Introducing Takana: A Beacon of Faith from Fiji
At Langham Partnership UK and Ireland, we are continually inspired by the incredible stories and dedicated workers in our global family. Recently, we had the privilege of speaking with Pio ‘Takana’ Nakesu, a passionate preaching coordinator based in the beautiful Fiji Islands. His testimony is one of faith, perseverance, and a deep desire to see Scripture faithfully preached across the islands of the South Pacific.
Takana warmly shared, “I was born into a very proud, very rich Catholic family… But it wasn’t until I left home for university at 19 that I truly began searching for God in a deeper way.” Finding a Gideon New Testament sparked a spiritual awakening that has shaped his ministry ever since.
From Challenges to Opportunities: Advancing Biblical Preaching in Fiji
Despite cultural tensions and challenges within his own family, Takana’s commitment to faithful preaching has only grown stronger. “There was a moment when I spoke up during a pastor’s meeting — I said, ‘If biblical preaching means screaming and guilt-tripping people, we do that well, but if it means preaching what the Bible actually says, we need help.’ That was my beginning with Langham preaching.”
His honesty and courage have resonated widely as he now leads as the Preaching Coordinator for the South Pacific, overseeing the Langham preaching movement across island nations including Fiji, Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea, and beyond.
A typical month for Takana involves supporting local facilitators, visiting countries, and helping build networks that enable local leaders to run their own trainings: “In the past, trainers came from outside — now our facilitators are local, running courses with Langham resources. That’s a huge step forward for sustaining growth.”
Overcoming Challenges and Seeing God’s Faithfulness
The South Pacific’s unique geography and cultural diversity bring inevitable challenges. Takana explains, “Fiji alone has about 300 islands, and many churches speak different languages — Itauke, Fiji Hindi, English. Most Langham materials are only in English, so translation is an ongoing need.”
He also highlights the spiritual challenges faced, particularly the spread of prosperity gospel teachings and liberal theology.
“As a young minister, my training options were limited to prosperity or liberal doctrines. But I’m encouraged to see more people speaking out against false teaching and longing for sound biblical preaching.”
Yet, amidst these challenges, God’s faithfulness shines. Takana shares, “Despite tensions, God continues to open little paths for good Bible teaching and preaching to be heard. We’re praying for doors to open into Polynesia and Micronesia and to reach new islands with the truth of Scripture.”
How You Can Stand with the South Pacific in Prayer
Takana invites us to stand shoulder to shoulder in prayer for:
– More local leaders to be raised up and trained in Bible-based preaching
– Greater funding and resources to support the training and travel across the islands
– Open hearts and unity among the island churches who are receptive to Langham’s ministry
– Translations of Langham materials into local languages to better reach diverse communities
– Breakthroughs in Polynesia, Tonga, Samoa, and Micronesia to expand biblical preaching
As Takana reminds us, “Prayer warriors — persistent and faithful — are vital to this movement. Your prayers make an incredible difference in places that may feel remote but are very much part of God’s global mission.”
Join Us in Celebrating and Supporting Faithful Preaching Worldwide
We celebrate Takana’s inspiring ministry and all those labouring to bring faithful biblical preaching to every corner of the globe. Their stories remind us of the power of Scripture to transform lives, communities, and nations.
Would you like to learn more or get involved with Langham Partnership UK and Ireland? Explore our resources, watch more stories, and discover how you can encourage faithful preaching both here at home and internationally.
Together, through prayer, partnership, and perseverance, we can see God’s Word continue to spread – one island, one community, and one preacher at a time.
Video Transcript
Summary
- Takana is from Fiji Islands in the capital of Fiji, Suva. Born and raised here, hardly left the country except for Langham Works. Started questioning God at 19 when he came across a Gideon New Testament. Ever since he has wanted to know more about God and his Word.
- Fijian culture is almost a shame-based culture where you don’t say the negatives, you always speak positively.
- Takana coordinates the work with the Langham Preaching Movement in each country. Most of the Langam work is concentrated in Melanesia, but is still limited to just the main cities.
- The other challenge is the language. There are two main languages in Fiji apart from English. Papua New guinea will need a lot of translation work.
Transcript
My name’s John Libby and it’s good to see old and potentially new friends on the call and it’s a particular great pleasure and privilege to welcome Takana. It’s really great that he’s joined us to share, and in a moment we’ll be having a conversation together. But welcome to all guests and friends. Takana, a really special welcome to you. Tell us where you’re speaking from, make us all jealous.
Morning, John, and good morning, dear friends. I’m joining you from the Fiji Islands, in the capital of Fiji, Suva. And I’m joining you from the future. I guess I’m already tomorrow and it’s 6am here. It’s the cool part of the year for us. Temperatures are around 21, 22 degrees Celsius and it stays around the 20s throughout the day. So it’s our winter, if you know what I mean.
Well, yes, but no.
Yes, we don’t know.
Well, it’s good to see. How long have you been there?
Born and raised here, hardly left the country. Except for Langham work.
Yeah. When we need to meet because Langham in the South Sea is part of Asia, so usually we’d go to Bangkok or some of these places.
