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Editor’s Note: This is the fourth installment in a series on Congregational Missions.

(c) 2008 by Dr. Phil Corr

In my previous post I made reference to the Hawaiian Christina John Honolii bringing a fellow Hawaiian to Christ. Not long after returning to what were then called the Sandwich Islands, Honolii visited the partially blind and ill jester of the royal Hawaiincourt. He told Puaaiki about “the great and good Physician who alone could heal his maladies, and restore his sight.” In his mid thirties, Puaaiki crawled out of his house, accompanied by Honolii, “to the place of worship, and for the first time he listened to the glad tidings of great joy which, the heavenly messenger [a Congregational missionary] declared, should be ‘to all people.’”

Soon after Puaaki became a Christian (in the early 1820’s), he was summoned by the court to perform that which was his sole talent. He indirectly preached his first sermon when he returned an answer “’That he had done with the service of sin and Satan, and that henceforth he should serve the King of heaven.’” The new vocation of Bartimeus the blind preacher had
begun.

After he took this stand, some of the chiefs became seriously disposed toward spiritual matters, and all of them became friendly to the Congregational missionaries. He learned to make his way to the little thatched church in Honolulu, where he began to
memorize Bible themes and passages.

Known for his retentive memory, eloquence and knowledge of Hawaiian culture, Bartimeus worked effectively with individuals and groups of all sizes and ages. He assisted missionaries in pastoral visits and went on itinerant evangelistic preaching tours.

In 1834, Bartimeus returned to his home town of Wailuku, Maui. By the end of 1837, clear signs were seen of what has come to be called the Hawaiian Great Awakening. Bartimeus and others increased their prayers and became “more active in efforts for the salvation of these dying men.”

By 1838, a great increase was observed in the desire for instruction in the word of God. The missionaries Green and Armstrong selected “a class of our most devoted and talented church members, and taught them with a special reference to their being readers and exhorters at our out stations.”

Most of the men in the class were between the ages of 30 and 50; most were “of very humble attainments” in economic and educational terms. The missionaries taught the class to read the Bible, removed difficulties in Genesis, read the Gospels “ after the manner of Newcombs Harmony,” discussed the “Elements of Moral Science,” Church history, and theology.

Despite his inability to see to read, Bartimeus “was a prominent member of this class. He had indeed been regarded for many years, as in fact, though not in law an Evangelist, yet no member of the Church seemed so sensibly to feel the need of instruction as he–no one so eagerly drank it in from our lips. He has been better qualified, as a matter of course, than any
other individual of the class, and his labors have been more abundant, acceptable, and successful.”

At a protracted meeting in Honolulu, Bartimeus spoke about a misunderstanding over repentance, conversion, and membership. In the audience, Hiram Bingham (leader of the first group of Congregational missionaries) “heard Bartimeus, in an able plea, urge
on his countrymen the duty of immediate repentance, and the practicability of instantaneous conversion.”

Bartimeus used plainness as his overriding principle for preaching. As with Opukahia, his organizing theme and main priority involved simplicity, understandability, and applicability. He used a wide variety of topics in his sermons. Characterized as
“an uncommonly original thinker,” he “often discoursed upon the following topics: The law of God–its extent, spirituality and penalty; the nature, necessity, and evidence of repentance; the power of faith; the mediation of Christ; the guilt of unbelief;
the overwhelming ruin of the impenitent, and the blessedness of the righteous, etc.”

Closing on a personal note, I discovered Puaaiki’s grave stone–along with a few other early Hawaiian Christian leaders–while visiting Maui in 1995. It was a very moving experience for me to remember his (and theier) belief, service and sacrifice.