My Sunday: Reverend Perema Leasi

Sarah Catherall

05:00, Jun 23 2019

ROSS GIBLIN/STUFF
Sixty-year-old Reverend Perema Leasi came to New Zealand from Samoa when he was 19.

Reverend Perema Leasi is the solo minister at Christ the King Pacific Islands Presbyterian Church in Porirua. Last year, the 60-year-old received a Queen's Service Medal for his services to the Pacific community. He lives with his wife, Faaolataga, and four children in Cannons Creek.

When I was a boy living in the village of Saipai, on Savai'i, in Samoa, we weren't allowed to swim on a Sunday. It was our religious belief that Sunday was a rest day and a day for prayer. It would be really, really hot and we weren't allowed to swim in the sea because we had to rest.

I was the oldest of seven children. Four of us are still alive. My mother was a Sunday school teacher. I went to Sunday school every morning in Saipai and then to church.

ROSS GIBLIN/STUFF
Porirua Reverend Perema Leasi with his wife Faaolataga Leasi.


I came to New Zealand when I was 19. My uncle in Australia sent me a working permit and I moved to Auckland to work in the Zip factory for four years. I joined the Pacific Island church in Avondale, and I began as a Sunday school teacher and a lay preacher. I eventually trained as a minister at Knox Presbyterian College in Dunedin and I also did a bachelor of theology.

It's a bit of a story why I went down this path. My mother told the story [one] Sunday, when the whole church came here for my birthday lunch. The day I was born there were two missionaries who visited our village from Apia. They were palangi. One missionary's name was Mr Primer. That was where my name Perema came from, because my parents translated his name to the Samoan equivalent.

In the very low moments of my life, it's when the call comes to me. I was really down at one stage in my life. The whole thing that encouraged me was that there must be a reason why I was called my name by my parents.

SDA Church Dispute Heads to Court

March 17, 2013

EventPolynesia.com

SDA church at Matatufu

Last month leaders of the SDA church in the South Pacific Division (SPD) met again in Australia with pastors from Samoa and Samoan pastors representing Samoan churches in New Zealand and Australia. The bible conference discussed the impasse in Samoa which is detrimental to a fundamental doctrine of the SDA church where there are now two seventh-day Sabbaths, some worshipping on Saturday and the majority worshipping on Sunday.

An outcome of the meeting is the matter to be referred to the Biblical Research Committee of the South Pacific Division for further research.

But in Samoa, the local church administration has instructed the law office of Schuster-Betham-Annandale to write to the Leauva’a-uta SDA members who are worshipping on Saturday to refrain from using the church facility there. The letter dated 6th February warns that failure to comply within 7 days will result in the matter been taken to the High Court for an order regarding ownership, demolition and removal by the church of assets.

Leauvaa-uta Sabbath keepers in front of their church building.

The letter from the lawyer however states that the church does not dispute the land belongs to the title Sala (held by Fonoti Peteli). This is further confirmed in a letter from the Register of the Lands and Titles Court stating the ownership of the land known as Laumasa is with Sala Fonoti Peteli and is not being disputed. The Register however goes further advising the parties involved to seek legal advice from lawyers in regards to dividing of church assets.

The SDA Sabbath dilemma in Samoa today centers around which day is the seventh-day of the week after the IDL change in 2011, the second time Samoa has changed its location to the IDL. Is it Saturday or Sunday?

Seventh-day Adventists keep the Sabbath on the seventh day of the week which is Saturday like everywhere else in the world. Most Christian churches in Samoa however also call Sunday the Sabbath but for a different reason – to commemorate the day of Jesus’ resurrection which falls on Sunday, the first day of the week.

On the TVNZ program Tagata Pasefika last year, President of the SDA church in Samoa, Pastor Uili Solofa stated that “now in Samoa, the seventh-day falls on Sunday.” The same argument was published in the Samoa Observer 1st July issue saying, “The practical result in terms of Sabbath keeping is that Sunday not Saturday has become the seventh day of the week.”

In a document dated 29th December 2011, Pastor Uili Solofa wrote,


“The majority of church leaders, worshippers and villages (in Samoa) are not saying they are happy that Seventh-day Adventists are keeping Sunday, instead what they are saying is that – we are going to keep the Sabbath of the Seventh-day Adventist church; praise God!”

In a separate correspondence, Pastor Uili Solofa also wrote, “You have to know that all the other Christian religions in Samoa have publicly testified that they have moved to keep the seventh–day Sabbath of the Bible.”

Catholic Chancellor Ono does not appear to share that view. Asked about casinos opening on Sunday, Father Ioane says that personally, he had no problems with it. “For Catholics or any Christian for that matter, Sunday is a day of rest, a day of giving thanks and praise to the Lord. It is also a day of joy and celebration because for the Catholic Church, Sunday is the day of resurrection of Jesus.” (Samoa Observer, March 12, 2013)

Such statements by SDA leaders in Samoa and the Pacific that Sunday is the “seventh-day” in Samoa today appear to contradict the reason Christian churches worship on Sunday, the first day of the week, to commemorate the day of Jesus’ resurrection.

