MARCH 2013 ISSUE 8 - The Methodist Church of New Zealand

MARCH 2013 ISSUE 8 

Bonjour, Mahalo, Ni san Bula, Kia Orana, Talofa Lava and Greetings to all! 

Praise Him! 

Upu masani o le Tusi Pese a le Ekalesia Metotisi, 

“A pei se vaitafe le fifilemu, 

Pe lutia nei i le sou 

I le olaga nei 

Ou te molimau pea 

E lelei, e lelei le Ali’i" 

O le lagona lava lea e fa’amatala ai le agaga tausa’afiafia i le silisili ese o le alofa ma le agalelei o le 

Atua i le galuega fa’ale-Tupulaga Talavou i lenei tausaga 2013. MANUIA LE TAUSAGA FOU! 

It feels like so much has happened since our last SENT edition – but with the Good grace of our Heavenly Father we 

have been able to accomplish tasks and goals set out especially towards a brighter future for all our Tupulaga 

Talavou. With the years waiting ahead of us, we pray that we may continue to encourage one another to engage 

within Tupulaga Talavou for a bigger and brighter future within our Sinoti Samoa. WE ARE THE FUTURE and 

through Christ our Lord, nothing is impossible! 

What’s been happening since our last SENT Newsletter Issue No.7? 

Leadership Training 2013: 8 th – 10 th February 2013 

What an event! For the first time, it was a much laid back occasion, going back to simple roots of what it means to 

envision, to relook and recharge ourselves. LT2013 was held at Te Manukanuka o Hoturoa Marae near Auckland 

Airport, and saw a group of 30 tupulaga talavou in attendance from around Sinoti Samoa. 

Page 1 S E N T N E W S L E T T E R, ISSUE No. 8, March 2013

We opened up with devotions prepared by 

Rev. Tovia Aumua – Sea of Sinoti Samoa – based on 

the calling of Moses through the burning bush. It was 

amazing how the scriptures spoke of God using the 

gifts and tools that Moses already had to lead the 

people of Israel from under the thumb of Egyptian 

rule; it was humbling to note that Moses had 

struggled to accept the reality of a bush that did not 

burn, let alone the voice that came from within; it 

was crucial to understand that in the end, God 

chooses us to lead in some way – big or small – but 

the challenges lies within our response! But we’re 

certain that, like Moses, our tupulaga talavou will be 

there to say: “O a’u lenei!” 

We were blessed to challenge ourselves in three 

groups: TOUCH, PAUSE, ENGAGE – you guessed it! 

We had a number of activities which involved a lot of 

thinking, a show of physical skills, and a spiritual 

connection at best. Above all, our challenge for the 

weekend was this: “The Vision of today is the 

Reality of Tomorrow”. 

We pray that all of those who attended have 

gone back to their Tupulaga Talavou and spoke of 

the Vision & Mission Statement that we have 

adopted during LT2013. We invite all of our tupulaga 

talavou to share and engage in making this a firm 

revelation as to who we are as Tupulaga Talavou of 

Sinoti Samoa for the next three years. 

Komiti Fa’afoe: 22 nd – 23 rd March 2013 

Lynley represented Tupulaga Talavou at the Komiti 

Fa’afoe *sings* All by myself…lol 

(Thanks for the song Filo)... It’s an honor to 

represent our Tupulaga Talavou, and furthermore 

the experience was great knowing that the future of 

Tupulaga Talavou is in capable hands. 

Page 2 S E N T N E W S L E T T E R, ISSUE No. 8, March 2013 

So far so good, no complaints from the top so we all must be 

doing something good. I say let’s keep at it, and prepare 

ourselves for more which is yet to come…watch this space!! 

Any updates/recommendations will be sent through on our 

next Issue, otherwise will be updated at Sinoti which will be 

held up at Aukilani in July of this year. 

What does the Future hold for Tupulaga 

Talavou of Sinoti Samoa? 

REMINDER: Methodist Conference has declared 2013 as a 

Year of Celebrating YOUTH…so we have to find ways to 

celebrate on a daily, weekly, monthly basis. So we encourage 

ALL our Tupulaga Talavou to reflect on what makes Youth 

Ministry so important, and find a way to celebrate! 

