Can you visit us on Sunday?

From the left, Mele, Tima, Varane and Ateca, my delightful Sunday hosts

That was the question Ateca (pronounced Atetha) asked me when she called into the Education by Extension office on Friday afternoon. On Fridays she comes over to Pacific Theological College to pick up some in-service skills as a trainee librarian, but for the rest of the week she's working in the Methodist Theological College's library at Davuilevu, about an hour from Suva on the local bus.

'You should come to our service!' she beamed. 'I don't mean the one for the Ministers, the one for us in the Young People's Department (YPD). Please - come!' So I did.

Ateca has a certificate in Christian Education; the fruit of three years study on campus at the Methodist Church in Fiji's YPD. Since graduating, she's done all sorts of children's and youth work, and is clearly thinking hard about God's purposes for her life in the future. She originates from Sigatoka in the West, an area popular with tourists, and her bubbly personality and excellent communication skills have come 

into their own when she's been called on to introduce foreign visitors to village life and the local Methodist Church as part of their day trips. She shares a flat on campus with Mele who teaches in the campus pre-school and Varane who's just started her pre-school teacher training. Tima, also pictured at the top, works as an administrator for YPD during the week, but on Sunday was kindly the chef, producing a mouthwatering lunch which included miti ika lolo, fish with coconut milk, and tavioka, cassava. The feast was served and consumed in the gap between a 10.00am service and a 4.00pm one, with a visit to the Sunday School and a walk around the campus also featuring. Oh, and writing an on-the-spot sermon to preach at the 4.00pm. Did I mention that? 

The minister originally scheduled for the day had been called to another appointment. Mr Sanaila Yabakivou stepped in for the 10.00am - he's a Methodist Church in Fiji Catechist - and then suggested I took over at the 4.00pm. I felt honoured but appealed, humbly and politely. 'But forgive me, I haven't come prepared and it's such a significant week for Fiji (elections on Wednesday 17th) wouldn't a preacher who's local be so much better equipped to give the sermon today than someone as new as me?' 'Yes, but you will preach. I was also not supposed to lead worship today'. And so we helped each other out. As you do. 

My eyes and ears, fresh to Fijian Methodist Church life, found worship in the YPD formal, reverential, orderly and traditional. The choir, all in their twenties, practises for an hour before each service and on Tuesday evenings during the week. And it's hymns from a hymn book sung to 'familiar' Methodist tunes, so no problem for me with melodies, but a few tongue twisters in the lyrics. At the 4.00pm, Ateca kindly led the service - the first time she'd done so in English; her friend read the Gospel beautifully - also in English - and I did the preaching. YPD Sunday worship is normally conducted in Fijian, and why not indeed? My presence messed it up. But the experience raised for me yet again that sensitive and tricky issue about the vital value, actually, of emerging leaders in churches across the world being able to find and use their voices in English too, whenever possible. To be able to address public gatherings with competence and confidence is a mighty skill and affords you a place on the global stage, representing and advocating on behalf of your local context and community. And your Church, potentially. As my brain whirred on some of this during the choir's piece, the example of Malala Yousafzai as an inspirational young communicator on a global platform popped into my head. You get my drift?

After worship, back in the flat, on a mat, I threw out a few questions to the young women who'd been so hospitable and welcoming to me during the day. Why was it important for them to follow Jesus, profess the Christian faith, spend so much time in Church? I talked about the UK scene a little. 'Your peer group in the UK - many of them - don't show much interest in these things. What message do you have for them?' Responses included:

My mother and father schooled me in the faith and I think it's true. I want to follow what they say. 

We follow Jesus in this life because we're preparing for our journey back to him.

If young people reject Jesus Christ, they're going to hell - there's no eternal life for them. 

Jesus never stops knocking on our door - it's never too late.

Also of interest, inevitably, were issues of singleness, marriage, children and what choices may - or may not - be on offer to young women in the Methodist Church in Fiji. What might God require? Conformity? Nonconformity? New pathways combining the two? It had been reported with astonishment that the new Reverend from Britain was aged 53 (though she looks young) and she's never been married!  Being 'Exhibit A' in a new mission appointment is, I think, just part of the deal...

It was a super Sunday, and I'm grateful for the kindness of those who are now no longer strangers.

No shortage of inspirational texts posted by the flatmates 

After lunch is rest time apparently - unless there's a sermon to write...

A Sunday School song or two...

