God is glorious in his saints!
Welcome to the Christian Saints Podcast. My name is dr Darren Ong, recording from Sepang in Malaysia. In this podcast, we explore the lives of the Christian saints, from the Anglican, Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox traditions. Today, we commemorate Saint Ini Kopuria, founder of the Melanasian Brotherhood. The Melanasian Brotherhood was an Anglican Religious Order, similar in some ways to the Franciscan or Jesuit orders of the Roman Catholic Church.
Melanesia is a chain of islands in the south pacific, today including the nations of Fiji, Vanuatu, the Solomon Islands, and Papua New Guinea. This was an area of he world where the British Empire had a lot of influence, and Anglican missionaries were particularly active in the early 20th century. In 1932 the Archbishop of Canterbury described the work of the Church in Melanesia as "the most romantic and the most adventurous of all the missions of the Church."
Saint Ini Kopuria was born in this environment, on the island of Guadalcanal, which was then part of the British Solomon Islands Protectorate. Here is an account of his early life from the book “BROTHERS: THE STORY OF THE NATIVE BROTHERHOOD OF MELANESIA” by Margaret Lycett
Ini Kopuria, the first Elder Brother, was born near Maravovo on the island of Guadalcanar in the Solomons group, soon after the beginning of the present century. Guadalcanar is a large island, more easily accessible than some, and therefore he was influenced to a peculiar degree by the forces shaping Melanesian history. He came under Christian influence early, for while quite a child he was baptized at Maravovo from a small school for boys to which he belonged.
The Ini of these and later schooldays has been described as "a very undersized, narrow-chested, high-shouldered child who never seemed to grow any bigger; with a queer old-fashioned face, and a voice that was seldom silent for long." There seems, however, to have been something very attractive about him, and first at S. Michael's, Pamua, and then at Norfolk Island, to which he went from the village [8/9] school, he was a general favourite, probably not escaping unscathed the temptations inherent in such a privileged position.
He seems to have been intelligent, interested in his work, and eager to enter into the varied activities life provided. There is evidence that he possessed depth of personality, a thoughtful disposition, and something of the stuff from which martyrs are made, mixed up with an almost ludicrous sense of childish self-importance, which, in a less healthy nature or with injudicious treatment, might have led to priggishness. The story is told of how Ini once made a vow to keep silence during Lent. On Ash Wednesday after Chapel he presented himself, contrary to rules, on the verandah, offering in self-conscious silence to the white teacher a letter which must have given him tremendous gratification to write. This explained the nature and strictness of his Lenten vow and asked that he might be excused repetition and questioning in school during the Lenten season so that he might not be tempted to break it. Probably at bottom there was a pure motive and real desire to give up something that he dearly loved, but a popular little boy could not fail also to find a certain satisfaction in the stir such conduct would cause. Another characteristic, prominent in the Ini of later days, is evident in the sequel’Äîthe will-power which, consecrated and directed, has carried him through many difficulties and dangers since his new work began. The situation was explained to the Bishop, who showed Ini the unwisdom of such conduct, suggested methods, better because less inconvenient to others, of showing his love for and desire to serve God, and released him from the vow. [9/10] But in vain; Ini refused to speak, and for three days he held out. It might have been obstinacy, but while obstinacy selfishly applied becomes weakness, placed on a solid foundation of love and service it can become a driving power, capable of resisting or overcoming great obstacles and heavy odds. Certainly here was a boy who would stand out among his fellows and would probably not tread the ordinary path.
