Oops sorry, I said it.
Tongans are not anymore religious than any other country I've visited*
based on how I measure religious devotion.
Yes there are more churches than I've ever seen in my life.
Yes the whole country shuts down on a Sunday.
Yes most people go to church on a Sunday.
Yes I sat through one funeral service that three religions took turns at taking...
for three hours... sitting on asphalt**.
On Sunday we went to our Church to watch the General Conference Video.
This was in Tongan so liddle bit redundant for me
as my Tongan is limited to hello and thank you,
conveniently almost the same word.
So when I am in a new place,
I usually use a McDonalds to anchor my sense of place.
I have a really good sense of direction simply based I notice landmarks.
In Tonga there is no fast food places (that's awesome!)
so I use LDS chapels as my anchors.
When asked by a Tongan how far Sesi's Nana's house was from where we were,
I just said six Chapels along from here.
That was about right.
After Church Sesi and I walked down the road.
Basically cause we had no transport and
because in the distance in the photo above
there is the start of a small cluster of Methodist church buildings
where Sesi's cousins were at their Sunday meeting
in the church that Sesi's grandfather and adopted father (same person)
had built a long time ago.
I liked what he had done with the place.
Coloured glass windows, high ceilings that made the place cool,
floors polished from years of use, horribly uncomfortable pews to keep you awake
during even the longest, hottest and most boring of services.
LDS Chapels by comparison are new and have good air flow.
Are carpeted and have slightly more comfortable pews and are big.
Bigger than we have at home.
They also have more people in attendance.
Which unfortunately Sesi's grandfather's church did not.
What Sesi's grandfather's church did have though was volume.
Full on, make your ears ring volume.
There should be a warning notice outside that church
warning innocent Palangi tourists that it's freakin loud in those church services.
It's like they think God is old man kind of deaf.
The singing itself was beautiful and complex.
With callers and followers, rounds and harmonies.
It was joyous and hard work.
With pulsing forehead veins and sweating brows.
Then suddenly it was over and peaceful, quiet descended
as we waited for the Minister to start.
Even with a microphone he was so hushed I struggled to hear him.
Gentle and monotonous,
I realised the singing was the unifying jolt needed to keep people involved in the service.
I say this cause as soon as Sesi's cousins saw us
they beckoned us to go outside.
So half the congregation walked out to chat in the sun with us.
Then drive us to another Methodist Church because of course
that's where the rest of Sesi's relatives were,
especially since this one has Sesi's uncle as the Minister.
We arrived just as they were exiting the service.
Hugs and shouts of laughter, a few full body tackles included.
Then we drove (the kids walked cause it's all about respec' in Tongan)
to Nana's house.
That sounds so innocent.
Nana is the matriarch of Sesi's family.
Sesi as the eldest granddaughter will take her turn at some point too.
Nana is a New Zealand citizen because she and her husband spent
many years in Auckland when her husband was
a Minister for the Samoan Methodist Church there.
He was a great man by the sounds of it.
This means that Sesi as their adopted daughter automatically gets residency.
By the stories of naughtiness Sesi has told me,
Sesi's grandfather needed to be a great man with the patience of Job.
In fact he probably thought he was Job when Sesi became a teenager.
But back to my early ascertains that Tonga is not really anymore religious than other 'religous' countries.
Like all people, there are those who are devoted to their God,
those who are devoted to their religion and
those who are devoted to turning up and looking good.
These three things are different, especially the first two.
We have a saying about those who join our Church.
There are those who are converts and true converts.
Converts are those who are devoted to their religion,
its something they love doing, they love the community, they feel good when in Church
but when they get home they hang up their church duds and go back to their busy, normal life.
True converts are those who live and breathe their faith in God.
It's ingrained in their being, permeates all that they do, they are willing,
they have a grace about them that comes from being at peace and knowing God.
Nobody can say who is who because no person can read another's heart.
Even though legally Tonga observes the Sabbath,
(which I personally love because I do)
it doesn't mean the people are truly converted to the faith.
No different to any other place.
* I have been to Vatican City so this may be an unfair comparison.
** Last time I did that I was in High School and it was for a fire drill where we gathered on the netball courts. All us girls got up with melted tarseal stuck to our dresses and the parents called a school meeting to complain.
