HISTORY

The fire continues to spread

After 135 years the spirit of the gospel is rekindled all around the country

By FREDAH TAIMBARI
THE praise song “Laitim paia long nambis, kisim go long maunten…” was sung joyously as Christians of the Lutheran faith in Port Moresby gathered at Kirap Bek Lutheran Congregation to celebrate 135th anniversary of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Papua New Guinea.
Yes, as the lyrics of the song go, fire symbolically means beginning the work of God. And it all started on July 12, 1886, when the first German missionary Johann Flierl landed on the shores of Simbang village in Finchaffen, Morobe, to begin his mission work.
At the celebration, Lutheran faithful were reminded about that history and the growth of the church and how it all began and got to where it is now.
From that humble beginning, this mission work was extended to other places in Morobe, later to Madang, then up to the highlands. It was tough and hard during those times but it was for the sake of spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ to other parts of PNG that many had to leave their homelands and travel miles to resettle in what became their new homes.
Special tributes were paid to these early missionaries from the Neuendettelsau Mission Society and Rhenish Mission Society of Germany, local missionaries, wives of these missionaries and others who were confronted with difficult terrain. They had to cross fast flowing rivers, climb steep mountains and encounter sickness and disease along the way. Yet by the grace of God they made sacrifices and walked that journey of faith purposely to keep the fire going and spread the Word of God.
“We must be happy about the history of this church. It has come a long way and will continue grow,” Ps Barry Asinou of the Immanuel Lutheran Congregation said.
Today, ELC PNG has over 1.2 million followers who make up the 17 districts of the church. These include 15 in mainland New Guinea, one in New Guinea Islands and one covering the Southern Region.
As this mission work continues to grow, the church is acquiring new memberships from local communities whose provinces are mostly dominated by other Christian denominations. For instance, the two main ones in Southern Region are the mission fields at Cape Rodney in Central and Balimo in Western. There are others as well in various provinces.
“The word of God is like that light of a candle that brought light to us. It started 135 years ago in Simbang and we will continue to live and share this faith,” said Ps Noan Cholai of Kirap Bek Lutheran Congregation.

Whilst this was the main reason for celebrations on ELCPNG Sunday, July 11 across all church districts, ELC Papua District also had another reason to celebrate.
Growing as a mission field of the Yabem District (in Morobe) in the 1960, the mission work of the church was extended to Popondetta then to Port Moresby. As ELCPNG memberships increased in the Southern region, it paved way for the formation of Papua District in 1980. The Papua District is comprised of Lutheran congregations in six provinces of the region.
To continue this important ministry, the church district has been tasked with the responsibility to stage the 33rd National Synod of the ELCPNG from Jan 9 to 15, 2022, in Port Moresby.
The synod is the highest policy decision-making body of the church. It is where the church’s policy decisions, initiatives and developments are discussed and resolutions passed for implementation.
The synod is held every four years in a selected district with a certain theme. The theme for the upcoming synod is based on the word of God in Joshua 24:15b: “As for me and my family, we will serve the Lord”.
This theme is significant and comes at a time when the nation is faced with social, economic and health crises. It serves as a reminder and a call to Christians to draw closer to God who is the source of all things.
“We have heard about the mission work that was passed on and now it is in our hands to make it happen,” said Sumasi Singin, chairman of the 33rd synod central committee.
His deputy Kingston Alu echoed similar sentiments with this challenge: “How can you as a Lutheran serve your God? It’s time you come forward and serve him to show that the Gospel is still alive.”
Preparatory work for the synod has begun and is in progress. Over 1,000 important dignitaries including delegates, observers, guests and other visitors are expected to attend.

• Frieda Taimbari is a freelance writer.

