Listening to One Another

Sharing Struggles and Joy as Rural Churches in Oceania

• Matthew 11:15 Let anyone with ears listen!
• Philippians 2:4 Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others.

Fiji

Monday 26 May to Friday 30 May 2025

• Monday 26 May 2025 – Arrival and Welcome LOTU,
• Tuesday 27 May – Conference
• Wednesday 28 May – Conference,  
• Thursday 29 May – Local Church, Community Visit, Farewell LOTU and DINNER
• Friday 30 May – Departure

There may be options for those who want to stay for the weekend to visit nearby areas, attend worship with a local congregation (offers to preach will be welcome), or visit other parts of Fiji.

Host

Methodist Church in Fiji and Rotuma (with local and overseas partners)

The initiative for a Fiji hosted conference has come from Wessley Manasa Vatanitawake. First involved with IRCA when he attended the international conference in Lincoln, Aotearoa New Zealand in 2018, Manasa has worked with the Fijian Council of Churches and at the beginning of 2024 began a communications and ecumenical role with the Fijian Methodist Church.

Guest Speaker

Revd Dr Semesi Turagavou, President of the Methodist Church in Fiji and Rotuma

Location

To be announced: it will be one of the Divisions of the Methodist Church that are in close proximity to Nadi Airport.

Programme

The programme will focus on Veitalanoa – hearing stories from around the region, prioritising Pacific Stories and with time for input from Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand. Contributions will include from people working with, and those directly impacted by, issues like Climate Change, Seasonal Workers to Australia and New Zealand, the incursion into Fiji of international drug cartels, modern day slavery, and safety and well-being of women and families.

The draft programme can be viewed here. Note that this is a work in progress, with details to be developed and finalised later in the year.

Participants

A maximum of 50 people are able to be hosted by the Fiji church and local community. This would include:

• 10 from Australia
• 10 from Aotearoa New Zealand
• 10 gathered from different Island nations by the Pacific Conference of Churches
• 13 Pacific Islanders from the Pasivika and those from Australia and New Zealand (Pacific Island connection)
• 7 Conference and IRCA leadership

We are encouraging those who have been active in the refreshing of IRCA Oceania through the Sequel Conference in 2023 and on ZOOM to consider attending, or encourage someone (perhaps a younger person) active in rural church and community life to attend.

Cost

The cost will be AUD250 or NZD250 for participants from those countries, or from IRCA leadership.

Information later on how and when this will be paid.

Expressions of Interest

If you are interested in attending this conference among the quota for your part of the region, we invite your expression of interest now.

The goal is to create a conference which allows maximum benefit from interaction and learning, along with resourcing for churches in rural and isolated locations, and which makes Pacific interests and needs the priority.

If you are from Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand, selection will be based on willingness and ability to listen and learn, and on what you, on the basis of personal skills and interests, can contribute to the concerns of the Pacific region.

A small group of people with background in IRCA Oceania will give due consideration and make an initial selection by early August.

If you are from any of the Pacific Islands in the Oceania region, or Pasifika working in Australia or Aotearoa New Zealand, a follow up will come to you from our Fiji planning group.

Click here for the form to express your interest

Any questions: email [email protected]

Support for Pacific Participants

The heart of this conference will be the Pacific contribution. We invite those with good connections to their own denominational body to seek funding to enable Pacific people from within Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand to attend, and to assist with fundraising for Pasivika people (those living in the Islands). Also initiatives using local or friendship networks could be taken to raise and airfare or part thereof.

ZOOM

The conference will be accessible on ZOOM.

Conference Facilitators

• Rev Dr ROBYN MCPHAIL, New Zealand Lead Facilitator
• Ms LINDA COWAN, New Zealand Co-Facilitator
• Wessley MANASA VATANITAKWAKE, Fiji Lead Facilitator (Methodist Church in Fiji)

Team assisting Wessley Manasa:

• Ms JOWANA NABUCI, Methodist Church in Fiji Connexional Office
• Ms Ani TOKALAULEVU RAVUALALA, Fiji Council of Churches
• Pacific Conference of Churches representative
• Host Division (Western Fiji) representative