Tonga!

Next we went to the island of Lapa. 70 years ago the President of the Tongan Mission went to this remote island and found President Tukuafu’s father there as a young boy. That president saw something special in him and asked his family if they would allow the boy to return to Tonga with him and he would pay for his education. They agreed and eventually that young man was baptized into the church. Now his posterity is very strong in the church. President wanted us to see the island and meet his relatives that still live there. We met his Auntie, his Uncle and his cousin. There are only about 30 - 35 people that live on the island and none of them are members of the church, including these relatives. But president wanted us to meet them and he is hoping we made a good impression on them. I’m not to sure, they only speak Tongan so Alan could say a few things and then that was that.
There is an interesting thing happening here in Tonga. Japan-aid has come to these outer islands and put up solar panels in front of all of the dwellings. It is a humanitarian act to help improve the lives of the people who live out there. They have a battery and now they can have a light bulb and a radio, but that is about it. They don’t have any appliances and they couldn’t begin to afford them, let alone get them shipped out to the island. Still, this is a multi-million dollar project that Japan has taken on. We are wondering why. I’ll go into that later.
The people here eat fish, bananas, breadfruit, oofi and other root crops, seaweed, and occasionally chickens and pigs. They cook outdoors in pits called umu’s. The men build fires and get hot coals, then bury the food and let it cook all day. It is an interesting process to watch. There are fires going all over these islands by mid day. It is hot work in this climate.