Fiji Mission Celebrates Early Missionary Work Over 132 Years
The Fiji Mission on Thursday, 3 August commemorated the 132 years of Adventism in Fiji and acknowledged the sacrifice of the church’s pioneers and missionaries of the late 1800s.
The celebration was held at the Fiji Mission headquarters in Suvavou and attended by retired mission workers, representatives from Suvavou village, church members and FM and TPUM staff.
FM president Pastor Nasoni Lutunaliwa during the celebration said; “The work in Fiji or the Pacific would not exist without the sacrifice and faithful toil of missionaries and church workers who gave their lives to God’s call and bravely went forth to teach, raise disciples and make a difference in an atmosphere of indifference and danger.”
He made specific mentions of John I Tay and his wife Hannah who came on board the Pitcairn to Fiji, sold medical books to Europeans living in Suva and were the first Seventh-day Adventist Missionaries to Fiji.
The late John died of influenza on January 8, 1892, just five months after their arrival and is buried at the Suva cemetery in Suva awaiting the Lord’s return. “If it had not been for their willingness to answer the call to service, it would have taken much longer for the word of God to reach you and me,” said Pastor Nasoni.
“You and I have received the blessings of the light shed through the service of these missionaries. We need to continue their legacy and pick up the challenge to be witnesses to other parts of our globe that need our service,” he added.
Nausori Church elder, Epeli Narisia, shared his father’s missionary assignment to the island of Rotuma when he was just a six-month-old infant. He said they lived under a thatched shelter made of leaves for weeks before being accepted into the community. His dad, the late Pastor Jope Narisia was the first Adventist missionary to Rotuma.
Retired education director and teacher Peni Dakua shared a brief history of Adventist Education in Fiji. “Early missionaries were committed to establishing Adventist schools and the church grew exponentially in the early 1900s in areas that had Adventist schools,” said Mr Dakua.
TPUM president Maveni Kaufononga said Fiji, Samoa and Tonga received Adventism around the same time and were under one mission and leadership.
“The church has grown, and we can only acknowledge how God has led anointed servants and missionaries and past leaders in how Adventism has grown in the region,” said Maveni.
“We are here because of the sacrifices of men and women who had gone before us, and it is our duty to leave a legacy that will harness God’s work for those that will come after us,” Maveni added.
Story by Joni Vatuvatu