Catechist Mr Sanaila Yabakivou and I discuss the day's arrangements...

Quietly preparing for worship

 Ateca and I lead. Her favourite Bible verse is Jeremiah 29.11

For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope.

September spotlight for Fiji

Over here got a good mention from over there this week: featured on the Methodist Church in Britain's weekly e-news update.

Praying for Fiji. 
The Methodist Church in Fiji has particular prayer needs this month, so please pray for: 

• · the election taking place on 17 September: pray for a smooth return to democracy 
• · Revd Val Ogden, our newest mission partner who begins work this month: pray for good relationships 
• · 45 Fijian soldiers serving with the UN are being held captive in Syria: pray for safety and for their worried families 
• · Julia Edwards continues her work on climate change for the Pacific Conference of Churches: pray for her health and happiness

Two names were singled out above and that's much appreciated. But here are one or two others that deserve just as much prayer, recognition and remembrance. 

Click on this Fiji Live link and you'll read the names of the 45 Fijian soldiers detained in Syria, a story and concern much on people's lips and hearts. 

There was a peace vigil held at Centenary Methodist Church which received wide coverage, and at which Methodist Church President-elect Reverend Tevita Nawadra Banivanua said, 

"Our world is full of hatred. Methodist Church prayers will continue for people to do good, to do no harm through our speech and our actions." More coverage from the Fiji Times is here.

Having prayed for two mission partners plus 45 detainees and their families by name, could I trouble you to take a deep breath and pray for our National Election Candidates? Only 250 approx. For 50 seats. The Fiji Elections office proudly declares:

Every Fijian is gaining an equal voice for the first time. 

Every Fijian is gaining a vote of equal value. 

Raise your voice and use your vote for a truly democratic Fiji.

There's much election talk on campus and a community briefing meeting has been called by the Principal this Saturday as election day and its possible implications are anticipated. Memories of the year 2000 are inevitably rekindled. I'm looking forward to being part of that gathering here at the Pacific Theological College to gain a better sense of my new neighbours' hopes, fears, priorities and passions. It has seemed strange to register online myself only this week for a postal vote in the UK when the time comes. Already the London Borough of Croydon seems a world away. 

And happenings in the world of Education by Extension this week?

• I've learnt a lot about the Anglican Church in Melanesia from proof reading a draft Masters' dissertation. The topic of whether missionary initiated and inherited Church structures help or hinder contemporary mission loomed large. It's familiar territory in global mission and makes me scratch my head and sigh a lot. We are where we are and the structures we so often claim are immovable aren't, actually. Not if God-centred, Christ-like, Spirit-filled Church leaders really want change. What precisely IS stopping those with power from being inspirational visionaries, peaceful revolutionaries and Kingdom-bringers? Answers on a postcard.

• I've done some heart wrenching over a young Extension student from another Pacific Island who's longing for all sorts of reasons to remain in Fiji but has no more time left on his visa. He came and shared: respectful, hopeful, anticipatory, bright-eyed. Could I help with a persuasive letter to the authorities on his behalf? He's been enthusiastic and committed in his studies whilst living locally, making the most of PTC and participating regularly in the tutorials on offer. But the nature of our programme means that, in truth, there's no requirement for him to be resident in Fiji. He could study from back home by correspondence and with local support, as so many do. He doesn't want to do that, having other hopes and plans, and I admired him. It was complex. We prayed together. I sought advice from colleagues and didn't write the letter. Would it have made a scrap of difference anyway - who knows? But my heart felt heavy. What would you have done?

• I've attended my first Faculty meeting. This celebrated the conferring of Professor status on our Principal, Dr Feleterika Uili Nokise, Academic Dean, Dr Holger Szesnat and Dr Manfred Ernst of the Institute for Research and Social Analysis, alongside more predictable business. These awards are of huge significance at PTC as the College looks to the future. We were also given a celebratory lunch. Heavens, there was something phenomenally fiery in that chicken. We should feed it to the kind of Church leader criticised earlier. Sadly, Faculty Meeting lunches are only special treats, I was duly warned. More Professorships needed, clearly.

And finally, in the category of  'Gripping Personal News', I've found someone who can deal with dull and boring English hair. Bernadette (Bernie) has five diplomas, updated her beautician and stylist skills in Australia, America, Japan and New Zealand, and was Christmas beauty Fiji Sun girl in 1982. If I ever felt so moved, her salon near the Suva Hotel could thread my eyebrows, deal with my pigmentations and offer me a milk bath. (I don't recall John and Charles mentioning such options when in Georgia). Being a simple soul, I opted for a dry trim for the equivalent of £3.30. That's that sorted then.

