Vai-Tafetafe-Malie

10/08/07 , by Posted by: Admin

The Vai-Tafetafe-Malie Trust Incorporated is a recently established organisation aim at helping those that are disadvantaged economically in the community. But the idea materialized from a group of Christians just trying to live out their faith and so they start by visiting abandoned and seem to be neglected homes in Tonga.  "We thought we can visit people as a mean of living out our Christian faith in the real world – in our community", explained one of the organization’s members. 

"We started the programme by visiting families, talking and sharing with them the Good News of our Lord Jesus Christ, then, we would just pray with them and then leave".

If you pick up one of the Vai-Tafetafe-Malie leaflets, it explains its work - "One of the testing equipment of  our knowing God is how much we, as human beings or as Christians rather, love those who are stranded, abandoned, disadvantage and those who are in great need within our community, or, to a greater extend, our country as a whole".

(Polomeni Folau of Vai-tafetafe-Malie, visiting Pailate in his hutt) 

When you read passages such as, 1 John 4:8-11 "Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love. And God showed his love for us by sending his only Son into the world, so that we might have love through him.  This is what love is:  it is not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the means by which our sins are forgiven. Dear friends, if this is how God loved us, then we should love one another"; when you read your Bible and it tells you to love one another it challenges you to think of what it means to do so.

Jesus in answering what was suppose to be a tricky questions from the clever people of His time summarises the most important of all – "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.  This is the greatest and the most important commandment.  The second most important commandment is like it; Love your neighbour as you love yourself" (Mathew 22).

Vai-Tafetafe-Malie is established with the hope to manifest the love that Jesus talks about and in doing so, the organisation try to follow the way Jesus did it himself. That is the heart of the works of Vai-Tafetafe-Malie Trust.

"The actual visitation programme started on the 9^th August 2005. There were only a few that we knew then, who needed help. But by 2007, it was discovered that there are many more of them all over Tonga, and so we decided to establish the Vai-Tafetafe-Malie Trust as a better way by which we can cater better help for the victims that we have now, of which number increases every week".

The organisation formally established itself in August of this year (2007), and is based at the Faith Seminary building in the capital Nuku’alofa. Dr Viliami Fukofuka is the chairperson of the organisation, where he is also the Director of the Faith Seminary, Tonga.

"With the grace of God, we are now able, with the establishment of the Trust, to extent our help by giving money, food, clothes, and also giving counseling as according to their needs.  Social problems and Spiritual problems are also dealt with, and helps are given as best as we can manage.
With cash, we are able to pay for school fees, medication, and personal need and even house rents".

(Tevita 'A.Tongia (Secretary) giving Uaitelose TOP$130 for one term school fees)

Our goal is:

1.         to extend the loving Hands of God to these people, and to let them know that God is a loving God, and he loves them just as He loves us and everyone else on earth; and that His grace is sufficient for each and every one.

2.         To give them a living hope, and to let them know that a beautiful home is secured for them in the kingdom of God, if they would like to know God and to trust in Him. 

3.         To convince them that they have a value in the community, and that some people cares for them and their needs, how much more with God, for they were created in His Image.

Faith Seminary Building, Cnr. Lavinia & Wellington Rds., Kolofo'ou, Nuku'alofa, TONGA.

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• February 6, 2008, 7:48 am - 'Anitoni Tongia, Jr

  February 2008

  Dear Friend,

  In my earliest days at the Vai-Tafetafe-Malie Trust, I found myself frequently humbled, and constantly thankful to God, for the enthusiasm and dedication so many people brought to the work of this organization.

  As I head toward marking my seventh month with this remarkable organization, I find myself more awed than ever by the passion of all the members of the Trust and also people from outside, but they are willing to help, through our organization. I have been sharing with many people about the Vai-Tafetafe-Malie and its function, and it was a big blessing to receive their help and also their encouragement to the work that we are doing in God’s name.

  In recent months, we established this organization as a house-stock for many families, that poverty, depression, stressful, loneliness affected their lives. And we continue to believe, as we have from the founding of the organization, that we are all neighbors who can help build stronger communities in our own society, whether the neighborhood is around the block or not.

  What has changed is the breadth and depth of our work--and the need for it. We are serving more families in this few months ago; we are responding to the needs that suffer from a lower-income families, marriage problem & a heart that felt a circumstances of loneliness. If those realities reflect change, let’s celebrate. They are changes fundamentally true to the mission and purpose of the Vai-Tafetafe-Malie since its founding.

  As we look forward to 2008, we do so with resolve to continue growing the capacity to serve more families. The mission of this organization, we believed that this year could be a better year of doing our job to the utmost, according to the will of God. I have a plan to start a communication with people that they would like to share what they have, so that we may give our clients the best they needs, especially a good shelter, hop out from sanitation and others affected matters that has been around with them for so many years. Our steadfast belief that good standard of living is one of the most fundamental ways to improve not only individual lives but to all the entire communities.

  Since the time we were agree to started this work, and also establishing this organization, we are just mostly giving money, clothes, food, and some other facilities. But this year, our working committee had a plan to started focusing on giving people a good shelter, by looking ahead to collect some used timber from any other people, that they would like to help. We believe, that if people will live in a good shelter, it might help them to build up a healthy life on their own.

  Someone had been sharing about the death of his wife. The doctor comment about heart-attack, but for the husband he doesn’t believe it. According to him; he says, He believe that the main causes of his wife death, is pneumonia, because he know very well that since they get married, his wife never been affected by a heart problem. The house that he built for his family, is not really safe to protect his family from all nature problem.

  The Vai-Tafetafe-Malie has been search around not all the whole island, but we know that there are many people in our society are suffer from shelter deprivation, and if the man I was mention above telling the truth, than I know that there are some people die each year from a lack of adequate shelter, clean water or sanitation.

  Because we are Christian, we are called to do our work with the highest possible accountability. It is precisely because we are doing work for which we seek God’s guidance and blessing--and other people’s support--that we must hold ourselves to the highest standards of good stewardship. We refuse to see accountability and stewardship, ministry and mission as mutually exclusive. We believe they must go hand in hand, and I pledge to you that they will in Vai-Tafetafe-Malie’s operations.

  Thank you for sharing the vision to help and serving other people, especially to fulfill their need, so that they might be in a world of joy, peace and happiness. Thank you for your support (both members and outsiders), of the Vai-Tafetafe-Malie’s work.

  Tevita ‘Anitoni Tonga, Jr (Contacted#: Ph: 22 688; Mb: 45 823).
  Secretary; Executive Officer, Vai-Tafetafe-Malie Trust Incorporated.