Celebrating Easter in Tonga was delightful. In America
holidays like Christmas and Easter are heavily connected to Santa and the
Easter Bunny, and children getting rewarded for being “good”. In Tonga instead
of having Santa and the Easter Bunny they have Jesus. The church has a program
for the youth called Apitanga. It spans over the weekend leading up to the
holiday. In these few days there is a lot of church, laughter, and of course
food. The kids have a big sleepover at the church and the church hall. There
are a lot of sessions. The students learn action songs, create skits, learn
about Jesus, and good decision making. A big part of Apitanga that stuck out to
me was something that my town officer’s wife said. Nancy told me, “The children
don’t always understand the depth of their religion and they don’t always make
the best choices, but that is why we do this. We do this so they know we love
them for who they are. We are celebrating them in the same way Jesus does”.
I of course was asked to participate in an action song. They
just cannot get enough of my moves J
but honestly, who can?
And I got to lead the himi (hymns) for the Sunrise Good
Friday service. My counterpart, Meleongo was the failotu (gave the sermon). As
a result of leading the himi I was told after next year I am the failotu -__- And
when I was practicing I sure did say “hit shit” in Tongan instead of a holy
word. I won’t be living that down anytime soon.
Celebraing Easter in Tonga was nice, but I’m going to push
for an Easter egg hunt next year!
Happy Easter, friends from me and Faina!
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