Armed Holdup Gang
Leader Becomes Magistrate
Barola is a name which is feared by travelers along the highlands highway joining Kainantu and Goroka in Papua New Guinea. As we boarded the bus, Japheth told me not to mention the name of our destination out loud, or other people would be afraid to get on the bus. There had been several nasty attacks on Barola mountain recently and even the local mission president Pr. Jessely Faragasso who is well known and respected in that area has been held up. Was this weekend away a mistake? I began musing about the history of our congregation at Barola and its ministry to the surrounding community especially the armed gangs who regularly stop buses and other vehicles and take anything of value. To resist invites a serious knifing or being shot.
At first the gospel was not welcome at Barola. The first Barola person to join the church was Jeff Yatani. As often happens, Jeff found the Lord while he was away from home. He went to Kimbe on the Island of New Britain to attend High School. There he made friends with Wislon the son of Pr. Loekiri a Seventh-day Adventist pastor. He was invited to church and gave his Life to Jesus and determined to go back and share his faith with his people. In 1986 on returning to Barola, Jeff built a two level house and then invited a small group of people to come over so he could teach them to sing. One of the people attracted by the music was Nehia Kuso. Nehia was a hardened criminal and spent most of his time teaching the young people in the area how to do armed hold ups down on the highway. Japheth only a small boy at the time, loved the music and came along to listen.
The gospel music they were learning made them curious about Jesus and they began learning to know Him through Jeff and what he shared from God’s Word. Together the music group started branch Sabbath schools in the surrounding villages, finding 15 to 25 interested people in each Branch Sabbath School. Later that year they decided that it was time to build a small church. Eagerly they prepared the ground and cut the posts for the building. Once the posts were up they rejoiced at seeing their own church becoming a reality. Next morning when they came to the building site, the posts had been pulled out and chopped up. An angry group of villagers arrived to tell them that they did not want the church and would not allow it to be built.
It is hard for small groups to go against the majority in the village in these tightly knit communities. What were they to do? Jeff gathered the group together and they prayed. They felt strongly that God wanted the church to be built so they went out again next morning cut more posts and stood them in the ground. Next morning the posts had once again been removed and cut to pieces by the angry villagers. Once again they were told in intimidating tones that they were not going to be able to build their church.
Once more the small group gathered and prayed to God for guidance and for wisdom and strength to do what they believed was His will. Next morning they once again prepared posts for their church and put drove them into the ground. The following day the posts were still there. With joy they tirelessly continued the work, knowing that God was with them and would help them succeed.
In 1987 the first small bush material church was completed at Barola and Nehia Kuso was the first to be baptized and this erstwhile gang trainer has been the head elder of the congregation, which grew out of singing group, from then right up until now. Since giving his life to Jesus, Nehia has used his teaching skills to train people to hunt for souls for the Lord. Toben who is currently the lay minister looking after the congregation at Barola was trained in that art by Nehia Kuso. Later he went to Homu Layman’s school and learned more from the late Pr. Peter Knopper.
Toben had a burden to teach the youth in the church how to preach and get them involved in their church. As congregations sprang up in the surrounding area, these young people were used of God to nurture the church and bring many to the foot of the cross. Japheth was one of those young preachers and got his calling to ministry through the opportunities given him by Toben. When Japheth went to Omaura School of Ministry in 1999 He had a burden for the armed gangs back home and began praying earnestly for Nime Miefa the Head commander of the gangs and for Andrew his second in command who was a gang leader and prayed for the boys in the gangs by name interceding with God to bring the light and peace of His love to their hearts.
After many months of prayer, Japheth felt impressed the time was right to go and visit Nime Miefa and share Jesus with him. It was not as easy as it sounds. The police had been searching for Nime for a long time. He had ruthless personal guards and even if you knew where to find him it was not possible to get near him unless he said it was ok. Japheth knew where he was and sent a message to him telling him he wanted to visit him and share Jesus with him. The reply was curt and unambiguous. Nime did not want to meet Japheth or to hear anything about Jesus. Japheth prayed some more and decided to send another message to Nime insisting he had a special message from Jesus for him and needed to come and see him. Once again he was warned that he must not come or he would suffer the consequences. Japheth thought back to the opposition they encountered in building their first church at Barola. Yes God did answer prayers and overcome impossible obstacles, he would try again. A third time he sent a message to Nime saying he really needed to see him and share Jesus with him. Again he received a stern reply and a very blunt warning not to come near Nime’s hideout.
Japheth believed God was calling him to go and see Nime and that he should delay no longer. He set out into the forest on what to any ordinary person would seem like a suicide mission. He surrendered his life to the Lord anew, voicing his willingness to die if that would bring glory to God.
