PART 1: Rev. Mosese Vakasiuola Latu

Raw footage of preparation leading to Rev. Mosese final resting. “Mōsese Vakasiuola Lātu (Pangai/Lotofoa, Haʻapai) and Vika Tuʻuhoko ki Langi Lātu (Nukunuku) Years of Service: 1965–70; 1973–80 Mōsese was the eleventh of twelve children born to ʻAlifeleti Lātu of Haʻatou, Haʻapai, and ʻEma of Faleloa, Haʻapai. Mōsese was born on 14 April 1936 in Pangai, Haʻapai. He began his education at the primary school of the Free Wesleyan Church of Tonga at Foa, and then went on to the primary school at Pangai (known as Pētani), where he was in a class taught in English by Miss Knight, a European woman who became Principal of Pilolevu College. He later returned to the primary school at Foa, from which he entered Tupou College in 1949, where he was one of the first students in the new grade seven Class of the college in 1956. While still at college, he became a lay preacher in 1955. In 1957 he continued his studies at the Navuso agricultural school in Fiji, remaining there until 1960. After returning, he entered Tupou College for four years, teaching agriculture and animal husbandry. He then entered Siaʻatoutai College in 1964–65. In his second year at the college and following the arrival of Misa Kulipolo as general secretary for overseas mission work, one of the objectives of his visit was to find someone to begin a ministry for the church to support the indigenous Aboriginal people of Australia. Mōsese responded to this call and travelled with his wife, Vika Tuʻuhoko ki Langi Lātu, to serve the community of Miligimbi (Yurriwi) in the remote Arnhem Land, Northern Territory of Australia. The year 1965 was significant for Mōsese because it marked three major milestones in his life. At the annual Conference of the Free Wesleyan Church of Tonga in May, he was ordained to the office of Minister in training. A little more than a month later, he married Vika Tuʻuhoko ki Langi on 21 June. Not long after that, on 2 July, they departed to undertake missionary work amongst the Aboriginal people of Northern Australia. They left Tonga for Sydney and stayed for two months at the church property in Haberfield, Sydney, to complete their preparation and orientation for the work in the new environment they were about to enter. They then travelled by train to Alice Springs and continued by bus to Darwin, before proceeding to Miligimbi. There were many difficulties for the couple in their ministry among the Aboriginal people, arising from differences in language and ways of life. However, over time they became accustomed to the local environment and culture. They worked for five years in the Miligimbi farming community, which were some of the happiest and most rewarding times that they experienced living with the indigenous communities who accepted them as family. In 1971–72, Mōsese had the opportunity to study at Leigh Theological College in Sydney. He later returned to missionary work back to Arnhem Land this time at Maningrida in 1973. While there, the Conference of the Church in Tonga appointed the New South Wales Conference as Mōsese’s supervising conference and he was fully ordained in September 1973. He then returned to Milingimbi as a full-time minister, where he and Vika served from 1973 to 1980. At the beginning of the 1980s, as the Aboriginal people increasingly took responsibility for the church and as new structures of the Uniting Church in Australia were established, Mōsese and Vika had to return from Milingimbi. They returned to Tonga in 1980, but the following year they went back to Australia so that Mōsese could continue his theological studies toward a Bachelor of Theology degree in Adelaide. After completing this course of study in 1984, he continued in church ministry in Adelaide. They then moved to establish the Tongan Parish in Ashfield, Sydney, for four years. From 1986 to 1989, Mōsese continued working and studying, and in 1990 he was succeeded by Rev Kōtoni Fihaki and his wife Kilisitina. In 1995, Rev Mōsese and Vika moved to America, where they continued to contribute to God’s work. At the completion of this account in 2005, the couple were still in America.” -Pakilau Manase Lua