Land of 10,000 Falesa

First missionary to Samoa

     "Falesa"  means a church in Samoan.  And what churches there are here!  Samoa, including American Samoa, must be among the most religious societies on earth.  Not only are there churches in every village, but the church is your focus of society.  People attend services on Sunday, and other days too.  There are socials, fund raising, the ubiquitous bingo games most nights, youth activities and Sunday School, choir practice and recitals, as well as any other form of sociability under the tropical sun.  Second to family, church is the center of life here, and in fact church and family overlap to a very significant degree.  The family leaders, the matai, as well as other titled men and women, are virtually all heavily involved in the churches where they have responsibilities in addition to their secular ones.

     Among the many legends which permeate Samoan life is one which holds that an ancient Samoan queen foretold the coming of different men carrying a new religion, which was to be embraced by the Samoas.  This legend fit in perfectly with the arrival of the missionaries in the early 1800's.  They were among the first palagi here.  Palagi means, roughly, "men who burst from the sky" which it must have seemed to the old Samoans when their ships appeared from nothing on the horizon.  The first missionary to land was John William (or Ioane Viliamu as he was called in Samoan).  He landed right here in Leone; the top photo shows a memorial to that event.  Here is the memorial in another view, looking towards Leone:

     The Methodist Church gained an early foothold here and is still predominant.  But other religions and sects followed in quick succession - from the Baptists, to the Roman Catholics and also a large presence of the Mormons.  Besides the US military, I'd bet that most people from here who go on to higher education do so by studying divinity, to return as ministers, deacons, and other church officials.  Some do quite well, on a poor island some of the larger church officials live in big houses and drive nice SUV's.

     Cyndi and I have been attending mass on Sunday mornings at the local Catholic Church - Matagaluega Koluse Paia, the Holy Cross Parish.  The priest is a most delightful young man, Patele (Father) Kolio Etuale.  He noted me at first, easy to do since I'm the only palagi there, and made me, and later Cyndi, very welcome.  I was struck by his sermon my first day - he broke out in a song ("It's Now or Never") which morphed into his sermon theme.  Last month he again sang from the pulpit, this time a complete version of a Glen Campbell song which again became his sermon.  Mass on Sunday is great, it's in Samoan with some English, just a little, but much song and participation by the congregation.  I must say (as I have mentioned before) that the singing in church is simply wonderful.  The choirs, most days two of them, practice long and hard with results that show it.  I can't record it to play for you, a pity; I must content myself with a few photos of the Church to show you what it is like:

Koluse Paia on a hot afternoon

Here, decorated for Christmas!

More Christmas decorations, Kolusa Paia.  They love it!

Koluse Paia interior; windows open up & down, cool and breezy

Koluse Paia sacristy

     The other large church in Leone is the Congregationalist, or CCCAS.  That is probably the largest organization here; it runs many churchs and also has a bible study school (Kanana Fou) on its own campus in Tafuna near the airport.  CCCAS owns the property we live upon - I pay them rent!  Here's the CCCAS church in Leone.  The John William memorial is right in front:

CCCAS, Leone, recently repainted, Ioane Viliamu in front

Tile work detail, entryway to CCCAS Leone

     Next are a series of photos of churches from across American Samoa, as well as Samoa (Upolu).  Keep in mind that these often stand in small villages without rich patrons.  The people here are quite poor monetarily, yet each church is decorated, clean, and kept in repair.  In fact, after the terrible tsunami back in 2009, the churches of American Samoa were among the first buildings repaired and restored.  So, without further ado or commentary, here are some falesa of Samoa:

Futiga, AS - the Fuatagavi family falesa

Ili'ili, AS

Pago Pago, AS

Pava'ia'i, AS

Mesepa, AS

Baptist church and seminary (Kanana Fou), Fogagogo, AS

Matu'u, AS; it appears around a bend on the morning commute!

Nu'uuli, AS

Ili'ili, AS

Ili'ili again, full campus

Puapua, AS

Aua, AS

South coast, Western Samoa

Nua, AS

Asili, AS

South coast, Western Samoa

Cross island road, Western Samoa

North coast, Western Samoa

Fagatogo, AS

Mormon (LDS), Pago Pago AS

Fagaitua, AS

Utulei AS Jehovah Witness school

Sa'ilele, AS

Fagasa, AS

Kanana Fou Bible School CCCAS

Kanana Fou, Tafuna AS

Aunu'u AS

Utumea, AS

Alao (not Tula), AS

Alao, Cathedral on hill, AS

Poloa, AS

Taputimu, AS

Near Vailoatai

Malaeloa, near Leone, AS

Bigger falesa in Malaeloa

Aasufou, AS

Keep checking back here - as we explore we'll add more photos to the collection!