Australasia by J. E. FULTON

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Tacoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Mar 16, 1916

Australasia

By J. E. FULTON

J. E. FULTON

AUSTRALASIA has been more or less affected during the last year and a half by the great European war, and has suffered also during a part of this period from some rather severe droughts. But notwithstanding all these hindrances, we are glad to say that the work of the Lord has gone forward very encouragingly. There has been a greater interest in the truth than before, and in spite of the financial stringency, the tithes and offerings have increased. This speaks for increased faithfulness.

Eight Conferences in Australasia

There are now eight organized conferences in Australasia, six in the Australian Commonwealth and two in New Zealand. Until the beginning of 1915 New Zealand was one conference; but steamer travel from the extreme north to the extreme south was difficult and expensive, and the field was very hard to operate. By the division it is thought the work can be carried on to better advantage and more economically. Tasmania has also recently been organized into a conference. It was once a conference by itself, but some years ago the brethren decided to make it part of the Victorian Conference. However, the organization did not prosper as it should, and it was thought that more care should be given to the churches than could be given when the president must take a steamer voyage to reach the field. Since the reorganization the work is coming up, and we are sure the step was a wise one.

The First Island Conference

It has been decided to organize the churches of Fiji into a conference. There are ten churches, made up of two hundred and thirty members. There are about fifteen native evangelists in this field. There are eighteen Sabbath schools, with a membership of three hundred and sixty. The headquarters of our work in Fiji is at Suva Vou, near the capital; and at Buresala, on the island of Ovalau, we have a training school for native workers. This school has a membership of forty, and has proved a great blessing to the field. It has supplied workers for other islands, four missionaries having been sent to New Guinea. It is expected that the new organization will go into effect about July 1, 1916, and that Pastor C. H. Parker, now in the New Hebrides, will be the president. Brother Parker labored in the Fijian field a number of years, and we are sure the work will prosper under his earnest labors.

There are over fifty thousand Indians in Fiji, who have been brought there to work on the sugar-cane plantations and in the large sugar mills. Sugar making is a great industry. Fiji has one of the largest sugar mills in the world. How to get the truth before these people is a great problem. Their illiteracy, immorality, caste, and local surroundings make the task a most difficult one. Sister Ellen Meyers, formerly of India, has been toiling faithfully there for some years. She has done a good work in visiting among the Indian women, and in holding schools and Bible studies for them.

Good News from the Cannibal Islands

We have some faithful missionaries laboring in the New Hebrides and Solomon Islands, in districts where no other missionaries have ever labored, and we are glad to be able to report progress. People whose lives and whose attitude have been most forbidding are now turning to the light and welcoming our missionaries.

Brother Parker is now starting a mission on the island of Mallicolo, among the Big Nambus people who massacred several Presbyterian missionaries about two years ago. We believe that the Lord is especially working upon the hearts of the people at this time. Brother Parker has been holding meetings with the natives in their villages. From one place he writes:—

“The Lord is opening the way for us to start the work in Lalip, and we have had three Sabbath meetings with the villagers. Out of forty-four, forty-one were present yesterday. All but one man and his wife had laid aside their work and were resting on the Sabbath. The people were waiting for my coming. They are beginning to talk about a church; and I think we shall have one before long.”

Brother Parker asks God’s people for their special prayers in behalf of this new work.

Pastor G. F. Jones, who has been a few months in Australia on furlough, gives us equally thrilling reports about the work in the Solomon Islands. Some of the natives who seemed so far from God are making wonderful progress.

Other Southern Islands

Other islands in the Pacific are sending in encouraging reports. Samoa, where the work has gone so hard, now presents a very encouraging aspect. There have been two baptisms of native converts, and the interest seems to be growing. Pastor J. E. Steed is in charge. He does not have good health; but we pray that God may sustain him in his earnest labors.

From Tahiti, Society Islands, where Pastor F. E. Lyndon is in charge, good reports come of new converts being brought in. From the Cook Islands Mission, of which Brother G. L. Sterling is the superintendent, we learn of the work starting on a new island, and encouraging progress is reported from the work as a whole.

Australasia and the Far East

Australasia is now linked with the Far East. At our recent union conference council held at Warburton, Victoria, the plan was further considered, and this union is now taking on its responsibilities for the extension of the work, not only in the needy island fields which form a part of the union, but also in sending recruits and means for the great and populous countries of the Orient. The following recommendations passed at the council, having reference to the extension of the work, will be of interest:—

“That in addition to the tithe of our tithe received, we appropriate our Sabbath-school offerings as a contribution to the funds of the Asiatic Division Conference for the year beginning July 1, 1916.

“That we set our aim for missions at one shilling a week per member for the next fiscal year.

“That in view of the increasing need for the extension of our work in the needy mission fields, and in view of the nearness of the end, we make it our aim to raise £2,000 (about $10,000) in annual offerings during the coming week of prayer.”

New Officers for the Union

The writer having been appointed to the Asiatic Division, it was necessary to make provision to fill the vacancy caused by his resignation as president of the Australasian Union. Pastor C. H. Watson, a native of Australia, who has been vice president, was unanimously chosen to this office, and Pastor W. W. Fletcher, who has labored in various departments of our work, was chosen vice president. Brother Fletcher has also had a foreign mission experience, having labored in the East Indies some years ago. We are sure that these brethren, who have gained the confidence of our people here as leaders, will carry the work forward faithfully and efficiently.

While to the writer it will be a joy to work in that wonderful field, the Far East, there comes a keen sorrow at the thought of being called to a work that will of necessity separate him much of the time from local mission fields, local conferences, and institutions, with their constituencies and workers. Twenty-one years ago Mrs. Fulton and I, with our two little girls, arrived in this field, and here we have labored ever since. It has become a home as no other country is to us. To sever this close association with brethren we have learned to love and respect cannot be done without feelings of intense regret. But I take comfort in the thought that since the union conference is now linked with the Far East, from time to time I may have the happy privilege of attending meetings in Australia.