WEAVING THE COMMUNITY:
AN ETHNOGRAPHY OF A FIJIAN VILLAGE
by Stephanie Sienkiewicz

Chapter 6
Religion in the Village:
The Function of Church

Chapter 6

The Methodist Church in Narewa

The Assemblies of God Church

Conversion from the Methodist Church to the Assemblies of God Church

Conclusion

As previous chapters have shown, the Fijian village is a highly structured environment. Each person in the village has a designated relationship with each other person based upon the nature of their kinship. People must act in certain ways around certain people. There is also a hierarchy based on sex, relative age, and family status. The community designates each person a role to play within the 'koro.'

Religion too plays a central role in the lives of almost all Fijians. Accordingly, religion must fit into this hierarchy. There should be a place for God within the Fijian system of relations; he should have his role as well. Villagers see God as the greatest of all father figures therefore. As everyone's father, he shall be accorded the highest respect. Fijians have thus figured the Christian God into their traditional system of hierarchy. The Christian religion fits into village life by reflecting other values of Fijian culture. As Ravuvu says (1983:101),

Because He created men, He has some commitment to them, and because they have involved themselves with him through prayer and other church activities, He is ready to protect and help them. He will reward people by leaving them alone to carry out their ordinary activities, by not punishing them and by assisting in emergency. In other words, he is the idealized father to everyone; stern and lovable, caring for and educating His children, the church members. He punishes those who disobey, but still loves them and helps them even when they get into difficulties.

This chapter will look into the importance of religion in the Narewa koro. It will describe Methodist practice, as it is the most common denomination in the village. Many Fijians are now converting from Methodism to other sects however. This chapter too will describe another religious denomination, the Assemblies of God church as it is the only other sect in Narewa. The chapter will describe one woman's conversion from Methodism to the AOG church, as it is called. She found comfort and companionship in the AOG church. She also found an egalitarian atmosphere. Methodism supports Fijian culture, as it reinforces the village social order. Some people find this dissatisfying as they have no escape from their role and status in the community. Those dissatisfied with traditional society look to other churches to create another, more egalitarian, society.

The Methodist Church in Narewa

There are only two currently practiced denominations in Narewa. These are Methodism and Assemblies of God. The majority of villagers are Methodist. Of the 18 occupied houses in the village, only four houses belong to the AOG church. Methodism therefore, deserves some description since it is the most common religion.

Generally each Fijian village has a Methodist church. That church is near the center of the village. The location demonstrates that religion is central to the lives of Fijians. In Narewa, the church is parallel to the community hall, another important and communal building of the village. The space between these two forms the rara, or village green. The village green is shared space in the village. It is a place of gathering, during festivals for instance. Since the church is in this area as well, it is evident that religion is a force of gathering, of bringing a community together. This is one of the important functions of religion and church life in the village.

The existence and structure of the church building is symbolic within the village:

The obvious and prominent physical landmark of Christianity in Fijian villages is the church building. A village community without a church feels guilty and shameful. They have no physical manifestation of their commitment to the church to display to others" (Ravuvu 1983:94).

Just as Fijian rules of respect in the social sphere require obvious displays, such as exiting a room when someone enters or drinking out of a different cup, so must a Fijian village's respect for its father, God, be physically obvious.

The layout of the church emphasizes the Fijian value system. The church is a cement building with an A-shaped roof. Inside are wooden pews. There are two doors, one on each end of the building. As one enters the church from the door opposite the end of the church from which the preacher speaks, women sit in the pews to the left and men sit to the right. Male and female duties are separate in Fijian culture and church seating reflects this. Children sit as a group in the first pews of the men's side. In the middle of the church are pews which do not face the pulpit; they are perpendicular to the audience pews. These are for the choir. Members of the choir wear white, the color symbolizing purity, as a member of the choir must be a kind of model in the community. A person may be thrown out of the choir if he/she is known to engage in immoral behavior. On the other side of the choir from the audience pews is the pulpit. This is on a raised floor. The higher level extends from the pulpit to the other door of the church. The height is symbolic of importance, as only chiefs and church officials may sit up there. These are the only people which may enter through this far door as well. The layout of the church building thus extends the village hierarchy. Just as important guests enter a private house through the door nearest the private/sacred space of the house, so honored church members enter through the high status door near the altar.

