 Charles & Barbara Dugnolle
Global Teams Missionary since 1987
From
United States of America
Missionaries Emeritus to
The Solomon Islands, (South Pacific)
Currently
Retired
Charles Dugnolle
Our initial call to missions in 1984 was a "generic" calling from the Lord
with no place or ministry in mind. However, in 1985 the Executive Director of
Global Teams, then
EWM, visited our home church and delivered a presentation on
missions. We did not know at the time that he had just received a letter from a Bishop of
the Church of Melanesia (Anglican) asking EWM to send a missionary who could
teach people how to "test eyes and make glasses." As we spoke after the
service he asked about our backgrounds and we said that we had both been teachers and that
I was currently a practicing optometrist. When he told us about the letter he had
just received we knew that God was continuing to confirm our call to missions.
Part of the eye care center ministry included training others to be
able to provide basic optometric vision care. This was a challenge because the
average educational level of most young men in the Solomon Islands was only about 7-8th
grade. There were secondary school graduates but they usually found employment with banks
or other businesses. Being an eye specialist did not sound exciting and the pay was not
very encouraging. In the end the Lord provided me with two men with a 4th grade education
but gifted with intelligence and talented in mathematics, language, and communications.
There are about 80 different languages in the Solomon Islands and so
frequently examinations had to be performed using at least one translator and sometimes we
had two translations between us and the patient. In some cases cultural barriers were a
serious impediment to communication. For example, women in some ethnic groups of the
Solomon Islands are not allowed to talk to men outside of their extended family.
The training consisted of three years of basic math and directed
higher math, anatomy and physiology of the head and eyes, optics, and examination
procedures and skills, and opticiantry. In short, those skills necessary to enable the men
to perform a refraction, prescribe and dispense a spectacle prescription.
Barabara Dugnolle
In the Solomon Islands I started a mission school which grew quite large and is now two
primary schools, and a secondary school. Our schools are very basic as far as the
physical structures go but we teach good solid academics and with a strong Christian
emphasis . The teachers came to know the Lord personally through our teaching.
The school was founded on Jesus Christ as the foundation, the teachers were taught that
Jesus was our heavenly Headmaster of the school, and that the children we taught were
God's children and we were directly responsible to Him for their care and nurturing.
This was reflected in the spirit that prevailed throughout the school. You
could sense that the Lord was present and even those who didn't know the school would
comment on it as they visited.
The Solomon Islands
We lived in a village outside the capital city. We figured that to minister to
people you had to live with them. We had no running water, no electricity etc.
We could not live exactly as the people did but the efforts we made to live simply
were noted and deeply appreciated.
These past years have been very troublesome times for the Solomon Islands citizens.
Civil unrest and fear have been their constant companions, along with hunger and lack of
government infrastructure to provide badly needed necessities like health services and
general law and order. Through all of this the school and the clinic remain
providing vision care and education. And they will continue because they were
ordained by the Lord. One government school a short distance from us was completely
destroyed by rebels, ours remains untouched. The clinic surrounded by looting and
damage has survived unscathed. This is to the Glory of the Lord!
In 1997-8 when things looked very bleak the Lord gave us this scripture. Psalm
33:11. "But the plans of the Lord stand firm forever, the purposes of His heart
for all generations." We can rely on that....a work we may have started will
prevail when it is according to His purposes....despite all that man can do or say.....God
is God, may His will be done.
Our Retirement
At the age of 71 in 2002, our retirement is only from missions and not from active
ministry. We are both looking forward to what God holds in store for us in our
future. |
