Page 1 Sinoti Tupulaga Newsletter, Issue No.3, May 2011
ISSUE 3 2011 MAY
SINOTI KEEPING SI NOT I SAMO A T UPU L AG A T AL AVO U CO NN ECT ED
LEADERSHIP TRAINING 2011
We held our second annual Leadership Training weekend for taitai Tupu-
laga Talavou from 11-13 March 2011 at Kings Kids - 12 Lenore Road,
Favona, Manukau. 30 taitai from Auckland, Manukau, Taranaki, Hawkes
Bay and Wellington attended (apologies from Gisborne and Stokes Valley).
Our vision was to continue to develop and equip our Tupulaga Talavou
Leaders with skills and challenges in their leadership roles within their lo-
cal Church and community, Itumalo (District) & Sinoti Samoa (National
Scale).
TALOFA TUPULAGA! We have all recently celebrated Easter and at this time we‘d like to
encourage those who gave up something for LENT (Facebook???) to
keep on, keepin‘ on… Easter is a special time to reflect and remem-
ber when our Lord was crucified and raised again in triumph, and in
this, the great sacrifice that was made so that we may have life –
PRAISE HIM!
NAME FOR THE E-NEWSLETTER: Soooooooo we’re still
holding on to Movie passes at this point… no one wants a free
movie? Get in quick and you might be able to catch the Biebs
(coz we’re tight) movie NEVER SAY NEVER : )
Past – what have we achieved since our last E-Newsletter?
Tupulaga
Page 2 Sinoti Tupulaga Newsletter, Issue No.3, May 2011
Looking back at what we did last year, we decided to have 2 workshops and 2 plenary sessions.
Workshops: Sinoti Samoa Structures and Processes – Rev. Suiva’aia Te’o Responsibility and Accountability of Leadership – TeRito Peyroux
Plenary Sessions: Integration of personal growth and leadership development – NYLO Choices – NYLO
We also watched INVICTUS as an inspiring movie about leadership, passion, commitment, faith and humility – which came to be a
focus point for our weekend.
Taitai were split in to 3 groups – INITIATIVE, INVICTUS and INSPIRATION and in these groups they worked together for ple-
narys, competed in the outdoor activity and performed items during the worship service. Some of the items highlighted the many
talents that our tupulaga talavou have (aye Ronald LoL).
Filo lead the outdoor activity where tupulaga were invited to reflect on strengths in their surroundings and look at the resilience
doughnut model to assist with working on individual strengths and weaknesses to help them in their role as taitai.
Overall our weekend was a success thanks in large part to our Organising committee - Rev Tovia Aumua, Tuioti Lani Tupu, Amelia
Faleatua, Rev Asofiafia Samoa Saleupolu, Rev Utumauu Pupulu, Tumema Faioso, Siauala Nili, Utaga Uili , Filo Tu and Edna Te‘o.
Our chaplains – David Palelei and Matila Muliaina were also a great help and not to mention our caterers Muaimalae, Miriama,
Suivaaia Jnr (and Suivaaia Snr) Te‘o who kept us fed between sessions.
We will have a Leadership Training follow up session on Thursday 14 July 2011 (Sinoti weekend) in Manukau and everyone
who attended Leadership Training 2011 are encouraged to attend (start checking out grab-a-seat if you‘re not in Aux!)
Present – what are we currently working on? SINOTI SAMOA TUPULAGA TALAVOU EXPO
We are looking at hosting 2 expo‘s – in Auckland/Manukau and Wellington – so that we can get as many tupulaga to these events as
possible. Whilst we are still in planning mode at this stage, we hope to have more information come Sinoti weekend so that you can
– as Fraulein Maria would sing – CLIMB EVERY MOUNTAIN….FORD EVERY STREAM…FOLLOW EVERY RAINBOW…
TIL…YOU..FIND…YOOOUR DREEEEAM…
Future – what does the future hold for Tupulaga Talavou of Sinoti Samoa?
