A special celebration was held at the village of Falealupo-Uta in Savai'i on Friday to mark the opening of its new Congregational Christian Church of Samoa (C.C.C.S) building. 

More than a hundred people joined the Falealupo parish in giving thanks to the lord as they celebrated the completion of such an important project. 

Among the special guests were the Chairman of the C.C.C.S., Reverend Elder Iosefa Uilelea and his wife as well as several reverend elders from different parishes around Savai'i. 

Reverend Elder Amuia Seuala of the C.C.C.S. at Papa led the service to bless the new church building, while the wife of the C.C.C.S. Chairman, Tekimatang Uilelea was given the honor to cut the ribbon to open the new church building. 

Reverend Elder Iosefa Uilele spoke on behalf of the C.C.C.S. Executives to congratulate Reverend Leauma Faletoese and his congregation for the milestone celebrated on Friday. 

The Chairman of the C.C.C.S. hailed the success of the project, commending the Falealupo-Uta parish, which is made up of only eight church families (matafale) for their commitment and desire to do great things for Jesus and his ministry. 

Reverend Elder Uilelea said he was amazed at how a small congregation managed to put together funding for a new church building and completed the work in the span of four months. 

The resident church Minister for the Falealupo C.C.C.S.  parish, Reverend Leauma Faletoese said he was overwhelmed with joy and credited God for his guidance and protection upon them and for the success of the project. 

"Today is a day of thanksgiving and rejoice and give thanks to God for He made this happen for us," Reverend Leauma said. 

"There are no words to explain how thankful and grateful we are for this great milestone."

Reverend Leauma then acknowledged all those who contributed to making their dream become a reality and indicated that the new church building is worth more than $100,000 tala.

"This is the second church building since the establishment of the Falealupo-Uta parish," he said. "My wife and I were assigned to this parish in the year 1997 and this is the second church building for our church family. 

"There are only eight church families that make up our parish with a total of more than 70 people including children. Those figures are considered very small compared to the rest of the congregations under C.C.C.S. 

"But is no excuse and did not stop us from doing what we believe is best, in the name of Jesus."

Moreover, Reverend Leauma said the only challenge they faced while working on the construction of their new church building was that there were only a few people available to help out with the project. 

"Because we are a very small congregation, the main obstacle we faced was that there were fewer people to help out with the construction works and other things. 

"But through it all, God continued to prove that anything is possible if we believe in God and put our faith and trust in him."