Saturday 25 th May 2013 is the NATIONAL FUN DAY for all 

young people within the Methodist Church of New Zealand – 

that’s right! – for English-speaking, Samoan, Tongan, Korean, 

Fijian, Rotuman, Maori and so much more! So keep this date 

free in your diaries as we plan events up and down the country 

to recognize the importance of young people within the 

life of the Connexion. 

Pre-Methodist Conference 2013 at Wesley College will see a 

National Youth Leaders Conference – this will be in October 

and we will ensure to keep our Tupulaga Talavou informed 

as this is an exciting new initiative for our Church. 

Reminders! 

Komiti Fa’afoe (June) 

Leadership Training Follow-up (11 th July, 2013) 

Tupulaga Fono (12 th July, 2013) 

Sinoti Samoa AGM, Aukilani (12 th – 14 th July, 2013) 

Su’ega A’oga Aso Sa (July) 

Su’ega Autalavou (September) 

Methodist Church of New Zealand Conference 

(November) 

PRAISE HIM! 

So for now we shall say Sayonara until next time 

and enjoy the read. 

God can do the most amazing things, at the most 

unexpected times, through the most unlikely 

sources, by the most unusual means, to bless us in 

the most delightful ways. 

One Heart One Soul. 

Lynley Tai & Filo Tu 

National Youth Liaison Officers (NYLO) 

Sinoti Samoa


Ta’iala (Waitakere) Youth 2013 

This year, our youth, has just got over their once in a lifetime tour 

of America and now ready for what 2013 has ahead for Ta’iala 

youth (Waitakere). 

We are still in staging mode of completing our event for the 2013 

Calendar. So we will keep you posted, in the next coming SENT 

edition newsletter. 


Suiga Kofi (change of Leadership). 

This year we have a new Team that will take on the 

leadership for our youth group: 

Sione Uesile Oloi (Youth Leader) 

Amio Nafo’i ( Youth Leader Vice) 

Faauuga Tautalafua 

(Failautusi) 

Lise Oloi (Teutupe) 

Also this year we have 

22 active members, of 

all ages so this year is 

going to be fun and 

enjoyable.

Sinoti Samoa Youth Leadership Camp 

This year’s leadership camp was one of the best camps we ever attended. 

We had two representatives attending the camp Juliette Lemusu and 

Sione Oloi They have reported, that, they had enjoyed the camp and need 

to do their reports, to youth and also to the church. 

Overall that’s it for this month we will keep everyone posted on what our 

youth is up to, and what events are heading our way lol. 

Prov 3:6: “..in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make 

your paths straight.” 

Ta’iala Youth (Waitakere). 


National Method- 

ist Youth Fun Day 

A day to 

celebrate 

our youth 

and our 

Methodist 

heritage 

Saturday May 25 th 

We ask you to: 

Ask your youth for ideas to make sure it will be a great Fun 

Day for them – be creative! 

Work with your youth to make the day happen 

Let us know who is involved from your Synod/region so we can 

help create video links between Fun Day events around the 

country – please email Filo Tu: tufilo@myvuw.ac.nz 


Talofa Tupulaga, 

Welcome to the latest issue of SENT 

We hope you have had a great start to 2013 and can’t wait 

to see what you have all been up to. 

La’asaga has been involved in a few events since our last 

SENT edition. Here are some of the things we have been 

up to: 

Sinoti Samoa Tupulaga Leadership Training – Auckland 

2013 

This year La’asaga had two representatives attend 

Leadership training, So’otaga P-Misikei and Lahleina 

Feaunati. Leadership training this year helped and 

challenged Tupulaga to achieve visions for Sinoti Samoa 

Tupulaga locally, regionally and nationally. Thank you to 

NYLO (Lyn and Filo) for all of your preparation for 

eadership training 2013 which allowed tupulaga to be 

equipped with leadership skills for the future of Sinoti 

Samoa. 

Waitangi Day 

La’asaga had the pleasure with our Autalavou to perform 

at the annual Waitangi Celebrations held at Puke Ariki 

landing on Waitangi Day 2013 in New Plymouth. 

Taranaki Multi-Ethnic Extravaganza 

On March 09 2013 La’asaga alongside our Autalavou 

performed at the Taranaki Multi- Ethnic Extravaganza at 

the New Plymouth Racecourse. The Taranaki Multi-Ethnic 

Extravaganza is an opportunity for countries from around 

the world to share their food and entertainment with the 

people of Taranaki. 