Church services commence at 5:30 a.m., 10 a.m., and 3:00 p.m. in the Narewa Methodist church. Villagers are made aware of these masses by the lali. This is a hollow wooden gong (Ravuvu 1983:97). The first beating of the lali invites lay people to the church. The second indicates to the talatala or the day's preacher that he should enter the building.

The descending order of authority and status of church officials mirrors that descent within a mataqali, from the highest-status male to the lowest. This is one way in which the church reflects the general principles of Fijian culture. The talatala is "a consecrated church minister" (Ravuvu 1983:121). He has completed formal training and only he may baptize children or perform marriage rites. There is not a talatala in every village, but there is one in Narewa. Beginning next year, he will represent six villages, including Narewa and five neighboring villages. This is his tabacakacaka, or church circuit. He must travel then, and cannot be in Narewa always. Ravuvu describes the different types of pastors:

The talatala is assisted by a number of vakatawa (catechists) and vakavuvuli (pastors). The majority of the vakatawa and vakavuvuli have had little formal training but have started by applying first to become dauvunau (lay preacher) and then working their way up. The vakatawa is responsible for the organization of church activities in a number of villages, a sub-unit of the tabacakacaka, and under him are a number of vakavuvuli whose responsibility is to organize church activities in the villages in which they are stationed. The vakavuvuli is assisted by a number of local dauvunau who take turns preaching and conducting services. The dauvunau are ordinary members of the village. (1983:95)

In Narewa, one of the vakatawa has had some formal training while the other has not. Lay preachers, dauvunau, hold mass in conjunction with the vakatawa when the talatala is not present. When he is present, he preaches in conjunction with one of the vakatawa.

When members of the church are assembled inside, the talatala or lay preacher enters and takes his position behind the pulpit. He welcomes the congregation and opens his Bible. The choir then sings a hymn; they are joined by the audience. When the singing is finished, the preacher announces from which part of the Bible he will read. After reading a passage, he explains and expands upon the message of the text. There are intermittent hymns throughout the service. One of the vakatawa will pray and ask for the soli, or offering, from the congregation. He goes throughout the church with the offering plate. At the end of each month, instead of collecting with the plate, he will stand near the pulpit and call out the name of each family in the church. A child representative of the family brings the money to him then and he announces the amount of the soli. This method of collection reflects Fijian culture as it draws this giving into the public forum and opens it for competition between families. The dynamics of a small community, wherein people know many details of others' lives, make competition an effective motivator. This same format is also in village fundraisers indicating that it resonates with wider Fijian views about the correct way to do things.

The economic survey, performed on six houses in Narewa and discussed in the Economics Chapter, asked how much families spend on this church offering. Three of the six households belong to the AOG church and will be discussed later in the chapter. Two of the Methodist families said that they usually give F$2 per week for the soli. One of the families said that they try to give F$5 per week but give F$2 if they cannot give more.

There are also festivals to raise money for the church. The Adi Narewa, the Narewa festival, happens once per year. Each of the houses in the village is supposed to contribute F$250 to the village fundraiser. This raises money to be contributed to a 6 village wide festival in late November; these are the six villages in the talatala's tabacakacaka. These festivals are community gatherings and are reminiscent of mataqali functions like weddings and funerals. The main occupation during the fundraiser is grog-drinking, as with mataqali functions. The following fieldnotes from the Adi Narewa festival show the extent to which the village honors the church on this occasion. Narewa villagers perform this ceremony for the church, respecting their God, as people show respect for their community members through elaborate community rituals. The church and the Christian God are enveloped in Fijian cultural beliefs.

F$3,900 was raised at the festival. F$3,000 of this will go toward the festival in November, to the church. After expenses, the village made a profit of F$500. After church on Sunday... there was a profit calculating session. Some members of the village drank kava as they figured out how much they spent and how much money they made.

[For the fundraiser,] [s]hades were set up between the community hall and the church. These shades were wooden poles holding up tin roofs. There were mats on the ground under this shelter. The poles were decorated with leaves and flowers. There were six shades set up. Each shade was for two families. The households in the village had been paired up such that each 'team' of two houses would compete with the other 'teams' to see who could contribute the most money...

Most people starting sitting outside between 11 a.m. and 12 noon. Under the shades, people sat in circles drinking yaqona. People would pay money periodically for yaqona. We listened to the radio under our shade. The people under our shade included my family and the family they were paired with as well as guests from other villages nearby and from towns further away. One man was a mataqali member from Vitawa. One woman was the cousin-sister of the head of the household that my family was paired with.

