“We didn’t realize that they were this good.” “We will have to invite them back here again so that more people can be informed and attend.” These were some of the reactions of the Indo- Fijian Catholics in Naleba, Fiji, at the end of a recent evening of evangelization and hymn singing.

The group that amazed them was a group of Fijian Methodists from Korowiri, Labasa, that played Indian instruments (harmonium, drums and more). One of the best of these singers was an eight-year-old Fijian boy who played the harmonium and sang like an expert.

The Idea
The Methodist group is led by a lay preacher named Apakuki who preaches very well in Hindi. He has been evangelizing among the Indo-Fijian people throughout Fiji for many years, and his singing group, of which he is also one of the leaders, is a great attraction because of the sessions they organize. I had heard this group sing and preach in Vunivau, Labasa, a few months earlier at an evangelization program organized by the Methodists there. I was very impressed by the excellence of the singing and by the way that Apakuki could give fitting examples of Indo-Fijian thinking and behavior in his preaching. He had the listeners smiling and laughing at some of his expressions which captured Indo-Fijian attitudes so well.

At that time, I was also encouraging the Indo-Fijian Catholic community in Naleba to learn Fijian hymns and sing at least one at every Sunday worship service. This was something we used to do years ago but had lapsed recently. Even though only two or three indigenous Fijians attend Hindi Mass at Naleba, the second reading is always read in Fijian and Fijian prayers of the faithful are encouraged. To have one or two Fijian hymns as well would assure them of their belonging to the community and would connect the Naleba Catholics with the majority indigenous Catholics of Fiji.

Persuading the Community
I suggested inviting the Methodist group to Naleba for a joint evangelization evening to which people of all races and religions would be invited. The Catholic community was a little hesitant at first, not wanting to give the impression that all Christian Churches are the same.

I explained that the topic for preaching would be understanding and respect between all races in Fiji for the sake of peace and progress in the country. They saw then that Fijians singing Hindi hymns would be a living example of this, and they agreed to host the session. The Indo-Fijian Catholics also came together to practice two Fijian hymns which they would sing on that night.

On Friday July 23, 2010, I picked up some of the members of the Methodist group at their home and loaded their sound system and instruments into the van. The other members of the group and some supporters traveled to Naleba in a
mini-van. The shed was full of both Indo-Fijians and Fijians from the area. Most of those present were Christian but some Hindus and Muslims were there too.

The Program
The local Naleba group began with a Hindi and Fijian hymn. Then the Korowiri group sang two hymns in Hindi. Apakuki asked one of the Indian women to read Ephesians 2:14-16, and then he preached on that text. He emphasized St. Paul’s
idea that we must put on Christ, and then we must live a completely new life, different from the natural group instincts which divide us.

After his preaching, the listeners were invited to go for healing prayer if they had any needs. Two groups prayed in Hindi—one for men and one for women. The third prayed in the Fijian language. Each group was in a separate room nearby.

After some more hymns, Fr. Frank Hoare, assistant priest at Naleba and Labasa, preached on the parable of the Good Samaritan, Lk. 10:25-37. Here Jesus pointed out that, while we might think our community superior to others, a person of another community might be a more genuine witness to God’s compassion and might show us the way to eternal life. This warning alerts us to be open to God speaking to us through people of other races and religions.

The Learning
The Korowiri group’s example of crossing barriers of language and culture was pointed out a number of times that evening and the Indo-Fijians had to admit that they had not made a similar effort. In her statement of thanks, Mrs. Deo said, to laughter, that she could speak Fijian—two words of it i.e. bula (hello) and vinaka (thanks). But she added that the night’s program had shown how an effort must be made to understand other languages and cultures.

Even when the formal program, which lasted almost two hours, finished, the singers, especially the Fijians, continued to thrill the crowd with different styles of Hindi hymns.

No one seemed to want to go home, and it was with difficulty that I managed to convince the people traveling with me to finally leave at 11:00 p.m. Food was provided for the Korowiri visitors, and tea and refreshments were offered to all who attended. It was the first time that our Catholics had experienced something like this. We must repeat it again soon, and I feel sure an even bigger crowd will be in attendance.

Fr. Frank Hoare lives and works in Fiji.

The article originally appears in the February 2011 issue of Columban Mission.

Presenting the whale’s tooth

Outside on a path between two houses, Samu challenged Manoa and cursed him roundly. He struck Manoa with a savage blow from his fist. Manoa fell to the ground, hit his head against a rock and lay motionless. A young man died as suddenly as an unexpected flash of lightning.

The following Sunday I faced a full church in Namoto. It was a difficult homily to preach. People were stunned. A Catholic family in a nearby village was mourning a son. A Catholic family in Namoto was weighed down with guilt and shame. I could not ignore or avoid the situation. It was important to put words on the shock and acknowledge the rupture of an ordered existence. But it was not my place to point the finger of blame. The tragedy was wider than lust and revenge.

It was a teachable moment in which to examine the contributing factors of alcohol abuse, rumor mongering and the failure of leadership. Manoa’s tragic death pointed to a breakdown in the communal ethos as well as the religious values of the village. We all shared some responsibility. It was a moment for communal conversion. Forgiveness and reconciliation might come later, but it would take time.

