HE believes in the saying "practice what you preach".
Youth leader Isaia Matea says he got involved with community work to help preach the gospel.
Matea became actively involved with community work and youth groups when he was in Form Six.
Working as a judiciary official, Matea led a team of 120 youths last weekend on a clean-up campaign at the Lautoka Hospital.
A member of Mahanaim with the Seventh Day Adventist Church, he leads a group from Suva building on youth empowerment projects and helping the church preach the gospel.
The 30-year-old says at the end of every month the youths gather to decide on community projects.
"I used to live in Lautoka before I was transferred to Suva by the judiciary after which I was selected by my church to lead this youth group," he said. "We started community work in Suva with a clean- up campaign organised for Edinburgh Drive, CWM Hospital and the Old People's home.
He cannot stress enough the importance of practising what one preaches.
"When we see the community and before we can think about preaching the word of God to them, we have to bear in mind that we need to live the gospel first before we can tell others about it," he said.
"This is the reason behind our endless efforts towards community work and youth empowerment programs.
"Through such community projects, we try to reach out and at the same time live the gospel with an attempt to preach about it."