We are hoping to visit individual tupulaga talavou (like we did in 2010) again in 2012… however, this depends on supply (MONEY
MONEY MONEY) and demand (how many of YOU want US to come visit?). We learnt a lot during our visits last year and be-
lieve that this is a good way to ensure that our tupulaga talavou are moving forward TOGETHER as our camp theme stated – with
ONE HEART, ONE SOUL…
Reminders! MEAALOFA FOR SINOTI SAMOA HALL PROJECT
It was passed by tupulaga talavou at Sinoti 2010 in Hastings that each tupulaga would bring a meaalofa to Sinoti in Manukau that
we would pool together and present to our Sinoti as a contribution from our tupulaga. We suggested $200 but we are grateful for
whatever amount your tupulaga can contribute. As we are so often reminded, IT IS BETTER TO GIVE THAN RECEIVE. So give
with a happy heart J
YOUTH WEEK 2011
This will be from 21-29 May 2011 and is a great opportunity for your youth group to plan something to promote or support Youth
Week in your local area or region/itumalo. If you are looking for Youth Week 2011 resources, do check out:
www.youthweek.co.nz
Finally, a big THANK YOU to our Communications Committee – Josh Robertson, Sharon Amani & Lise Malaeimi – aka JOSHA-
RONISE – for their great work in putting together ANOTHER great newsletter. May this be the continuation of growth and the nur-
turing of more souls for the work of God in this land; Malo le galue, Malo le silasila i le Atua ma lana galuega!
Blessings to you all
Filo Tu & Edna Te’o
National Youth Liaison Officers (NYLO)
Sinoti Samoa
Page 3 Sinoti Tupulaga Newsletter, Issue No.3, May 2011
SILOMA FAIOSO:
STUDYING IN AUCKLAND
AT THE CUT ABOVE
ACADEMY
GRETTEL WILLIAMS:
STUDYING HEALTH
SCIENCE AT THE
UNIVERSITY OF OTAGO IN
DUNEDIN
SAUNOA LAGAAIA:
STUDYING NURSING AT
THE MASSEY UNIVERSITY
IN PALMESTON NORTH
READ MORE ON PAGE 2 Hawkes Bay
Tatupu Fou o le Vine Moni New Shoots of the True Vine
OUR V IS I ON: “ GET OVE R IT ! J ESU S = F ORWA RD ”
What’s New?
“ D o not cling to events of the past or dwell on what happened long ago. Watch for the new things I am
going to do. It is happening already - you can see it now! I will make a road through the wilderness and give
you streams of water there. ” Isaiah 43: 18 –19
As we always say each year, “a new year with new resolutions”.
But as the days and months go by, we often forget about those
„so-called‟ resolutions. So our youth decided to come with a vi-
sion for 2011. A vision that will help us to look forward into the
future and to forget about the former things in life. As stated
above, “GET OVER IT! JESUS EQUALS FORWARD” our vision
that we will uphold this year for our youth, both personally and
spiritually.
Youth Committee Leaders: Tumema Faioso Ruta Fa’afuata Failautusi: Amani Faioso Teutupe: Frontina Sali There are 36 youth members in our youth. We have new members join us in the beginning of the year: Jonahm Sega, Jordan Sega and Monica Sega who have cur-rently moved here from Welling-ton. Our Youth Programme runs every 2nd Friday, which is filled with ac-tivities, bible studies and work-shops. On the 18th February 2011, we held our first Youth Meeting for the
year. We discussed our youth plan and brainstormed a vision for the year (see above). On the 24th Feb, we officially be-gun our youth programme. Fronti-na Sali opened our evening with an inspirational message based around our vision “Get Over It! Jesus = Fwd”. (Isaiah 43: 18—19) Our focus this year is to also im-prove our networking and commu-nication to enhance a positive out-come from our youth. Ruta Fa’afuata and Setu Pio were representatives at the Leadership Training Camp held in Mangere, Auckland on the 11-13 March. A lot of positive feedback was made.
