Fulton Adventist University Interdisciplinary Journal
type: channel
description: Fulton Adventist University Interdisciplinary Journal (FAUIJ) is a biannual academic journal handled by the Department of Research. It is an international, peer-reviewed journal that publishes research articles, case studies, book reviews, work-in-progress articles, and conference reports that emphasize unique intellectual developments in Interdisciplinary studies. FAUIJ provides a platform of academic exchange for scholars, practitioners, and readers in the South Pacific Division and beyond in various fields and viewpoints, including business, education, philosophy, health, theology, and practical studies. Each author is responsible for the correct use and referencing of the material used in the composition of his/her article. The editorial board is not liable for the consequences of any academic dishonesty committed by a contributor to this journal. The ideas expressed in the articles and book reviews are the entire responsibility of the authors and do not represent the thinking of the members of the Fulton Adventist University community.
publisher: Fulton Adventist University
language: en
publication name: Fulton Adventist University Interdisciplinary Journal
issn: 3078-5200
items: Critical Book Reviews
items: “Christianized or Civilized? Repentance, Sanctification, Culture, Dual Allegiance, and the First Century of Missionary Transformation in the Solomon Islands”
items: “Creating a Conducive Environment for Growth from a Biblical Perspective”
items: “From Surface Conflict to Root Assumptions: Using Kwast’s Culture Model as a Theological Tool for Resolving Bible-Version Disputes in the Church”
items: “Of One Accord: The Holy Spirit’s Unifying Work and the Church’s Global Mission in Acts 1-2”
items: “The Sabbath and Civil Day Names in Tonga: A Practical-Theological Study of Adventist Ecclesial Unity”
items: Local Reckoning and Public Witness: An Adventist Hermeneutic for Sabbath Observance in Tonga.
items: “The Unchangeable Sabbath and Changeable Civil Day Names: A Biblical-Theological Study of Tonga’s Date-Line Context”
items: “Conscience After Calendar Reform: Prophetic Memory and Communal Repair in Samoa’s Sabbath Controversy”
items: “Skipping a Civil Date: Samoa’s 2011 International Date Line Reform and Adventist Institutional Discernment”
items: Everyday Financial Resilience in Pacific Island Economies: Remittances, Payment Connectivity, and Household Agency
items: “Debt, Disaster Liquidity, and Blue-Green Capital: A Layered Finance Framework for Pacific Resilience”
items: “Are we Preparing Future Accountants for Sustainability? Content Analysis of Accounting Curricula in Fiji Using a New Institutional Theory Perspective”
items: “From Books to Bots: AI Tools, Reading Practices, and Physical Books Circulation at Fulton Adventist University Library”
items: “A Descriptive Analysis of the Adventist Membership Trends”
items: “Opportunities and Challenges of Artificial Intelligence Usage in Education: A PRISMA-Based Systematic Review”
items: https://journals.fultonadventistuniversity.com/index.php/fauij/article/view/123
items: “Fiji and TPUM for Christ: Mission Strategies for the Fiji–Pacific Context”
items: “Servant Leadership in 1 Kings 11-12 and Its Relation to the Contemporary Leadership Trend among the Asantes in Ghana”
items: “Sustaining the Mission: Evangelism, Discipleship, and Endurance in 2 Timothy 2:2, 3-10, and 24-26”
items: “Christ Our ‘Ie Tōga: Contextualising Atonement Theology in Samoan Adventist Culture”
items: “Untrained Teachers: Challenges Faced by Unqualified Teachers in Pacific Island Classrooms”
items: “Curbing Students’ Negative Behaviour through Integration of Faith and Learning in Faith-Based Schools”
items: “Executive Compensation: The Role of Inside Debt and Vesting Equity in Aligning Incentives and Managing Risk. Part IIIA”
items: “Executive Compensation: The Role of Inside Debt and Vesting Equity in Aligning Incentives and Managing Risk. Part III”
items: “The Role of Internships in Shaping Sustainability Education Skills of Business Students: Student and Employer Views in Fiji”
items: “Apprehension: The Challenges Faced by Pacific Island Students in Universities – A Literature Review”
items: “Enhancing Food Security and Sustainability: The Role of Hydroponic Farming in Supporting Fulton Adventist University Cafeteria Operations”
items: “Biblical/Theoretical Framework for a Spiritual Leadership Development Program for Fulton Adventist University College Seventh-day Adventist Church, Fiji”

Critical Book Reviews
type: item
description: The Sabbath, Samoa, and The International Date Line: An Explanation of Seventh-day Sabbath Observance Practices in the South Pacific, by Amos Dowle. Hamilton, NZ: Wattlebird Publishing, 2024. 168 pp. ISBN 978-0-473-72433-7. Paperback.
subject: Book Reviews
  topic: section
rights: Copyright (c) 2026 Fulton Adventist University Interdisciplinary Journal
date: 2026-08-19
publication date: 2026-08-19
starting page: 270
ending page: 274

