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The sun shone brightly through the thin highland atmosphere onto a dancing horizon, punctuated by the magnificent mountains at Hagen penetrating their way upwards into the gorgeous blue of the morning sky. Squinting we bent over the map spread out on the tail plane as Pr. Davai and I looked for the airstrip he wanted me to fly him too. It was not one I had visited before. I wanted to be sure we were heading in the right direction. Pr. Davai, then president of Western Highlands mission, had not been there either but had need to visit. We came to a consensus about where the strip was supposed to be and set off. Soon we were overhead. The airstrip was built on a ridge and steepened as it went up the hill and into a cutting on the steeper part of the mountain with a small turning/parking area at the top. When we alighted from the plane we discovered that we were not at the airstrip the president intended to visit. This was Mt. Tawa. He needed to go to Mt. Aue which was a few minutes flight further on. The villagers though, were friendly and glad to see us. They had been hoping someone from our mission would come. They made the request to Pr. Davai to send a missionary to to their village at Mt. Tawa. Later the executive committee in Mt Hagen agreed that God had led in our inadvertent landing at Mt. Tawa and that the church should accept the invitation of the people, to send a Lay missionary to plant a new church there.
Soon I was heading once more for Mt Tawa. Behind me sat Keseno Endia and his family. He had already been in there on his own and made a start to the work and today we were taking him back to Mt Tawa with his family this time. The mission had chosen this family to raise up a church in Mt. Tawa. I felt a sense of excitement at being able to play a small part in the developing story of missionary work in this remote area. As I re-flew this same route I thought back to the original navigational error, that God had used as an opportunity to reach out to this remote group of people. I could not help thinking how resourceful God is at using our many mistakes for His glory. This was after all the missionary field, we had discovered 'by accident'.
As we circled overhead Keseno exclaimed ‘Em Sios bilong yumi’ (That's our church) as he gesticulated excitedly towards a new small church in the bush to the South of the bottom end of the strip. His eyes opened wide as he told me of the 40 people who were now attending Sabbath School there. I felt such joyous anticipation as I lined up on final and settled the 206 down on the sloping uneven surface.
You can imagine my surprise and dismay to see a mob of sullen faced men approaching us with large sticks and big stones angrily threatening to kill us and destroy the aeroplane! I stood there motionless in stunned silence lifting my heart to my heavenly father in prayer. Soon fighting broke out. Men with wide glazed eyes and perspiring brows, were shrieking obscenities and curses while flailing large rocks and sticks with fearsome force at one another. I looked at Keseno, he calmly stood there with pain and compassionate concern for the people etched on his resolute highlander face. There was a calm fearlessness about the man that exuded a meek yet firm trust in God's calling and providence. Several times in the scuffles that ensued, people lunged at me in frenzied passion, their weapons poised with but one purpose in mind, only to have some one jump between them and me just as I wondered if that breath I was desperately inspiring was going to be my last. Each time they were turned away without doing violence.
At length, the people calmed down and I was able to ask the obvious question, “What is the problem here?” A man stepped forward to speak. He was the elected councilor there. He told me that we were not welcome at Mt. Tawa because there was already another missionary organization in the village and they did not want Adventists as well. As I listened, I learned that this councilor was once the pastor of another denomination here, but had moved on into politics. He had told the people that we were coming to confuse them and to cause strife and problems. Being a man of influence his words had been effective in stirring up the mob which had gathered to do us injury. Some of the interested people who were attending our church there, mistakenly thought it was their duty to get violent in order to protect me, the aircraft and the new missionary family I had flown in. One kept starting fights. I spoke strongly to him that this was not the way of Jesus to settle problems, but that I wanted to quietly hear what all the people wanted to say with out fighting and then respond. Things were quiet for a while but flared up now and then.
A couple of times I thought of just running to the plane and trying to get out of there, but had I shown fear, I think I would have been in more serious danger, also I would have surrendered the spiritual battle by fleeing from a situation that God had brought me into and protected me through so far. I prayed again and the gnawing fear was replaced by the calmness of the presence of Christ and a feeling of sorrow and compassion for those poor confused souls for whom Jesus gave His life.