In the wake of the tragedy, Samu received a three-year sentence for manslaughter. During that time, I visited him in prison. Samu was glad to see me. He requested a rosary and asked how he could learn more about the Bible after he completed his sentence. Wary of a sudden but shallow conversion, I recommended that Samu attend the weekly village liturgy preparation meeting.

During those meetings, the Bible was brought in procession to the family responsible for reading in church on the following Sunday. The family, together with the catechist and liturgy committee, read, reflect and share on the Scripture readings.

Forgiveness and reconciliation

This, I suggested, would bring him in regular contact with God’s word with the support of a faith community. The catechist and his wife could be Samu’s mentors and the midwives of a new life for him.

Meanwhile, Samu’s clan felt alienated and defensive. Manoa’s family was in shock and rejected early overtures of reconciliation. The village catechist and liturgy leaders discussed the situation during Lent. As Holy Week approached, the liturgy leader approached me to request a different Good Friday Stations of the Cross. Instead of holding them in the church, he suggested incorporating them into a procession that would embrace both villages, both extended families, the living and the dead.

But would the two key families agree to participate? The liturgy leader approached them and persuaded them to take part in faith. Good Friday morning was hot and humid. A large crowd of villagers gathered outside the house of the deceased Manoa.

His family gathered around the seven-foot cross as we began with a prayer linking their sorrow with the sorrow of Mary and sufferings of Jesus. I was asked to carry the cross from the first station to the second followed by the people singing a hymn. At the third station commemorating the first fall of Jesus, Manoa’s father took the cross and led the procession from his village to the outskirts of Namoto a few hundred yards away.

The fourth station commemorates Mary’s sorrowful meeting with her son Jesus. After the Biblical reflection, Samu’s widowed mother offered, as a profound sign of apology, a whale’s tooth, the most sacred symbol in Fijian culture, to Manoa’s father.

Tears were shed as Manoa’s father accepted this traditional and much revered symbol from Samu’s uncle.

With that acceptance, Manoa’s family accepted Samu’s clan’s apology and reconciled with them. Another emotional station was the twelfth where Jesus dies on the Forgiveness and reconciliation cross for the salvation of the world.

At the spot where the fatal accident happened, we meditated on how Jesus’ acceptance in love and forgiveness of His death overcame the evil let loose in the world by Adam’s original sin and the sin of Cain’s killing of his brother Abel.

Afterwards I requested that the large wooden cross we had carried that day be planted and erected on that spot as a reminder to the community of a needless tragedy but also of a memorable process of reconciliation of not only two families but also two communities.

Fr. Frank Hoare lives and works in Fiji.

The article originally appears in the December 2010 issue of Columban Mission.

I woke up in the morning of Saturday, October 11, 2009, with a feeling of great delight and cheerfulness for it was the day we Fijians here in the Philippines were going to celebrate Fiji’s independence from Great Britain. The actual date of independence is October 10, but since it fell on Friday, a work day, we decided to have the celebration the following day.

Exactly 134 years earlier Fiji was ceded to Great Britain due to unpaid debts to some Americans. Fijians then were living under the traditional chief system and money was of no value. People were tricked into the barter system where land could be exchanged for an axe or a bottle of whiskey. Settlers from Europe, America and Asia combed the Fijian shores, and traces of their blood still linger in the Fijian population. At this time, a Fijian chief by the name of Seru Cakobau declared himself to be King of Fiji without consulting all the other chiefs. This was quite astonishing because chiefs were only respected in their own province or vanua (in Fijian terms).

If someone crossed boundaries, it meant war.

It was during this time that the house of Cakobau’s ally, an American, was razed to the ground. Cakobau was blamed for the fire and the looting that came with it. There was nothing he could do since he did not have money, and the only solution was to seek help from another country. Therefore, on October 10, 1874, Cakobau and the other chiefs of Fiji, with heavy and sorrowful hearts, signed the deed of secession to Great Britain.

With that deed, Fiji became a British Colony for the next 96 years. On October 10, 1970, another deed was signed, this time with celebrations and joy as Fiji became known to the world as the Republic of the Fiji Islands and severed its colonial ties with Great Britain.

Although we are living and working in the Philippines, we Fijian Columbans wanted to celebrate the anniversary of Fiji’s independence with a fiesta. We passed out invitations to the Columban community here as well as to other Fijians and Pacific Islanders. The venue of the fiesta was the Columban House of Studies. It was our turn to host the community night, and it was a good opportunity to show off the new basketball court with floodlights in which the entertainment was to be held.

The celebration began with Mass in English at 5 p.m. The liturgy was led by the Fijians with the help of “The Boys of 42” (the Columban seminarians from 42 Rosario Drive, Cubao, Quezon City, Philippines). The main celebrant was Columban Father Vincent Ratnam, a Fijian, and he reminded the congregation of the importance of joy in life. The Gospel that weekend was about a wedding feast, and Father Vincent connected it to the theme and celebration of the day.

After Mass, a traditional kava (a Fijian traditional drink) ceremony of welcome was conducted. This was done to formally accept and welcome visitors and to show that we, the hosts, had no feelings of resentment towards them and at the same time we were asking God to protect them during their stay.