***
Due to his talent and obvious gifts of leadership, those around him hoped he would become a teacher, and he surprised them by deciding to be a policeman instead. Saint Ini was not really happy with his time in the police force, but still stood out for his dedication to duty, eventually rising to the rank of Sargeant. We hear again from Margaret Lycett’s book:
i disappointed all those who had set such high hopes on him by enlisting in the Native Armed Constabulary. Yet, looking back now in the light of what was to follow, it is hard to say that his step was not the right one. Would S. Paul have been the father of so many Churches had he not first been the fierce persecutor of the Christ? Would S. Francis have reached such heights of love and compassion had he not first shrunk from sight of a leper? Would Ini Kopuria have [12/13] become the man he is and have been enabled to have such wide vision, in particular to see the needs of Melanesians detribalised by plantation life and Government service, had he not himself served in the native police force? Whether it was a stage planned for him in the divine scheme of things, or merely man's own waywardness, certainly it was an experience which the Holy Spirit has blessed to the enrichment of the Church and to the beginning of a work more far-reaching than that which any village teacher, almost inevitably narrowed in some respects by the nature and conditions of his work, could have achieved. Melanesia needed not only white men but also a Melanesian to see beyond the confines of his own village or island; grace was given to Ini to be the man who should give a lead.
His life in the Police Force was at first unhappy. The strict discipline irked him and conditions were foreign to his experience. He felt cut off from his old surroundings and heritage in a way in which he had never been at school where life was as far as possible run on native lines, leaving behind only those things contrary to Christianity, consecrating and continuing what was good in native life. He was impatient and dissatisfied, even to the extent of asking the Mission authorities to secure his release from his obligations. This they naturally refused to do, and Ini showed his solid sense by settling down and earning a reputation for smartness and efficiency. The value attached by the Police authorities to his influence is shown by an incident which occurred after he had left the service. In 1927, at the height of the excitement caused by the murders on Mala, Ini was asked by the Commissioner [13/14] to return to the Police Force in order to go to the island and attempt to put matters straight. The fact that he was asked to do this shows the esteem in which he was held, and his attitude to the request throws fresh light on his character. He explained that he was no longer his own master and must consult the Bishop. To the Warden of the College at Siota, however, he explained himself more clearly. "I could not refuse outright, but it would be bad for me to go to Mala with a rifle. I shall probably want to go later with the Gospel."
We heard from a few episodes ago in this podcast about the famous “Cannonball Moment” of Saint Ignatius of Loyola, when the soldier Ignatius was struck by a cannonball in battle, and when in recovery he reoriented himself towards Christ, eventually founding the Jesuit order. Saint Ini has a remarkably similar story, as an injury to his leg followed by an illness led him to reevaluate his life, and founding his order of Melenasian Brothers. This account is from a different biography by Charles E. Fox:
He should have come back to Gaudalcanal as a teacher, as John Steward, the priest in charge of the island intended, but he joined the native police and worked for some years as a Police Sergeant under Capt. Hill, the District Officer, to whom he was always very loyal, loyalty being one of Ini's outstanding characteristics. Then he had a severe illness and, so he used to tell us, a clear vision of Christ who warned him he was not doing the work he was meant to do. After this Ini went for a time to Marovovo College with A. I. Hopkins, just the man Ini needed then. Hopkins told me they had long talks about monastic orders and brotherhoods in the early church. Without doubt it was those talks with Hopkins that brought Ini to the decisions as to what he should do, and he went to John Steward now Bishop, and always his spiritual father, and proposed the founding of a native brotherhood. And Bishop Steward was the right man to go to, not only because among all the Melanesians he loved, Ini was dearest to him, but because the Bishop was a deep believer in religious orders in the Church. Years before this (I think about 1907.) John [21/22] Steward had written to me asking me if I would join him in founding an order of a few priests who would build a monastery in central Malaita on the high hills among the (then) wild bush-people, whom this band of priests would influence, not by direct teaching, but by the example of their lives and their continual prayers for the Malaita people. I agreed, but no others were forthcoming, and gradually the idea was given up. But I think nothing gave Bishop Steward more joy than when Ini came to him with a somewhat similar plan. "I have visited all the villages [22/23] as a police sergeant," said Ini, "and they all know me: why not go to them now as a missionary?" Together they worked out the rules, Ini's more elaborate ideas being simplified and made workable by the Bishop. And then Ini went off to look for Brothers. He gathered some together. On St. Simon and St. Jude's Day, 1925, on his own land at Tabalia, which he gave to the Mission, he took his life vow before the two Bishops, Bishop Steward and Bishop Molyneux, and A. I. Hopkins. The Brotherhood began.
