West Papuans mark 130th year of Christian mission in PNG

 THE West Papuans in Port Moresby celebrated the 130th anniversary of the arrival of Christian missionaries last Thursday.

Papuan leader Freddie Waromi said on Monday that they had celebrated the arrival of the first German Lutheran missionary on Mansinam Island, Manukwari, West Papua, on Feb 5, 1885. 

It was on anniversary day (Feb 5, 2015) that Prime Minister Peter O’Neill called for a free West Papua during a leaders’ summit.

 Waromi said whether O’Neill knew it or not, he had made that call in Port Moresby while the West Papuan people were celebrating at the Rainbow settlement the first arrival of Lutheran missionaries.  

They were the first Christian missionaries to arrive in West Papua and 31 years later the Lutheran missionaries arrived at Simbang Island, Morobe.

O’Neill said during the summit that PNG needed to take notice of the brutal treatment of the West Papuan people and speak out about the oppression.