Report No. 29
Date: 23/04/2012
Dear Pastor, Church, and Supporters;
(Ga 2:16) “Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.”
25th October 2011 (Tuesday)
0500 hrs the day started, I had a meeting scheduled with some of the pastors and different Tribal leaders so I wanted to get my notes in order and prepare for this. The tenor of the meeting was regarding our work, and the Baptist people.
After our breakfast and some quite time for our daily reading of our Psalms, and prayer, some of the men had started coming in for the meeting. There is a custom amongst the Huli and Duna Tribesmen of which, I have mentioned more then once through out these reports, but for the sake of any new reader, when there is a (men’s meeting) called, that is what it means, (MEN), those who are married, and at least the age of thirty (30) they must have a wife and children, and be old enough to commissioned in warfare. Interestingly enough, similar rulings were given to the Tribe of Levi, of the family of Aaron, for those who would serve as the Priests.
We assembled in the (man’s house) a bush-house, i.e., built out of bush material, bamboo, poles, roof is thatched with grass etc… this house when built, is done so by the (men), and will not be open for children, young men, or women to enter. This may sound offensive to the Western mind, but none the less its not built for the “Western people” it has its purpose for these people.
I remember long ago, someone at a supporting church asked my father, when viewing the slide presentation of the NG work, … “Bro. Halliman do you not try to teach the Natives to cover up more – meaning to dress up more; my father’s reply – if you mean, do I try to teach them to be like “Americans” the answer is NO, however, what I do, do is to teach and preach GOD’S Word, and if the LORD convicts them, then the WORD will change people.
I have had similar questions over the years with the work in Africa, and my reply has been the same. We are not called to teach (customs, mannerisms, or any other point) other then the pure WORD of GOD!
Let us understand this, the Bible was not written to “Americans, or British, or “White people” it is a book written to the Eastern peoples, and Nations. That is why many folks of the Western world just do not understand many portions of the O.T. due to the fact that these customs are not explored or explained. I could give many examples but will leave it to your own studies.
The meeting gat underway and several topics were discussed, some of the men wanted to re-establish our Landmarks as Baptist, and re-set the borders again. Bear with me as I deliberate some for your understanding, years ago when dad first started the work, there were border points set by the people and my father for the Baptist mission work, meaning, beyond certain border points were other Tribesmen, and in time other Missionaries who also came and set up their works. When our work began to grow, this is where a lot of the opposition came from in those days.
Years have passed, and as with any work now a days, there have been intermarriages, some of the distinct landmarks have been removed etc… so now there is a concern by many of the older men, pastors, tribal leaders, and rightly so.
We discussed for some time and came to the conclusion that the only way things would change would be for the Churches, the people, the pastors as a whole to become one again in their (vision), nature, worship, doctrine and to re-set the Landmarks which, our fathers had set, to re-teach the commandments of GOD, this all starts with a strong Spiritual leader.
The meeting was ended with prayer and we all agreed that we would commit this into the LORD’S care and wait upon HIM.
The rest of the day, I spent in several other smaller meetings with different ones. Towards the afternoon I made some calls to investigate some possibilities of us extending our stay for another month or two.
That night, I decided that it would be best for us to make a trip into Mt. Hagen, reassess the situation and make a final decision from there. That night we began to put out bags in order so that we could make an early departure the next morning. That evening I spent time with the patrolmen who had started with me and completed our mission together. I felt it would be rewarding to assist them in getting to Mt. Hagen where we could spend the ending of our time together and they could also give their reports to the Kim Bap church in Mt. Hagen, as this would be a testimony to the work.
Earlier that day, I had called me mate Mike Sharpe who organized a vehicle with a driver to depart Mt. Hagen and would depart Mt. Hagen that afternoon, and drive into the night reaching the Mission Station. I would be prepared to take it from there when he arrived. The men went to the men’s house and Hepe, my wife, and I finished packing. We blew out the candles at 2300 hrs and tried to get some sleep.
