p. 9 | A Pleasant Call at Fiji by A. G. DANIELLS.

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Jan 7, 1915

A Pleasant Call at Fiji

By A. G. DANIELLS.

Our journey of nine days on the Canadian-Australian steamer “Marama,” from Honolulu to Fiji, was very pleasant and restful. Early Friday morning we found ourselves sailing among the two hundred and thirty islands of Fiji. About noon we sighted Suva, where we hoped to meet Pastor J. E. Fulton, the president of the Australasian Union Conference. When near enough to locate the wharf, a passenger kindly placed at our disposal his long-field glass. Among those gathered to meet the boat we could discern a tall man looking over the heads of all the rest. Our party all agreed that this must be Brother Fulton. We were not mistaken; for when we drew near enough to distinguish the features of the people, there he stood with a number of our European missionaries and native students from the mission school.

As soon as we could land, we were placed in an automobile to be taken to our mission station about five miles around the bay. But before leaving Suva we were driven about the town to get a glimpse of the tropical foliage, the governor’s residence, and the principal places of business. Suva is a larger and more modern and attractive town than we had expected to find in what had seemed to us such an isolated spot. But by the aid of steamship lines, isolated places that once seemed so far apart are being brought closer together and developed into centers of prominence and importance.

On our way to the mission station we passed the Suva cemetery, and knowing that our beloved Brother J. I. Tay was buried there, we took time to visit the grave. As we stood in silence by the resting place of our fallen brother, the early history of our island work in the South Pacific was revived. We praise Him who has charge of this work, for its glorious triumphs since our pioneer missionaries first began work in these islands. Could Brother Tay have visited the mission with us that afternoon, he would have rejoiced in the sacrifice and service he was permitted to share in starting the good work in Fiji. He rests from his labors, but the work he began goes on.

We were glad that Brother Fulton, who went to Fiji to labor soon after Brother Tay’s death, knew just where the grave was, and we were pleased to find it as well kept as any in the cemetery. It is marked by a neat marble slab bearing the name and the dates of the birth and death of our fallen brother. As the light was favorable, we were able to get a photograph of the grave. I believe that in our mission fields the graves of all our workers who fall in the battle should be well cared for by those who succeed them. A neat head-piece giving suitable information should be placed at the head of the grave, and the grave itself should receive attention from time to time. It will do the living good to remember kindly those who toiled in the fields before them, and into whose labors they have entered.

On arriving at the mission station we had the privilege of meeting all our European workers in Fiji, and about two hundred of our Fijian brethren and sisters. They were attending the annual council, the date of which had been fixed so that we might meet while passing through Suva on our way to New Zealand. We were sorry that we could stay with these dear friends only twelve short hours. But we could not remain longer without being held a fortnight or a month, and this our general plans and appointments would not permit.

Shortly after reaching the mission station we were all gathered on the lawn in front of the church. We shall never forget the impressive exercises that followed. After a hymn and prayer, Pastor A. G. Stewart, the superintendent of the field, introduced us to the native brethren and sisters. Pastor Pauliasi Bunoa, our Fijian minister, gave us a cordial, whole-hearted welcome. He told how they had, for a long time, looked forward to this meeting, and how they had prayed that our ship might arrive in the daylight, that the weather might be good, and that no sickness nor anything should prevent us from having the meeting. He said that they were now all praising the Lord for answering their prayers.

He had the people grouped according to their church membership, and called them forward, a group at a time, for hand-shaking. In harmony with Fijian custom, each church brought one or more presents. The first who came forward spread on the grass in front of us a native mat made by those who brought it. On this were placed the presents brought by those who followed. These presents consisted of mats, baskets, fans, bottles of oil, whales’ teeth, and silver coins. Brother Bunoa said that the presents themselves were not great, but that they represented something great,—the love and gratitude of the Fijian brethren and sisters to the brethren in America and Australia for the glorious message they had brought to Fiji.

