Thanksgiving Service for Reverend Malutafa Fa’alili Fruean.

Sunday 25th February saw our Milton Heritage Church carpark full for the thanksgiving service of Reverend Malutafa Fa’alili Fruean. Members of the Fruean’s previous Ashburton Parish, now known as Hakatere, and those of us from Tokomairiro Co-operating Parish came together, along with his family and regional church members to acknowledge the strength of faith, hope and love we have all witnessed as parts of his church family. Reverend Malu has recently retired from active ministry after 32 years.

Ordained on 14 July 1991, alongside his wife, Reverend Luisa Ema Fa’alili Fruean, they moved to serve in the yoked parishes of rural Matawhero and suburban Te Hapara in Gisborne, on the east coast of the North Island. At the end of 1999 when these parishes combined with the city parish of St Andrew’s to form the Gisborne Presbyterian Parish, they moved to Ashburton, South Island and ministered to St Paul’s and to St Andrew’s churches. 2014 saw the Frueans move to Milton, another two-church parish with churches in Milton and Waihola to minister too.

Lovely words were shared from all three parishes. The following is an exert from the reflection of the Matawhero / Te Hapara churches which sums up what we all felt.

“Those qualities highlighted in the last verse of 1 Corinthians 13 come immediately to mind when thinking of Malu’s time with us – and they are – ‘faith, hope and love’.

Malu was an inspiration to our people with his deep faith reflected in his enthusiastic commitment and dedication to the church and his parishioners. His hope in the Lord and his people is remembered not only in his preaching but in his joyful guitar playing and singing in services and other gatherings. And no one has forgotten that wide smile, chuckle and ready laughter so reflective of a life lived in faith and hope. And along with ‘faith’ and ‘hope’ comes that special quality of ‘love’. To us Malu lived that quality among us in so many ways. His love for people was shown in his regular visiting and pastoral care of both young and old, of the living and those at end of life. He was second to none in his pastoral care. His love was also obvious as a family man and in his teamwork with Luisa and their children, Julia and Jason.

One of the highlights was the performance of two songs by the U.R.Y. band, a band the Frueans were involved in in Ashburton. Lead vocalists Megan McAtamney and Jenny Crouchley along with drummer Jim Crouchley travelled down. Pianist and vocalist Leem Braam put in his apologies. They last performed 10 years ago, it was beautiful.

A shared lunch was enjoyed after the service of thanksgiving.

Reverend Luisa Fruean will now be our full-time minister as Reverend Malu takes time to reflect and enjoy some personal chill out time. We all pray for God’s blessings on our lovely Reverend Malu as he enters a new phase in his life. We all give thanks for his time among us and will always remember his active ministry service with much love and gratitude.