“Christianized or Civilized? Repentance, Sanctification, Culture, Dual Allegiance, and the First Century of Missionary Transformation in the Solomon Islands”
type: item
description: This article examines whether Christian mission in Solomon Islands should be evaluated chiefly as Christianization or as a civilizing project. It argues that the difference cannot be settled by visible indicators such as baptisms, schools, clinics, denominational allegiance, mission stations, imported clothing, church buildings, or Western habits. Biblically, Christianization must be measured by repentance, faith, baptism, discipleship, sanctification, undivided allegiance to Christ, and a communal life re-ordered under His lordship (Matt. 28:18–20; Acts 2:3747; Rom. 12:1–2; Eph. 4:17–24; Gal. 5:16–25). Historically, missionary work in the Solomon Islands generated real Christian institutions and indigenous Christian agency, but it also carried civilising assumptions, colonial discipline, denominational competition, and imported patterns of respectability. Using biblical-theological criteria, contextualisation theory, anthropological work on kastom, and Hofstede, Hofstede, and Minkov’s layered account of culture, the article evaluates the first century of missionary transformation in Anglican, South Sea Evangelical, Seventh-day Adventist, and wider Solomon Islands contexts. It gives particular attention to dual allegiance and syncretism, arguing that these should not be confused with faithful contextualization or with kastom as such. Authentic Christianization reaches the deepest level of values and allegiance—land, kinship, power, gender, reconciliation, worship, spiritual fear, truth-telling, moral desire, and public responsibility—rather than stopping at symbols, heroes, rituals, or institutional membership. The article, therefore, commends critical contextualization: Scripture judges every culture, including missionary culture, while the gospel is translated into local life through repentance, discipleship, and Spirit-shaped community.
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: Array
  topic: keywords
creator: Jonnie Tangimatai Tango-Kona
creator: Limoni Manu O’Uiha
rights: Copyright (c) 2026 Fulton Adventist University Interdisciplinary Journal
date: 2026-08-19
publication date: 2026-08-19
starting page: 250
ending page: 269

“Creating a Conducive Environment for Growth from a Biblical Perspective”
type: item
description: Creating a conducive environment for retention and holistic growth in the Adventist Church is indispensable. Losing new members to the world after many years of labor is painstakingly unbearable. This article explores the biblical principles for creating an environment that fosters retention and growth. In light of SPD For Christ, every church in the SPD must create space for growth while embarking on efforts to reach the unreached.
subject: Articles
  topic: section
creator: John G. Nebare
rights: Copyright (c) 2026 Fulton Adventist University Interdisciplinary Journal
date: 2026-08-19
publication date: 2026-08-19
starting page: 230
ending page: 249

“From Surface Conflict to Root Assumptions: Using Kwast’s Culture Model as a Theological Tool for Resolving Bible-Version Disputes in the Church”
type: item
description: Bible-version disputes often appear to be arguments about wording, translation preference, or loyalty to a trusted edition. In congregational settings; however, the visible debate may be the outer layer of a deeper theological conflict involving assumptions about inspiration, preservation, authority, certainty, and trust. This article argues that Lloyd Kwast’s four-layer culture model can serve as a theological diagnostic tool for pastors, teachers, and church leaders seeking to address such conflicts faithfully. Although Kwast developed the model for mission and intercultural understanding, its shift from behaviour to values, beliefs, and worldview helps diagnose intrachurch theological disputes because doctrinal positions often function as meaning systems sustained by loyalties, fears, assumptions, and communal habits. Using KJV-onlyism as a case study, the article distinguishes the grateful use of the King James Version from the conscience-binding claim that a single English edition alone constitutes the preserved Word of God in English. It then tests KJVonly assumptions against Scripture’s witness to inspiration and preservation in 2 Timothy 3:16–17; 2 Peter 1:20–21; Luke 1:1–4; Jeremiah 36; Proverbs 25:1; and the New Testament’s use of the Septuagint. The study concludes with a Kwast-informed pastoral process that moves from diagnosis to discipleship. The aim is clarity with charity: to uphold biblical authority, correct false assumptions, and strengthen congregational unity through Scripture-centered formation.
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: Array
  topic: keywords
creator: Limoni Manu O’Uiha
rights: Copyright (c) 2026 Fulton Adventist University Interdisciplinary Journal
date: 2026-08-19
publication date: 2026-08-19
starting page: 210
ending page: 229

“Of One Accord: The Holy Spirit’s Unifying Work and the Church’s Global Mission in Acts 1-2”
type: item
description: This article argues that Acts 1-2 presents the Holy Spirit as the divine power of witness and as the one who forms the ecclesial unity. within which that witness becomes credible, intelligible, and enduring. The study tightens the common appeal to “one accord” by distinguishing the secure occurrence of homothymadon in Acts 1:14 from the wording of Acts 2:1 in the critical Greek text, while still showing that Acts 2 continues the narrative picture of a gathered, obedient, prayerful community. Through exegetical, biblical-theological, and missiological analysis, the article traces the sequence from Christ’s promise of the Spirit to prayerful waiting, to Pentecostal proclamation, to the communal practices in Acts 2:42-47. It then tests the thesis against later episodes of conflict and expansion in Acts 4, 6, 10-11, 13, and 15, arguing that Spirit-given unity is not uniformity, coercion, or institutional sameness, but reconciled participation in Christ’s mission across linguistic, ethnic, cultural, and organizational boundaries. The study further places this Lukan pattern in conversation with Adventist pneumatology, especially Pentecost as former rain and the latter-rain hope. It applies to contemporary Pacific mission and theological collaboration. The article concludes that the church’s global witness is weakened when unity is reduced to administration, sentiment, or silence, and strengthened when the Spirit creates truth-filled, prayerful, culturally discerning, and missionally ordered communion.
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: Array
  topic: keywords
creator: Talatoka Naroba
creator: Limoni Manu O’Uiha
rights: Copyright (c) 2026 Fulton Adventist University Interdisciplinary Journal
date: 2026-08-19
publication date: 2026-08-19
starting page: 192
ending page: 209

