Avondale and the South Pacific

History of Seventh-day Adventist Church missions in the South Pacific. Includes an appendix listing all known missionaries and the areas in which they served.

The chapters found in this book document several significant aspects of the history of the mission in the South Pacific – some of them for the first time. There are chapters that describe the role of women in mission. Other chapters consider the motivation for missionary service, the influence of western missionaries on worship in Melanesian society, the life of an individual missionary, the implications of non-functional literacy for the task of mission, and the effect that the “missionary experience” has had on one expatriate missionary.

One of the most valuable aspects of the book is the appendix, which for the first time in print attempts a comprehensive list of all missionaries who have served in the island nations of the South Pacific Division of the Seventh-Day Adventists. This list represents an extraordinary record of dedicated effort.

Those interested in the development of Christian mission in the South Pacifc; those who have engaged in cross-cultural service; as well as the many Seventh-Day Adventist missionaries whose names are listed here will find this book of profound interest.

Oliver, Barry, Currie, Alex and Robertson, Douglas (eds.) 1997, Avondale and the South Pacific: 100 Years of Mission, Avondale Academic Press, Cooranbong, New South Wales.