Greetings as we start the New Year, 2022:

Many of us have been following the volcanic eruption near Tonga, and instead of worrying about a tsunami affecting our shorelines, our hearts and prayers are going out to the people of Tonga and the Island itself. We have so many clergy and laity who have relatives from Tonga, and reports have been slow as to the damages to the Island and its people. For sure, the concentration of ash and resulting tsunamis have negatively affected the Island.

Please join me in your regular prayers for our Tongan siblings and for the physical island itself. We ask God to watch over the Tongan people, animals, and land. We ask God to move us to send relief in the form of donations as well as these prayers. May the Island of Tonga know that we hold them in our daily prayers!

Donations for relief can be sent to the California-Pacific Conference at P.O. Box 6006, Pasadena, CA 91102-6006. Please mark any donations with “Tongan Relief” on your check or electronic offering here.

Let us Be the Hope for the Island of Tonga,

Bishop Grant J. Hagiya
Los Angeles Area Resident Bishop