Page 4 Sinoti Tupulaga Newsletter, Issue No.3, May 2011
Studying for our Future
Our youth continues to step out into the world to extend their education. Siloma Faioso (20), has started her course in hair and makeup at Cut Above Academy in Auck-land. Saunoa Lagaaia (above) has been accept-ed into Massey University in Palmerston North to study Nursing.
As we go further down in the South Island, Grettel Williams is study-ing her first year of Health Science at the University of Otago (Dunedin). Lesina Fa’afuata is studying her first year in Early Childhood Education at the Eastern Institution of Tech-nology in Napier. Atapana Mikasa, studying Engi-neering at the Eastern Institution of Technology.
Wesley Taito, studying Bachelor in Social Sciences; also at the East-ern Institution of Technology. Penese Pio continues his studies towards a BA in Sociology and Sa-moan Studies at the Victoria Uni-versity in Wellington. As you can see God’s blessings up-on these youth members, we re-member to give all glory and honor back to our Lord, Savior Jesus Christ. We wish them all the best with their studies.
“The whole pur-pose of Education is to turn mirrors into windows.”
~ Sydney J. Harris
Lesina Fa’afuata & Grettel Williams
Saunoa Lagaaia
Tumema Faioso & Ruta Fa’afuata
Page 5 Sinoti Tupulaga Newsletter, Issue No.3, May 2011
Since last year‘s Sinoti Samoa Youth Camp in Octo-
ber, Birkenhead Youth have been very active.
In December last year, the Youth participated in our
community Santa Parade where we decorated a float as
the, "Fale Povi i Petele‘ema, we sang songs and had
fun that day, hopefully we do the same this year,
except BETTER! On the same month we had our own
Youth break up at Glenfield Pools, we were lucky
enough to be with one of our brothers from Australia.
Birkenhead Youth had a short break after that, with
some of our Youth travelling overseas for some much
needed R&R.
On March the 6th 2011, Birkenhead youth started up
again. A new Year, new leaders and new name. We are
now known as SIONA as in ZION, the name of our
church other than that, SIONA is well and serving the
name of our Saviour Jesus Christ.
God Bless,
SIONA!
SIONA:SIONA:SIONA: BIRKENHEADBIRKENHEADBIRKENHEAD
Peresepene Lumana’i Brisbane, Australia
Warm greetings from Brisbane,
Firstly I‘d like to thank each and every one of you for your prayers and thoughts over the floods that hit Brisbane
earlier on this year. Give thanks, praise & glory to our father that no one from our congregation or loved ones
were too badly affected by this natural disaster.
Since our last issue Brisbane has pretty much stayed low key, with not much happening before Christmas every-
one was ready to wrap it up for 2010. The usual Christmas celebrations were carried out as per normal such as the
annual church tafaoga and the Ekalesia break-up party.
So far for 2011 it‘s all about fundraising with sausage sizzles and selling of food and beverages at our weekly
church games held every Saturday afternoon. Other fundraising ideas that are still on the drawing board are Food
bingo, Sunday school & youth blue light disco and an Easter raffle.
Aoga tusi paia and youth will be commencing first week of April. We hope to discuss what our plans are for this
year and to see where we would like to go as a youth group for 2011.
Blessings,
Peresepene Luman‘ai.
Page 6 Sinoti Tupulaga Newsletter, Issue No.3, May 2011
Greetings in the name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus
Christ.
The Ponsonby Metotisi Tupulaga also known as PMC
hope you all had an enjoyable festive season. As we ven-
tured into a new year, we looked back to the highlights of
2010, being our Youth Easter camp and the Father‘s Day
Fashion show which was full of laughter, joy and many
memories. To end 2010 off with a bang we had our break
up, held at Taeaomua Hall, where many of our youth
members displayed their gifts through dance and song.
