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Methodist Church in Fiji Tag

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News
August 27, 2024

The Methodist Church in Fiji (MCIF) has adopted policies to ensure church-wide approaches to inclusion of all people with disabilities, and to build the capacity of the church to prepare for and respond to disasters. 

The first of their kind, the MCIF Disaster Risk Management Policy and MCIF Disability Inclusion Policy were adopted at the MCIF Conference in Suva this week.

Disaster Risk Management

The Disaster Risk Management policy will save lives, says MCIF President Rev Dr Semisi Turagavou:

“The adoption of the Disaster Risk Management policy is a critical step-in saving lives, alleviating suffering and minimising losses. Disaster risk management must be embraced at all levels from the families, churches, circuits, divisions and at national levels.”

As the country’s biggest church, MCIF is uniquely placed to complement the work of the Fiji Government and Fiji Red Cross to reach out across the country to help people prepare for disasters, and also provide practical assistance to people living in the most remote areas during and after cyclones and other events like floods and landslides.

As part of the new policy, all new buildings constructed by the MCIF must be engineer-certified to withstand Category 5 cyclones, so they can protect people who seek shelter there. Cyclone resistant crops should be planted to ensure consistent supply of food is available during disasters. Each family will be encouraged to have their own disaster and evacuation plan, so that all members share the same understanding of critical stages of evacuation as well as safe evacuation routes.

The inclusion of persons with disabilities and other vulnerable groups such as children, pregnant mothers and the elderly in disaster and evacuation planning must be encouraged, and local wisdom from elders will be sought, particularly on traditional food preservation during power outages.

Disability Inclusion

While reporting on the number of people with disabilities is mandatory for all church and circuit meetings, most churches do not currently have ramps or specific spaces for wheelchair users. After surveying church leaders’ knowledge, attitudes and practices about disability, the results confirmed that there is low consideration of the needs of people with disabilities among MCIF Leaders at Divisional level. Change was needed in the approach of the entire church.

The Disability Inclusion policy will bless the whole church, says Rev Dr Turagavou:

“The church [has] recognised that a person with disability is like all humans… created as an image of God and not a matter of choice, but created by God to show his power and unequivocal love (John 9: 2-4). The Church as the God’s family on earth must therefore embrace ALL persons with disabilities and advocate for their care and equal treatment (Leviticus 19:14).

Persons with disabilities possess valuable gifts and talents which our Lord had blessed them with which can be valuable assets in our quest to save the souls of every Fijians.  In that context we must, embrace and include them in all aspects of our service and program delivery.”

The objectives of the MCIF Disability Inclusion Policy are:

  1. Enable the inclusion of ALL persons with disabilities in all aspects of the Church, institutions, and functions.
  2. Provide accessible church infrastructure that will enable ALL persons with disabilities to attend freely.
  3. Embrace persons with disabilities in facilitation of services to meet their specific needs and demands during normal times and during calamities.

Both policies were developed with input from church members with expertise in each area, as well as government and other civil society representatives.

UnitingWorld has supported this work through the Resilient, Inclusive and Safe Churches and Communities project, which was endorsed by the MCIF 2023 Conference. The project supports the MCIF to develop and roll out policies and practices that support the inclusion of people with disabilities, safety and wellbeing of women and children, and disaster resilience in the face of climate change. The project builds on the theological resources on gender equality, child protection and disaster resilience that UnitingWorld has supported Pasifika theologians to develop over the last decade.

UnitingWorld Program Manager Stephanie Dalton with MCIF church members and civil society representatives who crafted the design of the ‘Resilient, Inclusive and Safe Churches and Communities’ project

 

Pictured in header: Uniting Church in Australia President, Rev Charissa Suli, MCIF President Rev Dr Semisi Turagavou, and UnitingWorld National Director Dr Sureka Goringe at the MCIF Conference in Suva.

This project is supported by the Australian Government through the Australian NGO Cooperation Program (ANCP). Thanks to ANCP, we’re making a huge difference together.

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by
Pray
December 17, 2020

The people of Fiji are bracing to be hit by Severe Tropical Cyclone Yasa, a destructive category five super-storm in the Pacific.

General Secretary of the Pacific Conference of Churches Rev James Bhagwan has written today about what it means for his nation and the Pacific region.

Severe Tropical Cyclone Yasa remains at Cat 5 and continues to track towards us bringing destructive winds, storm surges and swells in coastal areas of at least 10metres in height – probably more, and heavy rain and flooding.

