Filia Mamae was a well-known, outspoken man in Honiara city in Solomon Islands. Because he talked a lot, he was nicknamed FM.
FM was an influential man in terms of local politics and religion. He was not well educated but was always brave to speak his opinions.
FM was brought up in Christianity and was a member of the South Seas Evangelical Church (SSEC) from his childhood, until he was in his 50s. At that time, he found himself searching for the truth, so he joined the Mormon church, and then moved to Islam, where he was a devout member for 14 years.
In 2018, while he was still a Muslim, he was comparing the Holy Bible with the Holy Qur’an and found that he had doubts about the belief that Jesus was not God but just another prophet. [pullquote]
“This disturbed me,” said FM, “so I started to read the Holy Bible every day.”
In that same year he was diagnosed with diabetes, being admitted several times to the National Referral Hospital in Honiara. During his illness, he continued to read the Bible for the truth he was searching for and discovered the biblical Sabbath.
“I began to ask myself why so many Christians worship on Sunday when the Bible clearly teaches the Sabbath,” he said.
He immediately called for a Bible study and was met by several church members from Wind Valley Seventh-day Adventist Church. After completing Bible studies with them, he wanted to get baptised.
He made the decision to get baptised in his own village to testify of his new-found faith.
Upon arriving in his village, he was met by Pastor Stevenson Naohane Jnr Balausi, director of the East Fataleka district of Solomon Islands, who arranged his baptism. They called for an ordained pastor, and after a cottage meeting on December 29, 2018, FM was baptised.
“I am not an educated person and I didn’t attend high school,” says FM, “but God has given me little knowledge to read the Bible and wisdom to know and differentiate truth from error. Now I know that Sabbath is God’s Holy day and every man and woman should honour Him by keeping the Sabbath holy.”
Just six months after his baptism on June 12, 2019, he was laid to rest. Pastor Balausi conducted the funeral on June 16.
