AFCI World News

Reaching Indians in the Pacific Islands

BY: Sione Veituna, National Director

A door has opened for AFCI to work with the Indian Division of the Fiji Methodist Church. It started when I was invited to speak at an Indian funeral at the invitation of a friend. Members of the elders of Dudley Methodist Church attended that service, and this opened the door to to speak at the head church of the Indian division of the denomination – Dudley Methodist Church. They have now asked me to help out in the English-Speaking worship services on a regular basis.

The Methodist Church is the largest denomination in Fiji. It has three divisions:-The Fijian, the Indian and the English-speaking divisions. I count it a blessing to be linked to the Indian ministry of the Methodist Church and to work with the leader of that ministry.

LifeWorks Evangelism Course in Australia

LifeWorks is a resource to help local churches much more effectively lead totally non-churched people to faith in Christ. Written by John North, National Director for Australia, it is a course put on by the church, which church members invite their non-churched friends to attend with them. Through teaching designed specifically for a non-churched person, and through relationships with real Christians, thousands of adults have come to faith.

John recently received this note on Facebook: “I hope I’ve found the right John North. I became a Christian through your LifeWorks course.”

A young woman whose whole family came to Christ through LifeWorks at an Anglican church wrote to John: “It is hard to imagine or maybe even remember my family as we were 5 years ago. Yet a short 5 years ago we were your average middle class atheist family. We had nothing to do with God and we were quite happy for things to stay that way. As I am writing this now, it blows me away completely the way that our masterful God works.” At the end of her letter describing how God used LifeWorks in her family’s life, she concludes, “John, thanks for your work and dedication! My family now knows Jesus because of your vision.”

Pacific Islands Team Awaits Registration

 The AFCI ministries of Tonga, Vanuatu, and Tuvalu are in the process of consolidating into one Pacific Island Nations (PIN) team headquartered in Fiji. In December, PIN team leader Sione Veituna petitioned the government for official registration in Fiji and was told that it would take about two weeks. Unfortunately, the government has experienced great upheaval in recent years, and, through efforts to eliminate fraud and corruption, these official procedures often take much longer than initially thought.

In mid-May, Sione and his team are still waiting for the AFCI registration. Sione is in constant contact with the office responsible for registration, but they tell him that they are awaiting direct authorization from above. “All Christians need authorization from ABOVE, right!” Sione affirms. So, please pray for mighty intervention from ABOVE that the path may be cleared for the official launch of the AFCI PIN ministry. 

Sione Veituna, leader of the AFCI Pacific Island Nations team

AFCI Australia Partners with Billy Graham Association

John North will partner in May with Will Graham, grandson of Billy Graham in evangelistic meetings (called REALITY).  In preparation for these meetings, John has been preaching in churches in the region since early January.  This month John is teaching a 5 week Christian Life and Witness Course in the three cities Will Graham will visit in May. John reports, “I am doing the lead-up work preparing churches and believers, preaching in churches and challenging believers that they have been sent by God into their circle of relationships to represent Him.”

Kaipati and Anya have a new son in Fiji

Kaipati and Anya Tekavei work with AFCI in our Pacific Islands Ministry (PIN).  Living in Fiji, Anya gave birth to baby boy on the 24th of Dec.  His name is Tauila Fakatagi.   We rejoice with the Tekavei family. Please pray for the new PIN ministry as it gets underway in the Pacific.  A request has been submitted to the Fiji government to official register the ministry, and we are waiting to hear the response.

Pacific Island Nations Ministry

There are anywhere from 20,000 to 30,000 islands throughout the Pacific Ocean. The exact number is not really known. For over 30 years, AFCI has ministered in several of the major island nations in the south Pacific. This fall, a new thrust will begin as we consolidate the AFCI ministries of Tonga, Vanuatu, and Tuvalu into a unified Pacific Island Nation (PIN) team located in Suva, the capital of the Fiji Islands.

This ministry will focus on the 16 major nations within easy reach of Fiji, comprising thousands of islands. Most of these island nations were first evangelized over 100 years ago by missionaries from the United Kingdom.

Now, the AFCI-PIN team will face the challenge of encouraging a renewed vision within these established churches to reach the youth of their nations and train the next generation of church leaders. Three AFCI families will move to Fiji in the next few months to work together in a multiplication ministry focused on training young church leaders for the future.

The team leader for this new ministry is Rev. Sione Veituna (above, right). For 12 years Sione has been teaching theology at the only seminary in Tonga. Recently his denomination officially appointed him to work with AFCI, which will open many doors for training leaders across the region. From the new AFCI base in Fiji, Sione will direct the team as they seek to expand the ministry to the surrounding island nations.

Sione will be in the United States during August, 2009.