The highlight of the evening was the entertainment. While Fijian Columbans took part in the dancing and clapping, others did the watching and laughing. For one hour everyone in their different colors danced to the Pacific beat until dinner was served. Dinner was cooked in a lovo, or earth oven, a traditional Fijian way of cooking in which the food is cooked by the steam of hot stones. Anything can be cooked in a lovo, and in this case it was chicken, pork, fish, potatoes, cassava and palusami (taro leaves in coconut milk). Our cook produced some Filipino dishes, and the Columban lay missionaries displayed their creativity with a touch of Indian cuisine. Thus everyone enjoyed a banquet fit for royalty.

Everyone dispersed after dinner, happy, excited and fulfilled after a complete and lovely evening enjoyed by all. The Fijians continued their celebration with more kava and singing late into the night which brought back memories of home. It was a night to remember; I felt proud to be a Fijian.

After studying in Quezon City, the Philippines, Columban seminarian Etuate Tubuka returned to Fiji to complete his education.

It started when I posed a simple question over the dinner table at the Columban house here on the North side of Chicago, Illinois. “Rafa, what was your very first contact with the Columban Fathers?” Rafael Ramirez is a Columban seminarian from Chile who, at that time, was completing a ten month English language study program at De Paul University. Following the English language course, Rafa returned to Santiago, Chile, where he continues his theological studies in preparation for ordination as a Columban missionary priest.

At the time of our conversation, Rafa was staying with us at the Columban house for two weeks while on pastoral experience working with homeless persons at a food kitchen and shelter. His response was a fascinating story of amazing coincidences which could fill a chapter of a book. With his permission, I will share with you the story of his vocation in his words:

Fr. Charles Duster and Rafael Ramirez in Chicago

“Six years ago, having graduated from university with a degree in computer science, I was working for World Vision, a non-governmental organization which aids children in need, and was based in my home city of Temuco in the south of Chile. Some companions and I were on a short holiday in Puerto Saavedra on the coast, a two hour drive. One of my friends in our group, Angelica Soldado, had previously spent time with the Franciscan Sisters on the nearby island of Wapi where the Sisters worked with the indigenous Mapuche people.

“While there, she met two Columban lay missionaries from Fiji, Lusi Lutua and Monika Lewatikana, who were also working with the Mapuche on the island. Angelica and I were strolling down the main street in Puerto Saavedra on our way to buy bread and some groceries for lunch when a bus came along headed for Wapi Island.

“Angelica spotted the young Fijian women whom she had met earlier riding in the bus, and they spotted her. They started waving frantically at each other. At the next corner, the bus stopped, and the two Fijian women got off the bus and ran toward us. There were big abrazos and besos, hugs and kisses in Chilean style, and greetings like they were long lost sisters.

“I couldn’t get over the scene — those two tall young Fijian women so friendly, so warm, animated and enthusiastic getting off their bus to greet my friend. They even started singing together some opening bars from a Fijian song they had taught Angelica earlier! All of this was occurring on the main street in the middle of Puerto Saavedra.

“I was totally amazed and taken aback. The next moment the bus driver blew the horn, and the two women ran and boarded the bus to continue back to the mission on the island. It was over in a few minutes, but what an encounter! I just couldn’t believe it. Afterwards, Angelica told me more about Lusi and Monika, how she had met them, something about their personalities, and how they happened to be living, working and obviously enjoying life as Columban lay missionaries so far from home.

“That was the very first time I heard the name Columban. It stuck in my mind. When I got back to Temuco, I went on line and Googled it to find out more about these people.”

The rest, as they say, is history. Rafael spent several months finding out more about the Columbans, who first went to Chile in 1952. I was mesmerized by his account of how many coincidences occurred which led him to join the Columban formation program for priesthood in 2005. I’m no expert, but it seemed pretty obvious to me that the Holy Spirit was very much involved.

Fiji, Chile, Chicago, Illinois – There are lots of miles between these geographic locations, but they all seemed to come together that evening at our dinner table. For six years, I was the coordinator of the Columban Lay Missionary Program in Fiji. During that time, Lusi and Monica joined the program, completed training and were missioned to Chile. I saw Lusi and Monica off at Nadi Airport in Fiji when they left for Chile and was privileged to visit them in their mission in Wapi.

Little did they dream that by just being themselves, being Fijian and taking the time to get off the bus and greet a friend, the most natural thing in the world for them to do, they would be instrumental in a young man joining the Columbans. Columban priests, Sisters, lay missionaries, seminaries, affiliates and companions come from around the globe and from all socioeconomic backgrounds with the shared goal of promoting Columban mission and, sometimes, assisting others in finding their vocations.

Fr. Charles Duster lives and works in Chicago. Rafael Ramirez completed his course at DePaul University, Chicago, Illinois, and returned to Chile in late January 2010.

This article first appeared in the August / September issue of Columban Mission.

Sometimes when we go through an intense period in our lives, it is only afterwards that we can look back and reflect on the meaning of it. I had such a week in Fiji right before I left for my vacation last year. I was running from one function to another without the opportunity to notice the wonderful tapestry being unfolded in front of me.

The week began with the graduation of Catholic teachers from Corpus Christi College, a school with which Columbans have a long association. The principal mentioned the Columban involvement with the school at the graduation ceremony. The Archbishop sent out the new teachers during Mass in the cathedral. Traditional ceremonies, feasting and dancing continued long into the evening as people celebrated after the graduation.

