An Invitation That Changed a Family

Fiji

For a boy named Onisimo, afternoons in the Fiji Islands’ capital city of Suva usually consisted of playing after school at the park with his neighborhood friends. But Friday afternoons were different; on Fridays, hangout time was cut short because Onisimo’s friends left the park earlier. He always wondered, Where are they going?

So one day, he asked them. Their answer: They were going to the Awana club at St. Luke’s Anglican church, just up the street. And the woman with them at the park, sensing his curiosity and hoping he might join them, invited him to come along this time! He had some familiarity with church, having occasionally walked across the road from his house to Saturday services at a Seventh Day Church — why not try this new church?

That day in 2013, 11-year-old Onisimo gladly accepted the invitation to come see what he’d been missing out on at their Awana club, and it marked the beginning of his walk with the Lord. He continued participating in the club, and when a visiting Awana Ministry Team member shared the Gospel message with him in a way that made everything “click” for him in his head and his heart, he accepted Christ as his savior. From that day, he never looked back.

Becoming more active in his faith, he began attending church on Sundays, too. Soon, Onisimo invited his family to St. Luke’s, the same way his friends had done for him. His sister was the first to accept the offer, then his mother — then the whole family!

Attending church was just the beginning. Years later, Onisimo is an Awana club leader and so is his sister, Elizabeth, who says, “Being part of the Awana club has been so powerful and life-changing … I came to know about Awana through my younger brother Onisimo.” She continues,  “Joining Awana has given me and my husband so much love, for not only our children but also other children in the community.”

Today, Onisimo reflects back on the impact that one sincere invitation to an Awana club has had on his whole family and he says, “I’d like to take this time to thank God for sending that woman to the park. She was like an angel to me. And I thank God for what he has done in my life.”