Hey PPN Family,

I was in Sydney last week for my aunty’s funeral. It was wonderful to celebrate her life with family and friends. My aunty would have turned 92 on the 30th of this month, so she lived a good life. She was a tough, old-school Samoan aunty who raised four children as a solo mum, and used to work the plantations and go fishing in the sea to get food for her parents and family.

I felt how strong she was personally because when I was a boy, she would always greet me with an affectionate hit on the top of my head to show how much she loved me.

My aunty was also a traditional Samoan healer who successfully treated people with all kinds of sicknesses, and even terminal illnesses, through natural herbal medicines and Samoan massage. Over the years, I have been healed many times through my aunty’s treatments.

As a person who had blessed so many people during her life, it was sad to say goodbye to my aunty, but at the same time it was comforting to know that we would see her again. You see, my aunty was a godly woman who was not perfect, but loved Jesus. And because of this, she went to rest with the firm hope in the promise of Jesus in John 14:1-3 (NCV) when he said, “Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust in me. There are many rooms in my Father’s house; I would not tell you this if it were not true. I am going there to prepare a place for you. After I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me so that you may be where I am.”

Jesus is preparing a place for all of us in heaven, and when He is done, He will come to take us and all of our loved ones who have passed away in Him to live there forevermore. May this hope fill you with peace and joy today.

God bless,

Roland Talamaivao-Amituanai