The next day was the graduation ceremony for the new Fijianspeaking catechists who were returning from their three year training period at a center built by Columban Fr. Jim Gavigan. Fr. Gavigan built the center to train lay people to be “fathers and mothers” of faith in their villages. The Archbishop reminisced in his homily about his dream of Fiji being a self-providing, selfpropagating and self-evangelizing Church. The newly installed catechists are surely a tangible sign of that dream becoming a reality.

The following evening, a number of Columban priests were invited to a fundraising dinner at a Chinese restaurant for the Fiji Muslim Youth Sports’ Association.

The invitation prompted me to think about what a tolerant country Fiji is that we – two Catholic priests and youth leaders – would be welcome at and happy to contribute to such a cause.

The sentiment was strengthened when the main entertainment for the evening – Indian Bollywood dancing – was performed by a group of Fijian youth! Although the dinner was to raise funds for the Fiji Muslim Youth Sports’ Association, there was not a Muslim dancer in sight.

The next day a colleague and I took a trip to the jail to pick up a picture painted in the prison gallery. We then went to a Gujarati wedding ceremony, in which the bride and her companions
get elaborate designs, called mehndi, drawn on their hands and arms with henna.

As I sat on the plane ready to depart Nadi and begin my vacation, I started reflecting on the events of the preceding days. I couldn’t help but think the words of Pope John Paul II on his pastoral visit in 1986, that Fiji has become “the way the world should be,” a place of tolerance and acceptance.

Fr. Patrick Colgan is the Rector of Initial Formation in Fiji.

“I’ll give it a try.” For most new initiatives, someone has to step forward and say “yes.” The year was 1993, and the initiative was the newly formed Columban lay missionary program. The person who said yes was Father Ed Quinn, an Omaha native, who at that time was working in Fiji. The Columban Society had agreed to start a lay missionary program, but each country was to begin implementing the program when it was deemed appropriate. Fiji was anxious to start, so Fr. Ed, a veteran missionary who spent twelve years in Korea before arriving in Fiji in 1973, volunteered to serve as the first lay missionary coordinator.

There was no handbook and few guidelines. It was a “fly by the seat of your pants” approach in the early days. The word went out to Fiji’s 33 parishes; applicants were interviewed, screened and accepted. A house was rented behind the Suva market, and basic furniture was acquired to fill it. The 99 steps from street level to the front door of the house provided an ongoing fitness test.

Fr. Charles Duster and Fijian lay missionary Serafina Vuda in Peru

An orientation and training program was developed, calling upon the generosity and expertise of Columbans and other priests and religious teaching in the regional seminary and elsewhere in Suva. Basic courses were developed and adapted. Scripture, theology, anthropology, cross-cultural experiences, training in personal growth and counseling skills were some of the components of the initial preparation. The first team of four young women and two men was commissioned by Archbishop Petero Mataca in early 1994 and assigned to Ireland. In the ensuing years, teams were assigned to Chile, Peru, Philippines and most recently Korea and Pakistan.

As one could imagine, the Fijian lay missionaries’ arrival in Ireland caused quite a stir. One writer wondered if they might be the first Catholic missionaries to go to missionary sending Catholic Ireland since St. Patrick in 432. After a period of orientation, they were assigned to three different parishes staffed by diocesan clergy.

They found plenty of missionary work awaiting them, particularly in visitation of families and the elderly and engaging with young people. Meanwhile, back in Fiji, the other arm of the Columban program, the incoming dimension, was up and running. Shortly before the Fijians departed for Ireland, a small team of lay missionaries arrived from Korea. The group included two young women, Yean Sin and Yean Han, who had already become good friends before they were accepted for the program as they had taught kindergarten together in an impoverished area in Korea where hepatitis had been endemic.

Providentially, Fr. Quinn spoke Korean fluently so he was most helpful in their orientation and adjustment. The two women were completing their initial study of the Hindi language as they prepared for their first parish assignment in Ba, an area of Fiji that has many Indo- Fijian communities. At that critical moment, Yean Sin, just 23 years old, was hospitalized. It turned out that she had advanced hepatitis but had told no one of her symptoms.

The staff at Suva’s Colonial War Memorial Hospital provided the best possible care, but Yean Sin died on November 4, 1994. Yean Sin’s parents arrived from Korea and were with her during her final days and hours. As non-Christians, (Yean Sin was the only Catholic in the family) they just assumed that she would be cremated, and they would take her ashes back to Korea for burial.

Fr. Ed Quinn with Korean lay missionaries, Yean Sin, Bok Ja and Yean Han

However, when they witnessed the outpouring of grief and devotion to their daughter at the wake and funeral service, held at the Columban parish of Tamavua, they readily agreed to have her buried in Fiji saying, “This had already become her home.” A year later, both parents were baptized in Korea and more recently, a younger sister was baptized as well. In her short life as a lay missionary in Fiji, Yean Sin touched many people by her smile and good humor, her pleasant manner and above all, by her example and enthusiasm for mission. Despite their grief and sadness at her death, the Columbans were proud that such a dedicated missionary would await eternity alongside some of the Columban priests who died in Fiji. From its early fragile and sad beginnings, through God’s grace, the lay missionary program in Fiji has gone from strength to strength in the past sixteen years.