“The Sabbath and Civil Day Names in Tonga: A Practical-Theological Study of Adventist Ecclesial Unity”
type: item
description: The Sabbath question in Tonga is often treated as a technical dispute about the International Date Line or the civil name given to the day on which Seventh-day Adventists worship. Those matters are important, yet they do not fully explain why the issue can trouble conscience, strain congregational relationships, and weaken public understanding. This article examines the issue as a practical-theological and ecclesiological challenge. It argues that faithful Adventist leadership requires more than a correct account of sacred sequence and civil time. It requires biblical teaching, communal discernment, contextual communication, pastoral accompaniment, and restorative accountability. Scripture provides the normative horizon; official Adventist statements, the 2025 Church Manual, historical materials on Tonga and the South Pacific dateline question, and scholarship in practical theology, contextual theology, reconciliation, and Christian formation clarify the ecclesial task. The study does not present an ethnographic profile of a particular congregation, independent group, or dispute. It evaluates the conditions under which a Sabbath question becomes divisive and identifies practices through which a church can preserve truth, conscience, unity, and credible witness. Its central conclusion is that the appropriate Adventist response in Tonga is neither civil-label absolutism nor private chronological calculation. It is a Scripture-governed, locally accountable, pastorally patient pattern of discernment that strengthens members for worship, fellowship, and mission.
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: Array
  topic: keywords
creator: Ioane Loloma
creator: Limoni Manu O’Uiha
rights: Copyright (c) 2026 Fulton Adventist University Interdisciplinary Journal
date: 2026-08-19
publication date: 2026-08-19
starting page: 177
ending page: 191

Local Reckoning and Public Witness: An Adventist Hermeneutic for Sabbath Observance in Tonga.
type: item
description: The Sabbath question in Tonga is often framed as a local dispute over whether Seventh-day Adventists should worship on Saturday or Sunday. That framing is pastorally understandable but theologically inadequate, because it allows civil day names to carry more interpretive weight than Scripture gives them. This article offers a distinct contribution to the Tonga Sabbath discussion by developing a hermeneutic of local communal reckoning and public witness. It argues that biblical Sabbath identity is established by divine sanctification, the six-plus-one weekly sequence, and local evening-to-evening observance, not by an English weekday label or by a humanly administered date-line arrangement. At the same time, the article does not treat civil language as insignificant. In Tonga, the word 'Sāpate' carries a strong public Christian meaning, while 'Tokonaki' denotes civil Saturday; therefore, Adventist witness requires semantic care and theological conviction. After situating the study within existing South Pacific Adventist literature, the article defines key terms, examines the biblical evidence, considers Tonga’s public religious setting, evaluates common objections, and proposes five disciplines for faithful communication: scriptural sequence, local continuity, communal recognition, semantic transparency, and gospel-shaped witness. The conclusion is that Adventists in Tonga should describe their practice not as Sunday sacredness, but as seventh-day Sabbath faithfulness within a local civil calendar whose public names require careful explanation.
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: Array
  topic: keywords
creator: Manase Kuluka
creator: Tevita Langi
creator: Salenaisa Moala
creator: Limoni Manu O’Uiha
rights: Copyright (c) 2026 Fulton Adventist University Interdisciplinary Journal
date: 2026-08-19
publication date: 2026-08-19
starting page: 162
ending page: 176

“The Unchangeable Sabbath and Changeable Civil Day Names: A Biblical-Theological Study of Tonga’s Date-Line Context”
type: item
description: This article examines the theological question posed by Seventh-day Adventist Sabbath observance in Tonga, where the period historically observed as the seventh-day Sabbath is known in civil life as Sunday. It argues that the Sabbath’s identity is established by God’s creative sanctification and the biblical six-plus-one sequence, not by a universal civil weekday label. The study follows a biblical-theological method, placing the creation narrative, the manna account, the Decalogue, the prophets, Jesus’ Sabbath teaching, and the Passion-week sequence in conversation with the history of civil timekeeping and the International Date Line. It then considers Tonga as a focused South Pacific test case. The article does not offer a linguistic study of Tongan terminology or a pastoral programme for congregational conflict. Its narrower contribution is doctrinal: it distinguishes sacred sequence from civil nomenclature. It argues that civil calendars coordinate public life without acquiring authority to sanctify, desanctify, or transfer the seventh-day Sabbath. On this account, the civil name Sunday in Tonga does not, by itself, establish first-day sacredness. The relevant theological question is whether the worshipping community preserves the biblical seventh-day rhythm in its local reckoning. The Tonga case therefore clarifies, rather than dissolves, the Adventist distinction between God-given sacred time and humanly administered civil time.
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: Array
  topic: keywords
creator: Limoni Manu O’Uiha
rights: Copyright (c) 2026 Fulton Adventist University Interdisciplinary Journal
date: 2026-02-27
publication date: 2026-02-27
starting page: 154
ending page: 161

“Conscience After Calendar Reform: Prophetic Memory and Communal Repair in Samoa’s Sabbath Controversy”
type: item
description: Samoa’s 2011 International Date Line reform unsettled more than public dates. For Seventh-day Adventists, it activated inherited Sabbath language, prophetic memory, conscience, trust, and communal belonging. This article interprets the post-reform controversy as a pastoral-theological crisis of conscience and communion. It does not reconsider the legal mechanics of the date-line shift in detail, nor does it repeat a general defence of the seventh-day Sabbath. Instead, using documentary practical-theological analysis, it examines how a civil change in public day names can produce moral dissonance within a community whose identity has long been shaped by contrast between Sabbath faithfulness and Sunday sacredness. Scripture remains normative: the Sabbath is the seventh day sanctified by God, while conscience must be formed by Scripture, love, communal discernment, and the mission of the church. Drawing on New Testament teaching on conscience, correction, unity, and restoration, and on Samoan scholarship concerning fa‘a Samoa, relational authority, dialogue, service, and public theology, the article argues that communal repair requires truthful narration, patient conscience formation, disciplined dialogue, restorative correction, and public clarity. The Samoa case is distinct from Tonga’s day-name discussions because its central issue is the aftermath of a discrete calendar reform and the relational work required when that reform destabilises inherited prophetic imagination.
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: Array
  topic: keywords
creator: Ofataia Alaivaa
creator: Amosa Su’a
creator: Manusamoa Pauga
creator: Limoni Manu O’Uiha
rights: Copyright (c) 2026 Fulton Adventist University Interdisciplinary Journal
date: 2026-02-27
publication date: 2026-02-27
starting page: 138
ending page: 153