The councilor told me that what our church had done was to bring a “new woman into a man's household” and the old and true wife was very upset. I got the point immediately. The bringing of new light had brought strife to families where people were stepping out on the Christian road to follow Jesus further on the next section of the narrow way beyond where they were at present. I prayed and thought hard. That morning’s Sabbath School lesson flashed into my mind. Christ and His body the Church in I Cor 12. I told the people that Christ had only one bride but, that the church as a body had many parts and God had called different people to do different tasks in His service. I told them that the Christian missionaries who had come and brought them a knowledge of Jesus were called by Him to do that and that we had not come to undo their good work. I went on to relate how we too, were part of Christ’s body as were the different groups who are translating the Bible around the country into the local languages. I told them that SDAs were also a part of the body of Christ who had a special work to do in proclaiming the nearness of the second coming of Christ and preparing people to meet Him in peace. This was not antagonistic to what they had already been taught but was building on it to help them progress in the Christian pathway. We went over the analogy of the body with its diversity of function but its unity of purpose. I told them I considered them to be brothers and that we would sit down in heaven together, and we wanted to work with them in peace down here. What is the use if the hand fights the leg, it impedes the function of the body. I think most people got the point. There were a lot of nods. The councilor and the local pastor keep saying I was bringing a new woman into their household and it was causing the same problems it would in a home. They told how this valley belonged to their church and we should go elsewhere and not interfere.
We told them that the call of Christ to prepare people for His soon coming was to go to every valley, language and people group, and that as such we could not recognize the kind of boundaries to which they referred. Just then the Chief came up all out of breath and wanted to speak. The new interests tried to restrain him and another scuffle broke out. I told the people that I wanted to hear what this big man had to say and that as a church we have respect for authority and the village chief and that I must hear him.
He was a blessing. He himself was a Lutheran (different denomination from the councilor) and worshipped a ridge or two over. He told the people that the airstrip was open to anyone, MAF SIL New Tribes or SDA if they wanted to bring services to his people. At this the councilor and his mob started to shout him down and start pushing and shoving people around again. The chief stood his ground and said that he and most of the people were happy for us to come. At this there were resounding cheers from one group and curses and violent outbursts from another. The local pastor then took up the speech making. He said that God was not happy with polygamy, and that the people there were already enjoying Gods blessing, they did not need another “woman” coming in to disrupt their lives. At this I looked the chief in the eye and calmly asked him whether the chief who was another religion also represented another “woman” in the sense in which we were speaking. Turning to the people standing around, I asked them about all the other Christian religions in the world and in PNG. If they were all separate brides for our Lord, what kind of God was He? What did the story say about God as our Holy Heavenly Father? Then I looked at the chief again and said that the Lutheran Church had brought much light to the world in a period of great darkness and that God's leading was evident in it, but that it clearly was not a second wife for our Lord, but merely a separate part of Gods functioning body of believers. The chief’s head nodded in agreement. The Councilor buried his face in his hands and moaned. He could tell that he was loosing his hold over the people. I then walked up to him and extended my hand. He took it and in Melanesian custom I held his hand and looked him in the face and told him I wanted to be his friend and that even if I did not see him again in this world I would look for him in heaven. I assured him the Seventh–day Adventist Church was interested in caring for his people and teaching them things that would benefit them both now and for eternity.
After a while I looked behind me and noticed that Keseno had unloaded his cargo and no one was stopping him. He had placed his wife and family out of the way. I asked him if he was happy to stay, fearing for their safety. Oh yes he said with a confident big smile as he shook my hand warmly. His wife gave me a radiant smile too, expressing her confidence that God would be with them and keep them safe.
He dissociated himself from the violence, which I congratulated him for. We went over together how it was Gods power that would win the battle for men’s hearts and in His own way. As I taxied out I could see the poor councilor in a very troubled spirit pursuing an interested member with a large stick which he broke over his body. I don't think I have ever felt so glad to rotate skywards and head for the safety of the open skies.
