel like a mango tree (a very seasonal tree, which is a special treat here) was nearby, and all of the fruit ripened at the same time. I looked at the tree and realized I would not be able to eat all of the fruit at once, but I enjoyed what I could eat, I left full and happy”.
Continue to pray that God changes people more into His image, one at a time, family by family, village by village. All for His glory.
Here are some photos from the past weeks…
A new addition to the Bible School Students… a new baby!
Ladies Bible Study
Digging new holes for toilets for the Bible School
Rainbows in the sky… reminds us of Gods promises!
Seth and Nicole Stokes, your feet to the Tiale People and to the country of Vanuatu
So what has been happening in Vanuatu? Well a lot… more than can be summed up in a few paragraphs. Let us start off with this… “It is like heaven came down to us”. This is a testimony from one of those who attended the marriage seminar, they were reflecting upon how the teaching has changed how they view their responsibilities within their family…
To continue reading please click on the link below.
We greatly appreciate you all reading our updates and continuing to lift us up in prayer. We love and miss you all! Thank you for your partnership in reaching the people of Vanuatu with the knowledge of Christ.
Your friends and feet in Vanuatu and to the Tiale people,
~Seth & Nicole Stokes
Thank you for your prayers! Marriage Conference was a success. 15 married couples and 3 young men in training all grew in their understanding of what a Godly-marriage ought to look like. Many of the couples have already shared that their marriage has changed for the better! The young men said, “now we have a chance to start our marriage the right way”. Praise God! We are excited to see how God continues to use this teaching in the lives of all who attended. Pray with us that the Lord continues to bring the teachings to mind on a regular basis as daily challenges arise and choices are made to walk in the new teachings and what Gods has revealed to them. Thank you for partnering with us!
It is that time again… time to do another first! We are hosting a marriage/family seminar here in the jungle! We have a total of 15 married couples coming to this event; some of whom are in leadership in various capacities, i.e. pastors and deacons, others are students of the Bible college here… all of which we are deeply invested in and are discipling.
Conference Time!
This seminar is birthed by a deep need and desire that we see amongst our people, many of whom know nothing of a Godly marriage, nor understand the purpose of marriage. Seth will be teaching and Nicole will be assisting in both hosting capacities along with helping to answer questions when we have open time.
If you would take a moment to please pray for us and everyone attending the conference Wednesday through Friday; it will be a busy time, but we pray that the Lord makes everything very clear and practical in the lives of the people.
May the Tiale people and the Bible college students look different from the rest of the people in Vanuatu, in that they reflect Christ in their marriages.
Thank you so much for your prayers! We greatly covet your partnership in the Gospel.
Your feet to the Tiale people and the country of Vanuatu, Seth and Nicole Stokes
As we continue to live life-on-life with the Bible School students, we become more and more involved in their lives. We have begun to understand where they really are at spiritually. Mutual trust and respect is given and the process of discipleship will be a lengthy one. They are coming out of animistic backgrounds where; fear, witchdoctors, and the communal structure dictates their every thought. It is a hard and lengthy process to mature and equip believers, but it is a privilege to do so, to see the Holy Spirit change them from the inside out, and in a sense, “turn on the lights”.
We recently had to help with a marriage dispute, and part of the “healing” process is going to the father of the woman, along with the chief of the village, and then giving them a pig as a “payment” for the dispute. The woman seemed to be elated with the process, and when we got back to the school we sat down and processed the event with the young married couple.
The Payment…
We not only discipled them in regards to why the marriage dispute arose, but also explained the fallacies of how to reconcile a person with another person via traditional methods. We showed them that there was no communication, no instruction, no warnings, no advice or counsel given for the couple’s marriage, and we asked them, is the problem fixed? Were the issues addressed? Were you guys shown a process of how to prevent this dispute from happening again? The couple answered all of these questions with “no”.
The girl then realized that their culture is of no profit in this situation, the only “warning” they gave to the couple was, “if this happens again, we want another pig”. The girl began to realize that their culture is selfish and rooted in only self-love (saying something along the lines of, “they only care about food and not our marriage”). She went from being satisfied in the payment of the pig, to sorrow when she understood that her family didn’t really love her because they did nothing that actually “helped” her, they actually just took food from her (the pig for the payment comes from the married couple).
