In 1976 Pauline Campbell was acknowledged for the training she conducted for more than 20 young women in pastoral work for the Methodist Church in Fiji.
An article in The Fiji Times on November 7, 1976, reported she was a trained missionary who served as a deaconess for seven years at the Dudley Church in Suva.
Ms Campbell was quoted saying, “Deaconesses believe that individual needs of people are met by God and good human relationships”.
It was noted at the time there was an increase in vacancies for girls at the Deaconess Training Centre.
“Next year we have three places,” she had said. “One is already reserved for a New Hebrides girl while two other places will go to local Fiji girls.”
In addition, Ms Campbell said it was encouraging to see 12 girls applying to join the centre because it showed the level of interest among women.
There were three main provisions from the training which included “to know the resources of God and to have the spiritual qualities to be able to use these resources in working with one another. To develop skills to meet the needs of church members and others in the community. To develop as persons.”
The report stated the students then underwent a three-year course which included theory and practical work and, according to Ms Campbell, they had to attend lectures along with other ministers at Davuilevu.
She said the duty of serving God had pushed her towards being trained as a missionary at George Brown Missionary Training Centre in Australia.
“Because of the urgent need for teachers, I took a teacher training course as well,” she said.
Ms Campbell first arrived in Fiji in 1949 and joined Dudley High School for secondary education. She joined the high school after teaching for 11 years.
“Later I was asked to study deaconess training in Australia, to see how deaconesses are trained in different churches.
“As a result I was appointed supervisor of deaconess training in 1966.” The article stated she established a Deaconess House in Suva.
“This unexpected part of my life’s work arrived in a rather roundabout way, but I feel various parts of my life fitted into what was God’s pattern and not mine,” she said.
Ms Campbell left Fiji in 1971 for three years and a local deaconess took over her position.