... We continued to drink yaqona [into the night]. People tolatale (a style of Fijian dancing). Some people went to the community hall to watch women that had come from Rakiraki village do the meke. The talatala was speaking in the microphone. He thanked everyone for coming and said the masu (prayer).

The Methodist church service and festivals, as well as the structure of the church, reflect Fijian cultural values of hierarchy and respect. Church operations resemble village social structure. Funerals, weddings, and church events draw people in from numerous villages and prompt them to display unity by giving gifts like money. It is also apparent that Fijians highly respect the church. As a part of the community, God must have a designated role in relation to all members of that community. He is regarded with the highest respect then and treated as a supreme father. Just as Fijian culture teaches people to respect others, so this father is dealt with frequently but in a very rigid and planned manner.

The Assemblies of God Church

As previously mentioned, four of the 19 occupied houses in Narewa belong to the Assemblies of God church. The fatherly role of God is evident in the teachings of this church. Principles underlying the church as well as what preachers say make this evident. Members of the congregation must accept that God knows what is best for them and has control over their lives. They should refrain from certain activities like cutting their hair or drinking yaqona, doing what He has told them. This demonstrates the parental nature of the AOG church. The following fieldnotes describe an AOG church service which I attended on October 24, 1999. The church is not in Narewa but in the next village, Naivuvuni. I went to the service with one of the families that lives in my village. This church is called Kenanivou.

We arrived during Sunday school. The Talatala was reading passages from the Bible. Other adults in the audience also read passages from Exodus. There was a board with diagrams drawn on it to explain the Bible stories. The kids sat at the front of the church. The church had mats covering the floor which people sat on (they took their shoes off when they entered). There was a pulpit spanning the front of the room. There was masi on the walls of the church and on the pillars inside. Men sat on one side of the room, while women sat on the other. The women spread out at the back of the church.

An AOG church service incorporates musical instruments. There is no designated choir. All members of the church sing songs rather than hymns. This loud and joyful music calls the Holy Spirit into the church. By the time the preacher begins speaking then, the Holy Spirit, which will speak through him, is already inside the church.

After the Sunday school session finished, a young man played the guitar while a boy played the tambourine. The church usually uses a keyboard as well but the power was out that day. The congregation was singing and clapping. Some people cried out "Amen" or "Hallelujah."

One man began speaking at the pulpit. After his speech, the Talatala (who taught Sunday school) went to the pulpit. While the Talatala was preaching, the audience cried out their own prayers at the same time that he was speaking. The woman behind me cried loudly as if she was sobbing. The Talatala also greeted visitors to the church. These included people from Vitawa and Vunitogoloa. These were people who do not usually attend this church. He greeted 'Solei's friend.' The girl I went with is Solei. A third man went to the pulpit after the Talatala. All three of these men sat behind the pulpit during the whole service.

The third man read and preached from a Bible passage. He waived his hands in the air. He was energetic and losing his breath while preaching. He was saying (Solei explained) to be on time for church, not sometimes, but all of the time. 'Don't follow your own time, follow God's time.' He also said, 'Are you so busy all of the time that you can't read one verse [from the Bible]? Read one verse before going outside every day.' He also said that people should just pray if they are having problems. 'Man's greatest power is the power of prayer. Whenever you have problems, you should pray. People today run to the priest when they have problems. They don't know that God is there with them. On top of the mountain God will talk to you. (He said that in English.) Jesus said, 'My house is inside people's hearts.''

When people are having problems or feeling guilty, they should seek out the Lord. He, as the ultimate father, can pass judgment. In saying people should go straight to the Lord, the preacher is saying that people should bypass social hierarchy. This is very different from Methodism which emphasizes social hierarchy within the church.

At this point in the service, the kids cleared out of the front of the sitting area and people went up to sit there. These were people who had guilt that they wanted to get rid of. Solei told me that they feel the Holy Ghost will speak inside of them. There were about 12 women and one man up in the front of the church. People were confessing their sins out loud but all at the same time. The first preacher of the service spoke while these people were confessing and then the Talatala also spoke while they were confessing. The Talatala told the congregation that if there is a conflict between two people, a person must first go to the other person and apologize before asking for forgiveness from God. Otherwise God will not help. As the service ended, people shook hands with those sitting near them.

