First Tongan UMC Department

Administrative Committee Report

I’d like to take this opportunity to praise God for all of the patience, love and guidance he has instilled in each and every one of us of which we are blessed with the gift of life. I’d also like to thank Rev. Dr. Langi Fine and Assistant Pastor, Rev. Petueli Ta’ufo’ou for their hard work and effort throughout the entire year. I’d also like to thank our Lay Leader, Mr. Liongi Fifita as well as the congregation for their tireless efforts and generosity throughout the year. May God bless each and every one of you for the love that you give and the support that you bring.

This year has been a challenging year for our congregation but with the grace of God we are thankful for all that He has provided for us.  This year we were fortunate enough to have Her Royal Highness Princess Siu’ilikutapu Kalaniuvalu Fotofili worship with us here at First Tongan UMC. It was a historical event for our church. We were also fortunate to have a few soldiers from Tonga stop by to worship with us as they were here for training. We hosted the Tonga Police Brass Band for a whole month as they were here for clinicals. 

Another historical event was the completion of our newly built bathrooms, the Vaikau’aki Hall and the renovations to our sanctuary. Slowly but surely we are working to beautify the Lord’s house. It is unfortunate that we were not able to raise enough money to offset our 2011 budget, but with the Will of God, strong leaders and hardworking church members we are hoping and praying that we are able to raise funds to help defray and cover some of our expenses and budget for the upcoming year.    

As the year comes to an end, we look back at all of the accomplishments we were able to achieve and smile so that we may look forward to what God has planned for us. “Not all of us can do great things, but we can do small things with great love.” – Mother Teresa 

May you have a Merry Christmas and a Prosperous New Year!!

-Chairperson-

Board of Trustees

This year's major project was the building of the Fellowship Hall, Bathrooms and the Renovating of the sanctuary.  It was just like a dream comes true, when we get the Permit to start the building.  There has been a lot of hardships and many cloudy days but this year's Mission Statement Trust in God pushed us through. We all witnessed how useful and convenient our Hall is.  As the saying goes, "Cleanliness is next to Godliness", our new bathrooms very much helps with the hygiene of the church and the congregation.  The Sanctuary looks much more beautiful and more holy after the renovation done.

There are still many more steps to go, however we have raised the physical standard of the church to a better one and we believe that it also helps uplifting our inner beings.  Our target for 2011 ideally is to complete our construction projects.  To set forth with this, we must take the necessary steps towards the bigger goal by providing not only the funding but returning back to the root which is our planning stages and obtaining the required permits.  Above and before all this we must start with ourselves, working together and staying focused on our vision and we can only do this if we continue to "Trust in God".

I would like to thank Pastors Langi Fine and Petueli Ta'ufo'ou for all their support and leadership.  I would also like to thank the Board of Trustees for all their hard work this year and also extend my gratitude to the congregation for their patience and support.  Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

Lisita Hala'api'api 

Vaikau`aki United Methodist W omen's Department

I am thankful to the God Almighty for the gift of life that has been given to the women of the First Tonga United Methodist Church of Waimanalo. The coming of the Messiah as fresh, draws us closer to God for if we accept Jesus in our lives we may be counted as His children.

-Vaikau`aki UMW President-

Vaikai`aki Choir Department

A pleasant choir is a good foundation to the life of a church, it helps to embrace the worship services and all the religious gatherings.  That is the joy of these days knowing that the Church Choir is a very strong motivation of the work of the Lord in singing in Zion and accept the invitations to sing at various churches and different places.

The highlight of this year's work was the combine singing with the Kahuku United Methodist Church for the September Quarterly Choral Worship. The combine efforts with our fellow Christians from Kahuku reflect in the sound of singing.  And to top it all was the welcoming of the Bishops of the Western Jurisdiction, when they came for dinner at Vaikau'aki Fellowship Hall. The sound of the choral voices on that evening was such a brilliant way of welcoming the men of God to the First Tongan United Methodist Church.

The Choir Director; 'Alani Tu'ifua, Choir master; 'Amanaki Veikoso and all the members of the choir are all working hard on practicing an anthem for the December Quarterly Choral Worship, and all the other programs towards the end of the year.  It is our prayer that we may continue to praise and glorify thy name through singing.

