The celebration of mothers and their role as the backbone of their families was at the center of the Mother's Day celebration on Sunday at the Apia Harvest Centre.

The church youth marked the occasion with a choral song sung in Samoan as well as a solo dance performance prior to the sermon by the church's Associate Pastor, Vui Sebastian Mariner. The sermon revolved around the theme of "Godly mothers" and set the scene for worship by the congregation members. 

Pastor Vui acknowledged the "wonderful blessings of all our mothers in Samoa" and as a precursor to his sermon asked what level of motherly influence mothers have over the lives of their children today.

Quoting from the Book of Exodus, he recounted how God used Moses to take Israelites out of slavery in Egypt, who thanks to the foresight of his mother evaded the pharaoh's orders for all Hebrew children to be drowned, by growing up as the son of the pharaoh's daughter.

"The name Moses literally means 'taken out' and his name was prophetic, the Lord used him to take a whole nation out of Egypt and to save them through the water. Pharaoh gave the order to drown the Hebrew children in the water, but his own descendants died under the water when they persecuted Moses in the Red Sea," Pastor Vui said. 

"Point Number 1 is this: a godly mother is a loving mother...we pick up the story of baby Moses in Exodus Chapter 2, his parents were from the house of Levites, godly people. The mother understood well the environment her baby was born into, she understood what the pharaoh intended to do with all Hebrew male-born babies. 

"She prepared a way to protect her baby and to float him down the river in a basket and hoped that an Egyptian woman would take her son as her own."

God intended for Moses to be raised in the Egyptian ways in order to understand hierarchy, strategic military intelligence, and leadership, according to Pastor Vui, who said that God knew Moses needed those skillsets in order to lead his people out of Egypt. 

"God himself had carefully orchestrated Moses' destiny, on this Mother's Day, we honour mothers, it is good for us to think about how much mothers really do, being a mother is not a walk in the park."

The church youth comprising Francine Potofou Fata, Franconia Fata, Afa Fata, and Francis Fata dedicated their choral sung to all the mothers of the church. 

"Happy Mother's Day to all mothers, grandmothers, and all the mother figures in this house, we praise God for the gift of you, special dedication to our mum whom we love and adore so much," said Ms. Fata, who was the lead vocalist for the choral group.

The solo dance performance was done by Naumati Louisee Pouoa, who also dedicated her performance to her late mother Sarah. Her late mother was the wife of the church's Senior Pastor Amosa Pouoa who passed away last year.