Change of Name – Yah-rawa Wesley Church

Yah-rawa Wesley Church | Salvation For All

+679 338 3943 29 Yarawa Road, Suva. Fiji

Yah-rawa Resident Minister, Rev. Jiare Viliame, made a special presentation to the congregation about the change of the church's name.

YA-RAWA TO YAH-RAWA

Matthew 16:18 (NIV)

And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock, I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.

At its 40^th year of its existence, Yarawa Wesley Church continues to see the hand of God move His church forward. Surely the Church belongs to the Lord as declared in Matt 16: 18. It is Him who will steer the Church forward to the next 40 years.

I praise God that at this crucial juncture, the church continues to evolve and embrace its journey as God ordained. From a very humble fellowship beginning, with the capable support of faithful elders who had acquired this block of land at 29 Yarawa Road upon which the church stands today. True to naming conventions followed by other Methodists Churches, the Church inherited its name from its geographical location as Yarawa Wesley Church. This name had remained with the church until its 30^th Anniversary Celebrations in 2015.

Luke 18: 27 “What is impossible with men is possible with God.”

There is significance in our history. The name of the church is crucial for identity, fostering a sense of self and community.

This name is symbolic of the church desire to bridge the connection between its history and inclusivity as a fellowship of believers. Yet, as the church continues to evolve over time, its enlightenment deems it necessary to properly align its name and interpretation with its desire to affirm connection to God and not its geographical location.

On its 40^th Anniversary, this fresh revelation has reaffirmed our desire as a church to make a slight amendment to the church name. Ya-rawa will now be called Yah-rawa Wesley Church. This new name totally disconnects the name of the church from its geographical location and completely connects it to God. Yah is the contracted form of God’s personal name YHWH which means ‘Lord or God’ first mentioned in Exodus 15:2, rawa is a native lens derived from the words possible/able, rooted in Gr: dunamai, which means ‘Power.’ Yah-rawa is now totally connected to Gods name and Gods nature.

This new change may seem immaterially small and insignificant (add ‘H’) yet its accepted meaning, interpretation and understanding is a huge shift for today and for the future of the church. The new name Yah-rawa is a rediscovery of itself and its established relationship with God. Yah-rawa now reaffirms its deep history and identity by embracing and declaring today what is yet to come. This change is precise and timely.

The decision to change the church’s name was made during its 30th anniversary, with the intention of establishing an identity that carried deeper meaning rather than one merely tied to the road and location. The initiative to rediscover the church’s name was first proposed by Retired Catechist, Mr. Waqa Ledua. Click the link below for more (“Old Name”).