I want to thank Rev. Dr. Langi Fine and the assistant Pastor Petueli Ta'ufo'ou for all your prayers and support enabling us to fulfill our tasks. I also want to convey my gratefulness to the Choir Director; 'Alani Tu'ifua, the assistant director; Kalasipeli Salakielu for your patience and dedications, and each and every members of this choir.  May our singing be like a nice scented sacrificial offer to our Almighty God.

May we all have a very peaceful Christmas and the continuous harmonious grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.

-Vaikau`aki Choir Secertary

Youth and Young Adult Department

THE YOURH OF TODAY IS THE CHURCH OF TODAY.  Vaikau`aki values the importance of Youth in a church and being able to maintain attendance and participation in that age groups a challenge living in today's society.  Therefore we have developed programs designed especially for the Youth interest. This year our youth group was able to perform and participate in many events displaying their passion of music and dance.  We were invited to perform at the United Methodist Church Annual California-Pacific Conference at Redland in 2007.  The youth performed during the United Methodist Women Western Jurisdiction Conference held here in Hawaii.  Our Youth were invited again to perform at the United Methodist Church 2008 General Conference in Fort Worth Texas.  The reward of good deeds is to continue to work effortlessly on another contributing task.  May we receive the abundant grace and hope from the Prince of Peace to continue our efforts for the New Year.

-Senior Pastor-

This year has been a very busy year for the Youth and Young Adults for they were invited to sing at the Free Wesleyan Church Conference in Tonga. The Youth and Young Adults were also invited to sing and dance at various night shows in different hotels and resorts. We stayed in Tonga for a period of four weeks. Two weeks were spent singing at the Conference. One week was spent singing and dancing at various hotels and resort and our final week there was spent with our families in Tonga. Our trip was a success!

As preparation for our trip to Tonga, the Youth and Young Adults worked really hard learning new dances and new songs to perform in Tonga. We were fortunate enough to have one of our own, Mrs. Kelsey Hala’api’api’s expertise in Hawaiian Hula and Tahitian dancing teach the Youth and Young Adults four Hula dances and four Tahitian dances. We are very thankful for all of her kindness, generosity and help.  May God bless Mrs. Hala’api’api for all the help she has provided our Youth and Young Adults with.

We would like to thank Rev. Dr. Langi Fine and Assistant Pastor, Rev. Petueli Ta’ufo’ou, our church Layleader and our number one supporters, our PARENTS!! If it weren’t for our parents’ support we would not be able to travel to Tonga. Each and every one of our Youth and Young Adults travelled to Tonga as young boys and girls. They experienced staying in a totally different environment, eating island food and growing as a whole. They returned as young men and women. We would also like to thank our District Superintendant, Rev. Tom Choi for your time and your support. May God bless each and every one of you for your loyalty, love and support. 2010 will end in a few weeks. We leave behind all of our hardships and take with us our memories as we look forward to a new year, a new beginning and new adventures.  

ENGLISH WORSHIP SERVICE.

Our English speaking service continues to thrive as 2010 comes to a close and we look towards 2011.  This service continues to be directed by Ema Arelliano, Leslie Fine & Pauline Taumalolo with a focus and aim towards contemporary praise and worship.  Understanding our motto “Trust in God” is what really helped our service and its members fully embrace and grow as a church.

This program is a special English speaking service as it targets Youth & Young Adults.  A program that not only offers a modern way of worship but appeals to a younger crowd without prejudice to the older one. This service continues to push all members involved to be disciples as every member has contributed at least once by doing a devotion or participating in open testimony.  This allows us not only to be comfortable as we are but come to terms that church is a place of unity and hope.  Throughout the year we’ve been having volunteers bring refreshments however as the new year approaches we plan to go forth with a different approach possibly having designated funds.

In October, our service was invited to sing and worship at Hope Chapel in Kailua which was a success.  We were able to sing several songs and worship together regardless of denomination.  Also in November we had visitors from the Samoan Congregational Church in Waimanalo worship with us on several occasions.  As plans for a special combined service are still in its early stages our service will continue outreach throughout 2011. 

Sunday December 19^th is our closing service for the year as we approach our Christmas programs and I invite everyone to attend.  Before I conclude I would like to thank Rev. Dr. Langi Fine for designating this allotted time for our service and being a strong support system.  Also want to “especially” thank Ema Arelliano and Pauline Taumalolo for their hard work in keeping order and believing in our service, “If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.” ~ John Quincy Adams.  Happy Holidays!