“Skipping a Civil Date: Samoa’s 2011 International Date Line Reform and Adventist Institutional Discernment”
type: item
description: Samoa’s 2011 relocation of the International Date Line created an unusual challenge for Seventh-day Adventist institutions discernment. The state moved directly from Thursday, 29 December 2011, to Saturday, 31 December 2011, for civil and economic purposes. This article examines the event as a legal-calendar transition and analyses the documented Adventist reasoning used to distinguish civil administration from Sabbath identity. It argues that the International Date Line Act changed standard time, public dates, and legal administration but did not create, destroy, or transfer sacred time. The study uses documentary theological case analysis, reading the Act alongside official South Pacific Division materials, contemporary denominational reporting, biblical scholarship, and scholarship on civil timekeeping and church authority. Its central finding is that responsible ecclesial discernment in a date-line context requires four disciplines: normative clarity about the seventh-day sequence, historical precision about what a civil reform did and did not change, documentary transparency in institutional decision-making, and public explanation capable of addressing predictable misunderstanding. The Samoa case is treated as a transition event rather than as a duplicate of Tonga’s longstanding civil-day naming anomaly. It demonstrates that a Sabbath-keeping church must preserve biblical continuity while explaining its reasoning in a way that members and the wider public can inspect.
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: Array
  topic: keywords
creator: Luteru Junior Luteru
creator: Limoni Manu O’Uiha
rights: Copyright (c) 2026 Fulton Adventist University Interdisciplinary Journal
date: 2026-02-27
publication date: 2026-02-27
starting page: 122
ending page: 137

Everyday Financial Resilience in Pacific Island Economies: Remittances, Payment Connectivity, and Household Agency
type: item
description: Pacific finance is often examined through government balance sheets, climate-finance flows, and public investment. Those lenses are important, but they do not explain the financial infrastructure through which households meet daily obligations and recover from disruption. This critical integrative review examines remittances, community risk sharing, financial inclusion, digital payments, correspondent banking, and crossborder payment connectivity in Pacific Island economies. It synthesises peer-reviewed research and verified institutional evidence through a three level framework: household and community finance; domestic financial systems; and international financial connectivity. The review finds that these levels are often studied in isolation, even though households experience them as a single chain. Remittances are most useful when they are affordable, rapid, and usable at the receiving end; digital services strengthen resilience only when access, trust, consumer protection, and operational continuity are present; and correspondent banking is a public interest infrastructure because it enables remittances, trade payments, aid flows, and foreign-exchange settlement. The article identifies a Pacific-centred agenda for research and policy that measures usable financial capability, examines gendered agency and communal obligations, safeguards payment continuity during shocks, and strengthens proportionate cross-border compliance. The analysis is deliberately separate from sovereign debt, climate finance, or capital-market design. Its concern is the everyday financial infrastructure that supports household dignity, agency, and recovery.
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: Array
  topic: keywords
creator: Sulueti Tupoutu’a Lawai Manu O’Uiha
rights: Copyright (c) 2026 Fulton Adventist University Interdisciplinary Journal
date: 2026-02-27
publication date: 2026-02-27
starting page: 103
ending page: 121

“Debt, Disaster Liquidity, and Blue-Green Capital: A Layered Finance Framework for Pacific Resilience”
type: item
description: Pacific Island countries must finance adaptation and disaster resilience under conditions of limited fiscal space, recurrent shocks, small project sizes, and restricted access to long-term capital. The central challenge is not simply the volume of climate finance, but the design of financing arrangements that match forms of capital to the economic character of resilience needs. This article sets out a layered finance framework for Pacific resilience. It differentiates grant and project-preparation finance for public goods and institutional capacity; concessional sovereign finance for durable public assets; contingent liquidity and risk-transfer instruments for rapid post-disaster response; credit-enhanced blue-green finance for investments with credible repayment capacity; and debt-for-climate or debt-for-nature transactions where they create material, transparent fiscal space. The article treats adaptation as sovereign risk reduction rather than as a universally bankable asset class. Its value often lies in avoided losses, continuity of public services, lower fiscal volatility, and protected livelihoods, not direct user charges. The framework therefore places debt discipline, maintenance, public financial management, independent review, and community legitimacy at the centre of capital mobilisation. The Pacific case demonstrates a broader sustainable-finance problem: capital is abundant globally, but it does not automatically reach climate-vulnerable states on terms that are compatible with scale, capacity, debt sustainability, and intergenerational equity.
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: Array
  topic: keywords
creator: Sulueti Tupoutu’a Lawai Manu O’Uiha
rights: Copyright (c) 2026 Fulton Adventist University Interdisciplinary Journal
date: 2026-02-27
publication date: 2026-02-27
starting page: 88
ending page: 102

