Labu villagers build church

A NEW church building in Labu Tale village is a story of persistence by locals in their Christian faith despite being under siege by their tribal neighbours on their traditional land.
The Labu Tale community last Sunday celebrated the opening of their Lutheran Church building, something they had been planning for three years.
The church building was named in honour of Lucas Awati, the village’s first Christian evangelist who took part in the spread of the Gospel into the hinterlands of Morobe province, especially in Bulolo.
The opening service was presided over by the Evangelical Lutheran church’s Lae circuit
Pr Gedisa Yaing.
It saw Awati’s family members celebrating the family legacy of serving the church continue through his grandson, Sawadi Yaku, who was bestowed the responsibility of serving the parish as an elder after his late father, Yaku Awati.
Village elder and former councillor Aaron Aima said the church opening was achieved in troubled times as the village was still recovering from shock and grief after one of their young men was kidnapped by the Bumatu people from across the mountains in the Buang area, in Bulolo district, two weeks ago.
His murder came exactly two years after the first kidnapping and murder of a couple from their garden in similar fashion and the burning down of a small hamlet comprising 32 houses by the Buangs who are interested in the Labu’s traditional hinterland.
Aima described their actions as the work of the devil, but praised God for the persistency of the Labu Tale people.