Yeah. And obviously at some point you met Jesus Christ in some way, somehow. Share with us your testimony as to what it was that sparked the seed of faith.
So I was born into a very, very proud, very rich Catholic family. So my family accepted Catholicism into our village. So that’s my background. And then as I grew to about 12 years old, my parents left and joined this charismatic church. But I didn’t feel like I belonged there. It wasn’t until I left home for uni when I was about 19, that’s when I started sort of this searching and I had questions about God. I came across a Gideon New Testament that has the Gospel explained at the back. So that’s kind of when the light came on for me. And ever since I’ve just wanted to know more about God and his Word. And I regretted, say, 18 years of not knowing what I’ve discovered at about 19.
I’m curious, what did you read at uni then? I meant what subject did you study?
It was foundation science, they call them here. So it’s the pre-uni units, preparing for undergraduate. It was through science.
And what was I was bombarded with that caused me to question God and all of that, basically, whether I believe what I believe or what I’ve been taught as a kid.
Yeah.
And you know, what’s your family situation then in Fiji? Are you married?
Yes, I am. I’m married to Olivia and we have three children. The oldest is going to turn 12 in a couple of days on Tuesday next week. Then we have a 10-year-old and a 6-year-old.
Yeah, good.
I know because you told us a while back on a video that is available which was produced for our mission weekend that you know, you’re exploring through the charismatic church but still with the roots of what you’ve been brought up with. But your parents moving to a different church, that was not without tensions and I guess many of us on the call might relate to that. Can you share a little bit more of that story?
Yeah, so my dad eventually became a pastor in a local church as well. And then because of cultural obligation, you’re expected to follow what your family does. We are a communal people and so everything we do, we do together. And so it was countercultural that I had this experience with God and I preferred to preach from the Bible, preach faithfully and all of that. So that’s caused a bit of tension between me and my father. He continues in that, although through my work in Langham preaching now the theological school that the denomination is a part of has accepted Langham preaching and so it’s coming into the system as well. So that’s a praise point for me and an encouragement that despite the challenges, there are these little paths that God is opening up where good Bible teaching and preaching is going into these places. As difficult as my family situation is, yet God is gracious and continues to be faithful in these little ways.
So tell us a little bit about how did you first come into contact with Langham, seeing that it’s been so critical.
Yeah, in terms of evangelical Bible stuff in Fiji, we are the minority. When I came into the current church that I’m pastoring, there were very few Bible-based resources available. I’m good friends with people that have these resources and we share what little we have. There was a missionary from Australia serving in Fiji under CMS. His name is Tony Wright. He’s out of the Sydney Anglicans. He’s one of those people in my city and he told me about Langham, tried to explain it to me, but it didn’t make sense at first. He said just come along to this meeting.
There was a big meeting with all the pastors from around Suva and that was the first time I saw Paul Windsor. I was the youngest—well, I’m still considered a young person in terms of pastoral ministry in Fiji. I was one of the youngest ones. Fiji has a hierarchy. So you’re right at the very back, barely made it through the door, sat there and listened to the presentation about Langham preaching. Then immediately I thought, man, if we can take hold of this, it’d be good. But during the presentation, there was a question asked of Paul Windsor: “What is the thesis of biblical preaching in Fiji?” In Fijian culture, Pacific culture, it’s almost a shame-based culture where you don’t say negatives, you always speak positive. The senior ministers said they have wonderful speakers and preachers in Fiji. A few of us young people at the back were biting our tongues, waiting to speak. Thankfully the mic came around and I said, “If by biblical preaching you mean screaming into the microphone and guilt-tripping people, we do that very well. But if by biblical preaching you mean preaching what the Bible actually says, I think we need help.” There was pin-drop silence. My superiors gave me “the stink,” saying I was in trouble. But that was my beginning with Langham preaching.
Yeah, yeah. And you’ve gone on with Langham and indeed a key person in our South Pacific ministry.
Thank you.
I think your title is Preaching Coordinator for South Pacific. Tell us a little bit. Obviously, you’ve got enthusiasm for that role, which is infectious to us here and now. But tell us what that role entails, the shape and scale of it, and what your usual week or month looks like.
So I’m new in the role. It was previously held by Stephen Williams, a retired Anglican minister from Sydney. It covers coordinating the work with the Langham Preaching Movement in each country where Langham is established within the South Pacific. We’re divided into three groups: Polynesia, Micronesia, and Melanesia. Melanesians look like me; they’re dark skinned and have frizzy hair. Most of the Langham work is concentrated in Melanesia. We would love to get into other places, but for now, the countries with Langham preaching are Aboriginal Australia, Fiji, Vanuatu, Solomon Islands, and Papua New Guinea. Some have had Langham for 15 years or more; others around four or five years. Fiji is the youngest in the movement. It’s still new, but in terms of accessibility and resources, we are at a bit of an advantage compared to our neighbors.
In terms of my work, I look after the preaching movement coordinators; each country has leaders leading the local movements and preaching clubs happening at various intervals. Every year, I make an effort to visit these places. We’ve developed local facilitators to run training locally, which is a big change. In the past, people from outside – Australia, New Zealand, UK – would come in and run the training then head back. Now, local facilitators run training locally. If anything comes from outside, it’s the books and resources from Langham Literature. Otherwise, it’s the local coordinators who I support. We continue to build and equip ourselves better and keep going. So briefly, that’s my role.
