The exhumation of a woman’s body in Ma’uke, and the homicide investigation now underway, is just heartbreaking, writes Thomas Tarurongo Wynne.

I will not comment on the case itself, as it is an active investigation except to say this: truth cannot be hidden or buried or sent away for that matter. It always finds its way back to the surface – and often when we least expect it.

This moment for us all raises deep and difficult questions. Questions we must as a whole society face, especially about how we treat our elderly, our disabled, and calls into question yet again, what it truly means to call ourselves a “Christian nation”.

Because what does the scriptures say – James, the brother of Yeshua, wrote: “Pure and undefiled religion before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.” That is how faith is measured – not in doctrine, but in action to those who have nothing or very little to give us in return.

Or as Luke, the physician, urged us: “When you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind … because they cannot repay you.” And in Exodus, the patriarch Moshe or Moses commanded: “Do not take advantage of the widow or the fatherless.”

Do these ancient texts still apply to our daily modern lives or just the ones that suit our way of seeing the world. Do they apply or is just homosexuality and abortion a sin and everything else is permissible?

Yet many of us who work alongside the poor, the disabled, the widowed and the elderly know the reality in Rarotonga and in the Pa Enua north and south: they are too often neglected, mistreated, or simply forgotten. Left alone or left to raise grandchildren while families are forced overseas to work to survive – not to thrive, but just to get by. Because here, the cost of living has made even basic survival out of reach for too many.

Meanwhile, some of our officials jet around the world, posing for yet another Tav selfie, talking about strategies, policies and plans “for our people”. But too often, these glossy reports do not reflect the lived reality of our rikiriki – or meet the needs of our people on the ground.

Because they do not live in the “brown privilege” of the few. Beachfront homes or koru lounges. They live off the backroads, unseen by tourists. And yet, many of them once carried the weight of our country on their shoulders. You won’t find their stories in a tourism ad. No smiling brochure or TikTok reel will feature the Mama with no power, the disabled man with no support, the widow who hasn’t seen a visitor in weeks. They do not fit the curated narrative we’ve at times grown drunk on — the “happy paradise” we sell to the world.

And this is not an attack on tourism. Hospitality is a part of who we are, and the tourism industry is key and vital to our economy. But we must not be seduced by our own sales pitch. The success of a few is not the reality for many.

So how do we measure the health of society?

Not by its “brown privileged” – but by how it treats those with nothing to offer in return. As Luke reminds us: “You will be blessed … because they cannot repay you.” If we claim to be a Christian nation, what does that mean in practice? By church attendance or doctrine? Because doctrine has never fed a widow or comforted a grieving mother. Or by what we do – by how we serve, how we give, and how we see our responsibility to each other?

Can we truly call ourselves a Christian nation while a woman’s body is exhumed due to unanswered questions – while our disabled and elderly suffer quietly in the shadows.

Just last week, a cousin sent me over 20 photos of our metua, our disabled, and young people living in heartbreaking conditions. Our care for them is clearly failing, so I passed those images on to people who could help. Because this is not who we are.

We are better than this, but we also need leaders who see them too. Not just the Japanese taxpayer, who just footed the bill for two vans for our Are Pa Metua. We are a people that once cared, this is not who we are. Because if we’re not – then what are we really selling to the world?