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Borabora Island

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Review and Herald Publishing Association · Tacoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Feb 17, 1910

FromReview and Herald, Vol. 87, No. 7.

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Borabora Island

By Geo. L. Sterling

GEO. L. STERLING
We arrived in Papeete, Tahiti, in July a year ago. After staying four or five days at the headquarters, we took steamer for Raiatea, about one hundred twenty miles distant. Here was to be our home; and we were soon settled on the mission plantation, and ready for work. We began by teaching in English the few English-speaking children who were there; these were mostly young people from Pitcairn. We also took some native Tahitian children who wished to learn English. This association with the native children was a source of great help to us in learning the native language, which we realized was essential for us before we could labor directly for the native people. Our school was never large. We had only about twenty-five students.
School work for these people has never proved what we would like to see. There did not seem to be the demand for the school that there was for some other kinds of work. So at our conference, held in Papeete, Tahiti, in July, it was decided to change our plans somewhat, and not try to have a large school. If a few desired to attend school, it was thought that the one in charge of the plantation could arrange to teach them. This left us free to do something else, and the conference, very early in its session, voted to send us out with some other young native workers into new island territory.
As soon as possible after the conference, we left on our missionary schooner “Tiare” (flower) for our new field of labor. We first stopped at the island of Huahine. Here we have a neat little church building, and a few native Sabbath-keepers. Our schooner went on with her load of freight, and we remained with these people till the schooner's return. During this time we studied the prophecies with our believers and the people of the village, and visited nearly all the subscribers to our native paper, on this island. We secured a few new subscribers, and handed out quite a little reading-matter.
Just two weeks and three days brought our schooner again. We packed up our few belongings and boarded her that same day to return to Raiatea again. Here we remained about four weeks. We held a few meetings, and assisted our little companies in their Sabbath meetings. Brother Deane, the native young man with us, being a blacksmith, improved a few days of his stay in doing some needed repair work on the mission farm wagons. I took the opportunity to go around the island in the interests of our native paper. This required nearly a week.
As soon as possible, we planned to go to our new field. This was the island of Borabora. We took passage on a little cutter, and after eighteen hours with light head wind, we reached what was to be for a time our home and field of labor.
Assisted by a kind white man of the island, we soon found a comfortable frame house with galvanized iron roof, which, when we had washed and scrubbed thoroughly, furnished a very neat home for us.
Here we are now, having been located only a few weeks. This is not a large island. One can easily walk around it in two days. We hope to be able to get the truth before every person on the island. This will necessitate our traveling about quite a little, for there are two settlements besides scattered houses outside of the little settlement in which we live. This is practically new territory for our truth. Brother B. J. Cady visited the island about a year ago, and stayed two or three days. He found the people anxious that he should stay, or that he should send some one to teach them. They seemed pleased that we have come. Of course they are more ready to receive us and talk with us than they are to receive the message that we bring, but we hope for some fruit as the result of our labor in this place. They seem much interested in the prophecies, and say that they know the seventh day is the true Sabbath. Pray for us that we may so present the blessed truth to these people that some of them will accept it.
Society Islands.