To the highlands with Good News

Excerpts from the opening chapter of the book ‘Mugang Mugarewec Bitenger, a pioneer missionary to the highlands of New Guinea’ by GABBY MUGANG

SINCE the arrival of the gospel in the coastal areas of Papua New Guinea, it took nearly 40 years for the Lutheran Church to extend its mission work up to the highlands.
In the past, there was no road links or any other infrastructure compared to today’s advancements. It was the period of uncivilisation. People wore traditional outfits and lived in small isolated tribal groups with no contact of the outside world. The traditional practices of witchcraft and tribal fighting between warring clans were so common, hence, fear made people confined within their own boundaries.
Both the mission and the colonial government took a lot of time and effort to establish contacts with the locals. Every time they stepped into an area to take possession, there was often mixed reactions from the locals. In some places they were accepted easily, nevertheless, in some areas there were often strong resistance from the natives and it normally involved a lot of negotiations before agreements were reached.
The first contact of Lutheran mission into the highlands of New Guinea was between the years 1926-1927 when a team of white missionaries including some locals from Finschhafen, walked from Markham valley up to the mountains exploring areas near Kainantu and Henganofi. Afterwards Lutheran mission stations were set up in some of those places.
Apart from the Lutheran Church, the Catholic Church and government officials were also claiming lands for the set-up of their stations. Sometimes there were competitions between the three groups in attaining lands. The first colonial government station in the highlands of New Guinea was in Kainantu in the year 1932.
In those missions and colonial government stations, fundamental infrastructures like roads, bridges, airstrips, schools, aid posts and hospitals were also established. The two bodies have worked hand in hand and have played significant roles in the shaping of present day Papua New Guinea.
In the year 1933, colonial government official Kiap Jim Taylor and brothers Michael and Daniel Leahy with their team walked on foot from Kainantu all the way to Mount Hagen. They proclaimed Mount Hagen as a colonial government station, built an airstrip then returned to Kainantu.
The story of their tour to Mount Hagen was heard by the Lutherans in Finschhafen and Madang. The church quickly made arrangement with a company aircraft and in that same year, two white missionaries; Foege and Wilhelm Bergmann flew from Kainantu to Mount Hagen. They did mapping of all the places they saw in the highlands of New Guinea.
When they returned they gave the report of their trip to the Lutheran Church. The white missionaries and the Christians in Finschhafen and Madang heard the report and felt the challenge to extend the mission to those unreached places and people. As a result, one year later in 1934, there was a mass recruitment of eligible men for the highlands exploration. Forty-five locals were taken from Finschhafen and another 45 locals from Madang joined them. There were six white missionaries in the team. It was approximately 100 men who toured the highlands of New Guinea.
In the Finschhafen group was a young man named Mugang. He was 18 years of age and was the youngest in the group at that time.
The men in the group were given different tasks to carry out throughout the expedition. Some were carriers, others were cooks and another group was compass bearers. Since Mugang was the youngest in the group, he was given the task of scouting.
During the expedition whenever they came across big rivers, the men would tie a rope around Mugang’s waist and let him into the river and he would feel the current and depth of the river. If the river was shallow and the current steady, then all the men would cross it.
However, if the current of the river was so strong and the water was deep, they would pull Mugang out of the river and try other locations until they were able to cross. The rope tied around his waist was to prevent him from drowning or being carried away by fast sinuous rivers.
During the journey, they identified some places and planted the Mission posts declaring the areas for Lutheran Mission. While walking on the way they saw many villages and people. Some looked friendly but others looked fierce and tried to attack them.
They walked for two weeks and arrived at Rabiamul in Mt Hagen. They planted a pole at Rabiamul but the location was later taken over by the Catholic Mission and the Lutheran Mission resettled to Ogelbeng where the church has its present office and other establishments.
They would have gone further but the compass they brought with them broke so from there they separated; the Madang group took the route north, following the mountain ranges to Jimi, crossed over to Ramu and back to Madang. The Finschhafen group headed south planning to take a short cut route back. But they ended up in a wrong direction so they returned to Mt Hagen and took the same route back to Kainantu and to Finschhafen.
On the way back at Waghi valley, one of the men fell ill. They were building a raft to lay the sick man on it to cross the Waghi river when Mugang accidently dropped his pocket knife into the river.
He was so troubled because that was the first and only knife he ever owned. Tools like axes, spades and knives were owned only by white missionaries and given as gifts to locals once in a while. Therefore, Mugang was so upset but nonetheless, this incident was in fact a turning point in his life.
The incident of losing his pocket knife caused him to make up his mind to return to Waghi later on as a missionary and evangelise the people with the gospel of Jesus Christ.