-Worship Director-

Sunday School Department

It is always a blessing whenever you have a chance to share and preach the Good News of Christ.  Sunday School Program is a good chance to teach and to share with the children the Love of our Lord Jesus Christ.  As in the previous years, Sunday School Programs follows the English Speaking Service every Sunday.  I would like to thank the parents for bringing our children.

The Children's Sunday was on the 2nd of May that was the first Sunday of May. The Preacher of the Day was Mr. Tomasi Po'uli, and as usual the Sunday School children help reading the texts and the hymns.  Manatu-'Ofa-ki-Tavuni was the Chairperson. It is always inspiring listening to the children's voices singing and reciting hymns and Bible verses, as that is the first step of learning to preach the Good News.  It is always my wish and hope that children will love attending the Sunday School programs.

The annual Sunday School assessment was held at the end of November, and we were glad to have Fatumea Moa and his wife Rev. Linita Moa conducting this assessment session. We are looking forward to a better results.

Our Choir Director Pauline Taumalolo is practicing a chorus with the children for the December Quarterly Choral worship. Singing is one of the children's strength, and we are very fortunate to have Pauline with us. We believe that God's name will be glorify through the children's voices.

Our final program for this year will be the Christmas Tree Service on the Christmas Eve.  All the children are looking forward to receive a present on that evening. I would like to thank Rev. Dr. Langi Fine and his assistant Rev. Petueli Ta'ufo'ou, the Lay Leader and all the congregation for all your support in assisting the Sunday School Programs.  It is my wish that parents will continue bringing their children to the Sunday School programs.

Last but not the least I want to thank my fellow Sunday School Teachers for all your commitments and dedications. I would also thank Pauline Taumalolo for your time and your willingness to help the Sunday School children's choir. It is one of our tasks conducting the singing in time of donations on every Sunday service. Wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Radio Department "Voice of Vaikau`aki"

The radio program has been an inspiration to our elderly and seniors alike because this program provides an outlet for youth to stay connected with our cultural identity through language.  This Program is broadcast LIVE in the Tongan language covering weekly new from Tonga, church service announcement, upcoming events, requests and song dedications.  The radio program are live on air every Saturday evenings for two hours from 10 p.m. to 12 midnight.  It is on KNDI 1270 on the am dial.  The support we've received from the church has been influential in maintaining the program's success and continues to motivate our youth.

The Radio Program known as "The Voice of Vaikau'aki" is on live every week on Saturdays from 10 pm to 12 midnight.  Two members of the Church Youth; 'Ilaisa Mikaele Jr an Olivia Arelliano conduct this Radio Program with the help of Katalina Holani a member of the First Tongan UMC of Vaikau'aki, under the supervision of Rev. Dr. Langi Fine and Miss Ema Arelliano. The purpose and vision of the Radio Ministry is to educate and train the Youth members in the field of broadcasting. The three main people involve in the radio ministry focus on the needs of the Tonga Community by bringing the news and current events live directly from Tonga  This is also an utmost opportunity of sharing the Words of God. We have received tremendous feedback from the community, our listeners have grown over the past years.  They enjoy the variety of music and word of encouragement by the presenter.   I would like to thank each and everyone who support and encourage us who are working in our Radio Ministry, your support is greatly appreciated.

We are coming to the end of the year 2010 and the Radio Ministry Program has been running strong all year.  It has been run by the Youth under the direction of our Pastor Dr. Langi Fine.  We had received good feedback from the public and have been popular with both youth and adults, especially the people that stay at home.  We are very fortunate this year to have new sponsors for our program, which I would like to convey our big thank you to ‘Etuate and Lili Fotu for helping out in sponsoring our radio ministry through monetary donations.  I would also like to acknowledge my sincere thanks to Laumanu Petelo the local news broadcaster from Tonga.  She has been helping us a lot with broadcasting local news straight from Tonga every Saturday night.  Most listeners always look forward to hearing news which keep them up to date with the currents events that happen at the Kingdom.  I also want to shout out a big thank you to all pastors in the Hawaii District for always being there and sharing their ministry with us on the radio.  Furthermore I would like to express our big thank you to our Pastor Dr. Langi Fine for all your guidance, leadership and help and not forgetting assigning preachers to give their word of encouragement during the radio ministry.  Last but not the least I would like to thank our radio technician, ‘Ilaisa Mikaele Jr., Our radio announcers, ‘Olivia Arelliano and Katalina Holani.  Without your help and hard work I think we won’t be able to finish this year with great success.

-Radio Director