Nearer to God in
the highlands of
Papua New Guinea

By Rod Matthews

BURLEIGH HEADS, Australia—The WCG has a growing congregation at Mt. Wilhelm high up in the Central Highlands of Papua New Guinea (PNG).

Through financial support from the Australian Office and several congregations, the PNG brethren are pastored by Ken Slade, an elder from Bendigo, Victoria. On recent trips he has been accompanied by Mark Latham, a Sydney member with a passion for serving these remote and isolated Melanesian people. In early July, Ken and Mark traveled to Mt. Wilhelm to conduct a first-ever series of Christian development seminars.

Getting there safely is the first challenge. Sometimes the few airstrips are not operational because of tribal fighting, damaging heavy rains or the theft of aviation safety equipment such as the windsock. The only alternative is the Highlands Highway, a dirt road with huge potholes often barely clinging to the side of the mountains, which leaves the traveler subject to the risk of holdups from roving bandits.

Mission Aviation Fellowship flew Ken and Mark into the Keglsugl airstrip and they walked the remaining couple of kilometers to the village where our brethren have built a meeting hall and hospitality house for all who come to worship there.

Training sessions over several days covered our differences and uniqueness in Christ, how we fit into the Body of Christ in peaceful love, our relationship with the triune God, lessons for us from the letters to the seven churches of Revelation, and the role of Bible study in the personal transformational process as God lives in us—which was then celebrated with the symbols of the bread and wine.

During their time with the Mt. Wilhelm congregation, new buildings were dedicated to God’s glory and use. Many songs of thanksgiving were sung, and a blessing was requested of God for those who have dedicated their lives to him. A wedding renewal service was conducted for eight couples who had been married previously by tribal law but who now wanted to acknowledge God in their marriages. They promised to love God forever and commit themselves to each other in love until death parted them.

A pastoral team of seven men and three women was commissioned to serve and coordinate various ministries among the brethren, and a special offering was taken up to further church work in the area.

While there, nearby landowners and village elders met with Ken, Mark and the brethren to discuss the church’s proposal to install a small hydroelectric generator on a stream to bring electricity to the village. This would open the way for evening meetings and activities to take place at the hall for the surrounding community. Several Australian congregations are willing to raise funds to enable the Mt. Wilhelm congregation to install the generator and conduct evening community and outreach activities.

Because of member enthusiasm for the training sessions, other villagers didn’t want to miss out. So ministers and members from the Roman Catholic, Revival, Foursquare Gospel and Christian Outreach Centre churches packed our hall on the final day with some of our WCG leaders.

Through a newly invented game and discussions, the preferences and differences experienced between men and women, Jew and Gentile, and between Christian denominations were explored to help everyone better grasp what unity in Christ is all about, and, it is hoped, to help defuse tensions that have tended toward division and competition.

The spiritual development of our congregation at Mt. Wilhelm and respect for the WCG in the community is growing strongly. The pastoral challenges are great. The financial resources are lean. But the work of God in this remote and difficult area is clear and positive and encouraging.

Copyright © Worldwide Church of God, 2002