This active individual participation is very different from and much more egalitarian than Methodism.

An important demonstration of commitment to the AOG church is the weekly tithe and offering. This resembles secular Fijian culture as the giving and sharing of money is central to Fijian identity. Weddings, funerals, births, and other occasions all require that relatives spend or contribute money. Villagers treat the church as a member of the community by economically sharing. The frequency and breadth of this giving shows that the church has high status; God has the highest status of all villagers.

The tithe is 10% of a household's weekly income. Money is not the only means however, by which one can give a percentage of income. For instance, one could give food from his/her garden or some sewing work she has done. An informant of the economic survey explained the following. "Actually what we buy, like we just buy flour and give ten percent, no. You have to sweat it, from the farm, like that. Before you use it, before you give it to your family, you should give the church ten percent." If a family gives a monetary sum each week, then they give the church an envelope, with their name on it, which contains one-tenth of their week's earnings. This amount most often fluctuates as weekly income levels vary. The church also requires separate offerings from its members. There is an offering to the preacher for instance. One family told me they usually contribute F$5 per week to the collection plate. Another family in the economic survey gives F$2 per week to the plate. F$2 per week is the average figure for the four houses in the village that belong to the AOG church.

Conversion from the Methodist Church to the Assemblies of God Church

Menani converted from the Methodist church to the Assemblies of God church. Her case demonstrates that conversion is often an outlet for the structured hierarchical outer society. Menani said herself that Methodism and AOG are the same religion; they only have different styles of worship. "The only difference is for worshipping. Here [in the Methodist church] we don't have to clap our hands. We just have to sing hymns. And [in the AOG church] we have to use guitars, organ, mics, tambourine.". The interview with Menani about her conversion makes it apparent that she wanted to deal with God directly; she found a religion in which all people have the same status, at least while inside the church. By joining the Assemblies of God church, she joined a more egalitarian atmosphere and now has a more direct relationship with her God. Menani's conversion interview follows.

I was raised in the Methodist Church. And when I was married, my husband was baptized AOG. So that's why I belong to the AOG, because he is AOG. I was Methodist. You can see that's the difference, only the name of the church; but there is only one God. The only difference is how we are worshipping him, like we worship in our spirit, our inner spirit...See on the other side, in AOG, I don't have to drink grog. I don't smoke, I don't go dancing like tolatale. Only we read the Bible, we are based on the Bible. The Bible says don't do this, so that's why.

Menani and her husband did not convert at the same time. He converted first and then invited her to attend an AOG church service so that she might see his new religion herself. He was Methodist when they married. I asked her if she had any ideas about changing religion before her husband changed. "No...so I just switched to AOG. By that time, [my husband] switched to AOG. He told me that this is a different kind of worship." Menani, however, did not merely convert because her husband did. She experienced the AOG church service in a very positive manner and decided that she preferred that type of worship. She told me that when she went to the AOG church for the first time she felt like "I should have known before." She felt like she should have realized her sins before that day.

[My husband] converted first, then myself...When he heard God's word, he heard that only one time...in New Zealand, ten years ago. He received Jesus Christ in his life... So he received that, received Jesus. He came to Fiji. So [since] we were married, I changed to that religion... It was not very hard [to change]. Because I heard God's word preaching and my inner spirit [was] feeling guilty. So I heard the pastor preaching, [and] I felt guilty like, "He is talking about me." My husband didn't force me. I just heard God's word...[My husband] invited me to church... [I] went one day. I heard God's voice.

She wanted a stronger personal relationship with God without all of the social hierarchy in between The AOG church is different from the Methodism because it views everyone as an equal participant in the church. Menani rejects the community norms, like grog drinking, which reinforce social cohesiveness and therefore social hierarchy.

