Sunday School Day

First Sunday in May

In the Polynesian kingdom of Tonga, a group of islands whose inhabitants are primarily Methodist, the first Sunday in May is known as Faka Me, or Sunday School Day. The children rise early and bathe in the sea, after which they put on the new clothes that their mothers have made: valas, or kilts, for the boys and new dresses for the girls. Then they all go to church, where the youngest children sing a hymn or recite a verse of scripture in front of the congregation and the older children present biblical dramas.
At the feast that always follows a church service, the children sit on mats spread on the ground. A variety of Polynesian specialties—including roast pig, lobster, chicken, and fish steamed in coconut milk, and potato-like vegetables called ufi —are served to the children by the adults on long trays made of woven coconut fronds known as volas . The parents stand behind their children and fan them to keep them cool as they eat.
Sunday School Day is observed in various ways by Protestant children in other countries as well.
See also White Sunday

SOURCES:
FolkWrldHol-1999, p. 311

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References in periodicals archive

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