Tonga!

On Wednesday the 25th, Alan and I were invited to attend a meeting for the Social Protection of the Vulnerable in the South Pacific. It was another meeting where many very important people were gathered. The Ambassador of Japan was the honored guest. Japan is the main donor for the project. The Ministers of Health, Finance, Education and Internal Affairs were in attendance. We have met with them twice in the last week. Now they know who we are and they come right over to us, shake our hands and express appreciation for our attending these meetings. We may not contribute a lot at the meeting, but we are representing the Church and hopefully giving these government leaders a positive impression of the work the Church does in Tonga. Sonny Kaufusi, a member of our ward, was the head facilitator for the workshop. He is over the Social Services in Tonga. This meeting was to draft a policy for the protection of the Vulnerable in Tonga, mainly the handicapped and the elderly.

Most of the meeting was done in Tongan, so it was a little boring, but we were able to help draft the policy and they used all of our ideas. (They think Palangis are very knowledgeable, wheather we are or not.) The minister of the Wesleyan Church was there and he did the opening and closing prayers. Sonny asked Alan to bless the food for lunch. The Minister was in our group when we were working on the policy and we had a good discussion with him. The people in Tonga feel very strongly about family, so it gave us common ground to build on. We were able to develop a good relationship with him and in the closing prayer he specifically blessed the “missionary and his wife.”

There was a dance at the church by our house tonight. The music was LOUD! They usually end at 11:00 but this one went until 12:00. (We found out later it was for a wedding.) I didn’t get much sleep. I can’t imagine how the families that live in that village survive, we live 3 or 4 blocks away.