I asked Menani how she knew, the first time she went to the AOG church, that she wanted to be a member of that church. Her response indicates that she desired to involve herself in her religion to a greater degree than she was able to do in the Methodist church. She sought God's direct influence in her life. Her new acquaintance with the church emphasized that God is accessible to the entire world. He is watching over all; he sees if a person is obedient and well-behaved. He then provides for and takes care of his children who worship him appropriately. She wanted a personal relationship with Him wherein she understands things herself instead of being taught by other members of society. She says,

Because the pastor does Bible study. Here in Methodist, we don't have to do Bible study, they just have to preach the Bible. [In AOG] they taught us. Every single verse in the Bible they have to teach us. How to give God's thanksgiving, the money we...like this, I gained ten dollars this week, so I have to give one dollar to the church. Not only the money, the food you grow, everything, [what] you buy from the shop. You have to give one-tenth. [Sometimes] we have nothing at all, so the God provides. He is looking that I am doing this, I am doing that. Everything that the pastor says, I have to do it. Because that is what the Holy Spirit is telling him. But [in Methodist], we don't have Bible teaching, no. We, [in AOG], have Bible class from the beginners to the adults, from the eldest one to the youngest one. [In Methodist] they only do it for the small children. And after the Bible class, then we will have our church... We also go to church on the weekdays, not only Sundays.

The first time that Menani went to the AOG church, her experience awakened her to the idea that God was watching her actions on earth. She was then aware of his presence within her as a teacher and judge because of the church service. Menani experienced God through a direct personal link for the first time when she joined the AOG church.

When I went there for the first time, I was very frightened. Because I did not do the clapping hands in the Methodist church. I was just looking around seeing them, singing, jumping, raising their hands up in thanksgiving, praising the Lord. That was my first time at church. I was not used to it. The second, third week, I did the same thing. So when the pastor taught the Bible, I was listening. So he said, 'the Holy Spirit needs you.' That spirit is talking. One verse from the Bible he was teaching really touched me. (Menani showed me the verse in the Bible, Romans 3:23. It says that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God and will be redeemed through Jesus Christ.) For all have sinned. That verse touched me. So I was feeling very sorry for me, because I remembered my teenage years. When he read this verse from the Bible, it really touched me. (She read the verse again.) The Good News Bible is very interesting to read. Yeah, [I was feeling like I had sinned]. So I went back home. I was not feeling very happy, I was very sad. I was sorry for me. So I went back and read the Bible, that verse, the same verse, at home. [Then] [o]n Sunday, when the pastor called from the pulpit, I was the first to go to the altar to have the pastor pray for me. I went there to repent. He taught me how to say that in prayer. By that time, I was seeking the Lord.

Menani's present faith in the AOG religion demonstrates that she now views worship as a personal connection with God. She depends upon Him for her survival. She has trust, because of her own link to Him, that He will take care of her here in this world. In return, she acts according to His rules as a child must follow the rules of his/her parents in order to remain with the family and have his/her needs met.

We are based on the Bible. We say we have to clap our hands. We raise our hands in the air, saying thank you to the Lord for everything you have given us. So, I am not working at home, I am staying. I have to look after the family. So I depend on God. And something, [if] the cupboard has no food at all and [there is] nothing for the school fees, so I depend on God. So I depend, so I pray, and somebody will come here or somebody I don't know will give me money. So that is my faith in God. I trust him. So I give my promise to him, not doing this, not doing that, like I was doing before. So I came here to this AOG, to this religion. So I just look at the Bible, so I stand on the Bible.

Her conversion from Methodism to Assemblies of God, has given Menani this sense of a intimate relationship with God. She explained that there are no rules to follow in the Methodist church. "In Methodist, everything we want to do [we do]." Again this is a rejection of the ways that Methodism resembles traditional society with all its rules and regulations; the church has no rules of its own. She did not feel the same way about depending on God while in the Methodist church.

I feel the difference. Before, [while in the Methodist church,] I did all the things I wanted to do, going dancing, going to the pictures, watching games. So [now] I just look at the Bible. The Bible tells me not to do this, not to do that, not to tell lies. And not to tease people, don't do mekes around. I read the Bible, so I do that.

I asked Menani why she likes refraining from these things, why she likes this aspect of the AOG church better than being Methodist and doing anything she wants. "It's very hard to say. I can't say. I don't know." Her explanation of fear in God implies however, that she sees Him as the great punisher. He watches over her and deems her actions appropriate or inappropriate. She sees God as someone close to her, involving himself in her personal life.