On Sunday 19th of December, we had our Tupulaga end of
year barbeque/awards day. We had planned a picnic at the
beach but as the weather was not on our side we settled for
a picnic at church. With the Ponsonby Tupulaga, doing
chores (feaus) are never boring. It is filled with a lot of
fellowship, laughter and team work. Special mention to
our award winners; Lelei Faamatuainu – Distinguished
Contribution, Ane Uili – Sportsmanship, Filifili Piliae –
Citizenship, Rosalina Manufalealili – Showmanship and
Alafia Isaia – Outstanding Commitment. With happiness
also came sadness for the PMC youth as we farewell our
sister Ruta Fa‘afuata who is now living in Hastings and
wish her all the best for future endeavours.
Starting on Friday 12th of January the Ponsonby boys had
a reunion where past and present PMC youth members
travelled from all over the globe to celebrate the life of
Ieremia Galuvao who was a great role model for the PMC
youth. To finish off the reunion we all gathered at St
Heliers Bay for a barbeque with family and friends and to
witness a memorial League game in memory of Ieremia
played by the PMC boys, seeing Queensland take the win
against New South Wales (State of Origin).
The Tupulaga at Ponsonby are very much involved in vari-
ous groups and committees at church which makes the be-
ginning of the year very eventful so our Tupulaga pro-
gramme started fresh for 2011 in March. We started off
the year with a fundraiser at Pasifika Festival on Saturday
12th of March promoting for Smokefree.
Praying that plans go accordingly this year for all youths
of our Sinoti with the guidance from our Father in Heaven.
Alofaaga ma faamanuiaga mai le Tupulaga a Ponsonby.
PONSONBY METHODIST CHURCH
Page 7 Sinoti Tupulaga Newsletter, Issue No.3, May 2011
First and foremost we must give honor and glory to god for his continuous love and guidance that we have arrived to a
New Year in his loving and caring grace. On behalf of Panmure tupulaga we would like to say a happy new year to our
Nylo leaders Edna Te‘o and Filo Tu, thanks be to god, that he has kindly continued to bless you both as our leaders of our
sinoti tupulaga, we would also like to say a happy new year to all youth groups of sinoti Samoa, may this year bring you all
gods blessing as we start a new year in youth programmes and our Christian walk in life. This is a little report from your
Brothers and sisters from panmure youth.
This year in our youth we have a new leader, taking on the role of youth leader this year. Lumepa Leausa has answered the
calling from God to help lead her brothers and sisters of Panmure for 2011, Lumepa will be working with Afa Aumua(2nd
year as leader) in helping develop programmes and helping inspire the youth of Panmure. Lumepa is taking over the Posi-
tion left by Salu Uepa who is taking on new roles and other blessings in her life.
This year Panmure tupulaga have a big calendar of programmes and activities, even though we haven‘t started pro-
grammes yet, but it looks very exciting, this year the youth have had a big say in what they want for programmes and activ-
ities and were very happy with where were heading this year. A main part of this years programmes is continuing on from
last years first ever youth camp that was held in waikanae, and we have come up with a mission statement this year
―ASPIRE TO INSPIRE‖ we want to use this year to continue inspiring our youth in everything they do as brothers and sis-
ters in Christ and also as individuals, and we also hope to help each other aspire to what ever we put our minds to, and also
continue to use the talents god has blessed us with.
THINGS THAT HAVE HAPPENED
On March 5th our matagaluega bid farewell to David Palelei and family who have been serving there fieldwork from St
Johns theological college for the past 2 years, it was a very emotional weekend, our youth had a very big part, with our
farewell with David, the youth prepared a lot of the entertainment for Saturday and also sharing in the last service that Da-
vid preached and led. David and his family have been a very big part of our panmure youth group, he‘s helped a lot of us
the youth in, many factors and we are really going to miss having him and his family around.
At this stage this is all that‘s happened so far for us as a youth but as mentioned before we are looking forward at getting
our programmes up and running.
