Aussie pastor recounts PNG experience

AN Australian pastor has sung the praises of Papua New Guinea after recalling a visit to Gumine, Chimbu, to help a fellow local pastor work with the local community.
Ps Rob Mulhearn, lead evangelist for the Gold Coast Church of Christ had in 2015 accompanied friend Ps Felix Tokwepota of the Port Moresby Church of Christ to the Highlands.
Both men first met as teenagers in Sydney when attending a youth retreat and their self-described “bromance” was sparked by their lively personalities and commitment to their faith.
As a young man Tokwepota was full of passion, and innately blessed with the Trobriand Islanders’ gift of the gab, and started ministry work early and was quickly identified by church elders as someone who had the potential to lead in the future.
Mulhearn for his part exhibited a desire to travel and meet people from various parts of the world.
He too would eventually become a leader in his church which led the aspiring ministry workers to keep in touch over the years.
It was not until much later that the bromance truly cemented, in the cold and foreboding mountains of Gumine.
The trip from plane to truck to track was an exercise in gradual discomfort, but the memory of the excitement and uncertainty is what furnishes both men’s retelling of their adventure.
“It was encouraging to have one of my best friends’ travel with me to the Highlands,” Tokwepota said when recalling the trip.
When asked about PNG, Mulhearn said he thought it was unfortunate that not enough people knew more about the country.
“It is vibrant, rich in cultures and character and has earned the wrong reputation for the same dangers that you find in any major cities around the world.”