Big Love

I’m a fiercely proud South Aucklander, and I even have a Mangere/275 tattoo on my leg. I guess my passion for my neighbourhood came from the struggle that has shaped who I am today.

I was born in Samoa, but moved to Mangere when I was young. My parents, Fasavalu and Mora, are my true heroes. They came here with little money and little English, and ended up buying a home, getting good jobs and supporting us kids as best they could—which sometimes meant working two or three jobs.

One of the only Pakeha people we knew was the community constable, and Pakeha were always in authority to me—they were the teachers, cops and judges. So I grew up with a real distrust of Pakeha and I learned to hate ‘the system’.

I got into trouble and was thrown out of school at 13. I’ve seen some terrible and scary things—senseless violence, and broken people and families. I’ll always have partial vision in my left eye after getting attacked with a baseball bat.

But there were people who helped me too. I was accepted into a new school and some of the teachers encouraged me. When I left school, I got into university.

At about this time, my parents moved to Australia and I took on their mortgage, and tried to support them overseas. I was going to university during the day, worked as a bouncer at night, and in the weekends I worked in a warehouse.

That year, in a bad relationship and working two or three jobs, I failed uni. I didn’t know how I was going to get enough money. I knew I wouldn’t be allowed back, and I thought the only choice for me was to make some bad decisions, where I would most likely end up in prison.

But my sister went to church, and she asked me to go along with her. It was 9 March 1997, at 8 pm, when I responded to the call to salvation. I grew up to be staunch; not to show emotion or weakness. But I also knew that there was a spot there that only the Lord could fill, and that if I didn’t choose him, my other decisions would take me down a dark road.

I was still working at the nightclub, and had only been a Christian for two weeks. One night, about 10 Islanders as big as me turned up with machetes and bats. I didn’t know how to pray, but I said: ‘God, I need some help!’

I told them, ‘You can kill me, but I promise that some of you will die with me tonight.’ An amazing sense of calm and peace just fell on the place, and they decided to turn away. I knew God had really intervened!

I had new purpose in life, and I applied for Law School. Miraculously—I honestly don’t know how—I got in. I graduated five years later with a degree in law, and a Bachelor of Politics with Honours.

Right now, I co-own two small businesses—a security company called SOUL Security, and a consultancy called Catalyst. My original purpose was to create wealth and employment, but now I want to use my skills and businesses for God’s Kingdom, and hopefully support mission and outreach work in South Auckland, New Zealand and abroad.

I still have big love for Mangere and South Auckland. We have midnight prayer meetings and set up barbecues in the places people gather to party. I’m involved in various family and community Bible studies, and other outreaches in our neighbourhood. My heart beats for true salvation and discipleship.

Last year I began working for The Salvation Army’s Social Policy and Parliamentary Unit. The Army is seen by some as white and middle class, but its clientele is very diverse. My passion is to see people come to Christ as Lord and Saviour, and to see communities drive change at the grassroots level—especially the centre of the universe that is Mangere!

By Ronji Tanielu (abridged from War Cry, 17 December 2011, p9)