UPCOMING EVENTS:
-Team building camp Easter weekend April 22-25
-Panmure tupulaga youth rally may 1st
That‘s a little insight and report from your Brothers and sisters here in panmure,we wish Filo and Edna all the best for this
year, as you both continue to do the hard work for us, the youth of Sinoti Samoa and also all the best to all the youth of our
Sinoti Samoa as you journey through this year in your youth programmes
God bless you all
Panmure Tupulaga
Page 8 Sinoti Tupulaga Newsletter, Issue No.3, May 2011
OUR CHAMPIONS
“That some achieve great success, is proof to all that others can achieve it as well” Abraham Lincoln, 1809-1865
CONGRATULATIONS to the following members of our Sinoti Tupulaga Talavou family who have achieved success
and in doing so bring glory to God:
Uefa Pio (Hastings) - Cultural Captain of Hastings Boy's High School
Alex Tulou (Hastings) — Has represented Wellington & Taranaki at provincial level rugby and is now playing rugby
professionally in France
Amani Faioso (‗Mr Samoa‘) & Uili Tanielu ('Wild Wilz') (Hastings) who are now part of the Kiwi Pro Wrestling
(KPW) roster.
Serena Kalolo (Birkenhead) - Awarded 2nd Place in the very competitive ―Fuataimi‖ category at the 2011 Auckland
Secondary Schools Polyfest
Lise Malaeimi (Manurewa) - was recently awarded the prestigious Helen Kim Scholarship
For those who didn't already know, Lise Malaeimi was featured in a recent edition of the Touchstone Newspaper (NZ Methodist
Newspaper) regarding her recently awarded scholarship. Here is the article that was printed about our very own Lise!
Lise Malaeimi is new Helen Kim Scholar Lise Jubilee Malaeimi (26 yrs) of the Manurewa Samoan Methodist Church and Women‘s Fellowship Group was recently
awarded the Helen Kim Scholarship. This prestigious scholarship is awarded every five years to just 18 young Methodist
and Uniting women from around the world i.e. two young women from each of the nine World Federation of Methodist &
Uniting Women (WFMUW) areas. Lise was selected as one of two scholarship recipients from the South Pacific region.
The other South Pacific region recipient is from the Solomon Islands. The Helen Kim scholarship enables young women to
attend the WFMUW World Assembly which is held every five years and will this year be held in Johannesburg, South Afri-
ca in August 2011. A special programme is run for the 18 Helen Kim scholars prior to them joining the other international
delegates at the main World Assembly conference.
Lise who was born and raised in Auckland is also a very active member of her Church Youth Group and the wider Sinoti
Samoa Youth network. She already has a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Auckland and after having worked
at the Manukau City Council (now part of the Auckland Council) in recent years is now commencing studies towards a Law
Degree at Victoria University in Wellington.
I spoke to Lise about her upcoming experience, she said ― I am really looking forward
to a great time of fellowship at this international event, it will be a great opportunity
to see and hear the different perspectives that women from different countries have on
various issues that are faced by women around the world . Working together to set
goals as well as discussing ways we can jointly work towards achieving such goals
will also be a highlight.‖
Lise, who is the eldest of four children, is also looking forward to the travel that is
involved, ―I‘ve only been to Samoa and Australia so it‘s quite exciting to be travelling
to a country like South Africa where not many people, particularly Pacific people get
the opportunity to visit.‖
Lise hopes to come back to New Zealand following this event with knowledge that
she can impart on others, particularly young women. She also hopes in the future to
be able to share about her experience as a Helen Scholar with Women‘s Fellowship groups around the country.
We congratulate Lise on this wonderful achievement and pray that God blesses her abundantly as she prepares to embark on
this special journey. All the best Lise!
Page 9 Sinoti Tupulaga Newsletter, Issue No.3, May 2011
Absolutely positivelyAbsolutely positively….….Wesley WellingtonWesley Wellington Talofa, Kia Ora, Namaste, Nisa bula Vinaka,
Malo e lelei, Malo Ni.
Fa‘atalofa atu Tupulaga Uesile Ueligitone i le paia o tupulaga
uma o le tatou Sinoti. Fa‘atalofa atu fo‘i i Susuga i Ta‘ita‘i o
Tupulaga, i lau susuga Edna Te‘o, fa‘apea Filo Tu.
