TRANSFORMATIONS IN THE PACIFIC

by: Ian Shelton & Sentinel Group
date: 2/3/2003
Category: Nations

Dedication and transformation of islands in the Pacific

Following are three articles on "Transformation of Society” as reported this month in One Heart newsletter January 2003; Australia.

Our contact, Ian Shelton, notes that the dedication of Vanuatu and the up coming covenanting of the Fiji-group is “top down,” using the terminology as developed in “The Nations Called,” ch. 5



(1) VANUATU DEDICATED TO ALMIGHTY GOD

The tiny south Pacific nation of Vanuatu has been dedicated to the Lord.
At the opening of the 12th South Pacific Prayer Assembly in the capital Port Vila last October, Prime Minister Edward Nipake Natapei pledged that his nation would serve no other gods.
"Almighty God, I ask that your favour, peace, prosperity, justice, salvation, healing and power rest upon the Republic of Vanuatu and on the people of Vanuatu.
"I, the Prime Minister, submit this nation into your mighty hands."

Ian Shelton



(2) TRANSFORMATION IN FIJI

Instead of plotting revolution, the imprisoned perpetrators of the May 2000 coup in Fiji now worship the Lord.
"You wouldn't believe the worship that is going on there," says Josua Mateiwai, the senior pastor of Suva's Christian Outreach Centre and one of the key leaders in the revival there.
The sound of singing coup leaders overspilled into the officers' mess, with many giving their lives to Christ, forcing the closure of the liquor canteen.
The infamous George Speight, who took over the Fijian Parliament at gunpoint, has also bowed his knee to Christ.
The transformation of the coup leaders is a small reflection of the wider transformation that is taking place in the nation of Fiji.
Out of desperation, Fiji's churches, used to acting independently of one another, came together in the wake of the coup-inspired violence and economic downturn. Public repentance and reconciliation services have been held in the presence of the Prime Minister, Laisenia Qarase, and President, Ratu Josefa Iloilovatu Uluivuda, throughout the nation. Apologies have been issued to the Indian community who bore the brunt of racial violence during the coup.
"The Christian church is having a voice in the nation," says Mateiwai.
The role of the churches, including the newly-formed peak unity body, the Assembly of Christian Churches, is recognised by the Government.
"Churches have also played an important role in the developing Fijian unity," the Government's website says.
George Otis Junior, producer of the Transformations videos, has just completed filming for another documentary in Fiji.
He has interviewed the President, PM, members of Parliament and Indian business people who have spoken highly of the church's role in Fiji's recovery.
For a nation that had no unity amongst its Christian denominations, divisive racial problems and widespread poverty, Fiji has come a long way since church and political leaders began praying together about their problems.
Today the church is helping disciple the nation.

Ian Shelton



(3) THE DAY THE FISH CAME BACK

Firewalking has ceased and productivity has been restored to repentant Fiji Islands,

About two-thirds of the way from Hawaii to New Zealand lie the 300 or so islands of Fiji.
Located on the 180 Meridian where the dawning of each new day occurs, Fiji is now experiencing the dawning of a new day in the transformation of the people and the land.
On the island of Beqa, in the village of Rukua, God's work of regeneration is clearly seen.
A little over three years ago the village was 10 percent Christian. Home of the traditional firewalking clan who welcomed demonic powers, Rukua had previously been considered one the worst places in Fiji.
The economy was in ruins, and the people unproductive, spending their time drinking kava.
Families were broken, and its women were not well treated. Rukua experienced many premature deaths, leaving many widows.
Devastatingly, the offshore reef had died and the fish disappeared. Fruit trees no longer bore plentifully.
The transformation of Rukua began after a chronic drunk was healed of a serious problem with his leg. People took notice, became curious, and came to the Lord by the dozens.
Now, 80 percent of the village is born again. George Otis, Jr., who recently visited Fiji and this village said, "The whole village has taken on the cast of a place where God is at work. The people repented and the reef sprung back to life gloriously."
He reports that the fish have returned in abundance. Trees in the village have begun to bear fruit, even rare tropical fruit used for medicinal purposes.
Lemons, which were rare, are now bearing year round.
All the firewalkers from this priestly clan have been saved, have repented of and no longer practice firewalking.
The firewalking pit is overgrown with vegetation and the demonstration is no longer available for tourists.
Although there are others outside this clan who still practice firewalking as a spiritual exercise, the authentic core in Rukua do not.
Rukua is just one of dozens of places in Fiji that are experiencing transformation of the people and the land - and theirs isn't even the most dramatic story.
On the island of Nairai in the village of Tovulailai there wasn't enough food to sustain the villagers.
The fish had been disappearing for 55 years. Papaya, mango and other fruit trees were not producing. Desperate, the people prayed, repented and dedicated their land back to God, in effect cleansing the land.
Shortly afterwards, fish started swarming the beaches. In a short period of time, the peoples' nets were swamped with 2,500 good-size fish. The rest were diverted away from the beaches.
In other places the sea cucumbers, long over-harvested and depleted, are coming back in abundance, and crabs are again plentiful.
The turning point in each case has been the repentance of the people and the dedication of the land to the Lord.
Rev. Vono, a humble, self-effacing man of God, has been meeting with the chiefs of the districts who want to see the favour of God upon their people and land. He leads them through the process of what this will take, which is first getting their hearts right with God.
After the people have repented, he instructs them to bring a handful of soil, and a jar of seawater-symbols of what needs to be restored-and then corporately commit the land to the Lord.
Vono, who has the blessing for his work of the high levels of the Methodist Church (the largest denomination in Fiji), says that in each case where the people turn to God and commit their land to the Lord, it instantly begins to rain.
George Otis Jr., says, "It's as if the Lord is saying, 'I'm your partner now."
Dramatic restoration in the land and sea always follows.
As news of the people returning to God, the restoration of the land and even the return of the fish spreads like a tidal wave through the islands of Fiji, hunger is growing.
The people who greet the dawn first are singing a new song:
Sing to the LORD a new song,
His praise from the ends of the earth,
You who go down to the sea, and all that is in it,
You islands, and all who live them. (Isaiah 42:10)
Let them give glory to the LORD and proclaim his praise in the islands. (Isaiah 42:12)

Sentinel Group, Inger J Logelin.

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