When I read the Bible, I'm afraid for what God has said, afraid of God because he said this and that. Nobody tells me not to do it. But my inner spirit, when I read the Bible, I can feel that God is speaking to me. Because my inner spirit is the Holy Spirit. When I am filled with the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit gives me the right way to go, like people to talk to, don't do that, don't do that...I trust my Holy Spirit...[God lives inside people.] [T]his is God's home, he built it by himself. That church, man built that, but [there is] a very special one that God built in our own spirit, our inner spirit. I give my life to God. So I promise him that I will do his will. So I am afraid of him. But nobody else, I'm not afraid of these people. I'm only afraid of him. So because I read the Bible every day, the Bible told me not to do this, not to do that.

Menani focuses upon the rules of the church when she describes AOG beliefs. This illustrates that she converted to the AOG church because she was in search of an atmosphere in which the rules are different from outer society's rules, those that she has had to live with her entire life. She welcomed a figure into her life who tells her what to do and how to act but who provides for herself and her family. Her personal relationship with Him provides her with this faith.

[We use instruments in the AOG church] [b]ecause it's written in the Bible. Everything we do in church is written in the Bible. We don't do it by our own thoughts, no... [P]astors don't drink grog, don't smoke, don't drink alcohol. When they go to the pulpit they have to be holy. They have to really pray for weeks and weeks to come to the pulpit. They'll be fasting and praying for the whole week. They need our savior to help them teach the ship; ship means the congregation. He'll be fasting for two weeks or one week, the prayer for the service every Sunday. Many [Methodist] pastors always drink alcohol and grog and after that go to the pulpit and then preach. When he translates the Bible, when he teaches the Bible, people feel that it's God's word. But we didn't feel it. [Because they were not pure.] They must be praying, but at night they drink grog. But in AOG no, it's different. They'll be fasting. They'll be praying for the whole week, from Monday to Sunday.

Menani criticized the way the Methodism fits in with traditional social roles as she expressed her disapproval of preachers who drink grog before giving their sermon.

Menani's descriptions of the Holy Spirit infiltrating a person's body show that she is willing to let another being influence her actions. She has vowed to trust in God to become involved in and guide her life. She stressed, in the following interview excerpt, that each person knows God, that they do not have to go through the social hierarchy to reach Him. The Holy Spirit fills each persons heart. She also focuses on the strengthening of the individual and individual choice, with go against traditional social organization, when she talks about really wanting the Holy Spirit and affecting its arrival.

[Preachers] want to seek out the word of God. [They want] the Holy Spirit to show them which [part of the] Bible to teach the congregation, the verse, chapter, to receive God to help them, which Bible verse I want to teach them. You know like the Old Testament, in the old days, Moses led the Israelites, like that. You see when we went to church, we used to sing, sing, another verse, twice, thrice, four times. By that we need the Holy Spirit, to draw the Holy Spirit inside the church. By the time the pastor stands from the pulpit to give the sermon, the Holy Spirit is already there. So [we] shake hands. That's according to a song we sing. [That is what the words of the song say to do.] If you want to raise your hands, you can raise your hands. Whatever you like. If you want to jump with joy, you can do that, inside the church, to give praise to the Lord. So when you are filled with the Holy Spirit, you can do whatever you do. You don't know what you are doing because the spirit is working with you. So you can jump, you can raise your hands. If you really want to receive the Holy Spirit, you should pray at home. And after that you just keep on thanking the Lord. And the Holy Spirit will come to you because you are really wanting it. So at that time, you will receive the Holy Spirit. Not all of us. If [someone] doesn't want, then no, the Holy Spirit doesn't stay with [them]. It doesn't come forcing in. If you really want it, it will come inside your heart.

She emphasizes that this is all an active choice on her part, unlike many other parts of her life where she is controlled by others.

So it is not only the pastors who are fasting. We too, members of the church fast. My goal is that I've got no money, so I pray and I'll be fasting. So it's open to everybody, not only the pastors. The Holy Spirit will make someone to bring that thing, money or the food. By praying and obeying his will [I can change my life]. So we have to pray. Not only pray, but you have to read the Bible too. This week we are doing fasting and praying. Every day we go to church. Not sometimes, every day. In the morning, we pray. In the night time, we pray. Every time we must pray, when you have your free time... But it's written in the Bible, we always base it on the Bible. We don't do our own way, no... So in the Methodist church, anything you like to do. But in AOG, no. We need the Holy Spirit to lead us. We have to read the Bible every day.

