THE year was 1845, the day recorded as being Good Friday when Reverend John Hunt found a friend who renounced the old gods of his land and accepted the new found way shown by the Wesleyan missionaries.
The conversion of Ratu Ilaijia (Elijah) Varani, a chief of Viwa, Bau, Tailevu was an event that led to the spread of Christianity and allowed Ratu Seru Cakobau to increase his dominion within Fiji.
He took up the name Elijah when he took up the Christian faith.
The Christian missionaries who first arrived in Fiji on Lakeba in Lau in 1835 and later down the years throughout Fiji have a very big role to play in Fiji’s history. They can be credited to being historians of the era they were in Fiji particularly through the journals they kept.
The translation of the Bible into the Lakeba dialect, then to Rewa and finally into Bauan gave birth to the written iTaukei language.
They were the first to start schools and introduce medicine.
The part Ratu Varani played was quite significant. Being the emissary of Ratu Seru Cakobau meant he had access to most places in Fiji and he was able to spread the word of Christianity to places where missions were yet to be established.
He acted as a translator for the missionaries and managed to convince many chiefs to accept Christianity.
Ratu Varani sailed on the Bauan chiefly canoe and flew Ratu Cakobau’s flag. Along with the missionaries, he broke into new areas of evangelism.
In return, Ratu Seru Cakobau benefited from the foreign trading vessels that came to where the missionaries were.
Ratu Varani’s influence was noted as being the one who was able to broker peace deals between warring tribes and in doing so he was able to find new chiefs who accepted Christianity.
Ratu Varani had put a lot at risk to become a Christian. His island of Viwa, became a haven of refuge for persecuted Christians. Yet despite the limitation placed on him by his new faith, he was never disloyal to his king.
His story still stands today to show how a leader may be loyal both to God and country.
Ratu Varani played a vital role in the protection of the early missionaries such as Rev Hunt and William Lyth.
Christian missionaries managed to spread the influence of Christianity much more quickly than would have been expected. Because of the influence Ratu Cakobau had there was almost always safe passage even during the times when cannibalism was still practised.
Between 1845 and 1848, Ratu Varani, with Rev Hunt, managed to take Christianity further into Fiji. Then in 1848, Rev Hunt died due to dysentery complications.
Ratu Varani did not stop his work, instead he began working with other missionaries.
Ratu Varani’s influence was not limited to the spread of Christianity only, he played a big role in the thriving bech-de-mer industry.
In 1849, Ratu Varani travelled on the trading vessel, Zotoff with two motives. The first being to secure labour for the procurement of bech-de-mer. Ratu Varani would use his and Ratu Caklobau’s influence to get villagers to look for bech-de-mer.
His second motive was to visit the Christian communities that were recently formed on the coast of Viti Levu and Vanua Levu. The few chiefs in these areas had links to Viwa and Bau. Ratu Varani was on his way to promote peace between warring tribes. This was a feature of Ratu Varani’s evangelism.
On Vanua Levu, Ratu Varani managed to get the warring chiefs of Galoa and Tavea to broker peace deals and gained support from Macuata. On Viti Levu Ratu Varani managed to convince Tui Vitogo, present day Lautoka to accept Christianity.
Ratu Varani spent his energy leading fighting tribes to peace. He would broker the peace deal and then seal the deal with a prayer.
He also managed to convince the Tui Veikau of Vuse to denounce the old religion and accept the new faith. Tui Veikau in those days was what some considered to be the ringleader of heathenism.
Ratu Varani is described by missionaries as being a very charismatic individual. He managed to convince Ratu Cakobau to start a mission and school at Wailevu on Koro Island.
This according to the missionaries was a new thing for Ratu Cakobau to do. Rev William Lyth wrote: “Praised be the name of the Lord. This is a new thing for the Tui Viti (Ratu Cakobau) to do.”
Ratu Varani paid the supreme price at Lovoni, Ovalau where he was killed while trying to stop war and spread Christainity.
The captain of the Zotoff Benjamin Wallis in his journal wrote: “Elijah (Ratu Varani) had been faithful to the souls of his people, losing no opportunity of preaching, praying and warning while his conduct has been blameless.
Ratu Varani is remembered as a fine example of real leadership. His leadership did not lose sight of its Christian responsibility in public life.
