Villagers prepare for 100th anniversary of arrival of Christianity

PREPARATIONS are now underway in Ununu village, Komba local level government (LLG), in Kabwum, Morobe, to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the arrival of Christianity and the establishment of the Evangelical Lutheran church of PNG missionaries.
The commemoration programme is slated for August 2022.
Organising committee chairman Jeremiah Wata said Ununu villagers contributed K10,000 and started preparing last year, but were slowed down by the Covid-19 pandemic.
He said people were still contributing to support the programme.
Wata said Ununu was a special place and held a significant history for the Lutheran church of Papua New Guine.
“It was at Ununu that missionaries settled down when they came from Heldsbach to Wareo, then onto Hompua and Zageheme,” he said.
“In 1919, they came to Indagen, Darasimbit and by August, that same year, they settled down here.
“It was here in Ununu that 56 missionaries were taught, baptised and sent out to other areas in PNG.”
Wata said they were expecting up to 5,000 people from around the province to attend the celebration.
He warned against taking the track through the Sarawaget ranges because of an incident in 2019 that saw several people die while making the journey to the LLG for a celebration.
Wata appealed to the people of Komba and Kabwum and the public to assist them prepare for the celebration.
Any assistance in cash could be deposited directly into the the committee’s “Ununu 100 years Good News celebration” account.