On the mission sending side of the program, eight teams have been sent overseas since the first group left for Ireland. Many of these young Fijian and Tongan men and women have served a second, three-year term abroad and several have become long-term (more than six years of service) lay missionaries and are still engaged either in the overseas missions or in leadership capacities.

One long-term Fijian lay missionary, Serafina Vuda, who served in Chile and Peru, is now coordinator of the Society-wide Central Leadership Team for the entire lay missionary program which at present involves 67 missionaries working in eleven different countries. On the mission receiving side of the program, Fiji has received teams from Chile, the Philippines and most recently Peru. The assuming of leadership roles within the program by the lay missionaries themselves is most encouraging.

In Fiji, I succeeded Fr. Quinn as the coordinator of the program. After six years, I was replaced by a young woman who had served in Ireland. She, in turn, was succeeded by a Tongan lay missionary, Losana Ve’ehala,
who had been missioned in the Philippines. Three years ago Losana was succeeded by the present coordinator, lay missionary Katarina Mukai, who had worked for ten years in Chile. Most of the other national programs have similar developments. It bodes well for the future.

Of course there have been physical developments as well. In my six years as coordinator, we rented five different houses to serve as residence/training centers depending on the need at the time. Eventually we were able to acquire a simple, small, three bedroom house right next door to our Columban seminarians’ formation house. The lay missionary house recently underwent a small extension to accommodate larger numbers. The current coordinator, Katarina, and the community decided to call it the “Yean Sin House,” so that is its official name.

As the candidates in training look out the front door and windows, directly across the narrow frontage road are Suva Harbor and the blue Pacific Ocean. The view is a constant reminder of that commission of Christ: “You then are to go and make disciples of all the nations…and, remember, I am with you always, even to the end of the world.”

The journey for the Columban lay missionaries is starting from a very special departure point. We think that perhaps Yean Sin has a hand in pushing off the stern of the canoe, the bili-ni-mua, or final part of the traditional Fijian departure ceremonies as we continue to send Fijian lay missionaries forward to “…make disciples of all the nations….”

Fr. Charles Duster lives and works in Chicago, Illinois.
This article first appeared in Columban Mission.

I was ordained as a Columban missionary priest on August 2, 2008, at my home parish in Fiji. My first assignment as a missionary priest was to the region of Chile. Being a missionary in a new land and immersed in a new culture means ministering to myself as well as others.

Fr. William Lee and parishioners

I work in one of the parishes on the south end of Santiago called San Matias. It is a parish with nine mission units. Each mission unit has its own chapel and serves a segment of the area population since the parish includes 80,000 – 90,000 people.

Upon arrival in Chile for the first time, I realized that everything was totally different. However, I would say to myself that I was feeling what any missionary priest feels as he adjusts to and finds his way around a new place. I would say that I had the advantage of already knowing the language, Spanish, of Chile. When I was a student, I did my pastoral studies in Peru for two years and had learned Spanish during that time. Thanks be to God I already had the language, which allowed me to feel as though I could take part in any group dialogue or conversation. In other words I did not feel isolated.

Before I started work in the parish, I wanted to refresh my language skills, so I took a six week course in Cochabamba, Bolivia, and then returned to Chile. I was back in Chile a week after Easter 2009 when I heard that the Society had assigned me to San Matias in Puente Alto.

Following my assignment to the parish in spring 2009, there were a number of changes in the parish that took place while I was just settling into the area.

Originally, I was supposed to work with Columban Fr. Michael Cody in the parish. Unfortunately, he passed away quite unexpectedly soon after my arrival. The former parish priest, Fr. Michael Hoban, was just leaving the parish because he was taking up the assignment of vicar general in another diocese.

These changes left only me and an associate priest from Ireland who was coming to the end of his three-year commitment working with the Columbans in the parish. These were big changes and interesting challenges in my first days as a newly-ordained Columban priest. How did I deal with the new changes? I took things one at a time, and I listened very well to myself and to other people. In addition, my personal prayer life and reflections helped me. My Columban brothers in Chile were of great assistance to me in sharing their experiences and helping me handle challenging moments in mission.

There were a lot of things going through my mind during those times, and I gained more confidence day by day by building up a vision of what I needed to do and creating a different way of doing things. I kept on learning new things and that is what a missionary’s life is meant to be.

A chapel in San Matias parish

After only five months in my parish, I was approached by the new regional council and asked if I would serve as the administrator of the parish. While I found this both surprising and challenging, I was ready for the new challenge and grateful for the opportunity.

In September 2009, I was named the parish administrator, and in November 2009, I was elected to be a member of the Chilean regional council. I want to thank the Lord that I am still breathing, happy and in good health. The opportunity to serve in these new roles within the Columban Society and the parish is a manifestation of the work of the Holy Spirit that leads us to new life and to a deeper understanding of ourselves and the gifts and talents that we do not always recognize within ourselves. It’s a time of openness and a broadening of my world view. It changes and challenges my concept of life and the way I see things.

My pastoral work in Chile has sustained me very much in my missionary life. The people I serve in the parish of San Matias are living in one of the poorest areas of Santiago. Social problems are rampant – drugs, prostitution, murder – and very common within the parish. The residents of San Matias grow up poor in a community mired in poverty with little opportunity to see first-hand that better living situations exist. In the beginning when I heard gun shots I said to myself, “this is difficult work in a tough place.”

