Multicultural Night Raises Funds for Mission Trip to Tonga

More than 1,000 people attended a recent multicultural night at Macarthur Adventist College, a secondary school in Macquarie Fields, New South Wales, Australia.

The event raised more than AU$20,000 (about US$13,300) for the school’s year-11 service trip to Beulah Adventist College, in Tonga. The project will involve renovating Beulah Adventist College classrooms, running a STORMCo youth and outreach program, and providing essential items to the community.

Twenty-seven students will be embarking on the mission trip, Macarthur Adventist College’s first trip to Tonga. This will also be their first mission trip post-COVID, school leaders said.

Run by staff and students at Macarthur, with the aid of the Macarthur parents and community group, Sydney Tongan Seventh-day Adventist church, Hoxton Park Seventh-day Adventist church, and the school community, the fundraiser exceeded initial goals by around AU$10,000 (about US$6,600).

“The success of this event was dependent on our community,” Tonga trip coordinator and teacher Annalise Vaovasa said.

“Macarthur Adventist College is a close, growing community with a strong connection to its values and the supporting churches around the southwestern Sydney area. We are looking forward to serving the people of Tonga and sharing the love and support we have received from our multicultural night.” 

Year 11 and 12 students organized the cultural performances included in the program. Students practiced every lunchtime and after school for four weeks, organizers reported. The multicultural program had cultural dance items from Tonga, Samoa, Philippines, Chile, India, Fiji, Nepal, Cook Islands, and the Torres Strait. The hall was decorated with murals of various countries, painted by students from several pastoral care groups. Live music was also provided from 4XL, a musical group featuring former Beulah College students, who sang songs from the Pacific Islands.

Food stalls provided a variety of cultural foods from Fiji, India, Australia, Tonga, Samoa, and Philippines, as well as Middle Eastern sweets. Items were also available for auction on the night, including State of Origin rugby match tickets and signed National Rugby League jerseys.

Macarthur has previously hosted mission trips to Cambodia, Laos, and Fiji, school leaders reported. Vaovasa explained that the school has a strong Tongan community and ties with Sydney Tongan Seventh-day Adventist church in Leppington.

“Please pray for our project, the staff and students on this trip — we will be taking a lot of students who do not have an Adventist or Christian background, and this will be an opportunity for us to demonstrate God’s love through service and Sabbath rest, [and] many of them will experience Sabbath for the first time,” Vaovasa said.  

The school is currently looking at creating care packages and stationery packages to take to Tonga.  

The original version of this story was posted by Adventist Record.