Congratulations 

La’asaga extend our congratulations to our brothers and 


sisters in La’asaga and all Tupulaga in Sinoti who successfully 

completed NCEA in 2012, who have been accepted into 

Tertiary qualifications around New Zealand and who 

completed another successful year and who have now 

completed their degree. 

“ For I know the plans I have for you”, declares the Lord, 

“plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you 

hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29 verse 11 

What’s coming up for La’asaga 

-La’asaga will be taking part in the annual Autalavou Easter 

Camp during Easter weekend. 

- La’asaga will be gathering 12 April 2013 

- La’asaga have also got a Sausage Sizzle fundraiser at The 

Warehouse 26 April and Car Wash at McDonalds New 

Plymouth 27 April 2013 

La’asaga wish many blessings to all tupulaga groups over the 

Easter period. We pray that it will be a time of reflection, 

fellowship and prayer. We wish all tupulaga groups the very 

best for events and programmes they have planned in their 

Itumalo. 

Your brothers 

and sisters in 

La’asaga



Talofa Lava Tupulaga, My name is Sione Oloi I hale from the 

Aukilani Itumalo from the Aulotu Waitakere out west of 

Auckland. 

Our Journey was a blessing and calling from God, I decide to 

join the course. I was approached by my Faifeau to take 

part in the lay preacher course in February last year, along 

with two others, Pauline Lauaki and Faauuga Tautalafua. 

Our first experience was in Otara, where we had a 

combined class with the Manukau itumalo. We were 

quiet at first, and did not ask any questions or answered 

any when asked. Second experience we got engaged into 

our assignments and practical’s at our church where we 

had to partner up with the qualified Failauga’s at our 

church and work alongside them, during their day of 

service on Sundays. We were assigned to do certain tasks 

such as children story, scripture readings, and prayers 

during special allocated services throughout the year. It 

was an awesome experience for all of us, learning about 

the different modes in leading worship. At first, I went 

along for a ride but as I sat through the sessions and the 

lead worship workshops, I felt the drive within myself to 

keep going. I think the Holy Spirit of God was working within me. 

Faauuga Tautalafua, Pauline Lauaki, Rev. Tovia Aumua 

and Sione Oloi 


Faauuga Tautalafua 

At the beginning of this year at the 

Auckland District Samoan churches 

(under Sinoti Samoa), combine 

service, The superintended, Tovia 

Aumua presented us with our Lead 

Worship 1 certificates. It was a 

great feeling completing the first 

stage of my journey. This year, 

2013, Pauline, Faauuga and I have 

proceeded to the next level, the 

Lead Worship 2. At the moment, 

we have been practising having 

turns to preach at different 

services and complete some of the 

tasks we are allocated to do. We 

just hope and pray to our heavenly 

father, for helping us through the 

guidance of his Holy Spirit as we

face the challenges at this stage of our Journey. 

This year is the second round of our mission and up in coming lay preachers. This round is where we 

have to deliver a Lauga with support of our faifeau. Once we are confident in front of our members of 

our church, we will be allocated to some of the churches within out Itumalo doing the whole service 

from start to finish: 

FA'AFEILOA'I LE AULOTU 

Pese Amata loku 

Tatalo Faafetai 

Pese Muamua 

Tatalo Umi ( Viiga, Faafetai, Faatoesega, Manaoga) 

Pese ole Aoga aso Sa 

Tala o tamati 

Pese lona Lua 

Faitauina ole tusi paia ale Atua 

Lauga 

Pese Faai’u 

Folafolaga ale Failautusi 

Tatalo Faai’u 

All of the above has to be done is Samoan from start to finish. You can 

use English In some areas of your delivery but everything else has to be 

delivered in the Samoan language. This round is the last round of our 

course. If we do well, then that means we are ready to become the next 

Generation of Failaugas for 2013. But I will leave that part in God’s Hands 

at this point. 

For any of youths who are thinking of becoming a Lay preacher, you 

should talk to your faifeau first. They will then enrol you into the course. 

It’s a good experience and a step closer to God. 

