Progress in the South Pacific

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Sep 27, 1906

Progress in the South Pacific

Fiji

Malachi, our Fijian brother who has been in attendance at the Avondale school for some time, left on the steamship “Suva,” July 11, for Fiji, where he will connect with our training-school at Buresala. Malachi made good progress at Avondale, and also gained a valuable experience in various industrial lines carried on at the school that will prove very helpful in our school work in Fiji.

Tonga Islands

Sister Thorpe, of Tonga, writes: “Our school membership ran down to fourteen natives for several weeks, owing to the opening of the new European school, and to the building and opening of the Catholic school, and also to the starting of a church-school by the Free Church, which is free to all students. But the tide has turned again, and our school numbers twenty-four, with prospects of more. Some of the children who left us, returned, saying that there was no school like Miss Boyd’s school. We are thankful to the Lord for his goodness and remembrance of his work in this place.”

Rarotonga

Brother M. W. Carey writes of the week of prayer (held in our midsummer) in the Raratongan school:—

‘The Sabbath before the week of prayer I made an appeal to the children to ‘surrender their hearts to the Lord. One, who was the worst boy in the school, responded. I thought of the plan of getting the Christian students to work for the unconverted. So I took the only two professed Christians and unfolded the plan. Every night during the week of prayer, we three met for prayer and counsel. The readings were conducted every morning in Maori by Brother Piper.

“On the fourth evening after worship, the student previously mentioned asked me if he could speak to the other children. He related his experience since his conversion, telling his trials as well as his victories; how he had told an untruth to Sister Piper, and how the Lord gave him strength to confess it to me, and then to Sister Piper. He then asked them to give their hearts to Jesus. The Holy Spirit carried his words home, and I could see that a deep impression was made. I then spoke for a while, urging them to surrender in this the accepted time, when our study period was turned into a prayer-meeting. Every one at this time surrendered his heart to Jesus.”

—Australasian Union Record.