"What has Christianity done for Samoa?"...LONG post. (From my Facebook post in 2020 - T.Solomona)
A question posed by the current generation of educated "new" thinkers and Samoan Christians.
As a Christian Samoan woman, there IS a difference, I am no Theologian, nor a holder of any University or Seminary degrees, just a simple committed woman of the Christian Faith. I am a sinner saved by grace. I have many faults and am not always the "sharpest tool in the shed."
But I LOVE my Jesus!
I am proud to have been born into a culture and people, that are so richly grounded in love, respect and honor. I was born in Samoa, but like many Samoan-born, was raised as a toddler in another country, as my parents sought further outside of our aiga in taking advantage of opportunities in the Western World. Our parents never forgot their roots, especially the tenets of the Christian Faith, that for many of them, went hand in hand with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Today's generation are slowly turning their back on Christ. I read a comment that proposed, "Samoa was better off without Christianity."
There is no place in the World, that has not been tainted by corruption, greed, licentiousness and evil, to name just a drop in the bucket of atrocities brought about by the will of human beings, looking to dominate, eradicate, and conquer one another. The strong overpowering the weak.
I don't think this has been the case in the Samoa of our ancestors, forefathers and mothers. Nations have come and gone, powers have fought and lost, foreign ideologies and principles have been persuaded and exercised, ae pule lava le tama a le lo'omatua! Over one hundred years later, Samoa continues to flourish, even with all her nuances of good and evil.
So what has Chrisianity done for Samoa? We have a written language we never had, to document the beauty of an oral language, that stands on its own amongst the literary classics of language.
Christianity opened the way for future Samoans, to read and write, as well as learn other languages. I have a brother in Christ who speaks 12 fluently.
Our people were able to record history and genealogies (before everybody started laying claims to royalty), songs, ancient stories which could have been totally lost as our old people died from disease and civil unrest. The Mastery of the orators prior to my parents generation are few and far between these days. Yet there are still elders and a few younger men and women who articulate our Gagana with wisdom and eloquence of tongue.
Christianity afforded the lens to the world. Other cultures and traditions apart from the Pacific, could be seen and learned of. Christianity gave voice to our people in the absolute confidence, they were under the hand of a Mighty God Who, is victorious over a life in this world that brought nothing but darkness, death and unyielding pain.
There is so much that Christianity in Samoa has done in paving the way for, education, medical resources, methods geared to improving the quality of life, honing the skills already in place, and a host of positive benefits for our people. Indeed, there have been gaping wounds of colonialism, is that the fault of God or the choice of human nature?
If we are to turn our backs on God as a people, does it not seem ironic, that many who are leading the charge are former Clergy, and Samoan Christians. I end my flurry of thoughts with this from the Apostles Peter and Paul:
"For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first. For it would have been better for them never to have known the way of righteousness than after knowing it to turn back from the holy commandment delivered to them." 2 Peter 2:20-21
"I Am Not Ashamed of the Gospel..." Romans 1: 16.
Lord help our unbelief.
