Dear Editor, Replying to ghost writer of 26.09.22, referencing Bishop Pere as to a Freudian’s Id, Ego, and Superego theory, hailed as the founding father of psychoanalysis, which is used in the treatment of mental illness.

Thank you for the somewhat sarcastic recognition that Tutai Pere as current chairman of the Cook Islands Seabed Mineral Authority Advisory Board, ridicules and mocks at him as such, a psycho. Sure, he was one of the very first board members in 2013, asked and reappointed to be chairman in 2019 not that he has qualifications in marine biology, oceanography, deep sea geological science but a representative member of one of the three pillars of our Cook Islands society that of the Religious Advisory Council, some from our traditional and political sectors while others from major stakeholders in our Cook Islands community. His highest qualification is ‘walking not by sight only but by faith’, with tremendous knowledge, wisdom and understanding of the once Unknown God of Creation, but revealed in Jesus Christ as Maker of the heavens and earth and all that is within (Psalms 8: 3-9; 24:1,2).

Mr Pere took up the challenge as tribute to all our Ui Tupunas and Pa Metuas all deceased, who sailed the wide Moananui O Kiva (the South Pacific Ocean) and settled in these beautiful islands, known today as the Cook Islands. Their primary goal was in search for new, better and hopefully more prosperous lands than where they first came from. Little did they realised that only by divine providence they had settled over and above an ocean floor littered with the best of mineral nodules which if harvested right and proper will become an humungous future economic prosperity and lifetime inheritance for their children for many generations to come and such that cannot be compared unto any other or anywhere else in the whole world.

The God of the Bible, so inclusive, being no respect of persons distributes to bless different countries with natural resources such as oil (10 highest oil producing countries: USA, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Canada, Iraq, China, United Arab Emirates, Brazil, Kuwait, Iran and Venezuela the largest oil reserve followed by Saudi Arabia); natural gas reserves (Russia, Iran, Qatar, USA, Saudi Arabia, Turkmenistan, United Emirates, Venezuela, Nigeria, China etc),

plus countless natural resources widely distributed and thank God He hasn’t missed nor forgotten this little island paradise the Cook Islands having the densest, rarest, widest distribution of nodule minerals just below our ocean feet, extending above and between Palmerston and Aitutaki to our northern most island of Penrhyn. These are not down there for environmental beautification and decoration while we uselessly, hopelessly and wastefully die poor and rot in our own graves but as Deuteronomy 28: 12 – 14 declares, “The Lord shall open unto thee his good treasure, the heaven to give the rain unto thy land in his season, and to bless all the work of thine hands: and thou shalt lend unto many nations, and thou shalt not borrow. 13, And the Lord shall make thee the head, and not the tail; and thou shalt be above only, and not beneath …;14, And thou shalt not go aside … to the right hand or to the left, to go after other gods to serve them”.

How long are we to rely on New Zealand, Australia, Japanese, Indian, Canadian, German, US aids or soft loans from China? Where is our faith to stand up and against the threats and intimidations by climate change, environmental impacts, inflations all caused by super big, super rich, super powered and super greedy countries of the world when it only took a teenage boy with faith in God to bring down a super-giant warrior Goliath of the Philistines, a Praise and Worship God believing armies of Israel to bring the Wall of Jericho down without lifting a single sword and a 33 year old Jesus Christ to offer his life a sacrifice and ransom price to die upon his cross on Calvary hill to redeem all mankind from evil, sin and death and offering salvation forever? Come on tatou, be smart Kukis of our time, not lazy and slothful, be not mocked at nor deceived, neither ridiculed nor threatened and intimidated by faithless and fear-mongering people of the world. Believe in the God who controls the weather patterns, times and seasons and in charge of everything, trusting that a peanut sized faith can be grown and developed into a big tree. If God be for us, who can be against us? (Rom. 8:31). We are more than conquerors and can do all things through Christ which strengthened us (Rom. 8:37, Phil. 4:13). For greater is He (Jesus Christ) in us than he (the adversary satan) doubters that is in the world (1 Jn. 4:4).

CIC company has already conducted the very first seasonal round of exploration research with scientific data to be released in due time and with many more to follow within the five years of on-going scientific research and exploration and feasibility studies only. This is in an attempt to learn as much, as best and as far as we possibly can with efforts to improve, correct, avoid altogether the many mistakes, wrongs, abuses and exploitations there might have been in the past, to not ever be repeated in our space and time. As current chairman of our Seabed Mineral Authority Advisory Board, it is our utmost goal and priority to not ever allow for our Cook Islands people to live as paupers, beggars or patipati people the rest of our days, as some are already living under bridges in NZ and Australia. Sadly and with great shame however, we too steal from our tourist friends, guests and visitors in broad daylight. Please, lets stop teaching our children, sporting codes in particular, frequenting our roads with buckets, cans and ice cream containers to unashamedly patipati from tourists and all people alike when they can work for their money like car washing, do something more productive and illustrious, sow something in order to reap and expect an harvest – for faith without works produces nothing and accursed of God. God’s word in 3^rd John 2 clarifies, “Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper (wealth) and be in health (healthy lifestyle), even as thy soul prospereth (spirituality)”. That’s God’s divine balance for life – wealth, health and spiritual balance.

God bless, preserve, protect and prosper our beloved Cook Islands.

Bishop Tutai Pere