Nacadruta, Josefati (d. 1910)

Josefati (or Joseph) Nacadruta was one of the first Fijians, along with Pauliasi Bunoa and Alipati Rainima, to work for the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Fiji.¹

Very little is known about Nacadruta’s early life. He was first mentioned among fourteen members at Suva Vou who sent a letter of thanks in 1903 to Australasian Union Conference headquarters for providing a mission boat.² In the same year, John Fulton named Nacadruta one of his assistant missionaries.³ In 1904, Elder Calvin Parker identified him as the mission teacher at Kavula on the Ra Coast of Viti Levu, Fiji.⁴

At the 1907 Fijian Mission council, Nacadruta was chosen to pioneer a mission station at Wainunu on Vanua Levu.⁵ It proved to be a three-year appointment in a village designated solely for mix-race Fijians.⁶ Nacadruta was held in high esteem by the villagers, and they responded to his invitation for baptism. A church was formed in 1909. Throughout the district, Nacadruta sold many copies of the Fijian translation of The Great Controversy entitled Nai Tukutuku Ni Veigauna.⁷

When the ageing Bunoa was transferred from the Lau Group of islands, it was arranged for Nacaruta to replace him. Soon after the June 1910 Fijian Mission council, the mission schooner Cina was taken on a trip to Vanua Levu, Taviuni Island, and the Lau Group, taking on board Nacadruta and his wife, Nanisi, at Wainunu. They disembarked at Lakeba Island in the Lau Group, an isolated spot on the eastern edge of Fijian territory. There were only a handful of adherents located there but one had donated a piece of land for a mission station that was intended to be the center of evangelism for the Lau Group.⁸

The Tasmanian church members paid Nacadruta’s wages.⁹ He had only been at his new post for about six months when he was suddenly struck down with an illness. The extreme isolation of Lakeba Island made it difficult to get medical help in an emergency and he died. The sad news was conveyed to his supporters in Tasmania, reporting that he was “one of our most devoted teachers.”¹⁰

Sources

Bunoa, Pauliasi. “Greetings from Fiji.” Union Conference Record, May 1, 1903.

Fulton, J[ohn] E. “Report of the Fiji Mission.” Union Conference Record, September 11, 1903.

Marriott, [Alicia A]. “Good Cheer from Fiji.” Australasian Record, April 24, 1911.

Nacadruta, Josefati. “Report of Josefati Nacadruta.” Union Conference Record, October 25, 1909.

Parker, C[alvin] H. “Fiji.” Union Conference Record, April 15, 1904.

Parker, C[alvin] H. “Fiji Mission Council.” Union Conference Record, July 22, 1907.

Parker, C[alvin] H. “Visit to Vanua Levu, Fiji.” Union Conference Record, June 21, 1909.

Stewart, A[ndrew] G. “Back in Fiji.” Australasian Record, March 6, 1911.

Stewart, A[ndrew] G. “A Trip to Lau, Fiji.” Union Conference Record, August 29, 1910.

Notes

1. See Bunoa, Pauliasi and Rainima, Alipati.↩

2. Pauliasi Bunoa, “Greetings from Fiji,” Union Conference Record, May 1, 1903, 4.↩

3. J[ohn] E. Fulton, “Report of the Fiji Mission,” Union Conference Record, September 11, 1903, 5-7.↩

4. C[alvin] H. Parker, “Fiji,” Union Conference Record, April 15, 1904, 3.↩

5. C[alvin] H. Parker, “Fiji Mission Council,” Union Conference Record, July 22, 1907, 3.↩

6. Josefati Nacadruta, “Report of Josefati Nacadruta,” Union Conference Record, October 25, 1909, 3.↩

7. C[alvin] H. Parker, “Visit to Vanua Levu, Fiji,” Union Conference Record, June 21, 1909, 4.↩

8. A[ndrew] G. Stewart, “A Trip to Lau, Fiji,” Union Conference Record, August 29, 1910, 3-4.↩

9. A[ndrew] G. Stewart, “Back in Fiji,” Australasian Record March 6, 1911, 4.↩

10. [Alicia A.] Marriott, “Good Cheer from Fiji,” Australasian Record, April 24, 1911, 4.↩