Susana Paopao Matamata





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A heartfelt gratitude report.

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 I extend my heartfelt gratitude to Mannings Hill United Church, Oberlin United Church and Salisbury United church for their warm and inclusive welcome during my short visit to their congregations. Your openness and hospitality left a profound impact on me, and I will cherish the sense of community and acceptance I experienced. Your warmth, generosity, and the valuable insights shared will remain with me for a lifetime and as I am about to end my journey as a Training in Mission participant, I thank the Lord that we've crossed path.  To : MANNINGS HILL UNITED CHURCH. I want to express my heartfelt gratitude on behalf of the Congregational Christian Church of Samoa's General Secretary, our Elders, Ministers and all our different parishes, for allowing me to worship with you on the 5th of November 2023. Thank you for your example of a small congregation that has achieved remarkable feats in the service of the Lord. Your dedication, love and work have shown that the size of a con...
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Arrival of Missionaries in Samoa and its impact on Samoans

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This post will give viewers an understanding on how missionaries arrived in my country and its  impacts. I've used questions provided by our Lecturer Dr. Emily Colgan to give a clear understanding.  When and how did Christianity arrive in my context? The Christian missionaries arrived in Samoa on the 24th of August 1830. It was led by John William and Charles Barf. From a word-of-mouth story that was taught by our elders, a Samoan missionary by the name of Fauea and his wife was with John Williams during their mission work in Tonga. They lived in Tonga for the past 11 years. He went up to John William and asked him if they could bring Christianity into their lands as they do not believe in a Christian God but rather worship spirits Gods and may be a good chance for them to return back to their lands. This was when John Williams along with missionaries from Tonga and Tahiti decided to bring Christianity into Samoa. They paddled their canoe along the shores of Samoa until they f...
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Re-Imagining Christ

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In this journey I have learned that Jesus Christ has been portrayed as supreme white male with an image of patriarch which is an colonial invention and imagining of Christ. This image and understanding of Christ has been injected into the minds of Asian Christians by western missionaries. But, many times this imperial westernized colonial image of Christ became an exclusive one which is not been able to own by diverse communities who are the victims of colonialism.   But in reality Christ is Asian who is born in a middle class family at Palestine. Christ is a pro- feminist one who really empathetic and understands the pains and sufferings of women. Jesus attitude has a radical shift from his own contemporary times, he goes beyond the purity codes and discussed deep divine theological aspects with a untouchable Samaritan women. The image of Christ has to be re-imagined according to our own context, then he becomes relevant to our struggles in the community.  According to t...
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