Missionary to Britain

Press, 16 March 1982, Page 7

Missionary to Britain

NZPA London A Samoan missionary is working in an impoverished British inner city area, the “Guardian” said. The Rev. Faitala Talapuse, aged 30, who captained the national Samoan rugby side and has a master’s degree from Yale, came to Sheffield after the United Reformed Church had advertised in other countries for a minister to work in one of the poorer areas of the city. He agreed that parts of the city are like “a jungle.” Mr Talapuse, who lives with his wife Tausalaatoa and baby daughter in a small terraced house in the north of Sheffield, describes his work as challenging and difficult. though it also brings him joy. He ministers to a tiny flock, mostly elderly, who cluster in the huge church buildjng of St James on a Sunday. He is also in charge *

of a youth club and other activities based in the church hall. “Basically,- Britain is an irreligious country, as far as I can see,’’ said Mr Talapuse, who has effectively reversed 150 years of British missiinary history. “Ten per cent are Christians, and the problem the Church is facing is how to carry a cross with a message of love, especially here where unemployment is still high. The Church is meant to bring hope and joy, but that’s hard for people who have no jobs.” Samoans have always been keen on missionary work. They have missionaries in Africa, Fiji, and Papua New Guinea, but Mr Talapuse is their first evangalical export to the West. “The Church thought that since Britain had brought good news to us we should now return the favour,” he said.