“Are we Preparing Future Accountants for Sustainability? Content Analysis of Accounting Curricula in Fiji Using a New Institutional Theory Perspective”
type: item
description: This study examines the incorporation of sustainability accounting content within tertiary accounting curricula in Fiji’s context using new institutional theory. Sustainability issues have become a global concern, with stakeholders urging universities to integrate sustainability principles into teaching and research. However, the literature argues that the integration of sustainability within accounting education remains inconsistent with the pace of emerging sustainability challenges. The study employed a qualitative document analysis approach to examine the contents of the accounting programmes and accreditation guidelines. The findings revealed a gradual recognition of sustainability, but the integration of sustainability into accounting curricula does not demonstrate relevance. While coercive pressures are vague in mandating the incorporation of sustainability content, normative pressures appear to exert some influence through professional standards and accreditation guidelines. The study calls for better dialogue among stakeholders to embed sustainability accounting principles in core accounting courses and to establish clear policies that reflect their significance. This is expected to help prepare future graduates who can drive sustainable business practices.
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: Array
  topic: keywords
creator: Sandhiya Roy
rights: Copyright (c) 2026 Fulton Adventist University Interdisciplinary Journal
date: 2026-02-27
publication date: 2026-02-27
starting page: 73
ending page: 87

“From Books to Bots: AI Tools, Reading Practices, and Physical Books Circulation at Fulton Adventist University Library”
type: item
description: This article examines changes in student information behaviour at the Fulton Adventist University Library in Fiji, with particular attention to the relationship between artificial intelligence (AI) tools, digital research habits, and declining physical book circulation. Using a descriptive institutional case-study approach, the article analyzes library circulation figures reported for 2019–2025 and interprets them alongside current scholarship on generative AI in higher education, digital reading, print reading, cognitive offloading, and academic literacy. The article does not claim that AI tools alone caused the decline in book borrowing. Rather, it argues that AI, electronic databases, post-pandemic study patterns, assignment design, and student convenience together form a changing information ecology in which books, databases, and AI tools now compete for students’ attention. The findings suggest the need for a balanced institutional response: students should be taught to use AI critically while continuing to practice deep reading, source evaluation, note-taking, and sustained engagement with scholarly books and peer-reviewed literature. The article proposes practical strategies for lecturers, librarians, and academic support staff to integrate AI literacy with reading development and library engagement.
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: Array
  topic: keywords
creator: Frances Chute
creator: Limoni Manu O’Uiha
rights: Copyright (c) 2026 Fulton Adventist University Interdisciplinary Journal
date: 2026-02-27
publication date: 2026-02-27
starting page: 62
ending page: 72

“A Descriptive Analysis of the Adventist Membership Trends”
type: item
description: This descriptive study analyses Adventist membership trends in the Papua New Guinea Union Mission between 2014 and 2024. Drawing on annual denominational membership, baptism, attendance, and organizational data, it compares two quinquennial periods and assesses selected strategic-plan indicators. The findings identify uneven growth, substantial losses through missing and dropped members, limitations in reporting, and increasing pressures on pastoral care and church capacity. Although baptisms remained the principal source of membership growth, the exceptional increase associated with PNG for Christ in 2024 highlights the urgent need for stronger retention, discipleship, reporting, and pastoral-support systems. The study recommends clearer membership targets, strengthened Sabbath Schoolbased discipleship, improved accountability, and sustainable pastor-to church-to-member ratios..
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: Array
  topic: keywords
creator: Jennifer Litau
rights: Copyright (c) 2026 Fulton Adventist University Interdisciplinary Journal
date: 2026-02-27
publication date: 2026-02-27
starting page: 41
ending page: 61

“Opportunities and Challenges of Artificial Intelligence Usage in Education: A PRISMA-Based Systematic Review”
type: item
description: Persistent reading difficulty among primary learners has become a significant educational concern in Fiji. Public discussion often explains weak literacy through a single cause, whether teacher performance, learner effort, parental support, curriculum, or examination outcomes. This article argues that such explanations are inadequate. It reports an exploratory survey of 100 selected primary-school educators in Fiji and situates the findings within scholarship on dyslexia, reading development, systematic phonics, multilingual assessment, and inclusive education. The survey measured educators' self-reported perceptions of dyslexia, confidence in recognising dyslexia-related indicators, prior training, familiarity, and access to screening resources. Most respondents placed dyslexia in the survey's dyslexia category as a perceived contributor to low literacy among slow readers; however, only 22% reported confidence in identifying relevant signs, 38% reported prior dyslexia-related training, 43% reported familiarity with dyslexia, and 95% reported no clear school-level screening resource. These findings are not estimates of dyslexia prevalence, teacher competence, or national resource provision. Rather, they identify a substantial perceived gap between classroom need and educator preparedness in the surveyed group. The article concludes that an effective literacy response in Fiji integrates systematic early reading instruction, teacher preparation, culturally and linguistically responsive assessment, appropriate screening and referral pathways, and practical implementation of inclusive education policy. The analysis has relevance for multilingual, resource-constrained education systems confronting persistent reading difficulty without reducing the problem to blame.
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: Array
  topic: keywords
creator: Ryan Whippy
creator: Limoni Manu O’Uiha
rights: Copyright (c) 2026 Fulton Adventist University Interdisciplinary Journal
date: 2026-02-27
publication date: 2026-02-27
starting page: 24
ending page: 40

