ABSTRACT
The struggle for justice is a dimension of mission which does not normally divide Christians along denominational lines, so that the Methodist involvement is only part of the total picture. Evils perpetrated by Europeans, the missionaries own kith and kin, who generally claimed to be Christians themselves, were not so easy to tackle; forceful if specious arguments, advanced from positions of power, had to be confronted. The extent of cannibalism was overplayed in missionary propaganda, for nothing could be sure to raise horror and money in Europe. Unlike slavery, it was alien to the European experience and the missionaries endeavours won unqualified support. Auckland was unknown to Europeans until shortly before it became the colonial capital in 1841. Methodist stations were not established on the South Island until the 1850s. The Friendly Islands, so named misnamed, at the time by James Cook, comprise three groups of islands: Tongatapu in the south, Vavau in the north and Ha'apai in between.