Sione Uesile Oloi 


For more Information or interest into the course get in 

contact with you Faifeau’s and go from there. 

God is good, all the time. All the time, God is Good 

Sione Uesile Oloi 

Pauline Lauaki

Belated Happy New Year wishes from the Tupulaga here in Wesley 

Wellington! 

2013 is gearing up to be an exciting year. We started with the sad departure 

of one of our leaders Wesley, as he blesses Queenstown with his rugby talent 

and welcomed Toaga Alefosio as our new leader J We’ve just gotten the ball 

rolling with our youth sessions and so far, so good. 

As leaders, we decided that we would each take a Saturday and lead a session. 

Our focus is still on further development of our Youth band and further 

nurturing our spiritual growth within the Church. 

We’re currently looking forward to our Easter Camp this weekend and our 

Youth Fun Day in May. 

HUGE CONGRATULATIONS ARE IN ORDER FOR.. 

Wesley Tufuga – Now playing for Arrowtown Rugby Club, Queenstown 

Toaga Alefosio – Still undergoing her Honours degree at Auckland University 

in Development. 

Tinei Alefosio – Completing her Bachelor of Commerce in Tourism 

Management. 

Blessings, 

Toaga, Nerisa and Malaeola. 




Talofa lava Tupulaga, 

Firstly, we’d like to return all praises and glory 

to our Heavenly Father for blessing us with all 

that we have today, thanksgiving to the Lord 

for allowing us, Pameko, to continue gathering 

weekly as a youth group for fellowships every 

Friday and to connect with other youth 

adolescents such as ourselves. 

AAAAAAAANYWAYS (in Tofiga’s ‘Uncle Sam/ 

Elvis’ tone lol) much has happened since 12 

months ago, and we have continued to 

develop as a youth serving the Lord and being 

young witnesses of the Good Word. 

Where to from here? We have been planning 

and preparing for a first-time ever concert/ 

production as one of our main events for 

2013. 

We have also had the privilege to be formally 

invited as a youth group to Samoa by the cur- 

rent Miss Samoa and Miss South Pacific to 

perform at: the annual Teuila Festival 2012, 

the handing over of Janine’s reign of Miss 

Samoa to the next recipient and also be part 

of the church service welcoming the new 


contestants of the Miss Samoa pageant 

2013-14. Although our calendar had to 

come to seem quite crammed, but with 

the guidance of our Lord, all things are 

made possible J Although our number of 

attenders each youth sessions fluctuated 

(NB: the more the food, the more turn up 

lol) we have a number of 29 members 

and is in the process of increasing. 

Acknowledgements: 

The last 12 months have been a 

sensational year for Pameko, being 

blessed with many young achievers in 

sporting as well as academia. PRAISE 

HIM! Ranging from scholarships to 

gaining ‘Man of the Match’, from winning 

academic awards to winning (we like to 

do what we’re best at LOL), all have 

been successful and excel in all areas of 

life. 

Over the last year’s period, we have 

been separated with our very own sister 

Janine Nicky Tuivaiti, who was crowned 

Miss Samoa 12-13 in September and

Miss South Pacific 12-13 in December, as she 

now is based in Motootua, Samoa for the 

duration of her reign. All Praise and Victory to 

God for showering our tupulaga with such 

beautiful talents and character! Academia was 

a great hit in our tupulaga as many of our 

school leavers gained university entrance and 

even better, various scholarship grants. Praise 

Him! Our youth leaders for another additional 

year to the role are Lucky Unasa and Silaulii 

Rachel Siaea; however, there have been 

many opportunities for other members of 

Pameko, to take on board the weight of lead- 

ership. 

May the Lord continue to rain down showers 

of blessings on all Tupulaga of Sinoti Samoa 

and all the best for the years calendar and all 

future plans. In times of troubles, remember to 

“Do your best, let God do the rest”. Deuces! 

Pameko – Tupulaga Papatoetoe. 


The Polynesian Festival (Polyfest) is the 

largest Maori and Pacific Island cultural 

event in the world. Held on the 13 th -16 th 

March 2013, hosted by James Cook High 

School (former school of NYLO rep, Lynley 

Tai), this year was the 38 th year running. 

