Vera serves with zeal

COVER STORY

By FRANCIS TEKEI
WHEN American evangelist John Robinson preached about being ‘born again,’ a young man from Lufa, Eastern Highlands was uneasy as he sat amongst the audience, listening.
That was in 1968 and Robinson, from the Billy Graham Evangelical Association, was a guest preacher at the Administrative College in Port Moresby.
Kumoro Vira was a student at the college, undertaking a one-year course to become a kiap (patrol officer) with big dreams of transforming the lives of his people and hence all Papua New Guineans.
The visiting evangelist touched on the conversation between Jesus and Nicodemus where Jesus told Nicodemus “You must be born again if you want to see the Kingdom of God”.
Kumoro recalls, “I was already God fearing and was a church-goer by then but when the evangelist preached on this subject, I told myself I was like Nicodemus, being religious but not knowing the substance.”
“Then when the evangelist asked if anyone wanted to be ‘born again’, I raised my hand…that was the time I was born again.
“From that time on, my hunger to follow God increased intensely.”
However, it was not until 1978 when this born-again Eastern Highlander began to do God’s work fulltime. Over 40 years later, self-taught Pastor, Kumoro Vira seems to have no idea when to stop preaching the Word of God, teaching, counselling, mentoring and building churches for the Foursquare Gospel Church even in retirement at the age of 72.
For 10 years (1968-1978), he worked as a kiap in Lufa District. He resigned to join the Reserve Bank of Australia at its Goroka office, later was manager of Eastern Highlands Savings and Loan Society (1974 to 1976) and contested the 1977 national elections as a candidate for the Eastern Highlands regional seat.
There and then, in 1978, Ps Vira knew his calling was not in a paid job, in business or politics. His calling was in ministering the Word of God to his people and all of humanity.
And so this self-taught pastor began his mission work, settling first at his wife’s village at Gorohanota in Gafuku LLG, Goroka.
At the time there were Foursquare churches already established in Kainantu, Lufa, Bena and Henganofi. Goroka and Daulo districts had none and it was Ps Vira’s mission to build the church in the two districts.
The first steps in building a church (a building) and the church (people) began, slowly but with the firm conviction that once the foundation was strong and sound, it would smoothly fall in place throughout Goroka and Daulo.
“We would go to my wife’s first sister’s house and we made regular visits and started singing. From there it turned out we sang every Wednesday night and eventually the number grew (and there wasn’t space in the house) so we used a church building belonging to the Lutheran Church,” recalls Pastor Vira.
“For 12 months or so, we never told the people there that we were Foursquare because the Lutherans were there before us and we didn’t want to create any issues with them.
“We would go out and worship by the river or under the trees. Eventually more people came and got baptised. Now we had to look for a place, a land to build our church.”
As is well known, it is not easy acquiring land anywhere in the Highlands, let alone getting land for free. And as is also well known amongst Christians, God’s ways are unlike men’s and miracles do happen.
“The people didn’t want to give us the land but the young men from the village kept coming to us and worshipped with us. Eventually the elders of the village said; ‘This land is for these young men but these young men are joining this new church so we might as well give them the land’.

On the rock
“Gehato, the land given to us, has now become the mother church of the two districts, Goroka and Daulo.”
In the Alekano language of Goroka, ‘Gehato’ means ‘on the rock’ in English.
“In the Bible it says that our faith is built on rock which is Jesus so Gehato was a fitting name we gave,” he explains.
With the foundation firmly established, it was time to move on.
“When we started having young people attending church (at Gehato) and actively involved in church work, we moved on to the other places in the two districts, preaching and establishing the faith.”

The Lutherans and SDAs were already in those areas so the challenge was for Ps Vira to not just win souls and build churches but to do so without causing any ill-feelings. Two key factors played in his favour. First, his wife is related to the Asaro area so had relatives across Goroka and Daulo which meant there would be support for the Vira’s when needed or necessary.
Second, Ps Vira was himself a SDA and a Lutheran so he knew exactly what spears would be thrown at him by the Lutherans and SDAs and how he would respond.
“I was a Seventh Day Adventist but a Lutheran teacher adopted me and so I was a Lutheran in my early days in Finschhafen (in Morobe). Later I became a Foursquare Church member so being part of and knowing the teachings and values of the two churches helped me in my work in establishing Foursquare churches in Goroka and Daulo,” he says.
At an early age, Ps Vira got acquainted with the SDA people that came to Veha, his village in Mt Michael Constituency, Lufa.