The cyclone is coming in from the West and so will severely damage the Yasawa and Mamanuca island groups which are already struggling because of the collapse of the tourism industry. It is currently tracking to go between the two main islands and then down through the middle of the group. This is a huge system so Suva will take a bigger hit than in 2016 with Severe Tropical Cyclone Winston, and as you know, the many squatter and informal settlements in the greater Suva area have very ill-constructed homes so this is a major worry. 

Yet our faith, our traditional knowledge and wisdom and experiences of the past keep us resilient. We have been expecting this weather since the early and abundant breadfruit season and prolonged mango season (see how God through His creation speaks to us and provides for us). 

Thank you for keeping us in prayers. It will be a tough Christmas. We really need to shift gear on Climate Change as these are all climate change induced extreme weather events. When we talk about loss and damage in climate negotiations – this is part of it. 

At times like this I question your government’s commitment to their Pacific family. How much of the support that will flow in after this cyclone in terms of relief is to their “Vuvale” Pacific Partnership and how much is a guilt offering on their failure to be the world leader they could be on climate change. 

It breaks my heart that the Pacific Church Partnership of DFAT will engage on many things but we are not able to leverage it on the urgent matter of climate change. Nevertheless we will remain the persistent widow until things change. 

We’re standing ready to support our partners the Methodist Church in Fiji in their emergency response and we’ll keep you informed about how you can help.

Please continue to hold Fiji in prayer as they make final preparations and lock down for the storm.

Header image: Boy living in an informal settlement near Suva, Fiji

The Uniting Church in Australia is a member of the Pacific Conference of Churches.

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Education Access in Squatter Settlement (Fiji), News, Project Updates
March 27, 2019

We were thrilled to receive a handwritten letter from a student who has been part of our Informal settlement school subsidy program in Fiji. Mira* just graduated and wanted to say a big thank you to the Uniting Church for supporting her education.

Many of you gave a ‘Set for School’ gift card last Christmas, supporting students like Mira to get through school on an equal footing with her peers. It’s great to see the joy and impact it can make.

*Name changed. We have reproduced parts of Mira’s letter below to remove references to names and specific locations to protect her privacy.

Full letter:

Suva, Fiji / 7 Feb, 2019
The heads/members. Uniting Church, Australia

I am glad to write this letter of appreciation for the support of the Uniting Church towards my education life.

It was indeed a proud moment for my parents to see their daughter graduate out of high school with having much burden on their shoulders to educate me. Furthermore, this attainment of education also moulded me to contribute towards the works of the church by becoming a Sunday school teacher.

The Uniting Church did not step back from helping us and provided support through means of buying uniforms, bags and shoes for us which was a need of school life.

All in all, I would like to thank the Uniting Church from the bottom of my heart for their endless support in helping the parents nuture their children.

A big bula vinaka vakalevu, dhanyarad and thank you from the children.

Yours faithfully,
– Mira

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Blogs, News
September 11, 2017

The President of the Methodist Church in Fiji (MCIF) is to join the crew of Fiji’s iconic traditional sailing canoe the ‘Uto Ni Yalo’ this week, as it sails to Matuku in the Lau group of islands.

Rev. Dr Tevita Nawadra Bainivanua will join the Uto Ni Yalo in Moala and participate in activities on the island that focuses on building community resilience to climate change as well as explore opportunities to advance traditional seafaring as a means of reducing Fiji’s eastern islands reliance on fossil fuels.

He and his wife will then sail on the Uto Ni Yalo to Matuku where they will join in environmental and climate change awareness activities as well as officiating the induction of the Divisional Superintendent of the Methodist Church’s Matuku Division.

“I have followed the voyages of the Uto Ni Yalo and heard a lot about their work and mission from their volunteer chaplain Rev. James Bhagwan,” said Rev. Dr. Banivanua.

“The church’s symbol of its New Exodus is a Drua sailing through rough seas. The work of the Uto Ni Yalo Trust is an example to the church of visionary courage and commitment to care for the ocean and environment and resilience in the face of climate change through sustainable sea transport.”

“I’m grateful to the Trust for accommodating me on their voyage and look forward to a taste of what they experience in their voyaging.”

Uto ni Yalo Trust secretary Dwain Q alovaki says that the Lau group of islands is highly biodiverse in reef fish that support wellbeing and livelihoods. The Lau voyage is an opportunity to progress community-led solutions to climate change among our maritime islands by employing a faith-based approach to environmental stewardship.

Follow their journey on Facebook

For further information contact MCIF Secretary for Communication and Overseas Mission jamesb@methodistfiji.org or UNYT Secretary dqalovaki@gmail.com

Download MCIF press release

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