Tongan Easter Christian Endeavour Convention

Thursday 3rd April 2008

The Rev Fred Nile, Leader of the Christian Democratic Party, gave the following report on the Tongan Easter Christian Endeavour Convention in State Parliament last night.

“Tonight I speak about the Tongan Easter Christian Endeavour Convention, which I attended during the past Easter period from 20 to 27 March. About 600 Christian delegates took part in the convention from Tonga, American Samoa, Western Samoa, the Solomon Islands and the United States. Some members may remember that Christian Endeavour commenced in the Williston Congregational Church, Portland, Maine, on 2 February 1881—127 years ago. Its motto is “For Christ and the Church”.

The Christian Endeavour Convention was organised by the Free Wesleyan Church of Tonga, which was commenced by an Australian Methodist missionary, Reverend Lawry, in 1822. The main Christian church in Tonga is the Free Wesleyan Church, part of the Methodist church, which has 100 churches, but there are also currently other denominations in Tonga—Catholic churches and Mormon churches. London Missionary Society missionaries arrived prior to the Methodist missionaries. However, they did not get a friendly reception, so they moved on to Samoa, which now has mainly Congregational churches”, Rev Fred Nile said.

“The Easter Christian Endeavour Convention theme was “Because he loves we live”. The convention was held in the large church facilities of the Longo Longo Free Wesleyan Church. The church minister is Reverend Dr Taliai Niumeitolu, who is also the Tongan Director of Christian Education and Christian Endeavour. He was responsible for organising the convention with his staff, particularly Reverend Faataape Lavatai. The President of the Free Wesleyan Church of Tonga is Reverend Dr Alifaleti Malakai Mone, who attended all the convention meetings and gave his full support.

The main feature of the convention was the enthusiastic spiritual singing of the young delegates, who also presented a number of dramas based on the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ in celebration of the Easter season. The Tongan islands have always been known as the friendly islands, and the locals certainly made our 14 Australian delegates very welcome. The delegation was led by Joyce Spicer from Perth, who is the Pacific Vice President of Christian Endeavour. There were daily feasts and food overflowed from the tables. They usually included an entire roasted pig.

Her Royal Highness Princess Nanasipau'u Tuku'aho officially welcomed delegates and opened the convention. The World Secretary of Christian Endeavour, Reverend Andreas Rudolph from Germany, was also a guest speaker. The weather was warm and humid with daily rain showers, sometimes quite heavy. Unfortunately, the Kingdom of Tonga is now facing a difficult economic situation because of the collapse of the copra industry. The country now has huge, useless palm plantations, which once formed the basis of its main industry. The Kingdom is also experiencing political stresses with the rise of a new political movement whose followers are demanding that the kingdom become a republic. These tensions exploded 18 months ago with serious riots in the capital during which many buildings were burnt—including those owned by local Chinese residents—and they have not yet been rebuilt. It is sad to see large blocks of land on which there are marble floors only; there are no walls. This is a serious matter and even though Tonga is not a nation that Australia normally supports, I urge the Government to give whatever support it can. New Zealand provides economic support and we should do the same”, Rev Nile stated.