Some time later Pr Apeowa the district director for Mt. Tawa area, asked me if I would fly him into Mt. Tawa to run some programs for the new church group there. I thought long and hard. The village councilor had made it very clear to me that if I ever went back to Mt. Tawa he would make sure I did not get out alive! "Wow what should I do?" I thought. My natural instinct was to try and find a way to get out of going. But along side that, was the real need of the new church members there for the encouragement and nurture that a visit from the District director would bring. "Would going there be a brave act of faith, or a brazen act of presumption," I pondered. How is a lowly missionary pilot supposed to work this sort of thing out? I whispered a prayer for guidance. Pr. Apeowa could see that I was troubled about going. He went on to tell me that the people had changed and that they particularly wanted me to come so that they could apologize and talk 'sorry' for the bad welcome I got on my last visit. Beside him was his wife and daughter. I reasoned that if he was seriously worried about our safety he would not be taking them along. These 2 women had prepared some programs for the women at this really remote place. Women in bush places in PNG often live a life of toil and hardship and really hunger for God's love and for a message meaningful to them. That did it. I was going.
As we approached Mt Tawa the weather got worse and worse. The strip was covered in cloud and I began searching for a way to get down underneath the bottom layer so I could see the surrounding peaks and ridges. We came at it from many different angles but to no avail. Just below us was another strip Wopasali. It was not far to walk to Mt. Tawa from there. I turned to Pr. Apeowa behind me and suggested that it might be best for us to drop him at Wopasali. His eyes widened "No! No! we can't land there!" he exclaimed shaking his right index finger vigorously. He went on, "One of our lay missionaries was just murdered there!" "Murdered.!!!" I turned my head quickly back towards the front to hide the look on my face, which I am sure betrayed the the horror I felt in my heart. I began to pray silently. Should I keep trying to get into Mt. Tawa or was this a trap? How could I know? Was God hedging the way with cloud to prevent us from landing where we might be in danger? Or was the devil trying to prevent us bringing the water of life to thirsting souls? I asked God to open the way if possible, but that if the way did not open, I would know it was not His will for us to continue with this visit to Mt. Tawa and we would turn back. The matter was now out of my hands and in God's where it belonged. We turned this way and that, trying to find a way in through the network of ridges into Mt. Tawa. I decided to have one more look from lower down near river not far from Wopasali. This time the cloud had lifted just enough to see a little way in under it and up the gorge toward Mt. Tawa. We moved over to take a closer look. I had to be sure that the confined space in there was adequate for a quick turn to get out if the visibility were to deteriorate. The flaps went back down and we settled back into slow cruise configuration and headed in under the cloud hugging the ridge on the North Western side. After a minute which felt like a lot longer, the runway came into view. There were patches of low cloud scattered about the strip and fingers of cloud hanging out of the cloud base between me and the runway. We had to be careful to maneuver around the cloud and the terrain in such a way that we left a clear turning circle for escape if necessary. Our height was only just above the threshold of the runway as we slowly turned onto a close abbreviated base leg.
I could hear the mud splattering on the underside of the wing as it flew off the oversize tires. Soon we were slipping and sliding our way to a stop in the parking bay. "What kind of a reception were we in for this time," I wondered.
Once again there was a crowd of people to meet us. But this time the faces were clean and joyful. Many were in pathfinder uniforms. The people queued up and made a guard of honor for Pr Apeowa and his team. The people had planned a 'talk sorry' ceremony to apologize for the threats and violence that had been riveted in my mind from the last visit. Now cheers and floral leis replaced sticks and stones and shrieks of anger. What a testimony this was to the power of God and the courage of a humble volunteer layman, who had risked his life to bring life and hope to this group of souls. I would so much love to have stayed and spent time with these people. However I had other errands to run for the mission and had already been delayed by the weather.
As I reluctantly boarded the aircraft again, the people gathered around each wanting to shake hands once more. Then a spokesman came over and asked If I could take a sick child and its mother out to the clinic at Erave. The child I learned was the grandson of the councilor who had threatened to kill me! An expectant silence fell over the crowd as they waited to hear if I would help this family. Many did not think I should. I explained that Jesus came to heal and to love even those who opposed Him and that we don't ask people what religion they subscribe to before we extend a helping hand to those in need. Did we take them? Of course we did. I have since learned that one of the parents of this child is now fellowshipping in our little church there. And the councilor himself? He still is opposed to our presence as far as I know. I continue to pray for him.
Please pray for Keseno and for all the other brave, dedicated laymen in Papua New Guinea who endure disease and the murderer's hatred to bring light and eternal hope to those who need it so much. Please pray for the missionary pilots too, as they grapple with difficult decisions and do what they can to support the work of missionaries in remote places like Mt. Tawa.
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