Honour Bound
At the beginning of the past month the newspapers were full of tributes to those who had received recognition through the King’s Birthday Honours List. This twice-yearly ritual provides a convenient opportunity for New Zealanders to acknowledge other New Zealanders who have served their country well and in many ways. The Methodist Church is sparing in its use of this means for honouring its own. And ministry is, relatively speaking, rarely so recognised. There was a particular occasion in 1993 when one minister received the highest possible award: Phyll Guthardt became a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE). Few ministers have been awarded a Companionship of the former Order of the British Empire (CBE), or the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG). Rarely has a minster received an award for their bravery while carrying out their calling – being a minister is not usually a dangerous vocation these days.
But one such was Merle Stephanie Farland, born to Elizabeth Ellen and Harold Farland of Christchurch and later of Auckland. She was educated at Epsom Girls’ Grammar and during that time the call to missionary service and nursing became clear. She trained in nursing at Auckland and graduated in 1933. To better prepare herself for the wide-ranging demands of nursing in the Solomon Islands mission field, she spent extra years gaining qualifications in both maternity and Plunket work. In 1938 she went, with her friend Joy Whitehouse and Dr Alan Rutter, to the Helena Goldie Hospital at Bilua. Here she made a name for herself as an exceptionally able professional. She was well enough known to be someone, after the outbreak of war in the Pacific, for whom Methodist children in NZ might pray before they went to sleep at night.
Merle had decided to stay on as long as possible. Like her colleagues, the Revds John Metcalfe and Wattie Silvester, she moved about the island maintaining the Church’s work. She ministered to the sick and needy and in the course of those duties travelled extensively by canoe and on foot. This courageous stand was of great value to the local people though the coast watchers were very concerned for her. Well they might have been for Merle herself ran a coast-watching operation for a time. It is not surprising therefore, that they took an early opportunity to have her evacuated by a Catalina flying boat. She made this rendezvous at the south end of New Georgia, travelling there by canoe a good hundred miles through enemy lines. Having reached safety at New Caledonia, she immediately joined the NZ Forces as a nursing sister in the 3rd Division and returned briefly to the Solomon Islands in that capacity. She was posted to the hospital ship Maunganui and served on it until the end of the war. For this exceptional commitment to duty she received the MBE in 1947.
After the war and further training, Merle became a nursing administrator and served for four years as a Tutor Sister at the Lautoka Hospital in Fiji. She had additional training in midwifery at Edinburgh, in tropical medicine at Liverpool and then became involved with the World Health Organization. She served them in many developing countries, such as Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Taiwan, Ghana and Uganda. For a period she was seconded to a hospital in North Pakistan (Dacca) specialising in the treatment of the many who suffered from smallpox.
In 1960 she returned to the Pacific where she was involved in a major survey of the need for maternal and child health throughout that region. In this role she renewed contact with old friends in the Solomons. She retired in 1967 and settled in Auckland, becoming part of the Mission Bay congregation. She did not stop stretching her mind and gained both LTCL and LRSM qualifications. The church there benefited from her musicianship.
Setting down Merle Farland’s career on paper has been a challenging experience for this writer. Here was someone who, it could be said, never stopped learning. Merle’s world was changing in all sorts of ways and she wanted to keep up with it. The honour she received in 1947 was a small recognition of a lifetime of exceptional service – of skill and commitment, of bravery and duty. It is an honour, in fact, to share this outstanding life with you.