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P.S. 
Samoa SDA's: Happy Sabbath, faithful Brethren!
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Is SDA's Sunday worship move a compromise?

Thursday, 19 January, 2012 - 00:43

The controversial decision by the SDA church administration in Samoa to worship on Sunday has drawn many letters on the issue from Seventh-day Adventists around the world.

Many are critical of the inconsistency in the position of the Samoa-Tokelau Mission by rejecting Saturday as the 7th day of the week following the Government's decision for Samoa to align with Australia and New Zealand (west of the IDL), hence the reason for now worshipping on Sunday; and on the other hand accepting the new 'working week' from Monday to Friday.

Bloggers on WWW.SSnet.org (Sabbath School Network site) and www.spectrummagazine.org have also raised an observation regarding a convenient compromise by the SDA church in Samoa should there be a Sunday Law.

"Can I flee to Samoa to avoid persecution when the worldwide Sunday law happens and at the same time keep my Sabbath with a clear conscience?"

"I wonder indeed if we can move to Samoa when the Sunday Laws come - and keep Sabbath on Sunday?"

Dr. Allen Sonter a respected Seventh-day Adventist educator and missionary from Australia who lived and worked in (Western) Samoa and Tonga for a number of years, and also worked in the SDA (CPUM) office for 6 years highlighted the complexity of the Samoa issue, "My work then involved crossing the date line frequently. In fact, I recall one 8-week period when I did not have two consecutive weeks of the same length. My weeks would be 7-days 8-days, 7-days 6-days, 7 days, 8 days, 6-day, 7-days. Sometimes the only flight we could get from Rarotonga to Auckland was on a Friday afternoon, so we would take off late Friday afternoon, cross the date line in the evening, and land in Auckland on Saturday night. Where did Sabbath go? I hated that flight, because I missed a Sabbath! Incidentally, I also missed my birthday one year, and Christmas day another year."

"The Bible gives no instruction about how to handle the date-line issue, and it also says nothing about where on the surface of the earth the Sabbath begins and ends. Therefore, if God has not seen fit to make that issue clear, it is obviously not a matter that is vital to our salvation. Therefore, in seeking a solution to the issue we must look to underlying principles that govern our relationship to God and to our fellow believers."

"The Sabbath is a sign of the fact that the LORD is our God (Ezekiel 20, 12, 20). Therefore in handling the date-line issue the basic principle that should guide our decision is that our keeping of the Sabbath should mark us as being loyal to God, as opposed to following a man-made day of rest. If the Adventist teaching about the mark of the beast being the false Sunday / Sabbath is true, then to worship on the Sunday (even though sunset to sunset instead of midnight to midnight) gives a mixed message in regard to our loyalty to God. To argue that Sunday in Tonga, and in the new-order (Western) Samoa, is really the seventh day of the week, is to mount an argument to which there is no definitive answer, because, as I noted earlier, the Bible is silent on the facts that are needed to prove one's point. Which solution to the issue most clearly applies the principle that the Sabbath of the fourth commandment is a sign of our loyalty to God? When I was travelling frequently across the date-line, I took the view that the right thing for me to do in being loyal to God, was to keep the day accepted as the Sabbath wherever I happened to be. Applying the same principle to the (Western) Samoa situation, the right thing to do might be to continue keeping Saturday in the new-order (Western) Samoa."

"I recall that on one occasion in Tonga I was speaking with a delegation from the British government, and one senior officer said, "The Adventist church in Tonga has been very astute in getting around the strong Sunday legislation in Tonga by arguing that in Tonga the seventh day of the week is really Sunday." So from the point of view of an educated outsider looking at the situation in Tonga, it appeared that the Adventist solution to the moving date-line problem did not indicate loyalty to God, but rather the opposite - a convenient compromise, and a rather opportunistic one at that!"

"I realize that if the church in (Western) Samoa were to change with the changing date-line, and worship on the new Saturday, that would constitute a de-facto admission that the Tongan church had made a mistake by deciding to keep Sunday in Tonga all these years, and that would be an embarrassment to the Tongan church. We must also realize that the church in American Samoa is affected by whatever decision is made."

