The Toleafoa family watched Thursday as dozens of cars filled with congregation members arrive for Covid testing.
It’s bittersweet for the AOG church leaders’ family, with so many of their members hit with Covid-19, but they are determined to do the right thing.
Of the 277 cases of Covid in the community , the Māngere AOG church cluster has 117 cases.
“We were there just to worship and get together but my heart goes out to everyone who’s got the positive,” says Rebekah Toleafoa.
In just an hour over 100 people were swabbed - a massive effort at the request of church leaders.
Over the last few days they've rallied their members to get tested and self-isolate through their private Facebook page.
“We have been working really, really hard - following the rules like everybody else. It’s been really tough for both my parents but we are hanging in there being strong and being courageous - we will get through now doubt,” says Judith Toleafoa.
South Seas Healthcare and social agency The Cause Collective have worked with the church since it was identified as a cluster and say there was confusion and misunderstanding especially when they were rung up by officials asking about contacts.
“A lot of them were English as a second language so for a lot of them to not respond to the questions was perceived as being uncooperative and not responsive, so these are some of the things only we could have done through our Samoan language,” says Jerome Mika of the Cause Collective.
“As a result of our engagement the leader of the church got their vaccination done yesterday and it’s really about providing the right information,” Lemalu Silao Vaisola-Sefo, of South Seas Healthcare says.
Part of the team is Dawn Raid founder and musician Brotha D proud to see his AOG church stepping up.
“This is my own church family – it’s been really hard because of some of the things that have been said but as you can see the church and wider churches have cooperated,” he told 1NEWS.
Nine hundred people from 25 congregations from the AOG church of Samoa are expected through the testing station.
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