One morning some people came to the door asking if I could do the wake for a young person who had been shot at his home. God had called me to this place, and I knew that I would visit the family, pray with them and perform the wake.

Through these experiences God worked through me, and I know that there will be more interesting experiences in the future. I always say that life is continuously full of wonderful surprises. And I always say to myself, take things slowly as they come. Finally, I say, gratefully, “I love what God has done in my life.” God knows that I love working with people. I love sharing my experiences, knowledge and life with His people. He knows that I love the life I have found in Him.
This article first appeared in Columban Mission.

I arrived in Fiji on Christmas Eve, 1974, having earlier been missioned in Japan and on vocation ministry in the United States. I left Fiji on September 20, 2005, to take up my present assignment in Chicago. In those intervening thirty-one years, I was privileged to see the mission cycle turn 360 degrees. Let me explain what I mean.

Frs. William Lee and Charles Duster

One of the first people I met in Fiji was Joe Lee, a parishioner in Holy Family Parish in Labasa, the principal town on Fiji’s second largest island, Vanua Levu. From the time he was a young man, Joe was involved in the development of Holy Family Parish and schools. The parish was founded in 1967 by Columban Father Dick O’Sullivan, who used to celebrate Mass in the movie theater after parishioners swept up the peanut shells from the night before.

Labasa was then a sleepy sugar mill town with dusty streets. Now it is the busy center of the Northern Division of Fiji and over the years a church, rectory, convent, elementary and secondary schools with over 800 students and chapels in several nearby villages have been built and extended. Columban priests still serve there.

Joe Lee has been one of those closely involved in this process. A hard-working and successful farmer, Joe always seemed to have time for the Church. Be it by way of hard physical work, advice, knowing the right contact, whatever, the Church was top priority for Joe.

Lay missionary Monika Lewatikana with her Mapuche friends in Chile

The old proverb has it, “An apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.” Joe and his wife Unaisi raised a wonderful family of nine children. Their fourth child, William, was ordained a Columban on August 2, 2008, and is now serving in Chile. Fr. Willie did his final studies in Chicago, Illinois. When I asked him one day why he joined the Columbans, his answer was simple.

“All my years growing up I saw different Columban priests far from their home countries, being with the people and working hard to serve them and bring them Christ. I’ve always wanted to do the same.” And so he is. A revolution of the mission cycle: incoming from United States, Ireland, England, Australia, New Zealand, outgoing from Fiji.

In 1976, I was the first Columban assigned to Solevu Parish at the farthest tip of the same island. It was founded in 1861 by the Marist Fathers who served there for 115 years. The old mission is 110 miles from Labasa and sits on a lovely bay surrounded by hills. There are four Fijian villages nearby and a government station six miles away with three tiny retail shops. Replacing the Marists, I was named as pastor along with a newly ordained diocesan priest, Father Daunivucu, as associate pastor.

Lay missionary Lusi with her sleeping son and sister

For the first several weeks two women living in the mission compound, Ulalia Lawa and a friend, brought us prepared food three times a day from their houses up a steep hill from the rectory. They did this in addition to preparing meals for their own families and continued until we engaged the services of a cook. Ula’s husband, Leone, was involved in caring for the mission property and tending the school’s root crops and gardens. The Lawas had two children and the older, Katarina, was just a little tyke running around the mission in those days.

Fast forward to 1997. I was now coordinator of the Columban Lay Missionary Program which had been founded two years earlier by Fr. Ed Quinn. Lo and behold, who applied for the program but “Little Kata,” now a mature young woman. It was a joy to return to Solevu, interview her and revisit the family. Kata was accepted, trained for ten months in Suva, the capital of Fiji, and was assigned to Chile where she served ten years in difficult missions there among the indigenous Mapuche people.

Three years ago, at the request of the Columbans in Fiji, Kata was reassigned back to her home country to serve as the coordinator of the Lay Mission Program there. So the mission cycle has made another complete 360 degree revolution.

There are other examples. Fr. Ioane Gukibau was the second Fijian ordained as a Columban in 1994. His grandfather, Josefo Dau Gukibau, served as the captain of the archdiocesan boat for decades and braved many stormy seas. Fr. Ioane’s parents, Mika and Ana, are involved in many parish and archdiocesan activities. Again the apple didn’t fall very far from the tree. Fr. Ioane served many years in parish ministry and seminarian formation in Peru and is now back in Fiji as the Vice Director of the region, assistant in our Columban seminarian formation house and vocation director for the country. You get the idea – another rotation of 360 degrees.

Fr. Charles Duster and Archbishop Petero Mataca

When the Columbans were invited to Fiji in 1952 and sent there by the Vatican’s Mission Congregation, we were assigned three existing parishes and asked to establish a fourth. Since those early years, we have served in those parishes and many others as well as in many different and varied capacities within the Archdiocese of Suva which encompasses the entire country. In my own experience, for example, I served as pastor or associate pastor in five different parishes, as vicar general to the first indigenous archbishop, Petero Mataca, as the Columban Lay Mission Coordinator and as a part time lecturer at the regional seminary in Suva.