O sina lipoti pu‘upu‘u a Uesile aua lo outou silafia and for your
information I mea sa tutupu, o loo tutupu ma o le a tutupu..
Ia o loo manuia ma soifua maloloina ma malolosi ma tino lelei
tamaiti o le laumua..O loo maualuga foi le aoina o le masina I le
Susuga I le faafeagiga ma le faletua..
O le aso 10 Tesema 2010 na fa‘amae‘aina ai galuega a tupulaga,
ua fa‘aigoaina o le -
―Youth Celebration Day.‖ O le theme po‘o le autu o lea po -
“We are one in Christ.” Na vaevae uma le tupulaga i atunu‘u ta‘itasi, ona fa‘apena lea
ona laei mai lava lea i laei a lou lava atunu‘u..
E lua ni prize fa‘apito na saunia e le ofisa aua galuega o le tau-
saga. O le Most Outstanding Youth Member 2010, fa‘apea ai ma
le Most Dedicated.
O se vaaiga matagofie ona o le naunau uma o tamaiti e ala i laei
a lona lava atunu‘u. Aemaise le tausagi fiafia o matua e support
le fa‘amoemoe a le fanau e pei ona outou silasila atu ai I ata o
loo I luga..
The start of this year 2011 for our Youth and Congregation be-
gan with many changes. For one, we bid farewell to our Rever-
end Fatuatia and Suresa Tufuga and their family who have been
with our church for the last 8 years. On Sunday 9 January we
had our final service with them and wished them well as they
begin their new ministry in Manurewa. Our Youth participated
through song and dance, and again later that week we helped
with the packing and cleaning of the house in Kingston.
In February, we welcomed Rev. Falaniko and Marlene Mann-
Taito and their family to Wesley as our new Faifeau. The youth
participated in the Ava ole Feiloaiga and helped with the feaus.
This was a long and tiring day for us, but it was worth it!
Our Youth band is still going strong. We continue to meet for
practices and participate in the Sunday Services. Getting better
and better everyday, like Rev. Falaniko said, – ‘Satan fears my
song more than my sermon,’ so we will continue to praise God
through song and our various talents.
We are looking forward to this year, building on from what we
achieved last year, and moving forward stronger as a Youth.
We wish all our Sinoti Tupulaga the best for 2011. God bless.
Soifua, Ka kite ano outou uma.
Page 10 Sinoti Tupulaga Newsletter, Issue No.3, May 2011
CALLING ALL REWA MEKO SUPER HEROES - WHAM,
CRASH, BOOM!! Rewa Meko goes out with a BAAANG!!
Saturday 18 December, the day where all the REEEWWWAAA
MEKKKOOO SUPERHEROES came together. This was our
time to reflect and reminisce over the HIGHS and LOWS of
2010. This year has been a challenging year especially with the
loss of our late minister Reverend Alalafaga Palelei; however we
give thanks and praises to God for helping us through the year
and making us STRRROOONGER than ever.
The Youth members all disguised themselves as their favourite
superheroes – we had the Spartan warrior from 300, Avatar, Xe-
na, Storm, Rambo, and of course, the one hero who is spiritually
with us daily, our LORD JESUS CHRIST.
The youth split into 4 groups and were asked to create a banner
for their team. In each team there were one or two youth mem-
bers that attended the Sinoti Tupulaga Camp. They shared their
experience at camp and what they learnt from the messages de-
livered by the guest speakers and the workshops at Camp.
After the group discussions, we had competitive games - hula
hoop race, the egg race, the magic carpet race and the head to
head balloon race. Following the games the leadership team pre-
sented awards to the outstanding individuals of 2010.
