Often associated with beautiful tropical and idyllic landscapes, the island of Tahiti is located in French Polynesia, an overseas territory of France comprised of 121 islands in a land area of 1,359 square miles (3,418 kilometers), spanning over 1,242 square miles (2,000 square kilometers) of the southern Pacific Ocean.
Historically, the polytheistic beliefs of the inhabitants of these many islands led to many pagan practices including sun worship, cannibalism and spirit worship. The arrival of Christianity brought change through the efforts of British Christian missionaries who came to these islands in 1797. The French later colonized the area in the late 1800’s. Today, among the population of nearly 279,000 inhabitants, 54% are Protestant, 38% Catholic, and the rest adhere to other beliefs.
The message of Reform arrived in French Polynesia in 1982 with the visit of Brother A. C. Sas. The first members, 24 souls in all, were baptized a year later. The gospel message has continued to spread across the islands and several church groups have been formed since then.
Sadly to this day, our church in French Polynesia has no church (building) of its own and our brethren meet in rented structures or on land privately owned by the members. By God’s grace, in 2013, after much prayer and fasting, a piece of land was found in the district of Arue, almost 20 kilometers from Papeete, Tahiti.
The small membership of this church have made self-sacrificing efforts for many years, cooking and selling vegetarian dishes each week to make the purchase of this property possible. In spite of the exemplary efforts of our brothers and sisters who have worked hard to pay for this land, there is a great need of a building to help spread the message of truth here in these last days of earth’s history.
Therefore we appeal to our brothers and sisters around the world kindly to join us in providing the means to raise up a building in Arue which will serve as a local church and a place for seminars, camp meetings and health work in the capital of French Polynesia.
The uplifting words of 1 Chronicles 22:19 resonate to us today, “Arise therefore, and build ye the sanctuary of the Lord God.” May God bless you abundantly and may His work advance around the world.
Your brothers and sisters in French Polynesia
