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| Lutheran head, Kigasung, is dead | |
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By MADELEINE AREK WESLEY Kigasung, head bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in PNG, has died. Dr Kigasung, 58, passed away at the Angau Memorial Hospital in Lae, Morobe province, just after 10.30pm on Wednesday. Church general-secretary Isaac Teo said Dr Kigasung had suffered chest pains early that evening and collapsed at his Ampo home but was resuscitated and rushed to the Eriku Medical Centre and later Angau. News of his death spread like wildfire as hundreds of mourners filled the church headquarters at Ampo yesterday morning. Both the church and national flags were slung to half-mast as the people came in droves; the young and old, businessmen and laymen, politicians and public servants, and those who knew and loved this “simple down-to-earth man who lived a simple life”. They wept as they entered the room where he lay, openly showing their grief for a man “who, since his appointment almost 10 years ago, has elevated the Lutheran Church in PNG to new heights”. Dr Kigasung’s body, accompanied by his family, was flown out of Lae yesterday afternoon to Port Moresby. All Lutheran agency schools in the city were closed while only a few staff remain at work at the provincial administration. Dr Kigasung succeeded Sir Getake Gam when he was appointed in the 1998 Lutheran synod in Kimbe. He was serving his second term as head bishop when he passed away. Dr Kigasung is survived by wife Sussie, daughters Joanne and Maureen, two granddaughters and several adopted children. |
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