Originally published in Lifesite News
After winning Olympic gold, Fiji’s men’s rugby team raised their powerful voices to God and sang:
We have overcome
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We have overcome
By the Blood of the Lamb
In the Word of the Lord
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We have overcome
The song that filled the Tokyo stadium is a traditional hymn, E Da Sa Qaqa.
“We always start with our prayers and songs,” explained team captain Jerry Tuwai, “and we always end with our prayers and songs, and that song says that our God is a loving God, and that while we always tend to go stray from what he expects from us, he still loves us, and gives us good things.”
In preparation for the Olympics, the men had spent five arduous months away from their families, locked away in a bubble due to harsh COVID restrictions.
One member of the team, Asaeli Tuivuaka, told the UK Express: “We’ve been away five months.
“My father just passed away last year, he was the man who encouraged me to play rugby, and this gold medal is for him, and for my baby boy. He is one year old now, and I haven’t seen him for five months. I didn’t even get to kiss him goodbye when I left, it is tough for me … ”
Tuivuaka was unable to finish his sentence as he broke down in tears.
Commentator Paul Kerensa wrote that when he thinks of Fiji, “I think of a South Pacific island … the bliss of lapping waves, and perhaps a volcano or two. According to the Global Barometer of Happiness, Fijians are the happiest people on the planet.”
“But now I know them for bringing their faith to the sport field,” he declared.
