Pacific Members of the APBF/ BWA   APBF : 33,224 local churches Baptised members: 5.6 million 21 Countries Country Population Baptists Churches % of Popn Chur. Av 1. PNG 6.31 M 80,000 465 (2010) 1.26 172 2. NZ 4.32 M 23,074 241 (2013) 0.53 96 3. Australia 22 M 63,775 960 (2013) 0.28 67 4. Fiji 944,720 1,600 14 (2004) 0.18 114 5. Japan 127 M 24,000 448 (2013) 0.03 53 6. S. Korea 51 M 750,000 2600(2013) 1.6 288 7. Hong Kong 7 M 105,000 162 (2013) 1.5 648 8. Taiwan 23 M 37,500 212 (2010) 0.16 176 9. Philippines 101 M 600,000 3,829 (2013) 0.60 159 Indonesia 255 M 143,000 714 (2012) 0.06 200 Hawaii 1.4 M ? 140 ? ?

A few of the Islands of the Pacific Preliminary Research, August 2012 (Veryl Henderson) Islands by name No. of Islands Population (3 categories) Inhabited (total) Polynesia Hawaii 8(132) 1,374,810 2. Rotuma 15 2,002 Samoa 9(10) 184,000  4. American Samoa 4 (4) 55,159  5. Tonga 52 (176) 103,036  6. Tuvalu (Ellice Is) 8 (9) 12,373 7. Cook Islands 15 19,569  8. Wallis and Futuna 3 15,289  9. Tokelau 3 1,400  10. Niue 1 1,398  11. French Polynesia 130 259,596  12. Easter (Rapa Nui) 1 5,034 249 (331) 2,033,666

Islands by name No of Islands Population Inhabited (Total) Melanesia 1. New Caledonia 5 245,580 2. Zenadh Kes (Torres Straits) 14(274) 8,089 3. Vanuatu 65(82) 243,304 4. Fiji 110(332) 944,720 5. Solomon Islands 1000 609,794 1194 (688) 2,051,487 Micronesia 1. Marianas 3 (15) 53,883 2. Guam 1 159,358 3. Wake 3 US Military 4. Palau 16(250) 21,000 5. Marshall Islands 34(1156) 68,000 6. Kiribati (Gilbert) 32 92,834 7. Naura 1 9,300 8. Federated States of Micronesia Chuuk 36(287) 54,595 Korsrae 1(1) 7,700 Pohnpei 8(8) 34,000 Yap 22(134) 11,241 157 (1851) 511,911 Total = 1600 (4,470) 4,597,064

BAPTIST HISTORY IN THE FIJI ISLANDS   How it all began in Fiji According to Baptist Historian William H. Brackney, the first Baptist work in Fiji started in 1969 with two churches and members were around 1,100 . As of 2006 there were 14 small churches under the Fiji Baptist Convention. (As recorded in the Global Baptist Timeline, the first general Baptist church started in 1609 in England.) In the Oceania region the below is the summary of the start of Baptist work: 1962 – Mariana Assoc. of General Baptists 1969 – Baptists in Solomon Islands 1969 – Baptist Bible College, Kwinkia PNG 1973 – Fiji Baptist Mission 1976 – Baptists in Samoa 1977 – Baptist Union of PNG 1984 – Fiji Baptist Convention (FBC)

The Fiji Baptist Convention joined the Fiji Council of Churches in 1985. The Fiji Baptist Convention also helped in the establishment of the Evangelical Fellowship of Fiji in 1989. Christian Population In 2015 the estimated total population in Fiji was 909,389 and Christians of all denominations were estimated as 539,000 or 59.275%of total population. Fiji Baptists are estimated to have 0.31% of total population or about 1,700 members. The Independent Baptists have about 10-12 churches and membership estimate of 1,100 or 0.20% of population. The Fiji Baptist Convention has about 7-8 churches with membership of est. 600 members or 0.11% of population. Ministries like discipleship, leadership development, mission, and evangelism are mostly handled at local church level as the FBC is purely an umbrella body that meets quarterly to review progress of members and offer feedbacks and advice to assist in any improvement and capacity building.

Major challenges facing Baptist churches and FBC - FBC has not grown as much as it should have- whilst the independent Baptists have seen more growth through the years. - Capacity Building, Unity in diversity, Synergy and more fulltime workers are some of the major challenges that the Baptists face in Fiji. There is need for a more detailed survey to find out the actual performance of Baptists in Fiji There is need to mentor and train future leaders and young Baptists, not only for Fiji but also to be missionaries to go to the other Pacific countries and selected countries in the Asia Pacific region. - Christian Leadership Center in Valelevu (Suva) where Unity Baptist Church is based will need to be revived to provide short term training in leadership, church planting, life skills and computer skills etc. On-line training with accredited institutions can be established with the introduction of ICT room.