The four day event is held at the Manukau 

Sports Bowl in Auckland around 

mid-March every year, and attracts over 

100,000 people all over Auckland, this 

includes performers, volunteers and 

spectators. It is four days of mayhem, 

excitement, games enjoying Island food 

and especially showing off your pride and 

joy, that is your culture! There are 

different cultural stages: Maori, Samoan, 

Tongan, Cook Island, Niue and the 

Diversity stage. All these students putting 

in hours of practise and sweat to perform 

to their perfection on D Day! 

We have one student, Tulua Vatau from 

Manurewa that performed for the 

Auckland Girls Grammar School Tongan 


group at Polyfest this year. This is her 

experience at Polyfest 2013: 

My name is Lynne Leitulua Vatau. I am 

from the Manurewa (Rewa Meko) 

tupulaga and I am in my final year (Year 

13) at Auckland Girls Grammar School 

(AGGS). 

A little something about me is that I am 

the youngest of 6: I have 3 brothers and 2 

sisters. I can promise you that being the 

youngest is not as easy as I thought it 

would be with having 5 older siblings

grilling you as well as mother dearest. 

I performed for the Tongan Group in 

Polyfest this year. This is my fourth year 

performing for my school Tongan group. I 

decided to join the Tongan group in my 

second year of high school (Year 10) be- 

cause I really wanted to be in a Polyfest 

group and so I thought that I would join 

the Tongan Group because it was some- 

thing different. 

I enjoyed learning the culture but most of 

all learning different styles of dancing and 

their graceful actions. Our tutor was an 

elderly man, yes I said it a man. I was 

shocked when I saw him teaching the girls 

the different dances we were taking to 

the Polyfest - that is something that you 

would never see in our culture because 

men don't teach the girls dances (well 

ummmm…) The Tongans have a similar 


dance to us that is the mauluulu. For the 

Tongan stage, each school have a choice of 

entering two dance categories: every year 

our group enters the Mauluulu and Soke. 

Soke is a dance using sticks and the 

Mauluulu is similar to Samoan mauluulu 

except you sit down and do the actions. I 

was told from a Tongan elder that the 

actions in the mauluulu is like poetry in 

motion, that tells a story just like our 

mauluulu. 

Practising for Polyfest was hard work and 

requires a lot of commitment. We usually 

have practices after school from 3.20pm 

until 5pm every day, and on Saturdays 

from 10am until 3pm. I didn’t mind at all 

because Saturday practises were always 

followed by a big Tongan FEAST ha ha! 

On the day of Polyfest, the atmosphere 

was awesome. After fiafia (rehearsal) 

night I was excited and hyped 

for the 

actual performance and found 

that after the performance 

day on stage I felt so proud, 

and it shows when you are 

still roaming around Polyfest 

with your costume on full 

blast! 

On stage, I was excited and 

nervous because I am finally

performing on that stage. I was also nerv- 

ous because I was right in the front, so I 

had to be careful that I didn’t make any 

mistakes. I find that I've got my smile on a 

couple of hours 

before and after the performance, still on 

that buzz! 

For those who don’t know, I have Tongan 

blood in me. On that stage, I am very 

proud that I was able to experience and 

represent the AFEAKI side of my family. 

Tupulaga, I can only urge that you give it a 

go to perform in Polyfest. Whether it is 

experiencing something different to what 

you are used to or to see a different style of 

living through a different culture. My 

experience performing in the Tongan group 

was a learning experience for me. I was not 

only able to learn the Tongan way of 

dancing but also their way of life. The 

Tongan culture is very similar to our culture 

in many ways, one thing we all have is 

PRIDE! Tongans are proud people and have 

very supportive/competitive families all 

they want are for their children to succeed 

and excel in everything they do. 

Overall, performing in my school Tongan 

group at Polyfest has definitely been a 

memorable experience. I have made some 


lifelong friends this would not have been 

possible if I didn't give this a go! 

Malo Aupito 

Lua xx 

ASB POLYFEST 2013 RESULTS 

Tongan stage 

1 st Soke – Auckland Girls Grammar School

An update from our Rewa Meko soldiers thus 

far: 

Our 4 Youth Leaders are Mele Vatau, Pesi 

Malaeimi, Litia Vaisagote and Ronald 

Vatau. Litia and Ronald are new to the 

force, and Mele and Pesi continue in 

their roles as leaders for another year. 