As I lay there in the darkness of the room, with the rains beating upon the rooftop, my mind began to turn back to the miles we had hiked, the mountains we had crossed, and the rivers we had forged. I replayed the church services over in my mind and heard the singing of the people in these primitive Jungles of New Guinea. I rejoiced in the fact that the LORD had used me in the preaching of the Gospel to some of HIS sheep and how they had unashamedly confessed HIM, submitting to HIM in baptism. The scene was played out how the men unselfishly offered themselves to assist my wife and I, not for money, or fame, not for a position or name, simply because they had a burden for the Gospel to be preached to their people and to those in the regions beyond. I wondered as sleep began to take its hold upon my weary body, had I walked far enough, had I preached enough, was the sacrifice really that great, had I completed my mission? Only heaven itself will reveal the fruits of our mission.
26th October 2011 (Wednesday)
0200 hrs I rose, I sent Hepe to the man’s house to make the coffee as they keep a fire burning all night and this would enable me to have some coffee as we were getting things together. The drive had arrived and we began to assign some of the men to carry the cargo to the vehicle which were parked down at the main dirt road from the mission house.
At 0300 hrs we had the vehicle loaded the cargo stowed and secured, I took over as driver and we set off. Several of the men I carried in the vehicle until we reached Koroba where they would take public transport and meet us in Mt. Hagen at Bro. Ekere’s place.
As we drove off in the distance I felt a sense of heaviness of spirit for those we were leaving behind. My mind turned to pastor Kendo and I wondered if I would meet him in this life again, truly he had been an inspiration to me. As I have written much about him, I will not be redundant, but simply say his faith as a man of GOD has been unwavering through the years. A real warrior of the LORD, and I believe he will have many rewards in the next life.
I wondered about others and then the new area we had reached, the promises we had made, and the effectual door opened unto us. Through the blackness of the night I drove, the road with its beat up potholes and the diesel engine roaring away to pull the load placed upon it. Mile after mile we passed sometimes in silence and sometimes a word spoken here and there amongst those in the vehicle.
Through the morning hours we drove until we came to Mendi Township where we made a short stop to refresh ourselves. Through the day we drove and by late afternoon we had reached Mt. Hagen, we drove to where we would put up with me mate Mike and the others went on to stay with Bro. Ekere.
Bathing was in order and what a pleasure with running water and a proper shower. We had our meal and being a long day we retired early for the evening.
27th October 2011 (Thursday) to 29th October 2011 (Saturday)
We took care of business in Mt. Hagen; I went over much business with Bro. Ekere and Hepe as it looked like we were going to call it a day with this mission trip and return to Malawi. I set out a scheduled program for the new work, which, had begun. I made some lessons for Bro. Hepe for him to have when he went back to visit these new areas.
Bro. Ekere asked me if I would preach on Sunday and I consented to this request. On Saturday, Bro. Ekere wanted to have his farewell Mumu with the patrol team and us.
30th October 2011 (Sunday)
Sunday morning services were packed with folks, not only the members of Kim Bap church, but also visitors, some who found their own way into Mt. Hagen to see us off, others like the patrol team of men were there, others from a mission which Kim Bap church has established had hiked for three hours to attend the services.
The fellowship that day was unequalled to any day we had experienced since our being there; the joy and sadness both expressed were genuine. We spent the day with Bro. Ekere and his family and in the late evening we returned to Mike’s place and called it a day.
31st October 2011 (Monday) – 1st November 211 (Tuesday)
For the next two days, I had some meetings with different men who had come in from different points and wanted to go over things with me before our departure. I also had to make our bookings for our return to Port Moresby and a place to overnight, as we could not get to Port Moresby the same day of International departure. This time passed quickly and we too had to repack, when we came over, I had explained the problem we ran into with the baggage and the airlines. We were told that we could check in two (2) pieces each at thirty-five pounds each bag, plus one carry on. In our coming over, we had fought this all along the way and had to pay extra for the two extra bags. I decided that most of my backpacking equipment would stay with Bro. Ekere and some of my clothes and one pair of boots, in order to cut the cost and baggage. All this was packed repacked and weighed in order for us to reach the one-piece check in and one carry on each.