Partners in the Pacific

March 14, 2007

Chris Wright, International Director of Langham Partnership International, travels widely during the year. This includes visiting the other national members of LPI. October this year found him in Australia, working with the national administrator for LP Australia, Wendy Toulmin, in promotional meetings in Sydney, Melbourne and Perth.

In Sydney, Chris met with a new Langham Scholar who is a double first: he is the first from the Pacific islands, and the first to be supported for study in Australia. His name is Ma’afu Palu, and he is a Methodist pastor from Tonga. He is doing his PhD at Moore College, Sydney, on Mark’s Gospel, supervised by Brian Rosner, and supported financially by Langham Partnership Australia and Moore Theological College.

Ma’afu, a Langham Scholar, has already become a Langham Writer as well, having written a book in the Tongan language on how to interpret the Bible - a simple guide for Tongan pastors. It has been published by LP Australia. As soon as he returns to Tonga, Ma’afu plans to initiate Langham Preaching seminars there, and to launch a movement that will spread to other Pacific island groups. So all three Langham Programmes are currently embodied in this one Tongan brother in Australia!