Bula vinaka! Greetings and thanks!

Yes, greetings from the Pacific Theological College and thanks be to God for travelling mercies. I've spent a week acclimatising and work begins on 1st September. I'll post some introductory scenic pictures later - just for flavour!

Each morning this week it's been great for me - for body, mind and spirit - to join the PTC community for worship at 8.00. As soft breezes waft through the open windows of the hexagonal Chapel and voices are raised in sensitive, powerful harmony, God is surely in this place. 

I was expecting, naturally, the Body of Christ here to wear a predominantly Pacific face, but was interested and curious to scan a fair variety of others too. One group of participants from the 2014 Face to Face programme run by the Council for World Mission has been based here for experience and exposure. The programme offers an imaginative and potentially life changing cross-cultural experience for younger Christian leaders. Participants in training for ministry experience the realities of Church and society here in Fiji, or in India, based at Bishop’s College, Kolkata &
 Aizawl Theological College, Aizawl. Or at the United Church of Zambia Theological College. Hurrah! So on day one in Fiji,I was absolutely thrilled to meet student minister Rev Karen Mwenda who's been on the Zambia-Fiji option and was in her last week. Karen has been sponsored by Lubuto congregation in Ndola. I know it well from living in Ndola in the 1990s, and my dear Zambian 'Mum', Joyce Kapesa Simengwa is a member there. In due course, Karen will personally deliver a Fiji parcel with love from me to her. And so it goes that God's people connect again, mysteriously and wonderfully, across continents and experiences. Connections for treasuring. Encounters for transformation.

And, as promised,  a few glimpses of life in Suva...

And suddenly it's THIS month...

'When are you off?' 'Oh, next month', I say cheerfully. Except all of a sudden it's this month. Much revising for the PhD viva continues alongside mission formation and preparation, and it's immensely helpful to gain insights from those on the ground. For example, Julia Edwards whose mission service is with the Pacific Conference of Churches writes about campaigning in solidarity with the people of West Papua. National Golden Jubilee celebrations for the Methodist Church in Fiji take place from 17-23 August and will be massive and deeply significant. Communications officer Revd James Bhagwan reports in The Fiji Times on the acts of reconciliation that have already been a key part of the commemorations.

I've also found myself turning over and over in my mind, the excellent first priority that the Education by Extension programme at the Pacific Theological College claims so boldly. What we're about, it says, is to train lay Christians in the Pacific, both men and women, for theologically informed service in various forms of ministry.

It's a fabulous principle: that all our 'ministries' - which can often mean our endless, unexamined, Church-related busy-ness - shouldn't escape scrutiny. The kind which helps us decide whether what we do and how we do it is credibly theological: of God (theos) and reflecting God's reasoning (logos). All manner of activity is God-inspired, so we're urged to believe, but how is that established exactly? Beyond Church walls and on a global scale, horrendous atrocities are justified in the name of the Almighty. Does that mean credible theology has been at work? Mmmm. Conclude so with caution. The more I reflect on such matters, the more I'm convinced that there's a world of difference between a mind that's uncritically indoctrinated and one that's theologically informed. I'm certainly up for a spell of mission and ministry that prioritises the latter. 

A small commissioning within the Great Commission

Tomorrow, Sunday 20th July 2014, I'll be making promises in the context of morning worship at Upper Norwood Methodist Church. It's the tradition that Methodist Mission Partners are commissioned for service in the wider World Church, and this is the form of words.

World Church

Representative: 

We joyfully present this servant of God, to be commissioned for service in the World Church.

Leader:                 God's mission is one throughout the world and we thank God that you have responded to God's call to work in the Church overseas. You go to serve the Lord in the power of the Holy Spirit. As you live, work and worship with fellow Christians may you grow in mutual respect and love, so strengthening each other. We are one with you in this act of dedication. We will pray for you. Pray for us also.

    Will you share fully in the life of the Pacific Theological College to which you go, and accept       its discipline?

Candidate/s:     With God's help I will.

Leader:                 In the power of the Holy Spirit will you seek in your daily living to demonstrate the love of Christ and proclaim the Good News of God's Kingdom?

Candidate/s:     With God's help I will.

