Auckland church to mark anniversary of Tonga eruption

​A church in Auckland will be holding a special service to mark one year since the major eruption in Tonga.

The service will be held at Lotofale’ia Methodist Church in Māngere and is a joint effort of Tongan church leaders Reverend Tevita Finau and Sione Tu’itahi.

Labour MP Anahila Kanongataá-Suisuiki is on the organising committee, and says all are welcome.

“We wanted to provide an opportunity for those who would like to come together in evening prayers, singing and speeches on the anniversary of the volcano eruption.”

Kanongataá-Suisuiki is also chair of the Aotearoa Tonga Relief Committee (ATRC), and says their faith was a special source of strength for the community directly after the earthquake.

“We joined the Tonga church leaders group on zoom and held prayer vigils to pray for the safety of those in Tonga.”

In the following days, she worked with Tongan community leaders and fellow Labour MP Jenny Salesa to set up the ATRC to coordinate relief efforts to Tonga.

“All this was done without us knowing what had happened to Tonga, we had not heard from our family. Although we were members of the government, we also didn’t know, didn’t hear any information about our own family.

“We were all in the same boat. Most people, they hope that people are alive and that Tonga’s still there.”

The service will also be an opportunity for the committee to report on the response last year and ask "‘Where to from here?’”

The service will be held at Lotofale'ia Methodist Church on Sunday 15 January at 7pm