Tonga & Niue

When Captain Cook wintered in the Tongan group of islands for three months in 1777, he was given a very hospitable reception. He named them the "Friendly Islands". Three years before, Cook had had a different experience in the coral island of Niue, east of Tonga. There he received a hostile reception, leading him to name the place "Savage Island".

It was the London Missionary Society that first introduced the islands of Tonga and Niue to Christianity. The process was difficult and resulted in loss of life. Almost thirty years later the Wesleyan Mission Society assumed responsibility for Tonga converting the three groups of islands to Christianity. The London Missionary Society remained responsible for Niue.

Seventh-day Adventist missionaries first visited Tonga in June 1891 when the ship "Pitcairn" sailed south through the three main groups of islands. Adventist literature was sold to the few Europeans who lived there and religious meetings were also held.

The first resident Adventist missionaries, Pastor Edward Hilliard, his wife Ida, and two-year old daughter Alta, arrived in Tonga on August 30, 1895. Hilliard himself did part-time carpentry work on the island to bring in little extra cash, while learning the local language.

Ida was a schoolteacher. She began to teach firstly in their temporary home and later in their own cottage. To accommodate the increase in student numbers, which at one point reached twenty-eight, the Hilliards built a separate classroom near their cottage. Except for 1898, the school operated regularly until mid-1899 when the Hilliards returned to Australia.

Edwin and Florence Butz, and their daughter Alma joined the Hilliards in 1896, as did Eleanor Nolan and her husband Kellogg in 1897. The Butz family brought with them Sarah and Maria Young, nursing trainees from Pitcairn. Both families provided much-needed medical services to the islanders.

At the time of Hilliards' departure, there were thirty-one people who met regularly for Bible study, or Sabbath School. School children and the missionaries themselves formed the major part of the group. To serve the needs of this little community a prefabricated building was brought on the island in 1899. It served as a mission home and a chapel for religious services.

Just before Hilliard left Tonga he organised the first group of missionaries into a church. It was September 10, 1899.

Although several baptisms of Europeans were conducted during this time, no major breakthrough happened among the Tongan population.

After the Butz era (1896-1905), there followed a period of seven year in which one person was baptised. Baptisms in Tonga were rare due to the lack of church identity. In those days the International Date Line was officially drawn to the west of Tonga. All Christians in Tonga worshipped on the same day. The Adventists worshipped on Saturday according to proper overseas reckoning. The other Christians also worshipped on that day, believing it to be Sunday, for the earliest Christian missionaries had not made allowances for the dateline. The day of worship was not a distinguishing issue.

The missionaries persisted in their education efforts though. School for Tongan children consisted of learning to write, spell and read English. Bible and drawing lessons were also offered.

The 1904-1911 period, in which the mission activity centred almost entirely on the Nuku'alofa and Faleloa schools, was characterised by frequent staff changes. The nine different teachers spent no more than two years of continuous service in any one location.

A new era began with the coming of Pastor George Stewart and his wife, Evelyn, to direct the Tongan mission. Stewart rebuilt the school at Faleloa after a hurricane has destroyed it. He also ran revival meetings.

Piper and Palmer, who was appointed to direct the Tongan mission in 1907, built a proper school building and mission house at Faleloa in 1909. For decades it remained a major centre for Adventism in Tonga.

Requests for a missionary teacher to Niue islands had been made as early as 1911. Tonga, one of the lay leaders in Rarotonga, returned to his homeland to pioneer the Adventist message there. "Vai" Kerisome, another Niue resident, also returned home in mid-1915. "Vai" conducted Bible studies in her home at Atoifi and opened a school. To assist her the church sent Septimus and Edith Carr in 1916. The Carrs visited all of the eleven villages and began to learn the language. Carr's meetings were well attended.

While the work in Niue was advancing, missionary personnel changes continued in Tonga. Hubert Tolhurst and Pearl Philps arrived soon after their graduation from the Missionary Course at Avondale. They main aim was to revive the school at Faleloa. Tolhurst also attempted to conduct evangelistic programs in the neighbouring islands.

In November 1918 Tonga was plagued by an influenza epidemic. Whereas Hubert recovered, his wife Pearl grew worse. Isolation meant no medical assistance was available for Pearl. She passed away in 1918.

When Tolhurst left three months after his wife's death, local members, Musia and his wife Mary cared for the mission station until the Hadfields arrived one year later. Arthur and Amy Powell had already arrived to replace the Thorpes. At the same time, an American couple, Robert and Frances Smith transferred to Tonga. They were to look after the Tongan mission until 1927.

Under Smith's leadership, the mission entered a new era. With care and forethought he strengthened the Adventist cause through concerted efforts in education, literature and evangelism. The concept of holding a camp meeting was also introduced at that time.

The 1920's were the era of self-supporting missionaries in Tonga.

Similar self-supporting work was also conducted on Niue Island from 1924 onwards. The Carrs, during their stay in Niue between 1916 to 1919, had established three thatch meeting houses. The Alofi church was organised in 1918. The Gibletts replaced the Carrs between 1920 and 1924. Following Gibletts' departure, "Vai" Kerisome continued the mission cause single-handedly at Alofi.

Combined membership totals for both Niue and Tonga never rose above one hundred until 1946. One reason was the lack of distinction between Saturday and Sunday worship (see above). Another reason was the strong social habit of tobacco smoking and kava drinking. Many islanders found it difficult to break this cycle.

The missionaries' emphasis on schools for the islanders was tied in with the strategy for conversion. Later, many people acknowledged the influence of these schools.

Tonga has shown a rapid membership growth rate since the Second World War.

Source: Hook, M., "Talafekua Mo'oni: Early Adventism in Tonga and Niue", Seventh-day Adventist Heritage Series 21.