News - Baptisms in Kiribati

Kiribati school baptises 107
Abemama, Kiribati

Kauma Adventist High School celebrated the baptism of 107 of its students during the past year.
“This is the most productive year in the history of Kaumu Adventist High School,” reports Pastor Tengon Taabuke, president of the Kiribati and Nauru Mission, who paid tribute to school staff members. “These baptisms came as a result of the work of school chaplain George Worru and all the staff of Kauma.”
According to Pastor Taabuke, the number of baptisms is more remarkable considering about 90 per cent of the high school students come from non-Adventist backgrounds. “Unfortunately, many of these young people go through persecution from their parents when they commit themselves to the church,” he says.
“Recently, I visited one of our church members on the island of Maiana and there I met one of the students I had baptised at Kauma High School. I asked her why she had missed the Sabbath worship service, and she shared with me the persecution she endures from her parents and relatives.”
Her parents don’t support her financially, explains Pastor Taabuke, so she has been unable to complete seventh form at Kauma. “But I believe these students will come to church when they leave home,” he says.
Kauma recently added Form 7 University of the South Pacific courses to its curriculum, making it easier for Kauma students to further their studies beyond high-school level.
Pastor Taabuke says that because of the support of the wider church, Kauma Adventist High School “is able to carry on the important task of caring for our young people, not only for this life but most importantly for the life to come.”—Pacific Waves