Our Gud Nius Redio station in the Solomon Islands 
is in one of the few buildings still standing after most of the commercial district of Honiara (Chinatown) was burned to the ground during riots this week. Tina Lemazi, our station manager said it was the worst violence they had seen in Honiara - even worse than the ethnic tensions and civil war a few years ago.

Gud Nius Redio is 
upstairs in this building 

The building next to the station was owned by Asians and it was set alight and gutted yesterday and should have burnt down the station too, but the wind changed suddenly and the station still stands. A true miracle. She says her and the guys had cleared the station of all its equipment to avoid looting and they've just being praying right through out the building. he says things have quietened today since RAMSI (Graham's note: RAMSI is an international police and military force in the Solomons to restore order after the recent ethnic conflict) put in curfew, but she says it was really frightening, worse even than the ethnic tensions they had. Everyone is fine, no physical casualities. They don't have phone lines so we can't call . . ."

We haven't heard from the station since 
This morning (back in NZ) I checked the newspapers and read things like . . .

• "Chinatown, the heart of the capital's commercial district, was reduced to ashes and wreckage on Tuesday night. The Solomons Star newspaper reported just five buildings remained standing after the night's violence." (Graham's note: Praise the Lord that one of them is Gud Nius Redio).
• "Things took a turn for the worse when over 1,000 looters, many waving machetes, flooding into Honiara's Chinatown district yesterday afternoon."
• "Chinese families living above their stores jumped for their lives from burning buildings and swam across a nearby river to escape rioters late on Tuesday . . . "
• "Many ethnic Chinese were cowering on boats in the harbour, too scared to return to the ruins of once-prosperous businesses . . ."

And thankfully, I also read . . .

• "Captain Greg Moyle - in charge of the New Zealand military contingent in Honiara - said the trouble had eased because rioters were getting tired."
• ". . . the RAMSI force and local law enforcement were initially unable to contain the riots because of the violence and speed with which they escalated. The arrival of additional Australian forces, the declaration of emergency powers, and no-go zones had made a significant difference. The situation is relatively calm, but still fragile."

Corruption not racism 
The Solomons is a chain of 990 Islands and home to about 500,000 people who speak approximately 100 different languages. The capital, Honiara is a rough town of about 50,000 people where most of the businesses are run by Asian immigrants.

Many reports make the present riots sound like an anti-Asian issue, but it is much more to do with tribalism and corruption within government. Both Mainland China and Taiwan are competing to pour millions of dollars into our Pacific Island neighborhood in an attempt to gain political favoritism and strategic influence. The word on the streets of Honiara is that the campaign of the new ruling coalition (elected just last week) was funded by Chinese money. And there are claims that when the newly elected members voted to determine who among them would be prime minister, Chinese money was offered in bribes to ensure "their man" was elected. 
Which it seems, he was.

Political unrest quickly turned into youth anarchy 
As you walk through the streets of Honiara, you become very aware of the huge numbers of young people hanging around with little to do. Jobs are few; money is scarce; prospects are grim. No wonder trouble flares so quickly.Just like the fighting between warlords and armed gangs three or four years ago, this present trouble seems to have started with unrest over government corruption. And then quickly got out of hand when groups of mainly youths took the opportunity to riot and loot and burn. There is no hope for them apart from Christ!

Not just a Solomons problem 
I regularly hear news of violence and anarchy in PNG. Inter-tribal wars in remote areas and gangs of youths (called Rascals) roaming the towns looking for trouble.

And similar problems fester near the surface in some Polynesian countries. For example, we sometimes hear about political unrest in Tonga, but we don't hear about the rising youth violence. Or the numbers of Chinese immigrants being bashed and robbed. Tonga has a growing problem with "deportees" from street gangs in (mainly) American cities. These young people have been deported back to Tonga after doing jail time. They arrive as hardened criminals who easily influence the less sophisticated local youths into violent crime. So a country with a peaceful reputation like Tonga (called the "Friendly Islands) could be only a few years away from the same sort of anarchy we see in Honiara!

The South Pacific Islands are 11 million people. Estimates vary, but young people could make up over 60% of this figure. That's 6.6 million! And like Honiara - everywhere jobs are few; money is scarce; prospects are grim.

There is no hope for the youth, or for their nations, outside of Jesus Christ! 
This gives me a fresh sense of urgency for our ministry. Oh God, give ius Christian radio in all these places. Make us an effective ministry so the people will come to know the power of the Gospel, to help them live peaceful and fruitful lives for Jesus Christ!"

Graham A Carter 
Chief Executive 
UCB Pacific Partners