About Island Mission Support:

Island Missions Support, Inc. will be a full time hands on work among the thousands of islands in the South Pacific, many of them unreached due to their remote locations or poor transportation resources. Due to the shortage of resources of these countries’ governments, many of these islands exist without the basics of any kind of medical care. Child mortality rates are often very high. During natural disasters, such as hurricanes, tsunami, earthquakes and volcanic activity (this is the Ring of Fire region), they struggle with transporting desperately needed assistance of food, water, building materials, evacuations to safety, etc.

We will also be providing maritime assistance to missionaries, medical field teams, immunization teams, bible translators, local churches, etc. The transportation of all manner of cargo including food, water (we will have a large heavy duty water maker on board at all times) disaster relief supplies, building materials, clothing, Bibles, teaching supplies, and anything else that is needed or in need of transport!

Sample data on a few island groups:

Solomon Islands:

A total of 922 islands make up this 27,556 km² archipelago that is also named the Solomon Islands. It stretches 1,800 kilometres from the Short lands in the east to Tikopia in the west and nearly 900 kilometres from Rennell in the south to Ontong Java in the north. Of these 922 islands, there are 6 large ones (Choiseul, Isabel, Guadalcanal, Makira, Malaita and New Georgia), about 20 medium-size ones and numerous smaller ones. 347 of the islands are inhabited.

Vanuatu is usually said to contain 83 islands. 63 are inhabited

Fiji consists of 332 islands in the southwest Pacific Ocean about 1,960 mi (3,152 km) from Sydney, Australia. About 110 of these islands are inhabited.

PNG (Papua): 600 outlying Islands, with several large island groups.

Funding:

Read about the Missions Vessel!

The reality is that this sort of work cannot be safely accomplished cheaply. As one missionary recently put it, “We have reached the easy and inexpensive peoples...what's left are peoples that are either expensive to get to, physically dangerous to get to or politically dangerous to get to.

The need for this kind of mission service and support vessel in this part of the world is huge! The vessel has fuel and storage capacity to operate unsupported for months at a time. Fuel will be our largest expense. Suitable navigation, safety and communications gear will also be required as charting here is often inadequate or wrong, and gear must meet international standards especially as we will often be carrying medical and/or disaster relief teams.

Our estimated annual operating budget to keep the vessel working full time is $150,000 a year. This amount of funding will ensure proper maintenance, safety and help meet the needs of whoever can utilize our services year round. We will be entrusting our lives and the lives of any who travel with us to this vessel and it needs to be kept in good condition and repair and properly equipped. 

In this part of the world where we are called to operate, maritime operations are often the only way to access these people. There are no roads, there are no air fields or places to build air fields. The only way to operate safely in these areas is with suitable maritime resources. Missionaries all too often are depending on unsafe local vessels and missionaries have been lost this way. Also, in terms of disaster relief, the local governments are often overwhelmed through a lack of adequate maritime resources.

Many think of the South Pacific as a peaceful paradise on earth, unfortunately this is untrue. There have been civil wars, coups, poor health care, environmental devastation and even hunger in some areas. Many still live in the darkness of animism, witchcraft, ancestor worship and cargo cults. Some areas are considered to be the most dangerous places on earth for women to live. Wife beating, rape and human trafficking are serious issues that need to be addressed. We believe it is only through the power of God that these issues can be successfully addressed in order to give these people hope for the future. We hope to be the hands and feet to help supply that need by offering maritime logistics and support to many agencies and organizations already working in the area.

Island Missions Support, Inc. is a verified non-profit organization.

IRS Code: Section 501(c)(3)