We now read from “Richard A Carter, “Where God still walks in the Garden: Religious Orders and the development of the Anglican Church in the South Pacific”” about the origin and early work of the Melanesian Brothers.
Ini received an experience of Christ which was no change his life. He believed that Christ spoke to him and told him that he was not doing the work that Christ wanted him to do. He began to realize God was calling him to start community of native Solomon Island men who would take the Gospel of Christ to all who had not received it. Much of the population of the Solomon Islands lived on remote islands, villages high up in the hills and bush or coastal villages with no easy access either by sea or by land. Ini Kopuria believed the Gospel was for all people and just as he had visited remote villages as a policeman now he would visit as a missionary. On St Simon and St Jude's Day, 28 October 1925, he made his promises renouncing possessions, marriage and freedom of action. He gave away all his property and a large area of his family's land to the Brotherhood. The following year the first six brothers joined him. The purpose of the Brotherhood was evangelistic, 'to declare the way of Jesus Christ among the heathen', but as a Melanesian Kopuria evangelized in a Melanesian way. He sought not on draw the people away from their villages and communities but to take Christ to them. The coming of Christ should not go hand-in-hand with the invasion of a foreign culture and individualistic concept of personal salvation without consideration for ones own people. This was the kind of mission the first Bishop and martyr of Melanesia, John Coleridge Patteson, had envisioned. Fifty years before, he had written that his aim was not to make English Christians in white men's clothes but Melanesian Christians: 'The secret of these islands is to live together as equals. Let them know that you are not divided from them.
The Melanesian Brotherhood did and continues to do just that. Arriving in often hostile villages they aimed to share the life of people in all things. There would be no forced conversion. It was not long before their reputation began to grow. These brothers were prepared to come and stay. They were not frightened of devils and ancestral spirits. Their prayers could drive away fear. People began to speak of their miracles of healing and the signs they had witnessed. The brothers, or 'Tasiu'. they became known in the Mota language, had mana and spiritual power. Many villages were converted by the brothers. Unfortunately, there were not always priests available to follow up this work of primary evangelism.
Today this community of the Melanesian Brotherhood is still very much loved and respected by the people. In a very real sense it belongs to them, to Melanesia. Ini Kopuria was a Melanesian of whom Melanesians are proud and in many of the villages throughout the Solomon Islands you will find men who have been brothers in their youth and now whose children have become brothers. They receive three years' training as a novice before they are selected by the brothers for admission. While brothers they must take a promise of poverty, chastity and obedience, but these are tempotary vows which can be renewed. Kopuria believed that after five years' service a man should be free to return to his community and start a family if that was his calling. Release from the community, after a valuable period of service, was not a thing of shame but to be celebrated at the feast day. Groups called the Companions were set up within each village. Their work was to support the Brotherhood through prayer and material support and to follow up the ministry of the brothers when the brothers moved on to the next village. The Melanesian Brotherhood have established 27 households in all five provinces of the Solomon Islands. Most of them are small leaf-roofed working households built in the more remote missionary areas which will become the base for about four to six brothers for mission and touring. A lot of the brothers' work now involves secondary evangelism, helping to encourage and build up the faith of many who are still Christian but only in a very nominal way. These bare-footed evangelists will tour the remotest villages, lead Sunday Schools, youth groups and adult teaching, lead worship, and act dramas in the villages and be with the people in all the major events of their lives. Their households aim to become a parable of community life.
Here is another account of the missionary work of the Melanesian brothers, in a book called “Spearhead: the story of the Melanesian brotherhood” by Father Brian McDonald-Milne, a former Chaplain and Tutor of the brotherhood:
With a knapsack on their backs containing their Prayer Book, Bible and a few other essential things, they were ready for action anywhere. They usually carried a walking-stick, which was sometimes used in the casting out of evil spirits from places or people, and sometimes a native umbrella to shield them from the downpours of rain they frequently encountered. When they went into a new area on tour they were wholly dependent on the goodwill of the people for their food and lodging, and when these were denied they had to seek for food in the bush and sometimes make shelters for themselves outside villages until the people would let them come in. In this way, they deliberately followed the example of Jesus and the apostles when they set out to proclaim their message in Palestine. Usually, they had no money at all and did not need it.
