V2 Life began as a Christian mission founded on YWAM values to equip and empower young adults for Christian mission work. We wanted to prepare and send Melanesians into long term missions with a robust relationship with Jesus, a solid understanding of the bible, a character which could withstand tough times, and vocational skills which could bless those in need.
Our plan was to run 6 month Discipleship Training Schools (DTS) in which students and staff spend 3 months living and learning together at our base on Efate Island, before taking what they’ve learnt into practice on a 3 month cross-cultural field trip. We were planning to compliment this DTS program with vocational courses studying the bible, safe water technology, farming, and disaster resistant building.
We did those things, and for the first few years our base was a hive of activity. But in our third year, something happened which pushed us to expand our vision: our neighbours asked us to start a primary school. In prayer, our leaders felt it was a “God idea,” so after running a kid’s club then kindergarten, in 2019 we opened Teouma Christian Academy. The thoughtful and analytical spectator would point out that primary education is not necessarily a comfortable fit for a campus focussed on young adult training, so why have we continued?

Here are 3 reasons:
1-Literacy opens the doors for opportunity
There is widely held view that across the Pacific region the deepest “poverty” felt is the poverty of opportunity.
This idea can be explained by pointing out that because of the very real isolation experienced by communities across the “blue continent” and the immense cost to deliver anything at all to these communities, a large number of people suffer from a lack of opportunity. While almost everyone has food to eat, somewhere to sleep, and clothes on their back, they cannot access mainstream universities, polytechnics, or vocational schools . They cannot readily seek out a new job in an industry unless it is already on their island. They rarely have access to the resources to start a new business. Improving access to satellite internet is helping to open doors for training by distance.
Still, to train by distance demands that potential students can speak, read, and write in the language of instruction. For most of the pacific, this has traditionally been English or French – though Chinese languages may be growing in influence now.
To be able to read, write, and communicate effectively is an essential element of equipping pacific island students to access and utilise as much opportunity as possible. In compliment to that is numeracy, not simply a nice to have skill but vital in almost every opportunity one might imagine.
Education equips pacific island rural students to learn, seek out, find, and take hold of a far wider range of opportunities than their illiterate and innumerate peers.

2-Critical thinking grows solid faith
Across the history of religion, there are many stories of individuals and groups being mislead, mistreated, and misused by some faith leader whose word was not to be questioned.
But the Christian bible, as the core text of our faith, invites (and in my view stands up to) scrutiny, claiming that God can, and will, defend Himself .
As V2 Life seeks to train believers for service in God’s kingdom, we spend a lot of energy teaching young adults that comparing what we’re told to the bible and reaching our own decision, is not just good, but essential. The value of the ability to seek out answers when in mission service, remote from a church leader to ask, is worthy of its own article. The difficulty we face with our adults though, is that they often find it much harder to break old habits and develop new thought processes: we become accustomed to accepting certain things as fixed, and never reconsidering.
Children on the other hand, are far more open to new ideas. So primary school, a place where we are learning so much, is a perfect opportunity to encourage both learning and respect. It is possible to discover the wonders of the world, to test boundaries, to try new things, while still respecting elders and our cultural history. As education providers we can nurture habits of critical thinking: who told me what I believe to be true, are they trustworthy, does this information stand up to scrutiny?

3-Jesus commands His disciples to love children
Jesus told His disciples to let the children come to Him. He was, by extension, telling them that children are just as valuable as their parents. In its time, this was ground breaking.
As we teach everyday, our actions of fairness, kindness, love, reliability, consistency, and integrity, express the love of God to each child. As a christian school we choose to show the simple love of Jesus through our actions, we teach skills which equip each student to grab opportunity, and we encourage them in prayer.

I should point out that while we’re passionate about the transformational power of Jesus in our lives, we don’t teach doctrine at Teouma Christian Academy. Because while we want each of our students to have a life-giving relationship with Jesus, doctrine is for the nation’s pastors to teach in church. Our priority is to share Jesus’ love and sacrifice with every child in a safe, caring, and nurturing environment where they get the highest possible quality of education too.
Our students are Vanuatu’s future leaders, farmers, educators, business owners, and sports stars. We must give them our best.