Disruptive Voices of the Pacific
Episode 102 - Why has the SDA Church not allowed Adsafe Training in Fiji, Samoa and Tonga?
30 October 2024
Episode Notes
🎙️Why has the SDA Church Leadership in the Trans Pacific Union (TPUM) not allowed Adsafe Training for their Church leaders in Fiji, Samoa and Tonga?
Was the South Pacific Division (SPD) Leadership aware, and why didn’t they intervene?
With allegations of abduction and attempted rape against the current Fiji Mission President and other stories of child abuse coming to the fore, why has the Adventist Church not used a comprehensive resource called Adsafe to train its leaders? "There is no priority higher than protecting children, and other vulnerable people, within our care. This is something close to the heart of God, and cannot be done through wishful thinking or vague aspirations." SDA Church Manual, South Pacific Division Supplement p239
In this podcast episode we hear from Litiana Turner who was employed to bring Adsafe to Fiji and other island nations. Her role as the Pacific Safeguarding Team Leader was to raise awareness, educate and support the church leadership in the Pacific to put into place systems to protect children and vulnerable people. After successfully launching and training Church leadership at the TPUM Office in October 2021, there appeared to be no clear pathway for her and her Pacific Safeguarding Team to access Fiji and other local TPU missions.
In 2023 after successfully training and equipping church leaders in various locations throughout Papua New Guinea, she found herself suddenly made redundant after nearly 30 years of work within the SDA church. Tune in to hear her story and a challenge for every church to equip its leaders to address abuse in a nation where four (4) out of five (5) children are abused. The church must lead the way in creating safe communities for its children.