Ministry Weekend at the AOG Church

Jeff writes ...

One of the ways we reach out to the local community around us is to participate in a ministry weekend.

Sue and I work with a cell group with six guys in it, and our group has been assigned an Assemblies of God (AOG) church. These men have been meeting with the church for the entire year, but last weekend was my first time to take part. (Sue's back was hurting from a rough ride to Mt. Hagen the day before so she stayed home to rest.) These ministry opportunities are real answers to prayer because of the connections they bring and the opportunities they offer for us to get to know the culture better.

The photo at the right shows some of the guys as we walked down a muddy road toward a Nazarene church which was close by. We had to turn back shortly after reaching the church because there had been trouble in the village.



The trouble had started over an election dispute. Apparently the candidate a clan within the tribe was supporting for a local council position lost, and so they took out their anger on the winning candidate's clan. We turned back because a group of people were burning something alongside the road ahead.

Can you see the chopped tree in this picture? The disgruntled clan members came through this area with bush knives and chopped banana and other trees. As far as I could see no houses were burnt down.


Trouble can come up quickly here, but just as quickly it can die down. We were told that the village planned a bel kol or peace ceremony for the following Wednesday after our visit. Hopefully the ceremony took place.

The house at the right is a fairly large Highlands home. Can you spot the little girl? How about the wash hanging out to dry?







I snuck up on these boys and took this photo with a telephoto lens. They were all busily engaged in pushing rocks through the mud and making car noises. These mangi (kids), like children everywhere, are incredibly inventive in their play. You can see why our Lord loved children so!










This is our ministry team warming up for the church service with a private time of worship. This was a really special time for all of us as different individuals led in singing and in prayer. The five are (from right to left): Abel, Daniel, Justin, Mathias and Michael.

One of our members, whose name is August, did not come to our service. Instead he was at a Nazarene youth revival at Kudjip. He led music there and later reported that over a 1,000 people came and that many were converted or had rededicated their lives to the Lord.

When our service began, Mathias led the congregation in worship. Michael played the guitar as well, and Abel contributed his enthusiam.

As cell-group advisors, we encourage our students to lead the ministry weekends. Michael, who is our cell-group leader, asked me to preach, but I declined. It is good that I did because these guys really came alive during the service. During cell-group time they are a reserved bunch, but during this worship time they really brought us all into a wonderful experience with the Lord!


It was Abel's turn to preach. He did a good job. One of the things I like about him is his smile. When he preached, he smiled constantly! It was infectious. Also Abel has only had a sixth-grade education. However, since leaving school he worked as a welder, and then he helped a SIL (Wycliffe) missionary translate the Bible into his tok ples (tribal language). Abel is still shy about his English, but that did not hinder his ability to preach in tok pisin. It is great to watch your students perform so well.




At the left is Pasta James. He met us on our way up to the church. I only got to speak with him briefly, so I hope that at our next visit, which will not be until October, we will be able to sit down and stori (talk) some more.

He did encourage his congregation to seek peace with the other disgruntled clan members. He was also instrumental in setting up the bel kol ceremony.






This is our farewell photo with the team and the AOG church congregation. This is one of the prettiest little churches I have been to in PNG. Perhaps you can spot me. I am the guy wearing the hat.