Is Samoa a Christian Nation?

The answer, in the new children’s book, Peace, Samoa, Peace, may surprise many.

JUNE 3, 2024: Have you ever been told that something you believe in is a lie? This is the struggle Tama Folau faces in a story of truth and discovery by Samoan-American writer, Daniel Pouesi, in his latest children’s book, Peace, Samoa, Peace.

When Tama’s teacher claims that Tama’s father’s homeland of Samoa is not a Christian nation, Tama reacts as any humiliated young person might: he loses his temper. He struggles with his emotions until his wise Grandfather Logo steps in with a story (told fagogo or folktale style) about Samoa’s founding father, Tupua Tamasese Lealofi III; how Tamasese faced adversity during Samoa’s darkest days in its fight for freedom.

“It’s true that the more things change, the more they stay the same,” Pouesi says. “What happened during Samoa’s struggle for freedom—unjust laws and regulations, home invasions, suppression of speech, and the like—continue in my present home, America, but with greater intensity.”

The author notes that in the Mau o Samoa (Samoa’s fight for Independence) Tamasese and Mau supporters responded to tyranny as Christians should. They protested and took all legal actions possible. They appealed to higher authority when their rights were violated. They even defended themselves. In the end, when New Zealand forces proved too powerful, Mau supporters took to the mountains following Jesus’ instruction to His disciples, “When you are persecuted in one place, flee to another.”

What inspired Pouesi to write Peace, Samoa, Peace?

It’s his concern that so many of Samoa’s youth in America are abandoning their parents’ faith and embracing humanistic ideologies. Political leaders have passed laws that leave out God. They have replaced foundational, biblical principles with worldly ones. The result, Pouesi says, is “gross immorality and sexual perversion, increased lawlessness, domestic abuse, drug addiction, and violent crimes.” These things flourished in Pagan societies from time immemorial—Babylonian, Roman, Greek, Aztec, Incan, and even pre-Christian Pacific Islands.

Could Samoa end up in a similar situation?

The author feels Samoa is on the cusp of it. Many churches, theologians and seminaries have embraced American Woke Culture. “As goes America, so goes the world. With the internet and social media, it won’t take years for a culture to take root and inflict damage. When Writer Michael Brown visited Singapore in 2000, he spoke with a Christian leader who bemoaned the rising divorce rate in his historically, conservative country. Brown asked, ‘Did American media have any influence on your culture?’ The reply? ‘Once MTV came in, it was all over!’”

In Peace, Samoa, Peace, Grandfather Logo’s answer to his grandson’s question, “Is Samoa a Christian nation?” may surprise many. Some would probably answer with an emphatic, Yes! Samoa is Christian! The majority of our people are Christians. Our founding fathers, like Tamasese, were Christian. We still honour the “Sabbath”. We attend church every Sunday and give sacrificially to our pastors. All these things, (though they may be good) do not a Christian nation make.

Peace, Samoa, Peace launches at the Samoan Heritage Day at the James Foisia Park, Carson, California— JUNE 29, 2024. The book, along with the author’s NOT BY MIGHT children’s series, will be available on KINPublications.com and Amazon. Information: DPouesi@att.net.