https://journals.fultonadventistuniversity.com/index.php/fauij/article/view/123
type: item
title: “Beyond Introducing Phonics: Teacher Preparedness for Structured Early Reading Instruction in Fiji and the Pacific. A Conceptual and Practice-Oriented Framework for Fulton Adventist University’s Teacher-Education Contribution”
description: Concern about early reading achievement in Fiji and the wider Pacific has renewed attention to explicit, systematic, and evidence-based informed approaches to beginning reading instruction. Synthetic and structured phonics can strengthen decoding, spelling, and early wordreading development, but their effectiveness depends on teachers’ professional knowledge, classroom skills, and diagnostic confidence. This conceptual and practice-orientated article argues that Fiji’s early reading challenge is best understood not only as a programme-adoption issue but also as a teacher-preparedness concern. Drawing on Fiji’s Literacy and Numeracy Assessment (LANA) policy context, early reading research, teacher knowledge studies, Pacific multilingual realities, and Fulton Adventist University’s role in teacher education, the article develops a framework to assess and strengthen teacher preparedness for structured phonics instruction. Its contribution is deliberately narrower than broad regional assessment-to-practice discussions: it focuses on the professional knowledge and classroom competence required to teach early word reading systematically. The article proposes that teacher-education institutions can contribute through explicit pre-service coursework, practicum-based diagnostic reading tasks, in-service professional learning, ministry and school partnerships, and regional research. A mixed-methods study is outlined to examine the knowledge, skills, and confidence of lower-primary teachers in Fiji, together with evidence from lesson observations and teacher-education documents. The article concludes that assessment evidence can identify reading difficulties, while teacher education is central to whether teachers know how to respond effectively.
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: Array
  topic: keywords
creator: Ryan Whippy
creator: Limoni Manu O’Uiha
rights: Copyright (c) 2026 Fulton Adventist University Interdisciplinary Journal
date: 2026-02-27
publication date: 2026-02-27
starting page: 6
ending page: 23

“Fiji and TPUM for Christ: Mission Strategies for the Fiji–Pacific Context”
type: item
description: This article argues that Adventist mission strategy must shift from broad, universal ideals to context-specific practice—from a “one size fits all” model to tailor-made approaches for Fiji and the wider Pacific. Building on Missio Dei, the Abrahamic vocation, and the Three Angels’ Messages, the paper identifies seven strategies suited to the region’s urban–village spectrum and communal cultures: (1) digital-to-local evangelism pathways, (2) Centers of Influence as neighborhood hubs, (3) small-group discipleship for retention and leadership development, (4) preaching and public evangelism, (5) Bible studies, (6) household/door-to-door ministry using community surveys, (7) church planting. The article concludes with a 12-month pilot plan for a Suva congregation (with quarterly checkpoints). It proposes a research agenda for measuring digital-to-baptism pathways, small-group retention, and community well-being outcomes. Crucially, the strategies presented apply not only to “Fiji for Christ” but also to “TPUM for Christ 2026,” aligning with this quinquennium while pointing forward to the mission in the years ahead.
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: Array
  topic: keywords
subject: Array
  topic: keywords
subject: Array
  topic: keywords
subject: Array
  topic: keywords
subject: Array
  topic: keywords
creator: Eliki Kenivale Ravia
rights: Copyright (c) 2025 Fulton Adventist University Interdisciplinary Journal
date: 2025-09-30
publication date: 2025-09-30
starting page: 299
ending page: 332

“Servant Leadership in 1 Kings 11-12 and Its Relation to the Contemporary Leadership Trend among the Asantes in Ghana”
type: item
description: The concept of servant leadership and its implications pervade the contemporary world. This article explores servant leadership in the context of 1 Kings 11-12 and its relation to the contemporary leadership of the Asantes in Ghana. The study points out that service is perceptibly the heart of leadership, and true service to God comes with a reward. Service in leadership finds its climax in solving human dissatisfaction, as in the case of the people of Israel and among the Asantes. The one who serves God and His people faithfully and diligently in the local setting will be rewarded, and the people will come to serve him or her in turn.
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: Array
  topic: keywords
subject: Array
  topic: keywords
subject: Array
  topic: keywords
subject: Array
  topic: keywords
subject: Array
  topic: keywords
creator: Elisha Kwabena Marfo
creator: Esther Frimpomaa Marfo
rights: Copyright (c) 2025 Fulton Adventist University Interdisciplinary Journal
date: 2025-09-30
publication date: 2025-09-30
starting page: 264
ending page: 298

“Sustaining the Mission: Evangelism, Discipleship, and Endurance in 2 Timothy 2:2, 3-10, and 24-26”
type: item
description: The second chapter of Paul’s final epistle to Timothy offers a powerful framework for sustaining the gospel mission across generations. Written in the context of suffering, false teaching, and the looming threat of apostolic absence, 2 Timothy 2 articulates a vision of evangelism that is inseparably linked to discipleship and strengthened through endurance. This paper presents an exegetical and theological analysis of the chapter, focusing on three key dimensions: the reproducible model of discipleship in verse 2, the call to endure hardship as a faithful witness in verses 3-10, and the spirit-filled character of the evangelist outlined in verses 24-26. Through careful attention to the literary and historical context, this study argues that sustainable evangelism is not merely proclamation but the formation of faithful, enduring witnesses who multiply the gospel through lives shaped by grace, truth, and perseverance. The model in 2 Timothy 2 offers a compelling paradigm for contemporary evangelistic practice in a post-Christian, pluralistic world.
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: Array
  topic: keywords
subject: Array
  topic: keywords
subject: Array
  topic: keywords
subject: Array
  topic: keywords
creator: Emori Racagi
creator: Patuki Faletiute
creator: Tracy Tau Mulele
creator: Samuela Nailati
creator: Talatoka Naroba
creator: Limoni Manu O’Uiha
rights: Copyright (c) 2025 Fulton Adventist University Interdisciplinary Journal
date: 2025-09-30
publication date: 2025-09-30
starting page: 244
ending page: 263

