I first met Hana in October 2021. We were all unloading nearly 4500 boxes filled with shoeboxes from Samaritan’s Purse Operation Christmas Child. We had nine shipping containers full of 62,000 shoeboxes each representing the greatest gift of all time, Jesus Christ. There are enough boxes for each child in French Polynesia! What I remember about Hana then is that she was at the top of the stairs in the warehouse in her Tahitian pareu (Tahitian skirt) taking each carton as it was handed person to person up those stairs. She was quiet, always smiling and she had the perfect vantage point of watching and praying over every carton which came in the door.
Since those days I have been blessed to watch her in action with two groups of those children she prayed for, first in gospel outreaches and then following up with discipling the children through twelve more bible lessons. Add to all this the snacks, games, and local songs, then at the end of the program, the graduations. All the children look up to her. She prays for them, she insists they participate, and she continues to encourage and love on them with additional bible lessons and prayer meetings after the outreach is completed.
She spent one day going house to house and mom to mom in my neighborhood, speaking in French or Tahitian encouraging them to sign their children up for the Outreach that we were hosting. She made sure we had tents in our yard to protect from the blazing sun and pouring rain so that we could focus on the Message.
As you can see, Hana has a heart for this next generation of Tahitians. She is a wonderful mom. She and her husband Terainui are raising three beautiful teenage daughters and have a son in his late 20s. They all serve right next to her teaching and helping meet any need. They attend the main Maohi Protestant church in the capitol city of Papeete, but she enjoys living down island in more rural Papara.
Tahitian is Hana’s language of choice and church services are still held in Tahitian with French or English offered only for visitors. The children are taught in French because this is The primary language in the French school system. Many children still understand Tahitian since their parents speak it in the home but mostly speak in French. Hana’s son, Teraimana, teaches traditional Tahitian music and drums in the schools across the island to keep this part of their culture alive in this growing generation.
Please keep Hana and her family and many others like her in mind as you pray for Tahiti. Spiritual strength from relying on God is all we can count on as our world spirals away from our great Creator and Savior and the Truths He insists we live out.
