Josua Mateinaniu was a preacher and catechist (teacher) in the

Methodist Church of Fiji and Rotuma The Methodism, Methodist Church of Fiji and Rotuma is the largest Christian denomination in Fiji, with 36.2 percent of the total population (including 66.6 percent of Fijians, indigenous Fijians) at the 1996 census. Of the 280,628 persons identi ...

. A wanderer and a sailor at first, he drifted in his travels to

Tonga Tonga (, ; ), officially the Kingdom of Tonga ( to, Puleʻanga Fakatuʻi ʻo Tonga), is a Polynesian country and archipelago. The country has 171 islands – of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in ...

, where he became a Christian.

Life

In 1835, Mateinaniu helped William Cross an
David Cargill
in their linguistic preparations for the mission to Fiji. He became a preacher and came back to his own land with Cross and Cargill, and was himself a most important factor in the missionary impact made on

Lakeba Lakeba (pronounced ) is an island in Fiji’s Southern Lau Archipelago; the provincial capital of Lau is located here. The island is the tenth largest in Fiji, with a land area of nearly 60 square kilometers.Steadman (2006) It is fertile and wel ...

from the start. He went ahead of the first missionaries to

Somosomo Somosomo () is a chiefly village in Taveuni, which is the island where the International Date Line crosses on land in Fiji. This island is part of the Cakaudrove Province and the holders of the title of ''Tui Cakau'', the Paramount Chief of the T ...

, and preached there with some success among the Tongans, who were in the service of

Tui Cakau The Tui Cakau is the Paramount Chief of Cakaudrove Province in Fiji. In Modern Fiji this chiefly title is regarded as the most senior in the Tovata Confederacy, and the third most senior in the country. Recent history The current ''Tui Cakau'' ...

at that time, thus making it possible for

Hunt Hunting is the human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, or killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to harvest food (i.e. meat) and useful animal products (fur/ hide, bone/tusks, horn/antler, et ...

and Lyth, to establish that station. Of Mateinaniu, Cargill wrote the following in his wife, Margaret's memoirs: He preached in Bau regularly, long before it was really opened to white missionaries. At the time of Hunt's death, he was stationed at Viwa; he and his wife personally cared for Hunt's family during the long weeks of that final illness. One of the four houses at

Lelean Memorial School Lelean Memorial School is one of the largest co-ed schools in Fiji. It was established in 1943 and is run by the Methodist Church of Fiji and Rotuma. It is co-located at the Davuilevu Methodist Compound with thDavuilevu Theological Collegeand the ...

, a Methodist church secondary school located at

Davuilevu Davuilevu, the name of the site of three Methodist Church of Fiji institutionsDavuilevu Theological College the Bible School for Catechist training, and Lelean Memorial School. It can be translated as "the large conch shell." Information The use ...

Nausori Nausori () is a town in Fiji. It had a population of 57,866 at the 2017 census. This makes it the fourth most populous municipality in the country. Situated 19 kilometers outside of Suva, it forms one pole of the burgeoning Suva-Nausori corrido ...

, is named in honour of Mateinaniu.

References

* John Garrett,“To Live Among the Stars”, Institute of Pacific Studies, 1985 (book reviewed in the Journal of Pacific History, Sept, 1998, by Roderic Lacey) * Tippett, A.R., 1954, The Christian (Fiji 1835–1867), Auckland Institute and Museum, Auckland * BALEIWAQA, Tevita, 1996, ‘Josua Mateinaniu/Ko Josua Mateinaniu’, in Thornley and Vulaono 1996:20–30. * Memoirs of Mrs Margaret Cargill : wife of the Rev. David Cargill, A.M., Wesleyan missionary, including notices of the progress of Christianity in Tonga and Feejee / by her husband Methodist missionaries in Fiji Fijian Methodist missionaries Converts to Methodism People from Lakeba I-Taukei Fijian Methodist ministers Year of birth missing Year of death missing {{Fiji-bio-stub