After the simple meal, I was introduced to a Tongan man named Sakini, an electrician who lives in New Zealand. He and Fr. Paul sat next to each on a flight from Tonga to Auckland and by the time the plane landed Sakini had offered to use his skills and local knowledge in whatever way he could to help complete the church building. He had flown from NZ specifically to meet with the visiting clergy and me onsite and start working on a plan.
In Tonga, Sunday is set aside constitutionally as a day of rest, and it is illegal to perform any work –excluding police, hospitals and a few cafes for foreign visitors. So, Sakini invited me for a drive (literally) around Tongatapu, which is the largest of 169 islands that comprise the Kingdom of Tonga. Even so, at something just shy of 100 square miles, a comprehensive tour of the island takes only a couple of hours.
First, Sakini took me to his family home, where his kind mother fed me Hawaiian and Tongan mango while I chatted with his very friendly younger brother Josh. We drove to the eastern shore, and then looped around and headed west.
As we drove he shared with me that when Fr. Paul invited him to come to Tonga to develop a plan for completing the church, he felt compelled to drop everything he had going on and come. He really wants to see the Church get finished.
We completed our loop, stopping at some popular historic and natural attractions, and then he brought me home by dinner time.
The next day, Sakini dropped by with a bag full of coconuts. He showed me how to crack open the top and then we sat and drank out the remarkably refreshing milk. It’s like God’s own Gatorade – full of electrolytes and everything you need to stay healthy and hydrated in the tropical heat.
Fr. Paul told me that Sakini explains Orthodoxy to others like this: Imagine you have a glass full of water and then pour it into another, then another and another. After ten times you have less water than when you started. He says it’s better to have the first glass, which is the Orthodox Church. Fr. Paul said the Holy Spirit must have told that to him, because it is both so profound and so simple. Many of the Tongans I visited with had a similar ability to grasp very profound concepts with ease. I think that makes them very open to Orthodoxy.
Tomorrow we start developing our plan to complete this project. By the prayers of the Holy Great Martyr George we’ll get it done!