Adopted by a teacher
In 1959, a teacher from Finschhafen adopted him and the following year, he attended Garaina Primary School in Morobe. He then went on to Dregerhafen Primary School in Finschhafen (1961-1962) and onwards to Bugandi High School before returning to EHP where he completed Form 4 at Goroka High School.
Upon completing Form 4, he applied for two jobs – to be a kiap with the Department of District Administration and to work with the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA). That’s how he ended up at the Administrative College in 1968 and worked as a kiap the following year. He then joined the RBA in Goroka when he received his application whilst serving as a kiap in Lufa.
Being raised in the SDA church and educated in the ways of the Lutherans was useful to Ps Vira as he set out building churches for the Foursquare Church.
Today, as a result of the Vira’s missionary work, there are 25 Foursquare churches in Goroka and 29 in Daulo.

Anniversary
On Dec 28, 2018, the congregation from those churches and the hierarchy of the Foursquare Church celebrated 40 years since the first church was built at Gehato.

Parting with a companion
It was also a sad moment for Ps Vira who said good bye to his best friend, trusted companion (apart from his wife) and as he described during the event, ‘my brother.’
He was referring to the first Bible he had bought and which had been with him throughout those years. Paul Palmer, an American Foursquare pastor who has had the most influence in Ps Vira’s life told him to buy the Dakes Bible, which Ps Vira refers to as ‘the best layman’s Bible.’
During the 40th anniversary celebrations, Ps Vira shed tears as he described his closeness with his ‘brother’ and how useful his ‘layman’s Bible’ had been in shaping him to become a pastor without ever attending Bible college.
And because his Dakes Bible was old and needed a resting place, Ps Vira donated it to Solid Rock Gehato Foursquare Church. It is now a treasure in the history of the church in Goroka and Daulo.
Pastor Vira’s total commitment, dedication and faithfulness in serving God resulted in other achievements. He was instrumental in the amalgamation of two Foursquare churches (American and Australian). The PNG Foursquare Gospel Church was incorporated in 1984 and Pastor Vira became its first president and served until the end of 1987.
During his reign as the president, Ps Vira oversaw the launching of a home-grown constitution that specifically met the requirements of the church in PNG, the establishment of two Bible colleges (Lighthouse Bible College in Madang and Life Bible College in Goroka), the establishment of foreign missions (now PNG missionaries are based in over 10 countries), and the establishment of Foursquare churches in all provinces in PNG.

“Then when the evangelist asked if anyone wanted to be ‘born again’, I raised my hand…that was the time I was born again.

His wife, Rev Popoina also deserves credit for the mission work they both carried out. She has her own personal achievements, including being a key figure in the establishment of the United Foursquare Women’s Association.
Now semi-retired or as he prefers to be called, a ‘freelance pastor,’ Ps Vira is still active in church work visiting schools, attending meetings, involved in camps and teaching upcoming pastors.
His four sons are all living lives of their own with their families in respectable careers.
As he looks back, he is satisfied that answering the call of God in those early days had borne fruit with the Word of God impacting and continuing to reach thousands of lives.
He sees truth in the words of his most influential mentor and pastor, American Rev Paul Palmer who challenged him to take the lead which he did with outstanding results.
“He told me: ‘I’m a guest in your country and I will leave anytime for my home in America. You tell me who is going to take the leadership of the church in 10 to 20 years time?’
“From that time on (in the 70s) I promised Paul I would do anything and everything in the name of God,” Ps Vira says.
“It’s hard for me to forget this (Ps Palmer’s words) because I saw his words become a reality in my life.”
God’s calling never ends and now when invited to speak, ‘freelance pastor’ Vira tells the congregation: “I’m a Seventh-Day Adventist, I’m also Lutheran and I’m a Foursquare pastor” and as the congregation smiles away at the sense of humour, Ps Vira thanks God for Evangelist John Robinson who in 1968, preached on the ‘born again’ topic.
When he raised his hand to be ‘born again,’ Kumoro Vira had made a lifetime commitment that he has thus far, loyally, faithfully and humbly delivered with the support of his equally supportive wife, Popoina and his Dakes Bible ‘brother.’

• Francis Tekei is a freelance writer.