Yesterday Peceli and I were delighted to be part of the St Marks Chadstone Uniting Church program - worship which included friends from four congregations, a hearty lunch, a chance to meet up with old friends, make new friends, and a presentation by Dr Andrew Thornley from Sydney concerning the John Hunt New Testament. Some photos of the afternoon are posted here. One of the photos includes Christine Sorenson who is a Formations Director at United Faculty in Melbourne. Andrew's wife, Rev. Carolyn pictured wearing the beautiful liturgical scarf made by Rev Eseta of Bendigo is also a Formations Director. That is a crucial role in training ministers apart from their academic studies. Dr Thornley has a website which is http://fijimethodisthistory.blogspot.com.au
Rev Iliesa Naivalu has copies of the book which will enrich readers by comparing the current Fijian Bible with the excellent one made as early as the 1840s, a remarkable achievement by John Hunt and helpers Noa and Litia. Thank you to Dr Thornley for the initiative to make this available to modern readers. Contact details for Rev Iliesa are by phoning 0432 531748 or email inaival2000@yahoo.com I was surprised that the text is so readable and instead of looking archaic it seems quite accessible to readers.
Dear Wendy and Peceli,
ReplyDeleteThankyou for your highlighting of the Melbourne "launch" of the John Hunt New Testament. Carolyn and I were delighted to attend the service at St Marks Uniting Church at Chadstone, meet up with you and Peceli after reading your blog for many years and witness the vitality of Christian witness among the Fijians of Melbourne.
As you mentioned in your text, I have left a box of John Hunt New Testaments with Rev. Iliesa Naivalu and I am sure he will have them with him at the Fiji Day celebrations in Melbourne. I can always be contacted for more copies of the book.
It was really good to meet you and Carolyn on Sunday and now I'm reading 'Exodus of the Taukei' and finding lots of amazing little stories, even almost hidden in the footnotes! An amazing amount of research has produced a great document of the complexities of the Fiji people and the missionaries during those tumultuous years.
ReplyDeleteThankyou Wendy. I would be appreciate very much Peceli's reflections on John Hunt's Fijian.
ReplyDeleteThat would be of great value.
From Peceli,
ReplyDeleteFrom the top of my head I would say that you have found some gold in an old mine. Academics might have seen this translation but not ordinary people. Also Viwa has a special place in my heart and I've been there. To be widely read and appreciated by the people of Fiji there needs to be special events, workshops, and even competitions in reading and talking about the differences in the various Fijian Bibles. I'll write further about this later on. Rev Naivalu will be leaving Melbourne soon to go to the head office in Epworth House so maybe he could help further the promotion of the Hunt New Testament.
Much appreciated Peceli. Yes, Iliesa will be a great advocate for the John Hunt New Testament. Fortunately, Tauga Vulaono in Fiji and her husband, Save Nacanaitaba, have assummed responsibility for sales of the Hunt Scripture in Fiji and are doing this with great enthusiasm and commitment. The students and lecturers at Davuilevu have also been introduced to the original translation and it really will be the future generation of talatalas that will take the translation to their congregations. Your highlighting of it will also help.
ReplyDeleteMy prayer is that the Hunt NT will not disappear again as it did more than a hundred years ago,
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