Abstract
Greetings from the Pacific. I understand that this consultation is the first of its kind in the United States about the African Churches. I consider myself fortunate to participate with you in this consultation. It seems that we represent both extremes — Africa the big continent, and the Pacific the big ocean. You have a large population and wealth in Africa, but we of the Church in Tonga have more square miles of water than most of the people who live in the Pacific area. The contrasts are varied and innumerable, and from the analogical point of view we share many similarities and differences, and I hope that you will put the Pacific on your map, and we will do the same for you. We both are in the Third World category. We both are among the “receiving” churches, and although Christianity has been for many years in our areas, we both are still called the “Younger Churches.” We both belong to the oppressed and the voiceless. When the foreign powers established the Colonial Offices in London and Paris, the European was the colonist and we became the colonized.