“Christ Our ‘Ie Tōga: Contextualising Atonement Theology in Samoan Adventist Culture”
type: item
description: This article explores a contextual theology of atonement using the ‘ie tōga (fine mat) as a cultural symbol of covering, reconciliation, and honour in Samoan society. It reads biblical texts about clothing, covering, priestly mediation, and peace through the lens of ifoga (formal reconciliation). It suggests that Jesus is the ultimate ‘ie tōga—the covering of righteousness, the mediator of peace, and the restorer of broken relationships. The paper also addresses a practical issue in Samoan Adventism: early missionaries banned the ‘ie tōga in church life. This ban arose from fear of syncretism and concerns that ifoga might bypass justice in serious crimes. We argue that the misuse of ‘ie tōga in the ifoga ceremony should not negate honourable, biblically grounded uses as a teaching tool. After examining the cultural meanings of the mat and the themes of covering, mediation, and peace in the Bible, a policy framework and guidelines are provided as a roadmap for SDA members in the SamoaTokelau Mission and those living abroad. The goal is for a solution that is theologically sound and pastorally feasible: Christ saves; the mat explains—without ritualising it, attributing spiritual power to it, or displacing legal or pastoral accountability.
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: Array
  topic: keywords
subject: Array
  topic: keywords
subject: Array
  topic: keywords
subject: Array
  topic: keywords
subject: Array
  topic: keywords
subject: Array
  topic: keywords
subject: Array
  topic: keywords
creator: Limoni Manu O’Uiha
rights: Copyright (c) 2025 Fulton Adventist University Interdisciplinary Journal
date: 2025-09-30
publication date: 2025-09-30
starting page: 230
ending page: 243

“Untrained Teachers: Challenges Faced by Unqualified Teachers in Pacific Island Classrooms”
type: item
description: This article argues that remote and underserved communities in the Pacific Islands recognise that unqualified teachers play an important role in sustaining access to education in their various classrooms. Therefore, upgrading teachers’ qualifications is vital in achieving the inclusivity and quality education, thereby helping the Pacific region experience quality ‘education for all’ with interventions, strong policy frameworks, and genuine investment in teacher development.
subject: Articles
  topic: section
creator: Lusi Divuru Baravi
creator: Martha Komaitai
rights: Copyright (c) 2025 Fulton Adventist University Interdisciplinary Journal
date: 2025-09-30
publication date: 2025-09-30
starting page: 220
ending page: 229

“Curbing Students’ Negative Behaviour through Integration of Faith and Learning in Faith-Based Schools”
type: item
description: This article explores the impact of integrating faith and learning on negative behaviour shown by students in an Adventist Primary school. The study investigated the effectiveness of the integration of faith and learning on negative behavioral attitudes such as aggression, defiance, truancy, bullying, disrespectful behavior, dishonesty, cheating, lying, and academic disengagement. The qualitative research involved interviewing four teachers about their method of integrating faith and learning for the students. The findings showed that a student’s negative behaviour can only change in the hands of a devoted teacher who is led by the Holy Spirit. Through this devoted life, he has demonstrated a significant reduction in negative behaviour, particularly in respect, humility, peer interaction, and academic pursuit. The findings also showed that integration of faith in all areas of learning fosters a great change in a student’s life, especially in the areas of personal responsibility, empathy, and self-control. Additionally, the study highlighted the importance of the teacher in modelling faith-based behaviour to have a positive influence on student conduct. This research also emphasized the importance of integrating faith into learning to reshape students’ negative behaviour through the caring hand of a Spirit led teacher. This promoted a holistic approach to learning that addressed both academic and character development.
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: Array
  topic: keywords
subject: Array
  topic: keywords
subject: Array
  topic: keywords
creator: Marjorie June Loloma Sumo
rights: Copyright (c) 2025 Fulton Adventist University Interdisciplinary Journal
date: 2025-09-30
publication date: 2025-09-30
starting page: 181
ending page: 219

“Executive Compensation: The Role of Inside Debt and Vesting Equity in Aligning Incentives and Managing Risk. Part IIIA”
type: item
description: This article presents the empirical evidence and concludes the findings for Article 3. Executive Compensation I. Empirical Results A. Preliminary Results
subject: Articles
  topic: section
creator: Sulueti Tupoutu’a Lawai Manu O’Uiha
rights: Copyright (c) 2025 Fulton Adventist University Interdisciplinary Journal
date: 2025-09-30
publication date: 2025-09-30
starting page: 114
ending page: 180

“Executive Compensation: The Role of Inside Debt and Vesting Equity in Aligning Incentives and Managing Risk. Part III”
type: item
description: Investor perceptions of executive equity pay incentives and their impact on corporate bond prices are examined in this article. In theory, bond investors would not require high premiums on corporate bonds if executives’ equity vesting was perceived as an indication of their concern for short-term price movements. A panel data analysis is conducted using a sample of 6,776 US-listed firms from 2006 to 2017, controlling for industry, year, and firm-fixed effects. Overall, findings show that CEOs with equity vesting in the immediate year become more sensitive to short-term price volatility, influencing corporate risk-taking decisions. Two key findings are presented: first, CEOs with vesting equity are associated with a narrow bond yield spread, which indicates investors perceive these firms to have a lower credit risk. The negative association becomes more pronounced for firms with young and short-tenured CEOs, short-maturity bonds, low-credit-rated firms, firms with low credit and short-maturity bonds, and low z-score firms with a short maturity. Based on this, the second finding confirms that CEOs with vesting equity tend to take fewer corporate risks. As a result of this reduced risk-taking, investors perceive corporate bonds offered by companies whose CEOs have equity vesting as having a lower credit risk, thereby requiring lower premiums. Multivariate regression results confirm the robustness of these results
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: Array
  topic: keywords
subject: Array
  topic: keywords
subject: Array
  topic: keywords
subject: Array
  topic: keywords
subject: Array
  topic: keywords
creator: Sulueti Tupoutu’a Lawai Manu O’Uiha
rights: Copyright (c) 2025 Fulton Adventist University Interdisciplinary Journal
date: 2025-09-30
publication date: 2025-09-30
starting page: 71
ending page: 113

