SOVEREIGN GRACE BAPTIST MISSION
International – Papua New Guinea / Malawi Africa
P.O. Box 60150 Ndirande Bt. 6 Blantyre Malawi /
P.O. Box 233 – Mt Hagen (WHP) Papua New Guinea
Tanggi Mission Station – North Koroba, Hela Province, PNG
Missionary / Evangelist: Peter A. Halliman
Email: panagioite04@gmail.com / Website: sgbm-malawi-africa.com
Date: 16 October 2019
Dear Pastor, Church, Supporters;
Romans 4:17 — (As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were.
1 Corinthians 1:28–29 — And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: That no flesh should glory in his presence.
The longer I study and try to preach GOD’S WORD, the more I realize the Sovereignty of GOD. I am reminded every day on the mission field how interested GOD is with all the little things, and it is in this chemistry that I am made to stand in awe with GOD’S wondrous working.
The timing of the sun and moon in sync, the distance of the earth to the sun — not an inch closer or further, exactly where GOD ordered the sun to stand. From the beginning of time to now, this exactness has not changed. The rainbow and its colours (seven) never change. The winds, storms, the earthquakes, the volcano timing to erupt — the hairs of our heads are all numbered, the feeding of the sparrows and the petals of the flowers all determined and ordered by a Sovereign GOD who is in absolute control.
The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD — do we really believe this? What about when things go terribly wrong? Who determines when someone gets shot and another alongside lives, or why did you forget something, go back into the house to fetch it, only to find out down the road there was a fatal wreck? Indeed GOD is in control.
Matthew 24:37 — But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. I know not what the morrow shall bring; I plan, prepare, and try to meet what comes. Sometimes I am ready and sometimes I am not — it’s called being human. This is where our faith has to take over. We don’t live by sight, but by faith.
For several days I have been planning to make a trip to Mt. Hagen to take care of urgent business. My resident permit expires on the 26th of this month, and travel here in PNG is very difficult, unlike when I was in Malawi.
Living in the Hela Province (South-Western Highlands) — one road in, one road out — I have been preparing documents and the application has been filled out for days, but I have been unable to get to Port Moresby due to tribal fighting.
I made plans last night to leave early in the morning around 0200 hrs. However I received a visitor in the night near 2200 hrs bearing a message that I should not leave in the night as there was heavy fighting and any vehicle would be seized.
I was packed and ready to go, but retired for the night and was up by 04:00 hrs. Near daybreak I set off with four other men. We arrived at a government station where there was network, and the calls coming in were steady — each message more sober than the last.
One Policeman has been shot and killed, others wounded, some fatally. One soldier has been killed and a police vehicle burned. A large bridge has been dug up with excavators seized by angry landowners during tribal fighting — the bridge has given way under its weight and now sits in the river below. A huge trench has been dug across the road. No vehicle will cross, and there is no end in sight. The fighting is politically motivated and has now involved the government.
I was ready to leave the mission station by four am, however I forgot some documents I needed and was some thirty minutes down the road when I realized this. I turned around, came back, and retrieved what I needed. By the time I got to Koroba, the government station, this is when I received the phone calls.
Had I not forgotten the documents and gone on, I would have run headfirst into a blitz of firepower. I was made to realize once again that GOD is the ONE who controls, determines, marks out, sets the course, and even causes one to forget in order to save us from terrible danger.
I spent most of the day at Koroba doing phone business and did what I could humanly speaking to set things in order for my resident permit. I cannot get out, and do not know when I will be able. The road is not safe and the violence has not been contained.
I have food and the basics. I am safe in the arms of my LORD. I will move out when the LORD says to.
In His Name,
Peter Halliman, Missionary