A True Tongan Feast

Sunset over Tonga.    Lepeka captured this sunset on
Aug. 31 2017 while I was in Ha'apai.

It is raining hard tonight as I write our blog.  I love to hear the ping of the rain on the metal roofs here.   The weather is starting to turn warmer and more humid but it is still pretty pleasant overall.  We know that in a few short weeks we will be back to hot and humid so we're enjoying it while we can.

We were invited to attend the 50th birthday celebration for the Free Wesleyan Church in Kolomatu'a on Saturday.  The FWC in Tonga is the world's only state church in the Methodist tradition.  Most of the royal family are prominent members, and the late king was a lay preacher.  One son of the current King is a convert to the LDS Church and his family is okay with it since it really helped him turn his 'wild life' around.  He attends the Temple regularly and has his mind set on only marrying in the Temple.

Just a few FWC facts from Wikipedia:  The Free Wesleyan Church runs approximately 1/3 of the schools in Tonga.  FWC schools are known for their moral education as they teach obedience, hard work, good manners, and respect, which are all high values in Tonga.  As in other schools, FWC schools usually do not have class on Fridays, but instead use the day for school cleanup; all school facilities in Tonga are maintained by the students.  School uniforms are the church's colors: royal blue and white.

Some of Sione's family with Lepeka
(his mom is next to Lepeka)

The family of the young many who Lepeka treated and dressed his arm for the past 3 months, invited us to attend with them as it was some of their ancestors that were the first FWC converts in that area.  It was quite an event!

They kicked off the celebration with a ceremony attended by the current president of the Free Wesleyan Church,  'Ahio (I think that was his name).  There was an re-enactment by the youth, of the first Wesleyan missionaries in Tonga and the conversion of some of the families in that area.  There was also some singing and dancing by the youth of the church and then a performance by some very talented professional singers (4 tenors) who sang

The 4 tenors (names unknown to us) and Sione Heimuli.  We
think the 2nd guy from the left is a Sammy Davis Jr. look-alike.
He had an amazing voice and looked like him when he sang.

several songs and they were outstanding.  The congregation also stood to sing a couple of FWC hymns.  I thought it just a bit ironic that one of the hymns we sang was the same tune as the LDS hymn "Israel, Israel, God Is Calling" especially as I mouthed the words, 'Come to Zion, Come to Zion'.

Then 'Ahio stood to talk and he said just enough in english (enhanced by our limited vocabulary of Tongan) as he praised the freedom of all to worship as they wanted and that they should respect the views of others and strive to always exhibit the high moral standards of Tonga.

Tent and tables covered in food.  It's hard to see the Puaka (pig) between the fruit
baskets as they are covered with food!  Plates are stacked on the food as there is
no room.  See the guy in the middle of the picture in the white shirt?  Lepeka
thinks he needs to work on his tan.

The food in front of me when I sat down.  The brown thing in the upper RH corner
is the roasted puaka (pig).  There was one for every 3-4 people.

Lepeka's food.  You can see she has her own little roasted puaka (pig).

After this ceremony adjourned, we headed to another area where big tents had been setup with tables covered in food .... really, I literally mean COVERED IN FOOD.  There were containers of food that had been stacked on every available inch of the table 3 and 4 deep as well as a small roasted pig for every 3-4 people (no room for plates).  It was unbelievable!  As we were seated Lepeka and I looked at each other in horror and chuckled hoping they weren't expecting us to eat all of the food that was in front of us.  It would have been enough to feed us for a week.  Thankfully, they were okay with us just eating what we wanted.  The "leftovers" would be used to continue the feast tomorrow (Sunday).

Banjo, guitars and singing

Family singing and dancing

More family dancing

The dinner was followed by family presentations as they spoke and presented their prized Tapas to the Church followed by the family singing and dancing.  Then another family would follow.  It is obvious that they all have such respect for others and the family is the center of their worship as well.  We hope you enjoy the photos and are able to see the magnitude of the celebration.  All the stops were pulled out and it was quite an event.  We left after about 3 1/2 hours but it was still going strong.

As they dance people from the audience will come put money

on them to show their appreciation.

Keke (cake) depiction of the early FWC building.

Proud papa and happy child.  They are centered around their families here.

The food has the Sione Heimuli seal of approval.

I had to include a couple more shots of the sunset that Lepeka took whilst I was away.

More of the sunset taken from just outside our front door.