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Rarotonga

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Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Aug 1, 1907

FromReview and Herald, Vol. 84, No. 31.

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Rarotonga

By W. H. Pascoe

On arriving at this mission field four months ago, we were delighted with the beauty of Rarotonga, and also with the fertility of its soil. The waving palms, the luxuriant foliage, the native fruits growing in abundance, and all the natural surroundings forcibly remind us of the tender love and compassion of Jesus, and of that happy Eden home now being prepared for all who will trust and obey.
Although so beautiful, this island does not escape the blighting curse of sin. The climate, being tropical and moist, is most enervating. Mosquitoes, fleas, flies, and ants torment the stranger day and night. Food quickly sours and molds and fills with insects, so that one has to be careful in examining what he eats. The natives are friendly, kind, and affectionate, but their intellectual abilities are small. In morals they are almost as low as it is possible to fall, and as a result the island is full of dreadful venereal diseases. Some such expression as, “a mixture of purgatory and paradise,” would give a good idea of the conditions existing in this field.
Our mission in the Cook Islands was opened in 1894, and the work since then has been almost wholly confined to Rarotonga. A church has been organized, and the message taken to every home on the island. As in every other place where the truth has been proclaimed, the majority have turned away, and are now more difficult to reach than the heathen who have never heard the gospel.
Recently we had the pleasure of baptizing a young man who was won by the truth under the faithful labors of Brother Piper. This young man is growing in the knowledge and love of the third angel’s message, and he has expressed the desire to become a worker in giving the truth to the other islands.
Our school had an attendance of thirty-one, but owing to sickness it has fallen to twenty-three. Among these there are some earnest young people, who, with faithful training, we believe will prove efficient workers for the Master.
There are several other populated islands in this group that have had little, if any, work done for them; for these we must plan to labor as soon as possible. We now have a small neat monthly paper Tuatua Mou, which we are endeavoring to circulate. Already its influence for good is being witnessed.
A short time ago a native of one of the neighboring islands came on a visit to Rarotonga and got a copy of Tuatua Mou in the house of his friend. Becoming deeply interested in the truth, he came to me and gave me a year’s subscription for the paper. He also asked me to supply him with all the native literature we have on hand, and wanted to know whether we could not come across to his island to teach the natives. “We have the Catholics,” he said, “but do not like them; the missionaries’ words and actions are not good. Your people have the truth, the good, pure religion, and we want you to come over to teach us and to teach our children.” He signed his name as Ariki, or chief, and said that he would speak to his king on his return, and that when we arrived, we should find a piece of land awaiting us.
The Lord is opening the way before us, and, lifting up our eyes, we see that the fields are white already to harvest. The islands are truly waiting for his law, and are calling loudly for workers and means to give them the last message. The call is not so much for men and women of brilliant talent, as for workers who love the souls for whom Christ died, those who will in meekness and humility lift up the standard of truth before the darkened minds of these poor, dying natives. “The harvest truly is plenteous, but the laborers are few.”
W. H. Pascoe.