Other Columbans, in addition to fulfilling their parish assignments, have specialized in ministry to the Indo-Fijian communities requiring learning the Hindustani language, full-time teaching and formation of seminarians and of Catholic teachers, justice and peace work, linguistic and translation specialization, hospital chaplaincy, administration and the list goes on. There is little chance to get bored under the swaying coconut palms.

Fr. Ioane Gukibau and lay missionary Maopa Dulunaqio

In recent years, Columbans have ordained priests from Fiji and nearby Tonga. Those Columbans are ministering in Pakistan, Chile and Peru. Nine teams of lay missionaries have served or are serving in those countries as well as the Philippines, Ireland and Korea. As we older Columbans become more conscious of graying or disappearing hair and a little less spring in the step, it is a real joy every time that mission cycle clicks another revolution. It is a wonderful grace to experience these young men and women being attracted to the Columban Society and sharing our hopes and vision.

That vision is simple: to share the Good News that Christ brought to the world by crossing boundaries of country, language and culture. Our patron saint, St. Columban, back in the sixth century, said it more simply: Peregrinari pro Christo, to be a pilgrim for Christ. As younger people from the various countries where Columbans have been working for the past 92 years join in the pilgrimage, we welcome them. Together we strive, in the words of the Columban Constitutions “to be witnesses to the universal bond of love which should unite people as children of the Father.”

Funding a Project
“Give me a good reason why the Canada Fund should finance your facilitation project here in Labasa. And don’t say that it is to facilitate a development project for poor women. That is what everyone says. Give me a unique angle that will convince my boss!”

Building Trust and Overcoming Stereotypes (click on photo to enlarge)

Adi Vasu of the Pacific Center for Peacebuilding (PCP) thought for a moment and said, “Here in Fiji, indigenous Fijian women’s groups can connect with government through their provinces. Our hierarchical culture demands that the leader has to be a chiefly woman. But if she is not committed to the group the other women can’t offend by bypassing her, so nothing happens. On the other hand, the more egalitarian IndoFijian women have a freedom to discuss and act but they don’t have a clear route to government.

A multiracial women’s group would pool the strengths of both. That is why you should fund our PCP program to facilitate the Vunicuicui Multiracial Women’s Forum in their cooperative store and seed bank projects.” “O.K. that’s it!” said the Canada Fund lady. “I think we can buy into that project.”

Small Beginnings
PCP was formed at the beginning of 2009, with five members in the capital of Fiji, Suva, and with Adi Vasu (Fijian) and her assistant Sindu (IndoFijian) in the Labasa town office. Adi Vasu had previously met some members of the rural Vunicuicui Women’s Forum at a workshop in Labasa. She realized that it was a unique
group and wanted to help.

Originally, a Labasa Multiracial Women’s Forum was started at the behest of some national politicians. Julie Waqa, an indigenous Fijian woman, and Nirmala Wati, an IndoFijian woman from Vunicuicui settlement, ten miles from Labasa, independently attended the forum. They met there, as enthusiasm for the Labasa forum began to falter. They decided to set up a women’s multiracial forum in Vunicuicui itself in September 2004. “I wanted Indian and Fijian women to work closely together, because we ladies just stayed at home doing housework,” said Julie. They both gathered some friends and held meetings in their houses in rotation. Julie became president and Nirmala served as the vice president of the group.

The women shared their knowledge and skills with each other. “When the meeting was at my place, I would teach flower arrangement and landscaping,” reported Julie. “We used to organize raffles and collections, but we were not known to the Ministry for Women,” remembered Nirmala. The Fijian women are Methodist and the IndoFijian women are Hindu. Prayers at the beginning of each meeting alternate between religions. At times the women met only once every two or three months, but the forum persevered.

Challenges
Language and communication is the biggest problem the forum faces. Some members only speak their mother tongue but not English or the other vernacular. “Money is another problem,” according to Julie. “We need money, a better road and electricity. In the wet season the bus cannot travel to the end of the settlement and the farmers have to walk a long way with their market produce.” The forum persuaded a bus company to schedule a bus to leave for Labasa town at 6:00 a.m. so that the market vendors can get to town early.

Most of the women who completed the course received small grants and loans from the government for individual projects.

Adi Vasu visited the Vunicuicui ladies and heard about their problems. She suggested that they send a petition for electricity to the government through the provincial office. The forum women decided their priority need was a shop near Nirmala’s house because there was none in that area of the settlement.

The forum, guided by the PCP facilitators, began to plan for a cooperative shop and eventually, when electricity arrives, an internet café for the children to use for school projects. The area is also subject to heavy flooding. In the past the government has been slow in assisting the replanting of crops. So a seed bank, situated in a Fijian village on high ground, became a second forum project.

Working Together
Nine members of the forum completed an eight day course in new business creation last June. Most of the women who completed the course received small grants and loans from the government for individual projects. Their group project for the cooperative shop was also approved. In July, the forum had a visit from the Ministry for Women. She applauded the multiracial composition of the group and gave them a present of a sewing machine.

Adi Vasu invited me to facilitate two, one-day intercultural workshops for the forum. Because the work of this multicultural group of women is ongoing, I accepted gladly. I tried to help the Fijian and IndoFijian women understand how their different cultural values and communication styles could affect their work together. The forum offi cers had one big blowup.