The Fantastic 4 

This year we have officially started our 

Youth Evening services. The youth ser- 

vices are held on the evening of every 

1 st Sunday of the month, led by the tu- 

pulaga. Rev. Fatuatia Tufuga selects 

those to lead and it can be conducted 

in any way they wish. It’s a great op- 

portunity for each person to present 

themselves comfortably, most im- 

portantly strengthen us spiritually. 

Our Autalavou has a band, led by Eddie 

Tai. The talented tupulaga make up 

the body of our band – everyone 

jumps on which ever instrument they 

play best (or which instrument they 

are instructed to, yes so talented... 

thank you Jesus! Our band played the 

Praise & Worship songs for our Manu- 

kau Itumalo Lotu earlier this year in 

February and did an awesome job! 

Praise HIM! We will let you know when 

our world tour will be, so WATCH THIS 

SPACE!! 

IF GOD IS FOR US, WHO CAN BE AGAINST US? … Romans 8:31 

All praises and glory to He who is our Creator, our Father, and our God. PRAISE HIM!! 

Hope everyone had a fantastic Christmas and New Years and are all safe & well. 


Up & coming events to look forward to: 

Youth Fun Day – Saturday 25 th May 2013 

Youth Camp – 19 th -21 st of July 2013. Still in 

progress but we are starting with fund- 

raising. Kicking it off with our Easter 

Hampers, this will be drawn Easter Sun- 

day. 

Rewa Meko would like to leave you all with a 

message especially since it is that special time of 

the Year, Yes Easter, o le maliu ma le toe tu mai 

o lo tatou Ali’i Fa’aola, Iesu Keriso. Let us not 

forget the significance of this weekend, it’s not 

just about the chocolate easter eggs! Christ died 

for YOU and me so that we shall be free of our 

sins! 

“Through Him everyone who believes is set free 

from every sin”…Acts 13:39 

Have a safe long weekend, stay blessed. 

REWA LOVES YOU, BUT GOD LOVES YOU 

MORE…One Heart One Soul…

Pasifika Youth Conference 2013 

The Ministry of Pacific Island Affairs in Association with the Auckland Agencies for 

Youth, Ministry of Youth Development, Careers NZ and Auckland Council present the 

Pasifika Youth Conference 2013. 

The conference will take place on Wednesday 8 May with topics including NCEA 

Achievement, Youth Citizenship, Youth Transitions, Language and Cultural Identity. 

This is an opportunity for Pasifika Youth to come together and form on-going 

relationships with the shared goal of improving Pasifika achievement in all facets of 

life. 

Registrations close on 19 


WHAT: Pasifika Youth Conference 2013 

WHEN: Wednesday 8 May, 2013 

TIME: 9am – 2pm 

VENUE: Roskill Youth Zone, 

740 Sandringham Road, Mt Roskill. 

CONTACT: If you are interested in attending, please email 

Yara Richmond on pacificyouthconference@mpia.govt.nz 

or call 09 265 3228 for more information.

Last year our youth were successful in our final fundraiser for 2012 to allow those who were available to 

attend our end of year break up at Rainbows Ends. This was an awesome day. Although there were only 

a few of us that could make it, the day was worth it especially to see some of the boys give the “Fear 

Fall” a go, even though they say first and last time lol, but it was great to see them give it a try. 

2013 has been quite slow for us in terms of youth activities; this is because our church was given the role 

to perform the Faaevagelia for our first Lotu Tu’ufaasi in Feb. So majority of our available Sundays that 

we usually do youth were taken up by aoga mea’s. I have to say though it was worth it considering the 

amount of positive feedback we received from everyone present. Rev Dr Amaamalele commented that 

we were now the Gangam Stlylers as we delivered a Samoan action church song with a bit of Gangam 

flavour added to the mix ;-) 

This year we congratulate both John and Katrina Neru, Katrina gave birth to her 3 rd son Christopher Neru 

on the 13 th March 2013, both are strong, well and healthy and John is a proud father of 3 boys. So far for 

the year we have completed a church service which was lead purely by us and another one coming up in 


May. We have got another Easter Hamper coming up 

which will be drawn the week after Easter.

MARCH 2013 ISSUE 8 - The Methodist Church of New Zealand

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