Membership Growth
During the past five years 625 have been baptized, and the average yearly baptisms have risen from 40 a year to 125. The church membership is just sixteen short of having doubled during this period.
We thank God for these gains, but we look to Him for even greater things in the future. At the beginning of 1968 our evangelists were reinforced with four new recruits just out of ministerial training at Fulton College, Fiji. At the time of writing, all these are engaged in public evangelism —two with more experienced workers and two working together in their first campaign. They had received more than forty names of those wishing to join the baptismal class.
Almost half the population of 83,000 living within the territory of the Tonga Mission is on the main island of Tongatapu. This island has experienced the greater proportion of the public campaigns, and during 1967 we rejoiced to see two new companies raised up in villages where previously we had nothing. The staff and students of our Beulah Missionary College had done a good work in preparing the way in these areas by running branch Sabbath schools each Sabbath afternoon.
There are some forty-one inhabited islands in the Tongan group, but thus far we only have work on thirteen. The challenge is great.
New Islands Entered
Last year we opened work on an unentered island in a rather unexpected way. One of our pastors returning from our mission session found an opening to call at this island to visit his non-Adventist sister. However, this isolated island does not have regular shipping, and he found himself stranded. He was warned not to preach on the island, as it had only the one church body on it and that was how it was to stay, according to the chief. However, our pastor felt it better to obey his higher commission of obeying God before man and began a series of meetings which was blessed of God. Three have already been baptized and five others are waiting for a pastor to come and baptize them. Another church group had their missionaries forceably removed when they endeavored to open up their work on this island. Among those won to the truth were two government school teachers.
Bottle Evangelism
Evidently God is going before us to open up the work on another little isolated island in the group. We received the following letter from a man on this island:THE VOICE OF PROPHECY
"I am very happy indeed to be able to contact you in a way which will enable me to know more about the truth.
"My reason for writing is because of these papers, attached herewith [a VOP application form and leaflet]. I found these papers on the island of Ofolanga inside a bottle. Nobody lives on this island and it is visited only once a quarter to cut the copra. As I came to the island on 10.11.67. a bottle washed ashore.
"When I got the bottle I tried to get the papers out and when I did so I remembered the well-known half hour called the Voice of Prophecy, which comes over ZCO every Wednesday evening. I took these papers home, and at that time I showed them to your pastor* here and told him the way I found them and also what I planned to do. He urged me to send them to you. I agreed to this only because I believe you are the church that has the light here in Tonga. I found this lesser light, but I should connect it to the bigger light, then in turn my lesser light will shine more brightly.
"I want to thank the one who thought up this idea through which someone in the darkness may know the light.
"Now I leave with you what should be done.
"Yours faithfully,
"Your fellow brother in Christ,
"SIONE TEISINA."
Voice of Prophecy
Our Voice of Prophecy speaker, Pastor Nivafe, was called upon to pronounce the benediction at prayer meeting one Wednesday evening. As he stepped outside after the meeting a stranger approached him and said, "You are Manase Nivafe. I have never met you but I know you by your voice." This man comes from lonely Nivafo'ou (known as Tin-Can Island), and he went on to say how each Wednesday evening a group of people gather around the radio in his home to listen to the Voice of Prophecy program. He was anxious to know how he could prepare for baptism.
Yes, the Lord is going before us preparing the way so that more unentered islands can be entered.
The seed is being sown, and under the watering of the Holy Spirit and the preaching of His messengers the harvest will continue to increase in Tonga.
In this quiet little spot in the vast Pacific the signs of His coming are multiplying. Crime increases year by year, and the pleasures of this world are the gods of many. The popular churches are coming together and hands of friendship are being held out to Rome. Surely this is our hour to arise and evangelize.