“The Role of Internships in Shaping Sustainability Education Skills of Business Students: Student and Employer Views in Fiji”
type: item
description: The business community has continuously urged graduates to be equipped with knowledge of sustainability because of the broadening focus on environmental and societal impacts. Several studies pointed out that the implementation of sustainable business practices is weak within organisations because accountants or business professionals lack the knowledge of sustainability accounting. This study examined the sustainability accounting skills perceived as necessary by employers in Fiji and how internships contribute to shaping business students’ sustainability accounting skills. This study is underpinned by the situated learning theory (SLT). SLT is derived from the constructivist theory that stipulates that learners construct meaningful knowledge when they participate in a real-world workplace situation. A mixed-method approach was used to collect data from field internships in the areas of accounting, marketing, and information systems. The primary participants are the employers (internship host supervisors) and the undergraduate business students at Fulton Adventist University College (FAUC). The research instruments included surveys and interviews. Skills commonly cited were principles of financial reporting and regulatory compliance, communication, critical thinking, creative problem-solving, strategic planning, and decision-making. The employer participants concurred that an internship is an effective strategy to develop sustainability education skills because it offers a valuable opportunity to students to engage with experienced professionals. This eventually helps them understand the practical applications of the regulatory requirements and become aware of the requisite skills at the workplace.
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: Array
  topic: keywords
creator: Sandhiya Roy
creator: Olita Seniua
creator: Kirti Singh
creator: Litiana Drudru
creator: Jean Alagappan
creator: Sonal Chandra
creator: Anil Singh
rights: Copyright (c) 2025 Fulton Adventist University Interdisciplinary Journal
date: 2025-09-30
publication date: 2025-09-30
starting page: 60
ending page: 70

“Apprehension: The Challenges Faced by Pacific Island Students in Universities – A Literature Review”
type: item
description: Most students who further their studies in universities aim to succeed in achieving their goals. However, they encounter significant challenges that can have negative impacts on their success. Pasifika students are mostly affected because the education system does not acknowledge and understand their cultural background. Pasifika cultures usually value learning and have their unique ways of relating knowledge; however, these are often overlooked in the Western-style learning system, which has led to the underrepresentation of Pasifika students, resulting in being neglected, overlooked, and receiving lower academic support, which contributes to the high dropout rate. Additionally, financial constraints, lack of family support, low confidence in their qualifications, and discrimination displayed by teachers also impact their academic results. These obstacles lower the motivation of Pasifika students, affecting their productivity, leading to a higher dropout rate. This literature review examines how these challenges, together with the different education systems that exist between Pasifika and Western negatively impact Pasifika students. It expresses that acknowledging Pasifika ways of learning, along with promoting a stronger academic and emotional support, could enhance their success and make the education system more inclusive and just.
subject: Articles
  topic: section
creator: Olita Seniua
rights: Copyright (c) 2025 Fulton Adventist University Interdisciplinary Journal
date: 2025-09-30
publication date: 2025-09-30
starting page: 32
ending page: 59

“Enhancing Food Security and Sustainability: The Role of Hydroponic Farming in Supporting Fulton Adventist University Cafeteria Operations”
type: item
description: This study looks at the benefits of hydroponic farming at Fulton Adventist University College (FAUC). It aims to boost food security, sustainability, and education on campus. As a Small Island Developing State (SIDS) in the Pacific, Fiji struggles with food production. This is due to limited arable land, climate change, and a reliance on imported food. FAUC’s cafeteria serves over 400 students but faces issues with inconsistent vegetable supply, rising costs, and low nutritional quality. Using stakeholder interviews, environmental assessments, and cost modelling, this research shows that hydroponic farming can help. It finds strong support from students and staff, highlighting its potential to improve food quality and reduce reliance on external sources. Economic modelling further suggests that a pilot hydroponic system could recover its capital investment within 1–2 years, providing both rapid financial payback and long-term sustainability. It can also serve as a practical learning tool across various academic fields. However, challenges such as startup costs and technical skills require attention. The findings suggest a phased approach that aligns with FAUC’s values of stewardship, resilience, and integrated education. Hydroponic farming offers a promising way to enhance food production and drive sustainability and innovation in the Pacific.
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: Array
  topic: keywords
subject: Array
  topic: keywords
subject: Array
  topic: keywords
subject: Array
  topic: keywords
creator: Litiana Drudru
creator: Limoni Manu O’Uiha
rights: Copyright (c) 2025 Fulton Adventist University Interdisciplinary Journal
date: 2025-09-30
publication date: 2025-09-30
starting page: 6
ending page: 32

Critical Book Reviews
type: item
description: Critical Book Reviews
subject: Book Reviews
  topic: section
rights: Copyright (c) 2025 Fulton Adventist University Interdisciplinary Journal
date: 2025-02-28
publication date: 2025-02-28
starting page: 301
ending page: 304

“Biblical/Theoretical Framework for a Spiritual Leadership Development Program for Fulton Adventist University College Seventh-day Adventist Church, Fiji”
type: item
description: Experts and church leaders have employed different approaches to understanding the concept of leadership styles, depending on the situation at hand. This has created a misconception about the leadership style used in the churches in the Republic of Fiji Islands. This paper examines the Biblical and theoretical foundations for spiritual leadership. It develops a spiritual leadership development program for the Fulton Adventist University College Seventh-day Adventist Church, which is used as a case study. It is hoped that upon implementation of the program, a spiritual leadership style will be encouraged in the church.
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: Array
  topic: keywords
subject: Array
  topic: keywords
subject: Array
  topic: keywords
subject: Array
  topic: keywords
subject: Array
  topic: keywords
creator: Eliki Kenivale Ravia
creator: Esther Frimpomaa Marfo
creator: Elisha Kwabena Marfo
rights: Copyright (c) 2025 Fulton Adventist University Interdisciplinary Journal
date: 2025-02-28
publication date: 2025-02-28
starting page: 281
ending page: 300