Here are the winners for 2010: Rookie of the year 2010 – TULUA VATAU
Leadership Award – SHARLENE MALAEIMI
Baby’s bottoms Award (Minties Moment) – MELE VATAU
The ‘Dox’ Award (supporting and commitment to youth, perfor-
mances etc) – LYN TAI
Borat Award (Entertainer of the year over all performances) –
RONALD VATAU
The Brave heart Award (no matter what barriers and temptations
in front of them they continue down our path) – SHARLENE
MALAEIMI
The ‘Seki A Digi-Sale’ Award (best item performed goes to tutor)
– BOY‘S ‗ABERAMO HAKA‘ – KRIS FAASAVALU
Rev. Alalafaga Palelei award (Overall award - Spiritual strength,
inspirational leadership, mentorship and innovation)– LISE
MALAEIMI
Christmas symbolises the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ, and is
also a time of reflection and giving. We all contributed and do-
nated a basket of non-perishable items to the Auckland City Mis-
sion.
It was definitely a time of giving when we all exchanged gifts for
SECRET SANTA. There were some interesting gifts - from the
usual box of chocolates right through to a brand new pair of NI-
KE SHOES. After all the oooohhs and aaaaahhhs admiring each
others gifts, we concluded our day in prayer giving thanks to our
Father for guiding us through 2010.
2011
February 2011 was the start to a new beginning for our newly
appointed minister, Reverend Fatuatia Tufuga and family.
WELCOME TO OUR MANUREWA FAMILY.
MANUREWA YOUTH!
Page 11 Sinoti Tupulaga Newsletter, Issue No.3, May 2011
La’asaga New Plymouth, Taranaki
Greetings and welcome to yet another La’asaga update in
2011. All praise and glory to our Heavenly Father for the
many blessings He has not only bestowed upon our tupulaga
group so far this year, but for all the tupulaga groups around
New Zealand and abroad.
It is at this time that we mention our heartfelt sympathies to the
people of Christchurch and Japan, especially our New Zealand
Methodist Head office members and our tupulaga brothers and
sister who are currently still in Christchurch. Our support and
prayers are with you all.
Over the past four months La‘asaga‘s calendar has been filled
with amazing fellowship retreats, fundraisers and a lot of upcom-
ing events.
La‘asaga ―Just Do It!‖ Survivor Camp
During the weekend of the 14-16 January 2011, La‘asaga held
their annual camp at the Te Wera Lodge Campsite, just out of the
rural township of Stratford, New Plymouth. Our camp was filled
with many memories and a time for each and every member to
reflect on their relationship with the Lord. It was a time of spir-
itual growth for our group with the theme ―Just Do It!‖, pushing
each and every one to the limit. The theme ―Just Do It!‖ was es-
tablished in the book of James 1:22-25, which reads:
“…Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves.
Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do
what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and
after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets
what he looks like. But the man who looks intently into the per-
fect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forget-
ting what he has heard, but doing it he will be blessed in what
he does…”
We are told by this reading in James to not merely listen to the
word of the Lord but to act on it. The Camp Committee felt this
would be an awesome theme for La‘asaga to begin the new year
refreshed and strengthened in the Lords word.
The reality television programme Survivor was used as a theme
for the activities at the camp, with tribal councils and army as-
sault courses pushing everyone mentally, physically and spiritu-
ally. The camp teams, Peteru and Ioane brought their own rendi-
tions of chants representing the meaning of their team names and
banners.
The support of our parents and our fa‘afeagaiga Rev. Limu Isaia ,
made our camp a blessed success and we have gathered so many
memories to help us in our individual relationships with God and
our spiritual walk as a tupulaga.
Fundraising
Throughout 2011 La‘asaga will be continuously fundraising for
trips and activities they wish to organise. Over the past month
La‘asaga has been doing weekly sausage sizzles and car washes
and has many other fundraisers going throughout the year.
University Students
We at present have 6 members of La‘asaga enrolled at Tertiary
Institutions around New Zealand. Cassandra Feaunati: Universi-
ty of Otago, Carinnya Feaunati: Victoria University of Welling-
ton, Alekana Feaunati: Western Institute of Technology Tarana-
ki, So‘otaga Misikei: Western Institute of Technology Taranaki,
Talie Fuimaono: Massey University, Palmerston North, Gary
Tiplady: Massey University, Palmerston North.