Okay, I love your expression “Had Langham,” as if it’s some sort of infectious disease or whatever that was introduced at a point. But I think that is critical, as some of the movements in different countries are like a virus and we hope it goes viral in terms of giving people a desire to hear what scripture says.
What’s the mood then in Fiji in your immediate responsibilities? How’s the Langham preaching movement – numbers of groups and people in groups, number of churches?
Sure, I’m no longer the country coordinator for Fiji. There is a local country coordinator who has put a stop to training to organize his team. The need is great; people are asking for training, but he wants to get the team of facilitators together and prepared properly and get local funding organized so they can target cities and towns well. He is strategic about this move.
Currently, there are about six or seven preaching clubs that have had training. We have about 10 local facilitators able to run trainings. Once administration work and registration are done, their reach will extend further into the islands. Fiji alone has about 300 islands. At the moment, we’re still just in the main cities. We haven’t reached wider communities.
Another challenge is language. There are two main languages in Fiji apart from English, and we only have material in English. Although everyone in Fiji speaks English, it would be more helpful for churches that speak vernacular, either Itauke (indigenous Fijian) or Fiji Hindi. Half of our population are Fiji Indians – Fijians of Indian descent – so they speak Hindi. That’s where the work is in Fiji.
Are the preaching materials available in either of those two languages, or only in English?
Only in English. For Fiji’s context, that’s fine. We go to school in English, so that’s not a problem for us in Fiji and most of Melanesia, as well. Papua New Guinea is where we have the issue because it is quite diverse – like an African country in the South Pacific. PNG will need a lot of translation work. Thankfully, the Wycliffe group is very involved with language and we partner with them in Papua New Guinea. Translation work has started to happen recently.
I’d like to explore two or three areas before we come to Kurt. One is, as we’ve talked about before on our Langham Life, the particular heresy of the prosperity gospel. Is that still an issue in Fiji and is that one of the main pressures or is secularism now?
The two main ones in the islands are prosperity teaching and liberal theology. For me, as a young minister coming up, my options for theological training were a prosperity college or a college with liberal theology – you choose between those two. That’s a problem.
The prosperity gospel is getting a new strategy in Fiji now where it’s not Westerners bringing it but Africans who look like Fijians, making it more appealing. But at the same time, people are speaking up against it. They’re beginning to see it’s false and not true. For me, it’s encouraging to see others speaking up against it.
You’re exploring or looking at new areas or things you want to start considering more. Share something of that so others can be informed.
There’s a big area in the South Pacific we haven’t reached in terms of Langham preaching: Polynesia, including Samoa, Tonga, Cook Islands, and Micronesia – smaller islands further north. Langham preaching in the South Pacific has just started to reach these areas. We are praying for open doors so we can reach out to them.
I imagine, given the size and scale and the dispersed islands, the languages, and the heresies, there are challenges. What are the main challenges from your perspective that we can stand shoulder to shoulder with you in prayer?
The distance means money to fly and it’s not cheap across these islands. Most facilitators and people who work with Langham volunteer their time; many are involved in full-time ministry. To get release from primary ministry to do Langham work is tricky; they have to seek permission from their denominations or organizations.
Also, sometimes people see Langham as a threat because many ministries want a piece of the island “paradise.” When we introduce Langham to a new place, sometimes churches see it as a new cult or something strange. Since everything in the islands is about relationships, that creates tension.
Any reassurance you can give?
We have similar battles in the UK where people get jealous about particular theologies, churches, and movements. But stick close to Scripture.
What about family and church? Do they give you support in your role, which sounds quite involved and busy?
Yes, that’s the challenge. I’m pastoring a small Baptist church and the theological school for our Baptist convention has been shut down for many years, so we don’t have new pastors coming in. I’m only in my current role because I’ve got no replacement. I’ve trained people through Langham to preach and hold the fort when I travel. It’s a prayer point that God raises leaders to fill the void.
The little church I pastor has a high appetite for solid biblical preaching. The standard is high and it’s difficult for them to accept others from outside. Please pray for our local churches that God will raise more leaders.
Right. In a moment, the topics you shared in advance will appear in our chat box. Without rehearsing the whole list, is there any one of them you particularly dislike but want to share and leave with us as we go to prayer?
I’ll speak about what I mentioned earlier: moving into the new regions of the South Pacific. This has been our prayer point because even within the region, it’s difficult to get into some places. We need to visit and form networks that can bring us into these places. Please pray for that.
Takana, it’s been a real pleasure and privilege sharing with you. We’ll go into small groups now, and be assured you will be in our thoughts and prayers. The prayer points will be circulated afterwards to people who have been here, and this conversation will be available on the Langham site as well.
Despite what faces might be in front of you, most of the natives are friendly and actually commit to pray. You’ve shared with quite a cohort of prayer warriors here, I’m sure.
Prayer warriors, that is, not worriers, but maybe the two are the same: persistent widows and whatever.
Thank you very much.