Will Christmas come to American Samoa this year?
At the center of most Samoan villages their are numerous "fales" (pronounced "fa-lay") which are basically circular shaped open-air shelters held up by sturdy poles that go all the way around. Each pole represents a chief from the clan which the structure belongs to. When guests come, this is where they meet together. When the chiefs gather, each would sit and lean agains his pole as they talk… and knowing the culture… enjoy a meal together.
I went for a drive today with my American Samoan hosts to a village on the West side of the Island. At Christmas time, this village is known for the impressive light display that the Church sponsors each year.
We drove by every sort of Church… Congregational, Catholic, Mormon, 7th Day Adventist, Calvary Chapel, Mormon and Assemblies of God (I wondered if my Grandparents had visited this one?). My hosts motioned to an entire block of one village that belonged to a football player from the Cincinatti Bengals. Football is an even bigger deal here than in my native Texas, since gridiron and the military are about the only way for underprivileged kids to make it off the island.
Finally we arrived in Leone (pronounced "lay-oh-nay") - also known as the village of the lonely palm...
This is the historical place where the first missionaries to American Samoa landed and began ministry. A Church was built on that spot to commemorate the arrival of the Gospel in Leone. Today, that Church is pretty much the only structure left standing in tact in the village.
There will be no lights display this year in Leone after the tsunami demolished this tiny village. Houses were reduced to rubble, cars tossed into the trees, the chiefs' strong poles in the fales faired better than most houses, but many were still shattered like tooth picks. Yet somehow the lonely palm survived.
Villagers were out rebuilding under the hot summer sun as I listened to the stories:
The tsunami hit with such devastating speed (only 12 minutes between the earthquake and the approximately 46 foot wave that battered their coastline), that many were caught unawares. I heard about a bus driver slamming down the gas pedal as he was trying to evacuate the children from the primary school. The wave caught them and threw the bus into the trees. He rushed the kids up the hill to safety when the second wave hit - taking one of the adult chaperones helplessly out to sea.
The bridge had been swept away, hampering rescue efforts. Injured and emergency supplies had to be transported across the river by canoe and kayaks.
Another nearby village called Amanave was saved by their well trained mayor who got out his megaphone and hurried the villagers to safety immediately after the quake. Others didn't fair so well with 39 dying on this island and hundreds more in Western Samoa. They say the first wave was smaller and swept many fish onto the shore. Children who didn't know better ran out to pick up the fish and were swept away by the larger second wave.
The locals say they are fortunate that they are accustomed to natural disasters and knew what to do. They already live off of the bountiful fruit and produce of this fertile land. I don't know how fortunate I'd feel in their sandals. The fact that they are smiling and rebuilding so quickly is testament to not only a great people… but a great God that has sustained them through this hardship.
This Christmas Intersections Inc. of American Samoa (a part of the YWAM network of ministries) is sponsoring an event for the Tsunami survivor children of Amanave, American Samoa. Your gift of 20$ will provide a Christmas dinner and gift for a child of this village that was destroyed by the tsunami.