We wish them all the very best for their studies during 2011. We
also would like to wish the very best to other varsity students
within our Sinoti Samoa Tupulaga.
Up and coming events
-Laasaga will be performing at the annual Multi- Ethnic Extrava-
ganza on March 26 2011
-Mission work at rest homes, the 40hr Famine and Clean up New
Zealand later in the year.
Special Thanks
A special mention to be made to our NYLO Team Edna and Filo
for your awesome preparation and programme at the recent Lead-
ership Training Weekend held in Auckland. Thank you so much
for all the time and effort you put into the weekend and for shar-
ing your knowledge and wisdom with the Taitai tupulaga and Sui
tupulaga from different Itumalo around New Zealand.
We take this opportunity to wish each and every tupulaga group
the best of luck in their plans, events, fundraisers and mission
work and most importantly in their faith and walk with Jesus
Christ.
May God pour out many more blessings to our Sinoti Samoa
Tupulaga and Remember…
All we need is FAITH, All we need is PASSION, All we need is
HUMBLE- Hearts
Your Brothers and Sister of La‘asaga in New Plymouth
Page 13 Sinoti Tupulaga Newsletter, Issue No.3, May 2011
PETONE TUPULAGAPETONE TUPULAGAPETONE TUPULAGA TALOFA LAVA!...i Tupulaga Talavou o le tatou Sinoti. E muamua ona ave le viiga ma le fa‘ane‘etaga i lo tatou Tama o i le lagi mo
lona ta‘ita‘iga.
Already the year has moved into its fourth month. Hopefully this article finds everyone in good health and happiness both physically,
emotionally and spiritually. PETONE TUPULAGA in Wellington send their warmest greetings to everybody. Currently we are look-
ing forward to the Easter holidays, celebrating Easter with a programme that you will be hearing about in the next quarter. So far, the
outlook is good in the Petone Methodist camp as we aim to get our youth motivated in Christ following on from the camp that we had.
(Yup, fire still burning!!!)
We have made a programme that has Petone Samoan Youth running for three Fridays a month apart from a few minor malfunctions
our programme is running smoothly. This has incorporated Zumba, Movies, Volley and we plan to do some outreach this year also.
We also had Autalavou games on the Saturday 9th April that saw some more unleashing of ‗fun competition‘ played out. At this
stage our main focuses are on the Itumalo Youth Rally coming up this weekend, Sunday 17th April and then our Easter holiday sea-
son.
A WARM WELCOME TO OUR NEW TA‘ITA‘I ITUMALO: Falaniko Mann-Taito & Family. Petone met with the Mann-Taito‘s
and showed them what true hospitality looks like – Fai mai le lo‘omatua o le matou Ekalesia: OCHA! OCHA!
Since our last article, we‘ve celebrated a number of our Tupulaga‘s ―coming of age‖. HAPPY (belated) BIRTHDAY TO:
Asivao Filipo Leutu Atatai Bonita Tuala
Pu‘ega Utaia Selesa Va‘alele Eseta Va‘alele
Sophie Taupa‘u Sila Aso Ualesi Mooching Filiki
And that is a wrap from Petone Youth, but in the mean time we hope that the next time we all meet is soon, we pray that God
guides us all in the decisions we make on our journeys in our churches, in our families and as individuals. Soifua ma ia manuia!! One
Heart, One Soul!
Page 14 Sinoti Tupulaga Newsletter, Issue No.3, May 2011
CONTACT US:
Communications Committee Contact Email:
For all correspondence (including Competition entries, letters to editor, feedback or any other queries) please
contact the Communications Committee by email:
[email protected] REMEMBER!!!
This newsletter is being distributed/emailed to you in electronic format via the internet. The information contained
within this newsletter is to be treated with respect and is intended for the reading pleasure of our Sinoti members
only—Please do not send this newsletter around to anyone who may potentially use the information within this
newsletter (including photos etc) to cause harm to our Church and individual members.