Power of an indomitable spirit

By Rev SEIK PITOI
He sat flat on the floor, leaning with his back against the wall; his legs outstretched.
His knees were swollen and he looked to be in much pain. But being the warrior he was, Uraru smiled at my wife and I standing outside, and beckoned us to come in. We made ourselves comfortable on the floor next to him as he welcomed us to his mean but comfortable dwelling.
We had paid a pastoral visit that morning to the leader of the intercessors ministry in our church at the time, the Rev Sione Kami Memorial Church (RSKMC).
Called “Strike Force Intercessors Ministry”, this group of men and women carry the burden of prayer for the congregation, as well as for other needs within and outside the walls of the church. For those who understand spiritual things, it is a ministry that require a high level of dedication, purity and spiritual maturity as there are often casualties.
This is not surprising as the nature of spiritual warfare is such that the enemy of our souls and his cohorts do not get too happy to see their plans get disrupted through the powerful prayers of dedicated prayer warriors. They often like to hit back!
That visitation to Uraru Aihi took place sometime in 2013. But a year before that, he had organised a prayer retreat for his intercessors team at the ATS United Church grounds. A couple of sessions were given to the pastors to take, and I was one of them.
During that time, I was impressed with Uraru’s level of commitment and his passion for ministry. This Kairuku man from Ere Ere village was a very courteous and polite man, a big man with a big heart for God, and he led his team of intercessors from the front.
However, some time later, we began to notice that Uraru was missing. We didn’t see him at the weekly prayer meetings, nor during Sunday services. That was strange for someone like Uraru. Soon, we heard through some of his friends that he was very sick. We also heard that he had been going through a tumultuous time in his home life, and it was starting to affect his health.
As we spent time with Uraru that morning, he opened up and began to explain to us the situation he was going through. It was quite a stressful time for him. We shared with him from God’s word and encouraged him as best as we could. Then we prayed for him.
Uraru’s situation took a while to mend, both physically, emotionally and spiritually. His problems had been acerbated in 2016 by the death of his wife who had cared for him during that time of illness. That loss added to all the problems he was going through, but he was determined that he would get through with God’s help.
In respect of his wife’s passing, Uraru decided to stand down from the leadership of the intercession ministry. But as he stood down from one, God opened a door for him to serve in another.
Uraru’s change in direction came from his own Roro language group members. Prominent lawyer and an elder at the church, Phillip Aeava, launched a new ministry calling together the people of Kairuku at RSKMC. These people from seven villages that make up the Pounamona Circuit in Bereina finally had their own language fellowship.
Phillip’s village of Kivori and Uraru’s village of Ere Ere are part of the Pounamona Circuit. So the Kairuku members at RSKMC decided to call their ministry after their circuit name – Pounamona.
Uraru was asked to take the reins of the group and he agreed. He was now back in ministry. This time, he was responsible for a large group of people from different villages in their home circuit. He had also recently been inducted a deacon by his local Ere Ere Ere fellowship in Port Moresby, so his deaconship responsibility covered his participation with his village fellowship as well as the combined Pounamona ministry at RSKMC.
Under his chairmanship, and with mentoring from Elder Phillip Aeava, Uraru led the Pounamona ministry to their very first outreach programme. This was held at Hisiu village, Kairuku, during the Independence long weekend.
After conducting their meetings that weekend, they saw the Lord do a tremendous work among the people. For example, 19 people came out for prayer for special needs; 41 adults surrendered their lives to Christ, 30 young people under age of 15 also received Christ, and 21 lives were rededicated to the Lord.
Hisiu village folks also commented that this particular weekend was the first quiet and peaceful weekend in the village for a long time. It seems that as the Lord was being lifted up and magnified, His presence nullified all the works of the evil one, allowing the Gospel to reach people unhindered.
I recently met up with Uraru again during an evening fellowship meeting at RSKMC. My wife and I had been invited to attend the fellowship by Phillip Aeava and after not seeing Uraru since that day five years ago, I was so pleased to see my friend walk without any sign of pain.
Everything that took place after our pastoral visit, happened after we left the church to undertake a new posting at another congregation. So it was a great joy to see Deacon Uraru looking better than when I last saw him.
As I shared with him then, he said: “I want to do my best to help my young people grow in Christ. We have many young people but not enough parents. It’s a challenge for us to see them grow and mature in the Lord”. This man was not thinking about his situation; he was now considering others!
Uraru is blessed to have mentors like Phillip and Sola Aeava, and he knows that with good support from people like them, he is able to rise up above his circumstances and reach out to help others as well.
Deacon Uraru and a team will work with the new converts from Hisiu village each weekend as they run follow up classes. As any pastor will tell you, it’s easy to catch fish but another thing to clean and gut them! It takes a lot of patience and dedication to see new converts eventually grow and get strong in the Lord so they too can go and reach others for Christ.
But for a man who had been ‘down in the dumps’, suffered serious family problems, lost his wife, was disabled for a long time, and became so depressed, it was nothing but love for God and a passion to serve Him, emanating from an indomitable spirit that never says die, that got this old prayer warrior literally back on his two feet again!

•  Rev Seik Pitoi is freelance writer.