Menani is fasting this week until Sunday. She starts each morning and decides which time to end. She has set her time at 3:00. It is up to each individual when they want to end their fast each day. "I'm up to 3:00. I pray, then I read the Bible." Following the rules of religion indicates to Menani that someone is there to care for her. It is evident that God is a father figure since members of the congregation call each other brother and sister. "You were born in Christ, all are a family." She deals directly with this father.

When Menani told her parents, who were Methodist, that she decided to convert, they were angry. Her explanation to them shows that she found companionship in the church at a lonely time in her life. This companionship was God; she became personally connected to Him. She also forces the idea that she chose to convert. It was an individual choice over which she, not the community, had total control.

The church provides a substitute community to replace the one she was alienated from. She felt alienated as an individual with no control over her life.

My parents were very angry at me because they were Methodist... I told them I found the Lord in my life. They said, "What kind of life?" I said, "Inside, my life. In my heart." They asked me, "What makes you go there?" I said, "My husband invited me, so I went there. I went and heard the Lord, heard the verse. That pastor taught us about that. So I felt sorry for me." Because in Genesis, I told them the verse from Genesis. I am interested with all my heart. I give my time to the Lord... Because I don't have to drink or smoke.

Menani explained that after joining the church, she didn't have to stay home all of the time anymore. She no longer felt lonely. She felt like going to church every day. God was her personal companion.

I didn't feel like wasting my time talking. When you receive Jesus in your life, you change a lot. This change is not on the outside, it is on the inside. It changes the way one talks.

Menani said she feels like going to church every day now. She felt like something was missing in her and that when she went to the AOG church, that was filled. She wasn't lonely anymore, she said. "When you don't go to church every day, you feel sorry (sad)." When she feels alone, she thinks of his image. "When we go to church, we learn that God died for us. So when I'm lonely, I think of him on the cross and feel sorry. Because he had his son Jesus die for me."

Menani read some passages in Genesis. She explained that God made man, created heaven and earth, made men the rulers over all of the beasts, and that God was very happy with his creation. She also read from Proverbs, chapter 3. She wanted to demonstrate that everything that the AOG church does is directed by the Bible. She feels security from the rules which she must follow as a member of the church.

Her trust and obedience to God reflects her close relationship with him. Menani explained what the proverbs say. He shall direct your path. People will not understand the world, but God does, so they should trust in him. Menani chose to welcome this trust into her spirit. She told me that God's home is in the heart, he has written his words upon the heart. A person thus has power as he exists in her individual heart. Menani recalled the Bible's advice that one must give his/her first fruits to Him and then He will make sure that that person has enough food. Her trust in God mirrors a child's reliance upon his/her parents. She said that one should fear Him, not others. This is a rejection of society; one should ignore society and have power given by God, not by social hierarchy. To do what she thinks is right. God is the judge and the giver of punishments to those who disobey him. He is the Fijian father. Menani said, "Like we are talking, you want to talk to the Lord... When you read the Bible every day, you feel like reading the Bible every day. If you keep reading the Bible, and keep it in your heart, the Holy Spirit will not direct you to those people that will harm you." She talks directly to God. She also said that when she prays, she knows that the Lord will protect another, her daughter for instance, wherever she is. His personal relationship with Menani assures her of this.

Conclusion

Fijian culture requires that all its members be allocated a role in the community. These roles come with rules and designated actions that each villager, in Narewa for instance, should play out. Accordingly, any institution which enters into this system must be designated a role. The church acts as a gathering force in the community. It brings members of the community together. Its design and activity reflects the traditional rules of the village. While the church has a set place in the thinking of villagers, so must God have His place in their lives. He must fit into the system of hierarchy as all people in the village fit into this system. God has fit in by becoming the ultimate father. He is respected by all and has the highest status among them. Villagers treat the church and worship Him in a way consistent with Fijian notions of respect. The Methodist church reinforces the rules of the society.

While most villagers remain Methodist, many are converting to other denominations. This is a rejection of society since Methodism is molded by and reflects society. As has been shown through an interview with one woman who converted from Methodism to the Assemblies of God church, villagers are not always satisfied with the role of religion in their lives. They desire more interaction with the church and with God and convert to attain this goal. Menani's focus upon rules that church members must follow as she talked about the differences between Methodism and AOG, show that she views herself as a more disciplined person since she joined the AOG church. This discipline is created by the power that God has placed in her individual spirit. She uses this power to exert control over her own life. She can therefore, within her religion at least, reject society's control over her.

On to Conclusion...