Somehow he managed to get past the guards and before long he was standing in the door way and could see Nime sitting in his chair with several firearms nearby. He moved forward and instantly Nime saw him and reached for his 24 round pistol. Japheth just stood there and smiled. Nime hesitated for a moment mesmerized by the joy and peace of God radiating out of Japheth’s face. This was something he had never known himself. After a few tense moments he put the gun down and invited Japheth to come to him and tell him why he had come. Japheth explained how he had been praying for Nime and how much he wanted to share the love of God with him. As Japheth spoke Nime began to realize that this messenger of God had something to offer that he really needed. He asked his wife to cook some food for himself and for Japheth. Japheth bravely asked if the food was bought legitimately and explained he would not be able to eat it if it had been stolen with menace and bloodshed. Nime assured him it had been bought legitimately and they both sat down as Japheth went on to tell Nime how much God loved him and wanted him to have life in all its fullness.
Before leaving Japheth gave an invitation to Nime to attend a week of revival meetings he was about to conduct at the Barola church. On the Sunday night Nime came to the top of the hill over looking the church and heard the message over the public address system. Monday night he came and stood just outside the church and watched as the people inside joyfully responded to the message of salvation. Tuesday night came and Nime decided to go inside the church and be a part of the program. That night he came forward and gave his heart to Jesus. He stood there and confessed his life of crime and told the people he was sorry and asked forgiveness from the church and the community for the life he had lived and asked those present to pray for him.
The next thing Nime wanted to do was to make things right with police. Japheth new he was likely to be shot on sight if he went to the police station unannounced. He contacted the local mission and the Papua New Guinea Union Mission and asked for special prayer as he tried to arrange Nime’s surrender. The police station commander was indignant. “I have been hunting that man and wanting to kill him for a long time, Why do you want his freedom?” Japheth explained that with God’s help Nime’s life had changed and that he wanted to surrender his firearms to the state and disband the gangs. Finally after much prayer and negotiation, The police commander agreed that if Japheth brought Nime in, he would use his discretionary powers under the law and give Nime his freedom.
Japheth hid Nime in the bush fearing that some one would kill him on his way to the police station. He found a private vehicle to transport him there. As soon as the police saw Nime they scowled and looked like they would go back on their deal. The commander told him how he had searched for him with one purpose in mind -to kill him. Nime told him that if he had shot and missed, then he would have killed him instead and they were both lucky he had never been found. The police commander kept his word. He called the police officers together and told them they were not allowed to touch Nime and then told him he was free to go. The next problem Japheth had was that no bus was prepared to let Nime get on board -and can you blame them. In the end the police picked Japheth and Nime up and took them back to Barola in a police vehicle.
A large ceremony was arranged for the handing over of the weapons. Officers from the Eastern Highlands Simbu Mission, the Papua New Guinea Union Mission, the government and the police force all attended the ceremony. Pr Wilson Steven then the president of the PNGUM ran a week of meetings to reach out to the gang members and the local community.
…….I looked over at Japheth and knew that if he thought we were safe then we would be. As we lurched and bounced our way along the road down to Barola mountain, I could not help wondering why there had been so many attacks lately. Were the conversions witnessed at that time shallow and had the people slipped back into crime once more? Was all the effort that so many people put in to reach these criminals a waste of time in the long run?
I was keen to talk to Nehia and other former gang members to find out what had happened in the intervening years. As I stood and watched the incredible team work as the Barola church members uprooted trees and dug away the side of the mountain to prepare ground for a new and bigger church, Japheth pointed out Andrew Afito who was busy digging away at the embankment. Andrew was Nime’s number 2. Nime has been baptized and regularly attends Barola church still. He had not returned from the Christmas break the weekend I was there. Japheth called Andrew, Jeff, Nehia, and Toben over under the shade of a large tree and we began talking about their lives and how God has forgiven and lead them to this point. Andrew told me emphatically that the gangs that surrendered with Nime had stayed away from crime. 50% of the 64 gang members were currently attending church, 20 of them had been baptized. He himself had not been baptized but he felt that now was the time. “This church means everything to me.” He said. “As soon as this new church is built I want to be baptized at the opening ceremony.” He went on to explain that the gangs who are causing the trouble now are from villages further along the road, ..”and some are joining the gangs from other provinces.” He went on. Andrew, once gang leader is now the village magistrate and ironically is learning more and more about Jesus these days from the Nehia Kuso -the very one who once taught him to be one of the most fearless criminals in the Highlands. “As a church we are going to make a special effort to reach these gangs for Jesus.” Nehia said with a warm smile as our discussion came to a close.
I came away from Barola marveling again at the power of God to change wrecked lives completely and rebuild something beautiful and worthy and lasting in their place. Please pray for this church family as they take up the challenge of reaching the lost and reclaiming souls from the stronghold of the enemy. Remember Japheth and other missionaries who risk their lives to bring Jesus to those who need Him so much and pray for God’s leadership in their lives and for His protection.
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