The next helper made her report in an unusual way, she reported to the teacher over the internet from the island of American Samoa! This helper was at the National Park of American Samoa and had decided to spend the holidays in Samoa! Samoa is south of the equator, east of Australia, and southwest of Hawaii!
Since it is below the equator, it is late springtime there, and the helper wanted to enjoy the warm weather!
November and December are part of the rainy season in Samoa, so the weather is warm, humid, and rainy during the Thanksgiving and Christmas season.
The culture and lifestyle of the people of Samoa is believed to be the oldest culture in the south sea islands. They were able to keep most of their traditional lifestyle even though there have been many changes in the outside world. In 1830 missionaries came to Samoa and large numbers of the people accepted Christianity. Today around 98% of the people of Samoa belong to a Church.
The National Park of the American Samoa allows visitors to experience the culture and lifestyle of the people of Samoa. There is a program that allows visitors to live with a family for a few days in Samoa and experience their lifestyle.
There are certain rules to follow when visiting a village in American Samoa:
Follow the Samoan Way:
- Always ask villagers for permission before taking photographs, using the beach, or engaging in other activities, however unobtrusive your actions may seem. Permission will almost certainly be granted.
- In a traditional home, called a fale (fah-LAY), sit down on the floor before talking, eating, or drinking. Cross your legs or pull a mat over them; it is impolite to stretch out your legs uncovered.
- Sunday is the day for church, for rest, and especially for quiet around the villages. Activities that are acceptable on other days, such as swimming, may not be permitted on Sunday.
- Each evening around dusk, villagers observe a time for prayers called Sa. If you are entering a village during Sa, stop and wait quietly until Sa ends. You may even be invited to join in a family prayer. It is not necessary to stop for Sa on the main roads.
- It is considered an honor to be asked to share ava (a local drink made from the root of the pepper plant). To show respect, spill a few drops on the ground or mat in front of you, then raise your cup and say “manuia” (mahn-WE-ah) before drinking.
- Do not eat or drink while walking through a village.
Application for you and me:
The God-Connection in this National Park is found in the fourth rule listed above. The people on this island realize the importance of prayer. They set aside a time each evening to spend time in prayer.
In Jerusalem when the Church was beginning, the people of Israel had a set time for prayer each day.
In the Bible in Acts 4:1 it says:
Peter and John went to the Temple one afternoon to take part in the three o’clock prayer service.
They knew that talking to God in prayer is so important that they set aside a special time each day to spend in prayer. The early leaders of the Church also followed this practice.
In the Bible in Ephesians 6:18 it says:
Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere.
In the Bible of I Thessalonians 5:17 it says:
Never stop praying.
As followers of Jesus, we are supposed to set aside time each day to spend in prayer. We are not to just prayer for things that we want, but we are to praise God for who He is, pray for the needs of other believers and pray for people we know that do not know Jesus yet.
The people of American Samoa know the importance of prayer and they set aside a prayer time each day. It is considered impolite and very rude to interrupt the prayer time. In the rest of America, we have become so busy that we hardly ever take time to spend in prayer.
This Thanksgiving and Christmas time, let’s start a new personal tradition, spending time each day in prayer!
Have a great Thanksgiving Day!