Morobe starts year on a prayer

By JUNIOR UKAHA
PAPUA New Guinea (PNG) is considered a “Christian Country” so it is not uncommon to find traces of the Christian faith, practice and doctrine in the lives of its people.
It is not unusual to see one talking about God, preaching in public places, calling the name of Jesus during times of distress or just singing a hymn or two just to find some sense of spiritual solace.
Not all Papua New Guineans go to church, however, but, nonetheless, they still consider themselves as Christians; something they are very fond of despite their “worldly” state of affairs.
God, it seems, is very much a strong force in the conscious and sub-conscious, of the people of this country—both in rural and urban environments.
The Constitution of this country is said to be founded on the principles of the Holy Bible and the Ten Commandments of God—these are elements fundamental to the Christian
belief.
At the government level, during the time of Grand Chief Sir Michael Somare as Prime Minister in 2010 our nation has signed a covenant with the God of Israel.
This was followed by the placing of the 400 years old original King James Version of the Holy Bible in Parliament House in 2015 by the Speaker of Parliament Theodore Zurenuoc.
The opening of the Legal Year annually, the death of a prominent person, swearing-in of an important public office holder and numerous other important State events are done with prayers, Bible readings and sermons.
Last Friday, the Morobe Provincial Administration (MPA) under the auspices of Acting Provincial Administrator Sheila Harou decided to dedicate its public service to God through a church service.
The special dedication service, according to Harou, was to rekindle the individual and collective relationship and belief the public servants of
Morobe have in God and ask for his blessings on their lives.
Harou said she hopes to see the church service become an annual event in the future.
Morobe is a province that is regarded as the “birthplace” of the Gospel of Jesus Christ in PNG because the pioneer Lutheran missionary John Friel, from Germany, landed in Simbang, Finschhafen in the 1800’s.
It was from here that the first local missionaries were trained and sent out to other parts of the country with the great commission of Jesus to make others his disciples.
It is, in that sense, the birthplace of the Gospel in the country.
In the Morobe Tutumang (Provincial Administration Building) there’s a big slogan painted on one of the building that reads “In God we trust, serve and prosper” constantly reminding the public servants and government officials of their Christian faith every time they visit the province’s administrative headquarters for business.
The service, at the St. Paul’s Cathedral, was presided by the highest member of the Lutheran Church, the Head Bishop Rev Jack Urame. Though not all the 10,000 plus public servants in the province attended; some very high-ranking officers from the administration, disciplinary forces, judiciary and provincial executive graced the occasion with their presence.
Among the group was Harou, her deputies Kissu Lucas and Masayng Moat, National and Supreme Court Judge Don Sawong, Lae Mayor Koim Trilu Leahy, Fisheries chairman Philemon Tomala and Education chairman Andrew Gena.
The service began with a procession led by the PNG Defence Force military band along Markham Road from near the Old Mobile Service Station to the church ground. Urame, dressed in his orthodox apparel, led the sermon from the pulpit.
The bishop, from Dom, Sinasina, Chimbu, was frank in his message to the congregation.
He said: “You are like salt and light of the world.”
“Salt has the job of preservation, healing and adding flavour. Light keeps the darkness away,” Urame said.
“We must be like salt so that we preserve the Christian faith, so that we heal others around us and so that we add the Christian flavour to lives of others,” he said.
“We must be like light so that with our presence we can remove the darkness,” Urame said.
“We must, first of all, serve God our Creator and later serve our neighbours,” he said.
Sawong, who was guest of honour, said public servants in the country have a duty to serve the people diligently and with integrity.
The judge said it was not easy being a public servant but people employed under this category must rise up to challenges.
“As each of you know, there are always challenges,” Sawong said.
“These challenges come in many shape and form,” he said.
“And now more than ever, either individually or collectively, we must rise to them,” Sawong said.
“Criticisms of all sorts, from various people and organisations, are also a form of challenge,” he said.
“You and I, as public servants, have a duty and responsibility to our people, our province and our country to rise to challenges and deal with them effectively,” Sawong said.
Sawong said in the face of great challenges, the strength of the civil services rests on its immutable core values of dedication, integrity and loyalty.
He said civil servants must at all times dedicate themselves to provide effective, competent and loyal services with integrity and honesty to the public in whatever they do.
Sawong said public servants must aptly and constantly remind themselves of the Oath they took when they joined the public services.
He said public servants must dispense their duties fairly and justly to all citizens regardless of their (citizens) creed, race, sex or social One of the provincial executive council members Andrew Gena was moved by the service because of the fact that it was held after so many years.
Gena said Morobe was the province where the first Lutheran missionary set foot on so it was only fitting that every year a dedication service was held to dedicate its public service and people to God and remind them of this important historical event.
“I think this is the right thing to do,” Gena said.
“We have to say sorry to God for not doing this in the past years,” he said.
“He (God) has given us many blessings in our lives so we have to thank him,” Gena said.
The service ended with a fellowship meal just like in the book of the Acts of the Apostles where all the believers lived in close fellowship and shared whatever little they had.