Prayers Offered For Restoration In Tonga

A Tongan family in Labasa offered prayers for the res­toration for their families and for the people in the Kingdom of Tonga as part of their Easter Friday Church Service.

This was in commemoration of the sufferings the island kingdom and its people went through dur­ing the destructive eruption of the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai vol­cano and its resulting tsunami on January 15, this year.

Easter Friday also marked the end of the third month since the erup­tion.

Aside from the massive tsunami, the volcano formed volcanic ash clouds that skied the Tongan archi­pelago for days.

Falefehi Tuitavake Petueli, who has been living in Fiji for 53 years after getting married to a Rotuman, said Easter Friday service to them meant a time to revisit and thank God for his protection upon their relatives and families in Tonga.

Ms Petueli said they finally heard from their family members, two weeks after the eruption.

“Two weeks after the eruption, my niece from Tonga called on my Facebook messenger for a few min­utes because the reception was still not clear,” she said.

“All of my relatives were safe dur­ing the eruption and fortunately none of their homes was destroyed”

Ms Petueli said they were now in constant contact with their fami­lies back home.

Her younger brother and old­er sister reside in the capital, Nuku’alofa, which was directly af­fected by tsunami waves after the eruption.

On Thursday night, they had a special prayer for the quick recov­ery of their nation and to restore the lives of the people affected by the eruption.

“Every day we pray for our people back home and the way the donor countries have assisted them is indeed commendable,” the 78-year-old said.

“Tonga has traditionally been a spiritual country and strictly ob­serves Christian values.

“So definitely the Lord will pro­vide food, security and protect our beloved homeland.”