Over 300 members of the Samoa Worship Centre marked White Sunday with a celebration in the aftermath of the church service.

The occasion, which was held at the Don Bosco Vocational School in Moamoa, was hosted by the church with Pastor Siagigi Vaafusuga of the church’s youth division saying it was a day worth celebrating. 

“It’s usually in the calendar of the youth for every White Sunday to have these games with the purposes to merge and share with each other because we barely get together like this,” he said.

“Second, to exercise the mind and health and third, it’s to build unity amongst each other and lastly, as the bible says, everything we do should be able to give praises to God.”

The youths were divided into four groups with four fields each.

Asked whether they consider social distancing and the safety of the youths from the pandemic, Pastor Vaafusuaga said COVID-19 has always been a major concern but he’s confident the activities such as theirs is popular.

“We also had another get together activity like this around July and there are also some other people or churches that have and are doing this so I think it’s safe to do so,” he said.

One of the issues Pastor Vaafusuaga intends to tackle in this activity is the youth suicidal issue trending across social media.

Youth male suicides are at a crisis level in American Samoa with a lot of the young people posting on social media before their passing. 

With the background, the pastor is concerned that it could influence youth in Samoa and he has offered advice to young people in the church.

“Depression, anxiety and grief are the contributing facts to suicide but a way this can be solved if we look at the Christianity’s side is to remember that there is God we can rely on at such times,” he said.

“As Jesus said, load your hardships onto him, only he had the answer. If you need help, don’t be afraid to seek help.”