"Now, just to complicate things even further, another underlying principle comes into the picture. That is the principle that we are to consider the effects of our behavior on our fellow believers. Paul tells us that we are not to behave in a way that offends our brother who is weak in the faith (Romans 14: 13). If the church in (Western) Samoa were to change to the Saturday Sabbath in the new-order (Western) Samoa, they may seriously offend their fellow believers in Tonga, and will affect the members in American Samoa. So should the church in Tonga also change and start worshipping on Saturday? I do not know the answer to that, but what I do know is that the churches in both (Western) Samoa and American Samoa, as well as in Tonga, are in this together, and that the final decision should not be imposed by anyone else. I believe there should be a combined meeting of a wide representation of the Tongan and Samoan churches, with a small number of representatives from the NZP Union, the SPD, and the General Conference present to give counsel, but not to take part in the actual decision making process. The matter should be prayerfully discussed under the guidance of the Holy Spirit until a clear consensus among the believers is reached."

"When consensus has been reached, the believers in (Western) Samoa alone must make the final decision about the Sabbath in (Western) Samoa. If a decision were to be reached to keep Saturday as the Sabbath in (Western) Samoa, Tongan representatives may wish to make some recommendation about the Sabbath in Tonga, which in turn would need to be handled by the believers in Tonga. Any attempt from the outside to impose a decision on the church in (Western) Samoa is likely to cause a split in the church."

With the growing discontent, the SDA church may need to go into damage control.

Source: eventpolynesia.com

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8.0 magnitude quake generates tsunami off Samoa islands

A tsunami travel time map and table generated by the United States National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and National Weather Service West Coast and Alaska Tsunami Warning Center shows projected travel times for the effects of an earthquake that the center measured as having a preliminary magnitude of 8.3 occurring in the Samoa Islands Region of the Pacific Ocean on September 29, 2009. The center warns that travel time maps and tables indicate forecasted times only, not that a wave traveling those distances has actually been generated. The center reported that sea level observations indicate a tsunami was generated which may have been destructive along coasts in the source region.
REUTERS/NOAA/NWS/West Coast and Alaska Tsunami Warning Center/Handout

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A powerful 8.0 magnitude earthquake in the Pacific off the Samoa islands region generated a tsunami and waves of more than five feet had already been observed, U.S. government agencies said on Tuesday.

An official of the U.S. National Park Service said there had been deaths in American Samoa, but there was no word on how many people had died.

A tsunami was observed at Apia, Western Samoa, and at Pago Pago, American Samoa, according to the West Coast/Alaska Tsunami Warning Center, a branch of the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

The waves at Pago Pago were 5.1 feet above normal sea level, according to the Pacific Western Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii.

The center earlier issued a tsunami warning for New Zealand, American Samoa and other small Pacific islands.

American Samoa is a tiny U.S. territory that lies about halfway between Hawaii and New Zealand. It is home to about 65,000 people.

Holly Bundock, spokeswoman for the National Park Service's Pacific West Region in Oakland California, said "I would say we're alarmed," adding the service had heard from Mike Reynolds, superintendent of the National Park of American Samoa.

Reynolds told a Yellowstone dispatch operator that four tsunami waves, each 15 to 20 feet high, reaching half-mile to mile (1.6 miles) inland on island of Tutuila, where Pago Pago is.

"The National Park of American Samoa visitor center and its offices appear to be destroyed completely," Bundock said.

Reynolds reported deaths but had no confirmation of numbers, she said. "He's completely cut off from the rest of the island," Bundock said.

In the island nation of Western Samoa, some residents told Radio New Zealand they had felt a big jolt and were recommended by authorities to move to higher ground.

"Sea level readings indicate a tsunami was generated. It may have been destructive along coasts near the earthquake epicenter and could also be a threat to more distant coasts," the Pacific warning center said.

Nathan Becker, an official at the center, told MSNBC a tsunami wave can dissipate or grow larger and go all the way across the ocean. "This is why we've issued a warning for a wide area," he said.

The epicenter of the quake was located 120 miles southwest of American Samoa, a remote Pacific island, the U.S. Geological Survey. The USGS earlier said the quake measured 7.9 magnitude. It struck at a depth of 11.2 miles.

HAWAII MONITORS SITUATION

Hawaii was monitoring the situation.

CNN said that if a tsunami hit Hawaii, it would arrive at about 7:18 EDT.

Chevron Corp said it was monitoring the tsunami threat to Hawaii, where the company has a 54,000 barrel per day (bpd) refinery near Honolulu.

"We are currently monitoring the situation via updates provided by local authorities," said Chevron spokesman Sean Comey."

Tesoro Corp did not immediately reply to messages about its 93,500 bpd refinery at Ewa Beach, also on the Hawaiian island of Oahu.

Both refineries provide jet fuel to commercial airlines and the U.S. military complex at Pearl Harbor as well motor fuels.

(Reporting by Stacey Joyce in Washington, Bud Seba in Houston, Jim Christie in San Francisco, Editing by Frances Kerry) Keywords: QUAKE/PACIFIC

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Source: http://www.reuters.com/news/pictures/articleslideshow?articleId=USN2916050620090929&channelName=newsMaps#a=1

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