The methods of the Brothers were worked out by Ini partly through his experience in the Police, working in the bush, and partly through the practical experience of the Brothers themselves as they did the work. They never imposed themselves. They went from place to place explaining their purpose in coming and proclaiming their messages to whoever would listen, but they only remained in a village if they were invited to do so. Sometimes they would visit a place a number of tunes before such an invitation was given by the chief. Often invitations were received from villages which they had not visited, but which had heard about their work and were eager or curious to hear their message. They only stayed where they were welcome, and as soon as possible they tried to make themselves self-supporting (if the people gave them a piece of land for a garden,) or they worked with the people in their gardens to show that they had not come to impose themselves upon the people or to be fed without working as well. This approach made them very popular and was sometimes contrasted with that of the native clergy or the white people, who were considered as people of status and [10/11] therefore less approachable. The Brothers were loved as well as respected. They made no claims to formal education (although some of them were well schooled by the standards of the day) and had at first very little training, but their effectiveness arose from their identification with and respect for .the people, the simplicity of their message and their whole approach, and the way in which they lived the Gospel as well as preached it. As in the Gospels, they went out two by two, never alone, and as far as possible Brothers from different islands went together. This in itself was a symbol of love, because rivalries between islands were still strong and people from other islands or districts would not normally risk going into the bush to people who, in the past, might have been traditional enemies. As people became receptive, so the Brothers began to give them simple teaching. They had a regular life of prayer, morning, noon, and night, which they kept up wherever they were, and this was often a source of wonder to people who only prayed to their spirits when they considered it necessary. Often the Brothers made great efforts to pick up the local language, or they communicated through somebody who knew the local language and Pidgin English or Mota, both of which the Brothers used in their work. They mostly used Mota for their prayers. The effectiveness of their methods in some areas did not always meet with the approval of the clergy, who were sometimes jealous of the Brothers' influence and the respect and affection they aroused in people. Through them, however, new methods of evangelism gradually came to be adopted throughout the Church in Melanesia.
Ini Kopuria remained Head Brother until 1940, when he left and married. Unlike many other religious orders, the vows of the Melanesian Brothers are not for life. He spent the rest of his days as a village deacon in Guadalcanal, until he died in 1945. He is commemorated on June 6 in the Anglican church’s calendar of saints.
To this day the Melanesian Brothers continue to be a strong Christian presence in the region. Notably, the Brothers were involved in peacemaking efforts following some ethnic tensions in the Solomon Islands in the years 1999-2000, leading to the Townsville Peace Agreeent. In 2003, seven of the brothers were murdered by a rebel leader who was unhappy with the agreement. These seven are recognised as martyrs by the Anglican church, and are commemorated on April 24.
On 20 February 2004, Prime Minister of Fiji, Laisenia Qarase presented the Brotherhood with the first prize in the regional category of the 4th Pacific Human Rights Awards “for its sacrifice above the call of duty to protect the vulnerable and build peace and security in Solomon Islands during the civil conflict and post-conflict reconstruction”.
Thanks for listening to this episode of the Christian saints podcast. Look for the Christian Saints podcast page on Facebook or Instagram, or look for us on Twitter at podcast_saints. All music in this episode was composed by my good friend, James John Marks of Generative sounds. Please check out his music at https://generativesoundsjjm.bandcamp.com/
**
Let us end with the Anglican collect for saint Ini Korpuria’s feast day:
Loving God, we bless your Name for the witness of Ini Kopuria, founder of the Melanesian Brotherhood: Open our eyes that we, with these Anglican brothers, may establish peace and hope in service to others; for the sake of Jesus Christ, who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
