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From the evil practice of blackbirding, exploiting South Pacific islanders as cheap labour on Queensland’s sugarcane plantations in the late 1800s, sprang a marvellous harvest of souls for Christ, a wonderful grace for which their descendants give thanks.

In 1994, more than 100 people commemorated a centenary. In the grounds of Fairymead House in North Bundaberg, over 100 church leaders gathered to acknowledge the centenary of one man’s return to his home. The church leaders were from the South Sea Evangelical Church in the Solomon Islands, and they were joined by Solomon Islands political leaders in a great outpouring of thanksgiving.

Kanakas

Since too few of us Australians know of this event, or of its historical foundations, let me explain. In the 1870s and 1880s, South Pacific islanders were brought to the sugarcane fields of Queensland to provide labour for hot and hard farm work.

Some have described this as slave labour — those who too readily identify the interactions of colonial-era white people and dark-skinned people in terms of master-slave relationships — but it was far more complex than that.

Some of those 15,000 Solomon Islanders may have been taken to Queensland against their will; some may have been offered inducements like blankets, tools, and weapons; some may have signed up for specific periods of indentured labour; and some may have had exploitative ‘masters’, while others had kindly employers.

At Fairymead Plantation, Florence Young was visiting her brothers before sailing to what she expected would be a lifetime of mission work in China with Hudson Taylor. Florence recognised the mission field on her brothers’ plantation, and began teaching the islander men to read and write, using the Bible as her textbook. Before long, many of those young men came to faith in Jesus Christ, embracing freedom from the darkness and fears of their animistic Melanesian religion.

Mustard Seed

In 1894, one of those young men, Peter Abu’ofa, having completed his term of indentured labour, returned to his homeland of Malaita Island. He went with one clear purpose: to present the Gospel message and to see the transformation of his people. From this small beginning, the South Sea Evangelical Church would develop and become the third-largest church in the Solomon Islands. Today, almost 20% of Solomon Islanders belong to the SSEC.

So, this was the reason for commemorating a centenary in 1994. One hundred years earlier, one man with an unshakeable faith in the one true God had returned to his homeland with one powerful message. Jesus Christ forgives sin, saves sinners, and transforms cultures!

As I stood with the crowd on that centenary day in 1994, I noticed something very significant. While the Australian dignitaries who were present spoke about being sorry for the actions of our forebears and offered apologies for the wrongs of the past, the Solomon Islanders — both secular leaders and church leaders — emphasised the good that came to their people because of the Pacific Island labour program of the 1870s and 1880s. Echoing the attitude of Joseph in Genesis 50:20, they declared that God had brought truth, light, and life to the Solomon Islands. There was forgiveness; there was thanksgiving; there was no sense of victimhood; and there were no demands for reparations.

This is the attitude that we need today! Yes, wrongs have been done in our nation’s history, but the life-changing message of Jesus Christ brought healing and hope to all peoples, regardless of their ethnic heritage. Let’s not be locked into the wrongs of the past and become perpetual victims. Let’s see the hand of God in our history, and say with Joseph,

“As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to preserve many people alive.” (Genesis 50:20)

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Photo: Wikimedia Commons