Samoa: Experience of a lifetime

By Joyetter Feagaimaali’i-Luamanu 11 July 2017, 12:00AM

“I love that Samoa is a Christian state however doesn’t mean that everybody is a Christian,” says Liam Sirone who came to Samoa for mission work. 

Liam is from South Wales and is part of the Wyong Christian Community School delegation. 

The school is based on the Central Coast of New South Wales and in Samoa, Liam and the other students stayed at Falese’ela for the duration of their stay.

According to Liam, his outreach work focused on Falese’ela residents. 

“Interacting with the kids, sharing the word of God and dialoguing with them has been awesome and it’s an experience of a lifetime for me.” 

When Liam came to Samoa, he was cut off from the world as he did not use his cell phone to communicate. 

“I used it to take photos and that was it. But in terms of social networking, I decided to stay away from technology for the past ten days and it’s instead refreshing to be able to interact with physical activities with the other students and the kids from the village. 

Liam experienced firsthand how to work on the plantation. 

“Getting your hands dirty and knowing that in the next few months, this plant will grow out to be a taro or a banana.... the fruits of your work. It’s an overwhelming feeling,” he said. “Something I will never in a million years do back home.” 

Another important aspect of the trip for Liam, was appreciating every little thing in his life. 

“We are spoiled back home, we get what we want, yet when we came to Samoa, we saw how the people in the village, enjoy the little they have. 

“It made me think about the hard work my parents have put in to ensure that I get what I need for school. 

“I don’t think I’ll ever be the same when I go back home,” said Liam. 

Aside from the mission work, Liam enjoyed Samoa’s waterfalls and loved swimming at the beaches. 

The 16 year old also noted that in the villages, everyone is family. 

“The kids can just walk around, enter the neighbour’s house, eat there and then go on to the next house and eat there as well, as if that is their family home. 

“I mean it’s amazing how no one gets kidnapped, Samoa is fortunate they don’t have those types of incidents,” he said.

By Joyetter Feagaimaali’i-Luamanu 11 July 2017, 12:00AM
Samoa Observer

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