Unbreakable Tongan spirit

After four days of fellowship, celebration, friendship, education, nurturing, commitment and witness at the Tongan National Conference (TNC), one thing became very clear to me – the unbreakable spirit of the Tongan community in the world.

There were more than 1000 Tongans gathered at the Blue Mountains on the second weekend in June. People of different ages came from Perth, Adelaide, Melbourne, Mildura, Sydney, Brisbane and Darwin to attend the 29th Tongan National Conference, the largest gathering of Uniting Church members.

Grace transforming communities in Indonesia

I was privileged to travel to Indonesia in May.

Over the course of two weeks, I met with hundreds of theological students in two different colleges and shared with ministers, pastors and lay leaders from different denominations on cross cultural ministry and mission.

I was also fortunate to meet and listen to leaders from the UCA’s 10 partner churches and organisations in Indonesia, Timor Leste and the Philippines who were gathered for the opening of the UnitingWorld South East Asia Regional Office in Badung, Bali.