Just cruisin’ around Fiji and along comes Sunday. About 50 Westerners go ashore from a small cruise ship to a village. The local Methodist church welcomes us. I’m sure part of the reason Fijians love church is because they get to sing their hearts out.
The service plods along on a hot afternoon. Language is an effective barrier to real particpation. They do a couple of segments in English for our benefit. The speaker welcomes us and speaks about John 3:16-17 “For God so loved the world that He gave His only-begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”
It strikes me as bizarre that in this remote village, a Fijian is presenting the core message of the Gospel to Westerners. I feel sure that some of our group have never heard about John 3:16.
Just to make sure we did not miss the point, the young man also quoted Malachi 3:6 “For I am the LORD, I change not”
Then I reflect that this is the future and that many developing countries are starting to send missionaries to countries in the west, especially the old countries, because that is how the balance of faith is. It is sometimes quoted that the average Anglican is female, aged 25 and lives in Africa. Certainly that is where some of the absolutes of faith are being defended.
Welcome to the future!