As we taught them through Biblical forgiveness, reconciliation and principles for marriage found in Ephesians 5, the couple went from sorrow to joy slowly seeing that God’s plan is unity and closeness in a marriage… and since the study, they said that their marriage is “doing better”. Praise God that no matter what the culture is, no matter what era it is, the pureness of the Gospel is always one of healing and restoration.
Three months of Bible school are complete! Please continue to pray for the students as they dedicate themselves to studying and learning more about who God is and how to better understand His Word. Thank you for your prayers and for continuing to follow our journey!
Your feet to the Tiale people, and the country of Vanuatu, Seth and Nicole Stokes
We count it a privilege to be used by our Master…
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Your feet to the Tiale People and the country of Vanuatu,
Seth & Nicole Stokes
School has been in session for about 3 weeks now! We are busy every day with being involved in the students lives; from checking up on them and their studies, to how they are doing as individuals, and trying to live life with them whether it be via gardening or the routine of life and sharing meals… this has truly made our responsibilities grow, time and time again God gives us opportunities to speak into the lives of these people teaching them about doctrine and even practical things of life like marriage.
Pastor Abraham teaching the students
Seth is working everyday making new lessons in the national language and getting them out early enough so that the local pastors/teachers can have time to study them. Seth is not wanting to be the sole teacher and is training them so that one day this training facility can be autonomous. Since there are little to no materials in the national language, Seth has been translating them himself.
While this is going on, Seth is still learning the Tiale language, discipling the men, preaching regularly, and being the maintenance man for the grounds… all the while still being involved with other villages and our ministries located in town. We were able to take the students out of the Bible School and let them enjoy a missions conference in town. It was a great time of bonding and connecting for the students and teachers.
First time for this little one to eat ice cream & ride in a truck
The group to town
Guilty! Enjoying ice cream in town
For some of the students this is the first time they were required to read and write in a daily format, really challenging them, especially for those students who only completed a few years of primary education. In our short time, we have already had one student (single male) leave and get married… this is Vanuatu, this can happen at any time when the father says so, and another one of the students got saved while going through the studies! Seth was asking them to share their testimony, and in that process another student led him to the Lord. There are a total of 11 students, 3 of which we refer to as student pastors or pastors in training. All three student pastors have made huge strides in their practical maturity in their Christian lives, and in their understanding of God’s Word and letting it reign in their lives. It looks like we will be coming closer to one of them being ordained as early as next year! Continue to pray for one of the student pastors, Francky and his wife Erin, as they have probably one of the hardest works here in the Tiale people; there is much persecution from their family, false-religion, and animism via a witchdoctor.
Francky sharing his testimony at the missions conference (sorry for the poor quality)
Nicole has added some more small groups to her schedule, she now has another small group study with a few ladies along with a prayer group with all the women her from the school grounds and surrounding ministries, along with still progressing in learning the Tiale language. Continue to pray that these groups Nicole is investing in builds the ladies up in their faith, culturally the women have been neglected in all areas of life, even spiritually. Seth is trying to train the men to encourage their wives in the faith, contemporaneously Nicole is trying to grow the women in their faith as well; their identity in Christ is growing, learning that they are no longer property and items for trade, but accepted in the Beloved. The young ladies’ ministry continues to grow! Every week there seems to be a new face! Pray that the young men could learn the fervency of the women. 🙂 Pray for us to have discernment in balancing the many variables and responsibilities of life. We covet your prayers!
Your feet to the Tiale people and the country of Vanuatu, Seth and Nicole Stokes
Everyday we are blessed with opportunities to encourage people in their walk with the Lord, or explain more clearly how one comes to know their Lord and Savior. It feels like God ordains topic after topic so that we get to meet peoples ‘real’ needs, in order that we may see their heart, and catch a glimpse of their true understanding…
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Men’s Bible Study
Nicole’s sweet friend Amber
Painting the Dorms
Your friends ministering to the Tiale people,
Seth & Nicole Stokes
Verse of the Day
Stoking The Fires 