The winter season in Fiji is a cool spring. The extreme heat recedes and the cool breeze that blows day and night brings joy to visitors and residents alike. It begins in June and ends in August. Unlike New Zealand, which has the most rain and the coldest temperatures during this period. The loving God and Father gives His children in every region of the world special blessings. He forgets and does no one wrong. To those who live in the northern hemisphere with its cold and snow, He gives different blessings and possibilities, and others to those who live in the tropics with its heat. In the desert regions, which do not have enough water and greenery, they have plenty of oil and can make up for their deficiencies with the money they receive from it. May the good Lord allow me to be in the beautiful and hospitable islands of Fiji this winter, which, as I said, is a cool spring, to enjoy, together with my dear colleagues, the other spring that is coming here with all its spiritual joys. To taste and enjoy the fruits of the missionary harvest. Only four years have passed since we first came to these places to see what is and what can be. We found no trace of Orthodoxy except a Greek Orthodox with his Serbian Orthodox wife and their two children, who had come from Australia for a holiday and the great poverty and problems of the people here moved them and they found work to stay here and help the poor and especially the orphans and unprotected children. We stayed in hotels then. From there, we would make disputes and make acquaintances on foot. Today, with God’s help, we have our own home. The “Christian Greek Orthodox Mission Centre” in Sabeto, a few kilometres away from Nantes International Airport. Driving by car from outside, one is surprised at the view of the Blue and White waving proudly. He carefully reads the words on the sign outside the fence: Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople – Greek Orthodox Missionary Center. The beautiful Church of St. Paraskevi, which is to the left of the building, is proud of him and two large signs on the front of the building welcome him with the words – Greek and English – welcome, God bless you. But the gaze does not stop there. It runs to check the rest of the space. To the right of the main building and in front of another smaller building is another sign with the words – Greek and English – Sunday School. This is the place where catechetical classes and talks are given to those who are preparing to receive Holy Baptism. Further to the right is the Holy Baptistery where 23 indigenous Fijians have been baptized so far and opposite it is the Bure. This is a traditional gazebo with grass and bamboo reeds that ensures enough coolness for the mission leaders and their guests in the time of the great tropical heat.
This surprise was experienced by a husband and wife team of Greeks from Australia and another Russian Orthodox who, passing by outside in their cars, made this parking lot to see if what they were seeing was a dream or reality.
This is all very moving. It is also touching to see the native priest Fr. Bartholomew celebrating the liturgy at St. Paraskevi in English and the choir of young people singing in Greek. “In the Presbyteries of the Virgin Mary….Son of God… Holy God…”. How can one not be touched and how can one not give thanks and praise to our Triune God when one sees people, whose ancestors 200 years ago were man-eaters, lining up and taking communion of the Body and Blood of Christ! “Great is the Lord, and wonderful are thy works.” They hear the nations. The time has come for the Orthodox Mission. After the first Fijian priest, Fr. Bartholomew, the second Fijian and former Hindu priest, Barnabas, is preparing to go to Greece to be ordained and to take up the work of the mission on the second large island of Viti Levo. He will be followed by Sunil, also a Hindu up to now, who will also be ordained after his baptism and will be engaged in the Christianization of the Hindus of the Nantes region. So two Churches will still be needed , one of the Holy Apostles Paul and Barnabas and the other of the Holy Great Martyr George the Trophy Bearer. After the purchase of the land in the area of Laotoka (offered by the Brotherhood of the Orthodox Foreign Mission of Thessaloniki), the official Holy Church of the Holy Trinity will be built, where, apart from the natives, the Greeks and other white Orthodox who come as visitors from Australia and other places will also worship. There will also be an orphanage for the collection and protection of orphans and unprotected children and mothers without husbands. On one edge of this land there will be a chapel in the name of St. Nicholas and St. Athanasius. And the rest will follow as God wills. The mission fire is lit. “I have come to set fire to the earth and what I want is already known.” (Luke 12:49). This is the spiritual dew we have been living and are living all this time of “opening” here in Fiji. We have not been here by chance. We were brought by the grace of God to preach the Gospel of salvation in Christ to the tribes and peoples living here. To testify that “there is salvation in no one else, neither is there any other name under heaven given to men, in whom we are saved” (Acts 4:12), but only the glorious name of the Holy Trinity, the blessed name of our Savior Jesus Christ. Let men here know the mystery of the Church. The role of the Virgin Mary in this Mystery. The place of the saints in the Church and the life of the faithful. The true meaning and significance of the Sacred Tradition with which the Holy Scriptures coexist and both together are the sources of the Orthodox Christian Faith. And with awareness and joy they should sing “Let us receive the true light, let us receive the Spirit of heaven. Let us rejoice in the true faith, worshipping the indivisible Trinity. For she has saved us.” We thank you, Christ, eternal Truth and eternal Spring, for coming here in Fiji and Oceania and in the hearts of all of us. We ask you to stay with us forever.
Amen.
† The New Zealand Amphilochius
