Tonga

A. Introduction

The Kingdom of Tonga is located in the south of the Pacific Ocean. Fiji is on its west. Tonga comprises 172 islands, of which 36 of them are inhabited. The largest island is Tongatapu. The capital city Nukuʻalofa is also located on this island. Tonga's economy is heavily dependent on remittances from half of the country's population who live abroad (chiefly in Australia, New Zealand, and the United States). The currency is Paʻanga (TOP). The official languages in Tonga are Tongan and English.

It has a population of more than 100,000 people, 70% of which live on its main island, Tongatapu. More than 98% of the inhabitants are biracial (Polynesian and Melanesian). More than 90% of the population are Christians, so they do not trade and enjoy entertainment on Sundays.

The climate in Tonga is tropical. The rainy season lasts from December to April, with the temperature ranging from 26 to 32 °C (89.6 °F). The dry season is between May and November, with an average temperature of 16-26 °C (80.6 °F).

B. The development of the True Jesus Church

Auckland church started to send ministers from New Zealand to Tonga after knowing we had members from China who immigrated there to open grocery shops in 2004. As there were more than ten members in Tonga, we started organizing pastoral care teams to pastor the members there. Tonga Mission Fund and Tonga Ministry Coordination Team were officially established in 2005. After being approved by the EHDWM, the team started organizing the annual plan of ministry in Tonga and sending workers to do pioneering and pastoral work from churches in New Zealand. The Fund was supported by the donation and offering of members and churches in New Zealand, which covered all the expenses of the ministry (including the expense of sending workers over). In 2012, three church councils in New Zealand decided to take turns annually to coordinate the pioneering work and they were still subordinate to EHDWM. Since 2019, the EHDWM agreed to take direct charge of the pastoral and pioneering work in Tonga, while the churches in New Zealand still send workers to assist the ministry there. Churches in New Zealand will elect a coordinator to liaise with the EGDWM for more specific details.

Most of the members in Tonga were originally from Fuqing, China. Most of them would not stay there for long as they would usually go to New Zealand or return home to China after attaining their purpose in Tonga, so the number of members in Tonga is not consistent. Presently, we have 10-15 Chinese members. They mainly speak Fuqing dialect or Mandarin and they can speak the local language on a conversational level. We have started evangelizing to the local people. However, the evangelistic and follow-up work has been difficult because our Chinese members there do not speak English. Most of the members are not very well-versed, so it’s hard for them to lead services by themselves. They need more foreign workers who can do residential, pastoral, and pioneering work in the long term.

Our main emphasis is to teach them Christian ethics and build them in the foundation of the truth. We encourage them to practice the Christian life of worship through prayers, bible reading, and personal spiritual cultivation. We thank God today we are able to have regular services every Friday night, Saturday afternoon, and Sunday morning. Night services are conducted when we send workers over once every two months. All sermons are delivered in Mandarin. Recently, we started conducting religious education classes.