Leader:                 Will you try to stay open to the guidance of the Holy Spirit so that you may be enabled to take your part in the mission of the Church, according to the opportunities available to you?

Candidate/s:     With God's help I will.

Leader:                 Will you maintain your links with the home Church, receiving its support and sharing your experience with it?

Candidate/s:     With God's help I will.

(The Congregation stands)

Leader:                 Members in Christ, will you support by your prayers, understanding and love this person now being commissioned, together with our brothers and sisters in Christ in the World Church?

All:                         With God's help we will.

(Candidate kneels, the Congregation remain standing)

Leader:                 In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, we commission you to serve and to witness in your life and work overseas.

All:                         Amen.

Leader:                 Almighty God, we thank you that you strengthen your Church for mission in all the world; bless this your servant whom you have called to serve in the worldwide Church. Give her insight and adaptability, courage and good judgement. Make her ready to learn as well as to teach, to receive as well as to give, to the Glory of your Name.

All:                         Amen.

Presentation of a Bible.

When we're ordained for ministry, we go public. There's no hiding who we are and what we're about - or there certainly shouldn't be - and so it's right and proper for me to be called to account once more, in a service of public worship, and make solemn commitments before God and God's people about the next stage in ministry. It will be both my duty and delight to do this. My hope though, is that the spotlight which falls on me for a brief moment, extends its rays over everyone in the congregation - indeed over everyone who's ever committed themselves to a life of Christian faith and service. We're all commissioned within the Great Commission. Gifts, graces and geographical locations may differ, but these commitments and promises can surely speak to all our lives. I trust so.

'The Knowledge' about Fiji comes by various routes...

Thanks to everyone who asked me if I'd seen A Cabbie Abroad on BBC 2. It's the series where London cabbie Mason McQueen has a go at taxi driving in different cities of the world, and this week it was the turn of Fiji's capital, Suva. For a programme which is essentially popular entertainment (nothing wrong with that) combined with documentary, it was a useful watch and didn't avoid the big issues. Conversations in and out of the cab ranged around local government, community life, housing, the daily takings of a Suva cabbie (not enough for survival it would appear), and featured insights from iTaukei (indigenous Fijians) and Indo-Fijians. With a media analyst's 'hat' on I'd like to question some of the editing choices - what we were shown and spun and what we were steered away from, but that's so often the case with 'global' documentaries. There were one or two squirm making moments in terms of language and stereotyping but Mason McQueen came across as chirpy, upbeat, thoughtful and appreciative, especially of his host and taxi-driver guide Dhamendra Kumar and family with whom he stayed. Suva, according to the stats wheeled out, has around 5000 taxi cabs - 4 times more per head than in London. Dhamendra rents his cab at 60 Fijian Dollars per day (£20) and needs to spend 80-90FD daily on fuel. So, about £50 to cover costs before any hope of a profit. 17 hour shifts, 7am-1am are not unusual and it's a constant battle to pay the rent. Here's what McQueen says to camera at the end of day one as a Suva cabbie. 

What a day! I'm absolutely shattered. They're crazy shifts, crazy long hours. They can destroy people, them sort of hours, you know, but he just gets on with it. He didn't want to come home tonight - he wanted to carry on working and I'm shattered. He's such an honest, gentle guy, really - his whole family are. They're lovely. Argh (yawning)  - time for some sleep...'

Rejoicing with them that rejoice

Not all focus is on Fiji. It's important to be in the present moment too. Spurgeon's College graduations take place in Croydon Minster and it was great to go along and bathe in others' reflected glory last Saturday. Remi, pictured on the left with Rosemary - wedding shortly to follow graduation - is now a Bachelor of Divinity from the University of Wales, as is Basharat. Both are enthusiastic evangelists and during this year I've much enjoyed meeting with them and my Colombian neighbour Edy for prayer on Tuesday afternoons for an hour or so. 

During those prayer times, God's guidance was often sought around the group as we all faced the 'Where next?' question in mission and ministry. Vocational seeking has led, for me, to the South Pacific as destination. Others still watch, wait and discern and we've promised to keep praying for each other beyond the College walls.

Lydia, best god-daughter ever, has finished her first year reading law at Oriel College, Oxford. While on an intern-ship in London, we met up on the South Bank, watched a bit of Wimbledon on big screen in the Scoop, swopped stories, mused on life, and enjoyed a balmy, lazy Summer evening strolling by the Thames. Lovely. And the tropical humidity (well almost), excellent practice for things to come...