Missionaries Risked Their Lives in the Tonga Tsunami

These missionaries ran back toward a tsunami to save strangers. On January 15th, 2022, a massive volcanic eruption triggered a tsunami across the Kingdom of Tonga. Mission President Sitiveno immediately began calling missionaries on the islands closest to the volcano. His warning was simple. Get to higher ground now. On Kotu Island, elders Malaka Eeka and Richard Tui Ontoa immediately obeyed.

They ran uphill, warning others along the way. Elder saw a father struggling with two young children. He grabbed the children and carried them toward safety. Then Elder Tui Ontoa heard an elderly woman crying for help. She was struggling to push her walker uphill. He ran back, picked her up, and carried her. As he neared the top, he looked behind him. A massive wave was coming toward them.

He thought they would be overtaken, but the tide suddenly turned away without touching them. And somehow the woman in his arms had felt almost as light as a baby. Almost 12 m away on Nomuka Island. Elders Moses Folyaki and Sephita Potta received the same warning. They immediately obeyed. As they ran, they could see the tsunami coming. Then they found a mother with two young children.

They picked up the children and carried them to higher ground. But reaching safety didn't end their service. They retrieved bottled water their mission president had previously told them to store and began distributing it to survivors. Then they heard people were trapped in a debrisfilled lake. One man was struggling to keep his head above water. The missionaries jumped in. They pulled him to safety and found two more people trapped in the debris.

One of them had passed away. These missionaries had come to Tonga to bring people to Jesus Christ and search for his lost sheep. But that day, God's children needed something more immediate. They needed to be carried. They needed water. They needed to be rescued. And these missionaries did not hesitate. In a very literal way, they became fishers of men. And I love what happened first.

They heard a warning from their mission president and they obeyed immediately. That obedience put them in a position to turn around and help someone else. Isn't that so much like the Savior? Jesus Christ came to save our souls eternally. But he also fed the hungry. He healed the sick. He comforted the suffering. He saw people and he acted. Christ doesn't promise to rescue us from every earthly trial.

But he does see us. He cares about what we're going through right now. And sometimes he sends someone running back down the hill to help carry us.