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: 19th September 2022
Dear Pastor, Church, and All Supporters:
Psalm 33:10 — The LORD bringeth the counsel of the heathen to nought: he maketh the devices of the people of none effect.
Psalm 21:11 — For they intended evil against thee: they imagined a mischievous device, which they are not able to perform.
This report will deal with some of the challenges I face on the mission field and among those with whom I labour. Just because someone has been born again does not mean the old habits and the man of sin have died out and dropped off. It is called Progressive Sanctification. Not all children grow at the same rate.
In the time I have been back, I have re-evaluated the mission work here in PNG. Though the work was started sixty-two years ago, this does not mean that Christians and Baptists in our work are sixty-two-year-old believers. I ask each reader, church, and pastor: what is the condition of your local church compared to sixty-two years ago? Is it the same church? Does it still practice what it did those many years ago? Has the preaching lessened? Are the Biblical convictions the same? Do preachers preach the same hard doctrine aligned with GOD’S Word?
Are preachers and pastors still on target to preach GOD’S Word without reservation, boldly and unashamedly no matter what? Or are we more reserved, knowing that such preaching will chase away some — and when some leave, the money also departs?
I have once again stirred up a hornet’s nest in this mission work. When my father came here and started this work in 1960, the older generation were steeped in heathenism and knew nothing of the great GOD of the Bible. He met the challenge, and GOD gave great victory through the years. People were saved, changed, and translated from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of Light.
In the twenty-eight years I was out of this country, many of the local Baptist churches — many Baptist in name only — were teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.
Acts 16:19–20 — And when her masters saw that the hope of their gains was gone, they caught Paul and Silas, and drew them into the marketplace unto the rulers, saying, These men, being Jews, do exceedingly trouble our city.
Many Christians have been led astray by the traditions of men. Being tribal, the land here is customary tribal land — not government. The tribal rule of law is the order of the day, and if you are charged and convicted in a tribal court, you cannot take it to the High Court of PNG to have it overruled. In our Bible Academy, many things have come to light in the lessons being taught.
I started with GOD’S financial program for HIS churches. I am one preacher and missionary who believes, practices, and preaches about Tithes and Offerings for GOD’S people of all generations. There is no such thing in GOD’S Word as being liberated from paying tithes under the New Covenant.
Nine weeks into the Bible Academy, I have learned that the doctrine of the day in these Baptist churches for years has been that all tithes go automatically to the pastor. I believe the pastor should receive double honour and be looked after first — however, I do NOT believe that all tithes collected are to go to the pastor alone. Even the Levites and Priests gave a tenth of what they received.
Now that the Bible doctrine of Tithes and Offerings is being taught and Scripture is bearing light to the Truth, this has caused much discussion among the preachers. When the sin of covetousness is revealed, there are consequences that follow.
I know what GOD thinks about it, as I read about it in HIS Word. In the Old Testament GOD killed a man and his entire family over this sin. In the New Testament, a husband and wife were killed by the LORD. So do you think that because you are under the covenant of grace, or a member of a New Testament church, you are safe from the LORD taking you out? Think again — and go back and read the Bible. That is the problem with many Christians: they just don’t read the Bible.
I will continue this report, as there is much to tell.
In His Name,
Missionary Peter A. Halliman