Elekana was the first person to introduce Christianity to the Tuvaluan islanders. He became caught in a storm near his home on Manihiki in the Cook Islands and drifted for 8 weeks in a canoe before landing at Nukulaelae on 10 May 1861. Elekana began preaching the Christian faith during the 4 months he spent on the atoll. He then trained at Malua Theological College in Samoa, a London Missionary Society (LMS), before beginning his work in establishing the Church of Tuvalu in 1865.