Ini Kopuria, Founder of the Melanesian Brotherhood
6 June -- Commemoration
If celebrated as a Lesser Festival,
Common of Religious, page 494
As a native policeman, Ini Kopuria's job took him all over
Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands, but a vision of Jesus,
calling him to do different work for his people, led him to
a life of evangelism in which he aimed to take and live the
gospel in the remotest villages and islands in Melanesia.
He began a Brotherhood for Melanesians in 1925 and, with
help from his bishop, prepared a Rule and made vows himself
in which he dedicated his life and his land to God. Men
were asked to make only a five-year commitment to service
within the community and many came to join him and stayed
for much longer. It quickly grew into one of the largest
religious communities in the Anglican Communion and its
method of evangelism proved highly effective. Ini died on
this day in 1945, revered throughout the Pacific Islands and
Papua New Guinea.