Kiriwina United church opened

IT was a historical moment for the Kiriwina community in Port Moresby when the Kiriwina United church was officially opened last Sunday.
Beginning as the Kiriwina Community Ekalesia, the gathering of believers dated back to the 1960s with an exodus of Kiriwina people to Port Moresby from the Trobriand Islands in Milne Bay province in search of work.
With the influx of more islanders, the fellowship grew.
Originally, a part of Methodist church of the Papua islands region, Kiriwina-speaking fellowships were organised after the main English services.
The inauguration of the Kiriwina United church comes to a point of 49 years since its early beginnings, a cause for much celebration for the congregation.
There to be part of the opening was the moderator of United church Rev Samson Lowa, who sheared a message of encouragement, and urged the congregation to focus on investing the gospel in children and the youth.
“Our children are born in a different land, our worry now is whether they will preserve the cultural identity, here at the church, that identity can also be preserved,” elder, Baden Soapa, said.
The congregation is made up mainly of people from Kiriwina.