Honouring Setitaia Kotoivunisina (Koto)

What a privilege to honour Koto in this post. She is such a dedicated servant of the Lord, one who has seriously followed the instruction of Paul to 2 Timothy in 2:15, “Always be eager to present yourself before God as a perfect and mature minister, without shame, as one who correctly explains the Word of Truth.”

In her journey, Koto has relentlessly pursued God’s call as a missionary by honing her specific gifts and by sharpening her box of tools to serve others. Countless people, especially young Pacific Islanders, have been trained and healed through her gifts of teaching and counseling. Well done!

Koto was born in Nasau village, Moce Island, in the Eastern Lau group of the Fijian Islands. She is the youngest of four siblings, all married with their own families. Sadly, both her mother and brother have passed away but Koto’s dad is still alive, living in the village with one of her sisters and her family. 

Koto grew up in the village until she went to the capital of Suva to continue her education. While still in high school, Koto became a Christian and though her spiritual journey was not easy at first, she was thankful for some friends who helped her along the way. 

Experiencing an increase of spiritual hunger in the early 90s led to a big change. She left Fiji to attend Fowey Lodge Bible School in Mellons Bay, Auckland, New Zealand, where she studied the Bible for two years. On her return to Fiji she served her uncle, a Methodist church minister. 

Koto learned about Youth With A Mission (YWAM) through a cousin who did a Discipleship Training school (DTS) in Maui, Hawaii around 1994-95. She attended her own DTS in Vuniyasi, Nadi, Fiji in 1997. Following that, she staffed DTS programs at the Vuniyasi base for a few years as a staff member and then as a teacher. From this experience, there followed an impressive list of further training and serving. 

She returned to New Zealand in 2000 to do the Leadership Training School. (LTS). As part of that school, she attended Rosalie Pedder’s workshop to learn more creative ways to teach. Rosalie taught about how to engage students through the use of drawing, reflecting and processing exercises, rather than merely lecturing. This style of teaching turned out to be perfect for Pacific Islanders, who thrive on more kinesthetic and visual styles. After returning to Fiji, Koto co-led a Teacher's Training DTS, followed by an outreach to Tonga and the Cook Islands.  

Koto took many leaps of faith as she pursued further training. She raised funds for these, by far the biggest being the decision to journey to the University of the Nations, Youth With A Mission, Kona (UofNKona) on the Big Island of Hawaii. There, she attended two second year level schools: the Communication and Biblical View of Man (CBVM) and Teaching English As A Second Language (TESOL). Following the schools, she returned to Fiji to continue working with DTS programs. She then travelled back to Hawaii in November 2004 to staff the DTS there for three years, from where she took students on outreach to Asia, Australia and Fiji. At the end of three years, Koto experienced some visa issues and returned to Fiji permanently.

After two years back in Fiji, Koto joined a new YWAM ministry called the Personal Transformations Center (PTC) in Lautoka, Fiji. This ministry was pioneered by another amazing Fijian woman, Viniana  Guanavinaka and her team. Koto led a DTS there, taking the students on outreach to Tuvalu, (formerly known as Ellice Islands).  

While part of the PTC, she attended the Foundations in Counseling School (FCM) and felt it was time to move on from the DTS. She was part of a local outreach of the FCM in Fiji that worked with counselling in prisons, hospitals, and high schools. They also conducted counselling workshops and seminars in churches, also running them at the Falelauniu base in Samoa.  

After five years with PTC,  Koto felt it was time to move on. She joined the YWAM Family Ministry in Suva where her present ministry is with the JILI (Jesus is Lord Indeed) Family Life Ministries. This is a fairly new ministry and there is no base as of yet. The ministry runs Family Ministry workshops in villages, communities and churches in Fiji. Some of the topics offered include Families Built on Godly Foundations, Family Systems, Identity and Biblical Worldview. The workshops are holistic, using Rugby Plus (part of Waqa’s ministry -previous blog post), the Ministry of Health and the Social Welfare Department. 

The last workshop was held in December 2019  in Savusavu, the second biggest island in Fiji. She and a team took a holistic approach which involved the police, health department, and public administrators in rural areas, including the IB Rugby Plus Healthy Living and Farming Projects. Unfortunately follow-up has been postponed due to Covid-19.

Koto also serves on the leadership team that oversees the YWAM Pacific Work.

Commending his servant, the master replied, ‘You have done well, and proven yourself to be my loyal and trustworthy servant. Because you have been a faithful steward to manage a small sum, now I will put you in charge of much, much more. You will experience the delight of your master, who will say to you, “Come celebrate with me!

Matthew 25:21

 

Honoring A Pacific Island missionary from the Past: The Reverend Paula Seru

In the previous blog, I honoured Waqa Baravilala. In this blog, I honour his great-grandfather, the Reverend Paula Seru. There is not much detail about his life, but there is enough to remember him by. Reverend Seru was one of the first Fijian missionaries to Milingimbi Island, in the Northern Territories, Australia, the second of five mission stations established by the Methodist Overseas Mission (MOM). 

Between 1928 and 1950, seven Pacific Islanders, predominantly Fijians, were employed in Arnhem Land. Paula Seru (1928-1936), llaijia Seru (1928-1930), Kolinio Naulago Saukuru (1933- 1948), Verencki Veitarogivanua (1937-1942) and Meli Tukai (1937-1944).

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Although the Fijians were initially recruited to provideAlthough the Fijians were initially recruited to provide instruction to the Aboriginal people in the basics of agriculture, they also demonstrated their versatility, functioning in a range of jobs such as "builders, captains of mission vessels, Sunday school teachers, choir masters, evangelists, pastors, and 'protectors' of Aboriginal people" (Kadiba, 1998:107).

Paula, a lay missionary, along with others was involved in teaching the Aborigines how to utilise the land and resources for sustainability, including how to cultivate crops and vegetables. The Fijians served as a bridge between the aboriginals and the Caucasion missionaries. In his thesis, "The Methodist Mission and the emerging Aboriginal Church in Arnhem Land 1916-1977," Kadiba notes that "when their white missionary counterparts were on furlough or on sick leave, the Fijian missionaries single-handedly took responsibility for looking after the mission establishments" and were "valuable assets" during the war years. MOM records and other writings often expressed praise for the Fijian missionaries and noted that they were respected by the Aboriginals.

Waqa had the great privilege to visit the island of Millingimbi many years after his great-grandfather’s arrival. In 2019, he along with his father and family members visited for the first time.

“After learning about my mission heritage, I had total confidence in God’s call to commit my life to mission ministry. My Great Grandfather’s life impacted me and I am glad to be serving in Australia as he was, because of God’s call." 

Waqa Barvavilala

Information taken primarily from pages 103-109: Kadiba, John. "The Methodist Mission and the emerging Aboriginal Church in Arnhem Land 1916-1977." Thesis submitted for Doctor of Philosophy through the Faculty of Education, Northern Territory University, 1998.