Isaac says sorry to tribesmen

By ALPHONSE BARIASI

I T IS mid-morning on Sunday, Oct 20. The setting is as serene as can be and oh, what a pleasant getaway from the city it is!
Under the cool shade of towering trees on the banks of the gently flowing river, the elderly man speaks candidly from his repentant heart but in the end croaks and falters.
It is as though nature itself is bearing witness to the former public servant who freely confesses that he had squandered much of his prime chasing things which gave him no real satisfaction in life. Worse yet, he had led others to do likewise.
Now, chasing 65 years of life, Isaac Wapu Moke stands here admitting his guilt to a congregation of people who are mostly young enough to be children and grandchildren.
“Sorry, I have led you into doing things which are not right,” he confesses specifically to his tribesmen among the congregation.
The former chief mining warden with the Department of Mining who had lived a life which he now looks back at with guilt and shame, was baptised in Pentecostal fashion last Sunday at the Goldie River, at the back of the PNG Defence Force training barracks.
As the first from his Yareporoi Kambiri tribe in Pangia, Southern Highlands to secure a well-paid public service job in Port Moresby in the 1980s, Moke had opened his door to any tribesman that came after him into the city and looked for a father figure to turn to for material help or counsel.
Over the years, Moke provided whatever help he could afford to relatives and other young people from his tribe.
But while that had been generally well-intended, he admits that he unwittingly led his younger tribesmen astray with his bad habits like excessive drinking and gambling.
he breaks down before the small congregation of believers and some of these tribesmen and relatives who gathered to witness his water baptism, the affirmation of a changed life from here on.
He is also joined by young church leaders Jackson Dili and Samson Tapu in the baptism. But as they emerge from the water, another gentleman, Ronnie Kipoi from the PNG Bible Church in Gerehu also volunteers to be immersed, much to the joy of those present.
As Moke is an elder in his small ministry affiliated to the Assemblies of God Church in PNG, his pastor and relative Mark Waleya felt that the baptism was a significant event so the congregation accompanied Moke to the service at the Goldie River.
Moke’s journey to Port Moresby started at Tari High School in what is now Hela Province.
He completed year 10 there and his dream to be a kiap then led him to the Administrative College in Waigani (now Pacific Institute of Leadership and Governance).
After completing a year’s training in 1975 he was posted to Wau in Morobe. All his kiap days were devoted to the service of Morobe at district and sub-district stations of Garaina, Finschhafen, Sialum and Mutzing.
In 1985 he won a mining warden’s job at the Department of Mining at Konedobu, Port Moresby and a year later became the chief mining warden.
Events surrounding the rich Mt Kare gold deposit in Southern Highlands/Enga which Moke helped to register and award the prospecting authority for (PA 591) eventually led to his dismissal from the post.
After taking the Government to court and winning his case, he opted not to work for the public service or anyone else again but do his own thing.
Moke’s wife Linda, who is from Kaintantu in Eastern Highlands and three children have stood by him as him tried his hand at small ventures to provide for the family.
Throughout these period, his relative, Pastor Mark Waleya had been consistently “pestering” him to attend church.
Eventually, three years ago Moke makesup his mind to go to church and change his old ways.
Members of his tribe like army sergeant Moses Wambi, lawyer Dick Korowa, Jack Yamaha, Neslon Yakipu, and others are moved by their elder’s decision to change his old ways and attend what they consider as a milestone in his life.
“I’m 64, going 65; I feel guilty and ashamed for the many years of sin,” Mokes admits.
“I’ve mentored many young peoplewrongly and led them astray. I want to follow God now. I’m aware, however, that it won’t be easy but I want to live for God.”
He adds that he regretted making a rather late start in the walk of faith but is nevertheless encouraged that God is at work in his life.
“Although I have only a few mores years to live, God is not finished with me yet,” Moke says.
In a short sermon prior to the baptism, Pastor Henry Aplas of the Assemblies of God Church, says Christian life is the best way to live.
“This is the best life – to be a Christian and to be in Jesus,” the pastor proclaims.
He encourages the newly baptised men that God is interested in them as individuals and he expects only one to effect change.
“Your change must bear fruit. When you do you part, God walks in.”
Following the immersion, the church members share a meal and enjoy the cool waters of the Goldie River before hitting the dirt road out of the army barracks into the city.