Bung Ples Burned to the Ground!

Jeff writes:

Michael Kongo's village of Bung Ples was burned to the ground last Friday afternoon as a result of an inter-clan tribal fight.

By God's grace Michael and his wife Doris were not there. They are currently attending a Bible school in the Sepik.

Men from two enemy clans from Michael's tribe surrounded the village and attacked. The people of Bung fled and consequently had to endure the destruction of nearly everything they owned.

The attackers looted, burnt houses (including Michael's mother's), destroyed the coffee cash crop, cut down banana and nut trees, and killed or stole pigs. The people of Bung lost nearly everything including pots, pans, clothes, mattresses, and blankets. Some spent the first night sleeping outdoors in the rain in the bush. Others found wontoks or friends to stay with.

What makes this even more tragic is, if you recall, Bung Ples is where many youth had recently turned to the Lord. We have spent over two years working up there to help turn a bunch of former criminals into committed Christians.

A man from Michael's clan appears to be the cause of the fight. There are conflicting reports of what exactly happened. He either raped or had a pre-arranged liaison with the wife of another man. The wife's husband belonged to another clan within Michael's tribe. Apparently, he came home in the middle of the night to find the two of them together. A fight ensued and the husband was badly cut up by a bush knife.

The sad part about the whole affair is Michael's clan had previously run off the perpetrator because he was a known trouble maker and the cause of a tribal fight which broke out in 2007.

When we heard about this, we prayed that the missionary doctors at Kudjip Hospital could save the man. Thankfully, they did. However, a line had been crossed

Walking back home for lunch on Friday, I could see smoke rising from the mountains around Bung, and I knew what had happened. The attack was on. People at the CLTC reported hearing gun shots, and we feared the worst.

We prayed that there would be no loss of life, and graciously the Lord answered.

However, the initial reports were of total devastation. We heard that the attackers had burned the Youth Bible Study House to the ground and that they had spared nothing.

However, on Sunday Peter Tommy and his wife Maria paid us a visit. They live in Bung and had lost their home. We did what we could for them. Sue and Maria went to our garden to harvest anything ready to pick. Sue found a pile of clothes we planned to donate and a blanket, and gave the lot to the Tommys.

They did bring some good news. The attackers had spared a soon-to-be-completed schoolhouse and (Praise the Lord!) the Youth Bible Study House. (They are pictured to the right.)

Please pray for the people of Bung. They have suffered this kind of hardship before, but this is the first time we have been so close to people in this predicament.

Pray for wisdom for us as to how we should help. Right now we are trying to create a CLTC-community-based response.

Pray that this fight is over. There are lots of old scores that need settling between Michael's clan and his neighbors, so pray that cooler heads will prevail. If there is a fresh outbreak of violence, we fear that lives will be lost.

Pray too that we will be able to renew our Bible-study program. Lord willing a missionary couple will go up this Sunday.

Pray too for unity. Members of the youth Bible study were on both sides of the fight.

Thanks.