Unfortunately it occurred in front of the bank manager. An agreed change of contractor was not written in the business plan. When this was discovered, just as the bank manager was to sign over the grant money to them, an emotional explosion occurred which split the group along racial lines. Racial stereotypes got a loud airing in public. Shame and fear resulted. However, the PCP facilitators later helped the group to reflect and learn from this.

Looking Back and Forward
Reflecting on their relationship over the last six years Julie said, “I learn a lot from the Indian women in our forum, and I like working with them. I learned how to budget and how they prepare food. We Fijians have to have a surplus of food. They prepare food nicely and just enough for each person.”

Nirmala commented, “I was raised and socialized with indigenous Fijians. Our Fijian neighbors were very friendly, and our family was very close to them. I can understand and speak a little Fijian. I really like the forum.”

Fr. Frank Hoare

On January 20, 2010, I was honored to bless the shop site at the ground breaking ceremony. Government officials, bankers and local people were present. In the context of mistrust between Fijians and Indo–Fijians fanned by four coups in the lasttwenty years, the Vunicuicui Woman’s Forum and the Pacific Center for Peace–building have planted a seed of hope. It points the way to a better future, though there is still a long way to travel.

In 1973, just three short years after the British granted Fiji independence, Columban Fr. Ed Quinn arrived in Fiji where he would live and work for the next thirty-four years. A native of Omaha, Nebraska, Fr. Ed spent twelve years in Korea and five years in the U.S. doing vocation work and launching the Columban Fathers’ Korean apostolate in Chicago, Illinois, before his assignment to Fiji. After the difficulty he encountered learning the Korean language, a mere two months of Fijian language school provided the skills Fr. Ed needed to communicate.

Fr. Ed Quinn, fellow Columbans and lay missionaries

With the ability to communicate established, Fr. Ed embraced his new island home. Comprised of 322 islands and 522 smaller islets, only 106 of Fiji’s islands are inhabited. While Fiji covers a total area of 75,000 square miles, roughly 10% is land mass. The island of Viti Levu is home to Suva, the capital city and nearly 75% of the population. The islands are lush, covered in thick tropical forests, and are quite mountainous.

Following short stints in an island parish and as the regional bursar for the Society, in 1975 Fr. Ed was appointed to a jungle parish on Vanua Levu. When he arrived by boat, the only means of transportation, Fr. Ed found the local church and the area boarding school on the coast. The school served 300 students with half of the students in grades one through six and the other half in grades seven through nine. The students came from eight remote villages further inland. Parents would visit their children at Christmas and Easter break; students would return to their villages for the summer break. The distances from the villages to the school were too great for more frequent visits.

The $20.00 per semester tuition covered the students’ educational materials, sleeping quarters and tea and sugar. The students were responsible for fishing, hunting or growing the rest of their food. Lay volunteers and assistants did prepare the food for the students. And, when parents would slaughter cows for funerals and weddings, they would often send part of the meat to the school. With the children in school for approximately ten years, the separation was hard on the families and the villages.

Fr. Ed Quinn, friends and lay missionaries enjoyed fellowship in Fiji

Soon, the Fijian government passed an ordinance that primary and secondary schools needed to be separate. The men of the village, a Fijian priest and a Columban, Fr. John Doyle, met for three days around the yaqona bowl. Yaqona is often regarded as the Fijian “national drink,” and turning down an offer to drink from the bowl is considered insulting. Yaqona is made from the root of a pepper tree, ground into a powder and mixed with water in the bowl. It produces a calming effect on the body, although it leaves the mind clear. For the yaqona ceremony, all guests sit on the floor in a circle. The yaqona is offered in a small bowl to each guest in turn.

Following their three days of discussion and fueled by the yaqona, the men decided to build the primary school in an inland location in another county and leave the secondary school at the parish center on the coast. In much less time than three days, and without benefit of the yaqona bowl, the women decided this was not a good idea. They decided that the two schools would be built in a location central to the eight villages in what happened to be the middle of the jungle. The students would board Sunday evening through Friday noon and then walk home to their villages for the weekend.

Map of Fiji area

The students would spend less time separated from their families and their villages. Once it was decided, work began. The location for the new schools and parish center was in the middle of the jungle. Aside from its relative central location to the outlying eight villages, there was nothing except jungle at the site. In fact, the place was so remote and untouched by humans that there were no mosquitoes or rats, two pests that need humans and their detritus to survive.

The villagers cut down the jungle growth with machetes and planted cassava. The flour made from the roots of the cassava plant is called tapioca and is one of the largest sources of carbohydrates for human beings in the world. To pay for building materials, the the villagers harvested sugarcane. With the proceeds from the cane, they purchased $10,000 worth of lumber for the two dormitories, three classrooms and the dining and kitchen area. Mass was celebrated in one of the classrooms.

They later built a priest’s house, although the first priest’s house was what could charitably be called a shack with a gunny sack door. A convent, a church and teachers’ houses completed the construction project.

Fr. Ed spent eight years in the middle of the jungle at the parish center before moving into administration and formation work in the Fiji Region. In addition to his work in the jungle parish, Fr. Ed started the lay missionary program in Fiji and welcomed the first Columban lay missionaries from another country to Fiji. Today, the parish is still active and thriving, still educating students and still residing in the middle of the jungle.