Fiji Sport and Life Conference

About 100 years ago the first Christian missionaries who arrived on the South Pacific island of Fiji were killed by the native cannibals. Today Fijians are warmly hospitable and Fiji is a popular tropical vacation and honeymoon destination.

In November, 2006, Athletes in Action found Fiji to be the perfect host for its third Sport and Life Conference, held at the Warwick Hotel and Resort, located midway between Fiji’s two main cities, Nadi and Suva.

“One of our objectives with AIA International is to ‘give away’ the experience and training that the Lord has entrusted us with in our 40 years as a ministry,” says conference director Dave, who is the AIA International Area Coordinator for Oceania and East Asia. “The Sport and Life Conference is proving to be a great avenue to accomplish that objective.”

“This was a true team effort,” Dave adds. “We drew on Larry Amundson’s vision, John White from AIA Sports Ethics, AIA Canada to pull in sports psychologist Blair Whitmarsh, AIA New Zealand, AIA and [Campus Crusade for Christ] Fiji and several others to contribute to a challenging project.”

There were 67 conferees who attended from Fiji, the Solomon Islands, Australia and New Zealand.

One of the goals of this conference was to see the wider athletic community in Fiji and the South Pacific exposed to the gospel message, Dave says. Several of those in attendance were Christians who developed their own personal action plans with specific steps to take to best use their platform to reach the world. Two others indicated that they had received Christ for the first time as they heard the message presented by AIA New Zealand Director Timo Tagaloa.

Another goal accomplished was the participation of the local AIA and Campus Crusade ministries giving them a greater sense of direction and ‘ownership’ of the ministry. Specifically, Dave and the other leaders were excited to see the involvement and impact of Pita and Mere Nacuva and Waisale Serevi, some of the most respected individuals in Fiji. They believe the conference will accomplish development of spiritually mature athletic influencers in the region and the spread of the gospel in the Oceania region by Christian athletes.

Finally, the Sport and Life Conference was a starting point for more work to be done in Fiji and Oceania. This year Dr. Blair Whitmarsh, and hopefully a team of specialists, will go to Fiji to help prepare the Fiji National Rugby Team for the Rugby World Cup. The 2007 South Pacific Games will be in Samoa, and the World Netball Championships will be hosted by New Zealand, giving further opportunities for ministry.

Some comments from the conference attendees include:

“The AIA conference was excellent. As a sports chaplain in New Zealand, I will be taking this information on motivation, sports ethics and faith and using it as I mentor athletes and speak with teams.”

“Thank you, AIA, for a wonderfully educational conference. You have answered a lot of my questions about faith and family in sport, and how my performance has been average because of the missing parts in my life. I hope to become a more full sportsman in the future. Vinakavakalevu! (Thank You!)”

“Thank you for investing into something that is really positive and beneficial to the development of sports in our beloved nation. Not only are you investing in something necessary for Fiji, but for the development of God’s Kingdom through sport.”

Dave asks for prayer for the current ministry in Fiji. “Just 11 days after the non-Fijian conference team left Fiji, their democratically elected government was overthrown for the fourth time in 20 years. Both the AIA and Campus Crusade ministries have been affected and we are praying both for God’s protection for our dear brothers and sisters and that they would reflect God’s light in a dark place.”

The Sport and Life Conference is one strategy that AIA International is using to help reach the AIA goal of discipling 15,000 sport influencers worldwide. In 2007, they are looking at holding additional Sport and Life Conferences in Poland, the Philippines, Armenia and South Africa.