In explaining to us the feelings of the native brethren and sisters in making these presents, Brother Fulton told us that the whale’s tooth presented by a very aged brother had probably been treasured by him for half a century or more, and that very likely it was the dearest thing to him that he had ever possessed. He would not have parted with it for anything in this world but the saving message of Revelation 14.

In closing this part of our meeting, my wife and I told the brethren and sisters how we appreciated the presents they had brought us, and that we should take them with us as tokens of their love for our people who had sent the message to them. We also told them of the deep interest our people in America and Australia still feel in the work in Fiji, and of our hope of meeting them around the throne of God in his kingdom.

We then retired for lunch before the evening service. This lunch hour was a most enjoyable and profitable one. Eleven European guests gathered round Brother and Sister Stewart’s table in the mission home. These were Brother Fulton; Brother and Sister White, who have charge of the school; Brother and Sister Butler and Sister Clark, who are connected with the school; Sister Meyers, in charge of the work for the Indians; and our party of four. We were so glad to form the acquaintance of these workers and to learn from them all we could about their field and their work. We should fain have prolonged this interview into hours, but we could not stay the hands of the clock, and before we had finished, the bell rang calling all to the evening service.

When we entered the church, we looked upon one of the most impressive scenes of our lives. The building was packed with two hundred Fijians sitting on the mat-covered floor instead of on chairs or forms. The bushy heads and stern countenances of the men reminded us of the pictures and the accounts we had seen of the Fijians in their savage, cannibal days. But the Bibles they all held in their hands, and the quiet, reverent attitude they manifested, testified that a marvelous change had come to them. In the light of this transformation, the sight was a beautiful one. They followed me closely with their Bibles as I turned from scripture to scripture during the discourse. They were not at all demonstrative, and I was not altogether sure while speaking that they fully understood me (of course I was speaking through an interpreter); but in the testimony meeting that followed, I learned that they understood all, and that they were deeply impressed. In a quiet way, yet with deep feeling, they told of their gratitude to God for sending his Son to redeem them. They also told of the great blessing the third angel’s message had brought to them, and of their determination to hold on to the end. It was deeply impressive and very touching to see the tears glistening in the eyes of these dear souls rescued from cannibalism and savagery, and to hear them tell with quivering lips of their love for Christ, and of their desire and determination to put away from

their lives everything that is wrong.

The only believer in that audience of two hundred who was then using tobacco confessed his wrong, and promised that by the help of the Lord he would turn from it. What a marvelous transformation God has wrought in the lives of these people! At the close of this wonderful meeting the brethren and sisters and the little boys and girls all filed by to say farewell, and wish us Godspeed as we continued our journey.

The Lord has greatly blessed the labors of our missionaries in Fiji. This is the largest, strongest center we have in the island mission fields of the South Pacific. We have between three hundred and four hundred members living in nine of the principal islands of the group. Among these are a number of chiefs who have a strong influence among their people. This helps to gather the natives to our fold. Our brethren and sisters are active in missionary work. Some are developing into good evangelists. The headquarters of our work is located at the mission we visited near Suva. At Buresala, on the island of Ovalau, only a short distance from Suva, we have a good school, in which we are giving the young people who attend the education and training they need to prepare them to work in the Master’s cause. We met several of these students, and were greatly pleased with their appearance. They have bright, intelligent faces, and show in every way that they are responding to good training.

We were also pleased to meet Sister Meyers, formerly of India, who is in charge of the work being carried on in Suva in behalf of a large number of Indians who have come to Fiji to live. Sister Meyers understands the language of this people, and has a deep burden for their salvation. Their change of views and of heart is a slow process, but she toils on, confident of good results. She needs our prayers as she pursues this difficult task.

At 10 P. M. we motored back to Suva to catch our steamer for New Zealand. Our hearts were filled with gratitude for the privilege of even a short visit to Fiji. It was an inspiration to us, leading us to renew our consecration to our Master for the finishing of his work.

Brother Fulton accompanied us to New Zealand. The four days we were together at sea gave us an opportunity to become better acquainted and to counsel regarding various features of the work in the Australasian Union Conference.

A. G. DANIELLS.