The group of people who first settled at Delaivalelevu settlement along Khalsa Rd, Nasinu on the outskirts of Suva City held church services in an old chicken shed before they constructed their first wooden church in 1988.
Today it is known as Jeremaia Methodist Church and comes under the Delaivalelevu Methodist Circuit.
The group consists of three families and was led by Vilimoni Rokosaqa from Nasautoka Village in Wainibuka, Tailevu, who moved to Suva in the ’70s in search of work.
He was recruited into the Fiji Police Force before becoming a civil servant for 39 years.
The Raibevu family of Kalabu Village in Naitasiri is the traditional landowner of the land on which the church was situated. Mr Rokosaqa says they started off as a prayer group.
“I used to be an alcoholic, most times I was out drinking with friends,” he says.
“Then one day, I was part of a prayer group formed by the late Reverend Sakeasi Salababa in my village, and this is where I was inspired to form a prayer group.
“So, when I returned to Delaivalelevu settlement, I asked my friends that we stop drinking and start praying more.
“For most of them, it sounded like a joke because they knew me as a heavy drinker.”
A few months later, Mr Rokosaqa says he became convinced that he had to preach God’s word.
“At the time, there were only three families at Delaivalelevu settlement. So, after a few months of praying, I told them I wanted to preach, so I did.
“This is how what we now know as Jeremaia Methodist Church under the Delaivalelevu Methodist Circuit was built.”
Mr Rokosaqa says the membership started to expand and this required looking for more space.
“So, we moved into an old shed to have our first church service some time in 1986. Two years later I was married.
“The landowners heard what was happening at the settlement and sought to join us. They had an old chicken shed, so we cleaned it up, transformed it and conducted our church services in it.
“We were having our church service in an old chicken shed before we started fundraising for the construction of a new church in 1988 – the first ever church at Delaivalelevu settlement is now a kindergarten.”
Mr Rokosaqa says they raised $20,000 for the construction of the first wooden church in the area.
“People started giving in their tithes for the construction of the new church that could accommodate close to 200 people. The number of residents in this area had started to increase too due to urban migration.
“We also received our first clergy and we moved away from Kalabu Circuit to form Delaivalelevu Methodist Church Circuit which now looks after seven churches in Valelevu and Tacirua.”
In 2009, Mr Rokosaqa said he retired from the police and moved back to his village of Nasautoka, an hour’s drive from Korovou Town.
“After serving the force for 39 years and spending the whole of my work life at Delaivalelevu settlement, I presented a tabua to the traditional landowners, informing them I would need to return to my village and to carry out my traditional roles.
“It was an emotional time for me personally having to leave everyone and the church I helped build at Delaivalelevu and return to the home of my birth.
“I have seen the fruits of my hard work and commitment to serving God on my children and I know it will flow down to the next generation.
“I want to thank the traditional landowners, the Raibevu family, for their generosity in allowing us to share their land, making us one of their own and to call that place home.”
