HB8 - 1915-1920 Seventh-Day Adventist Missionary Box
Norman Wiles
Born: August 25, 1892 - Adelaide, S. Australia
Died: May 5, 1920 - Malekula Island, New Hebrides
At 16 became a Seventh-day Adventist.
Entered the ministerial Course at Australian Missionary College and Graduated in 1914.
Norman marries
Alma Butz, the only child of American missionaries whom he met while in college at Avondale.
Norman is appointed by the Australasian Union Conference to serve his missionary in the
New Hebrides in 1915.
Norman Wiles Memorial Plaque
Plaque and Missionary Box
Finding the Memorial Plaque Started it All
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When I first saw the memorial plaque, that was in Australia, I fell in love with its beautiful early painting and design. I was very intrigued and inquisitive to find out who Norman Wiles was. The plaque was stored for many years on the dirt floor of a barn with tons of other stuff packed around it. The plaque was hardly visible from decades and decades of dust, cobwebs and pigeon droppings. I purchased the plaque and brought it to the United States and out of its native land. I knew that I would be able to find out who Norman was, with such a noble and dedicated memorial made to him. What I found out is a story of love, mission, bravery and death. It is a story of Norman Wiles and his wife Alma and their mission work as Seven Day Adventists in a very hostile environment. They were assigned to the New Hebrides to work and help the Big Nambus people. The New Hebrides is now the country of Vanuatu consisting of over 80 islands receiving their independence from France and the UK in 1980. The country today is over 93% Christian impart for the groundbreaking work that the Wiles did in their early ministry of the Word. I was able to find other pictures of Norman and Alma of their time on the island of Malekula and with the Big Nambus people. One of the pictures that I found shows Norman attending to a native's hand that was damaged in a gunpowder accident. The injured man’s arm is resting on a couple of boxes; was this Norman's box? What would be in the box? Below is what may have been in his box. All the artifacts from the native people are original to the islands.
Norman and Alma Wiles
Norman was born in Adelaide, Australia on August 25, 1892. He trained for the ministry at Avondale College where he would meet his future wife Alma Bernice Butz. Alma was born in San Francisco, California in 1894 where her parents were engaged in the ministry. From there, her parents were called to do mission work in the South Seas and South Australia. She met Norman in her teens while they were both attending Avondale College. From there, a friendship developed and deepened. After college, they married in the summer of 1914. Before they parted for their mission work on the Island of Malekula, they studied and acquired basic knowledge of tropical medicine at the Sydney, Australia Sanitarium. Norman and Alma would set up the first mission on the northwest coast of the island. Malekula consisted of many Big Nambas tribes speaking different languages. Some of the tribes were peaceful and others were very militant consisting of documented cannibalism. Where the Wiles decided to make base was in the heart of the militant cannibal tribe. At first the people were not too kind to them but over the five years, many of the natives became tolerant but others still were very hostile. The tropical weather was very hard on the Wiles with Norman having multiple fevers and sicknesses. In May of 1920 Norman made his rounds to minister to the Nambas in a very rainy season. The next day Norman came down with "black-water fever" and was suffering from convulsions. Within the next few days Norman is in and out of consciousness and on the fifth day dies. Alma is by herself in the tropical jungle scared and with no help from the natives. She must bury her husband and even digs his grave the next day with very little help. She is lost and needs to find safety for herself. Now that Norman is dead, some of the native people would have stolen from her, raped her or killed her. She was able to make it to another island with the help of two other natives and from there relay her message to Australia of save return. Alma was very distressed about leaving her work in Malekula and wanted to return, but the brethren thought it unwise. Alma never married again, she returned to the United States and completed her nursing training. For the rest of her life, she gave her service to Nigeria and New Guinea. Alma died in Loma Linda, California in 1980 at the age of 86.
Pastor and Mrs. Wiles with some of the Big Nambus men for whom they worked on Malekula. This photo was taken shortly before the death of Norman Wiles on May 5, 1920
Alma, as a college student, posing with her parents, Elder Edwin and Mrs. Florence Butz.
Norman attending to the injured hand of a Big Nambus native with his son looking on.
*Note the box under the supported arm of the man.
This photograph is of two Big Nambus natives on the island of Malekula. The photo was taken in 1915, the same year that Norman and Alma arrived on the island. How could Norman and Alma blend the peaceful bushmen from the east side of the island with the most warlike cannibals on the west side? How could their mission blend these conflicting spirits and bring peace to the savage hearts? After settling in their home in the village of Matanavat, Norman and Alma only attended to the needs of the local villages. After two years they reached out to different tribes, hoping to conquer the bushmen and Big Nambus for Christ. Most of the natives had never seen a white man.
Wedding Day Photo of
Norman & Alma Wiles
Summer of 1914
Very crude painted grave marker of Norman Wiles on the island of Malekula. When Norman died of black-water fever, the natives of the island would not assist Alma in the digging of his grave or preparation of his body.
She wrote later that the power to do all of this on her own came from God. Norman is buried on the other side of their vegetable garden overlooking the valley.
Norman and Alma's Missionary Box
Presented below are pictures of Norman and Alma's mission box and its contents. The box is very crude and handmade with a single removable tray. The contents in the box are both personal belongings and examples of Big Nambus crafted items; these items were most likely given as gifts to the Wiles. The inside of the box was lined with hand crafted and colored marbleized paper. The items in the box are detailed and pictured on page 2 of this box. A link to page 2 is below.
Continue looking at detailed pictures of the artifacts in the Missionary's box by going to page 2.
Click Below.
