While the country cele­brates its 52nd independ­ence today, the Methodist Church of Fiji is encouraging peo­ple not to forget Fiji’s history.

Reverend Wilfred Regunamada said before Fiji became independ­ent, the missionaries that arrived in Fiji played an important role in bringing civilization.

“When it comes to Fiji Day, one of the things that we always cherish is the fact that we were able to be given the opportunity to be our own stewards of our own country, our land and our resources,” he said.

“The history of our independence goes way back to ancient 100s espe­cially during the Wesley Missionar­ies that came from England.

Reverend Wilfred Regunamada.
Photo: FILE

“All throughout the years when the missionaries were here in Fiji, the Methodist Church had rooted connections to Britain and the Methodist Church in Britain

“The Methodist Church in Fiji has a significant relationship with the country and the church till today that our ministers and congrega­tion have been posted under the UK Methodist Church.”

Reverend Regunamada adds that the Church continues to have cher­ish the rich history Fiji has with Britain.

“The Methodist Church of Fiji even have hymns that talk about Fiji’s relationship with Britain that’s written in our hymn books,” he said.

“We always acknowledge the mis­sionaries that came from England and we continue to thank God for allowing us to be the country we can look up to and continue to en­gage with Britain.

“When we declared Fiji an inde­pendent country, let us not forget that our civilization, development and how we came to be what we are today.”

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