Two articles in Fiji Village

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Do I laugh or cry? There will be a mini meeting of the Fiji Methodist Church leaders, and the second article is a new approach to telephone conversations. So do I now say 'Praise the Lord, Hallelujah' or silently cry for my interfaith friends?

Now there's nothing wrong with saying words like 'Hallelujah' in the right time and place. I remember the time we attended a wedding and Talatala had helped this shy man in advice on romancing the girl of his dreams. When the time came in the ceremony to answer 'Will you take this woman to be your wedded wife?' the guy said loudly 'Hallelujah, hallelujah, I will, I will!' It was a great moment!

Church permit granted for meeting Publish date/time: 12/08/2009 [12:45]

The church ministers of the Methodist Church can now have their ministerial meeting after the permit was granted by the Commissioner of Police, Commodore Esala Teleni. Assistant General Secretary of the church, Reverend Tevita Nawadra said the three day ministerial meeting will be held in Suva.

The permit has also been granted to have the church Solevu in different divisions. The Solevu is the annual fundraising drive to raise funds for the running of the Methodist Church.

But it is the call of the Divisional Heads when they will meet in their various circuits. Last month the Nadi Circuit met and collected more than $200,000.

Meanwhile the Suva Solevu will be held for a week at Furnival Park in Toorak starting from next Saturday. The Suva Circuit will also host the choir from Australia and the US. Reverend Nawadra reiterated that there will be no choir competitions.
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And the second article is rather stunning, considering the aim in Fiji to respect all religious views.

Force adopts Jesus strategy
Publish date/time: 12/08/2009 [12:59]

This is the new approach of the Fiji Police Force. All police stations as part of the Police Christian Crusades are now answering the phone by saying “Praise the Lord”. This started a few months ago. The Police Force has today revealed that they are trying to change its image by adopting the Jesus strategy.

Deputy Director Operations SP Erami Raibe said all the officers around the country have been advised to be more people oriented and to answer the phones by saying "Praise the Lord, how can I help you". According to Raibe, they believe the Christian approach is the way forward for the Police Force.