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: 26 May 2020
Dear Pastor, Church, Supporters;
Matthew 18:12–13 — How think ye? if a man have an hundred sheep, and one of them be gone astray, doth he not leave the ninety and nine, and goeth into the mountains, and seeketh that which is gone astray? And if so be that he find it, verily I say unto you, he rejoiceth more of that sheep, than of the ninety and nine which went not astray.
This mission report will be a special report in view of the content and amount of detail. I will break up the reports in sections so that I do not wear you out in the reading.
Report No. 1
Firstly, I started my preparations here in Mt. Hagen. Due to the State of Emergency nationwide, all travel was locked down and prohibited. I did not know if I would be able to travel and keep the schedule we had for the Bible Conference. Towards the ending of the first week of April, restrictions were lifted with conditions — if one wanted to travel, prior approval had to be granted and submission had to be given in writing to the Police Commander for that town, city, or Province. This I did in advance and permission was granted with passage for nine people. I had a vehicle load with not only the passengers but also cargo, and the vehicle was heavily laden.
It was on the 16th of April that I set off early morning hours for the mission station. Later that day we arrived all in one piece and dropped off some to various villages near the mission station. I spent the rest of the afternoon cleaning and airing out my house after several weeks of not being home.
The next couple of days I was busy packing and preparing for the long hike we would encounter on this mission patrol. It was in a completely new area, and our mission work had only reached this point within the last three years. It had been some months since I had made any hikes in the mountains, and I realised this would be a difficult hike for me.
Sunday, I conducted services at the Uyamu Bap church. They had broken off from our work some years ago, and after some discourse and agreements they invited me to come and preach for them in view of them returning to our fellowship. I did so, and the church voted to return to full fellowship and follow my leadership as the missionary of this mission work.
Sunday was a busy day. After the preaching and services, I was in meetings with pastors discussing church business. It was up in the evening that I was preparing for my trip the next morning. Bags were packed, checked, and re-checked. I laid down for a few hours and at 0300 hrs I was up preparing for the day.
20 April 2020 — At 0600 hrs there was a party of fifty-four people who would accompany me along the hike to the Bible Conference. I assembled the porters, fitted their backpacks, had mine, and we had prayer. There is always a point man, and I usually bring up the rear — not always because I lag behind, but many times there are those hiking through the bush from point A to point B who have been involved in tribal wars, and they will often join any party going in their direction as there is safety in numbers. This poses a threat to our group, and for these reasons I often safeguard from the rear.
Just after a mile, we left the main road and started up a mountain — already at 5,700 ft above sea level the air starts getting thin. We crossed our first river on a wire-slung bridge, V-shaped and suspended between two trees. These bridges when I was growing up here in PNG were made out of cane; most have since been replaced by galvanised wire.
The mountains here in PNG rise quickly in altitude and due to heavy rainfall the hiking is treacherous. Even in high altitude and the coolness of the morning hours, it is not difficult to break a sweat and lose hydration. I normally carry kitchen salt for this reason, along with a camelback water bladder with a solution of water, lemon juice, apple cider vinegar, and salt to keep the bacteria out and keep the liver and kidneys flushed — important when hiking in the bush.
Seven hours later, we arrived at our first point: Ekanda Bap Church in the Duna area. This church has been without a pastor for some years. After arrival, they had the usual customary mumu — PNG food: hog, sweet-potato, and other veggies cooked in an earth oven.
I set up my quarters, and soon we would be served the meal and then announcements made for the programme following the next morning.
Part Two
2 Corinthians 10:16 — To preach the gospel in the regions beyond you, and not to boast in another man’s line of things made ready to our hand.
The hike from the Tanggi mission station to Ekanda Bap Church was seven hours and one of the hardest I have made in the past years. I am not as old as some of you reading, but older than some, and at the end of the day I am not nineteen any longer and my recovery time is longer.
Even the mind becomes fatigued here in the hiking. It is a continuous strain on the entire body; the mind must stay focused and eye, hand, leg coordination is vital. Any small mistake could cost you much bodily harm, and even death.
That night I had taken my bucket bath. The water was not as clean as I would have wished, but cleaner than I was — so choose between the lesser of the two evils.
Day No. 2 — 17 April 2020
The morning started early. There is no TV, no radios, no movies, no town square, no places of amusement, no outside distractions. The men sit in the men’s house and talk until they fall asleep; the women do likewise. I am the only one with somewhat of a different lifestyle, pattern, habits, and customs. So for me, after enough talk has been given, I call it a day and go to my tent and spend the night in quietness.
0600 hrs — it normally breaks daylight, and for me it is coffee time. One thing PNG can boast about is the quality of their coffee: dark, robust, rich, and smooth even in its strength. Breakfast most often is restricted to sweet potatoes cooked in the ashes of the fires. I also carry non-perishable items like rice, tin fish, nuts, peanut butter, crackers, salt, coffee, tea. Most of the diet I rely on local cuisine: pig, sweet-potatoes, greens of all types, pumpkin, taro. One can become filled and satisfied even with the basics of life.
The morning was under way. I had my bush-bath and prepared for church. The schedule was to include preaching, and then the church wanted me to assist them in a business meeting to vote for a pastor. A group of over one hundred people gathered — not all members, but some who came in my party (58), others who were members of nearby Bap churches, and then some members of Ekanda Bap church.
The message was preached and then business conducted. They had already one man whom they wanted to nominate — a man who has been more of a missionary. I assisted the church, and they asked this man (Anago) if he would accept the position as pastor. He did accept, and by unanimous vote was appointed pastor.
The church service lasted just over two hours. The afternoon was early enough for us to pack up and hike up the next mountain to where we would overnight and have church services with the Hengenapu Bap church — organised back in the early 1980s, but mostly through the years struggling to keep a pastor, simply because of the isolation deep within the Duna area. The man responsible for the long-term pastorship died back in the mid-80s when I was here before. The church being a strong church, mostly the women folk have looked to it and kept it going.
We broke camp, packed, and departed Ekanda. The time was around 1500 hrs (3 pm). It would take us nearly three hours to reach point B.
To be continued…
Missionary Peter A. Halliman