Celebrating the guiding hand of God in PNG

Celebrating the guiding hand of God in PNG

As many of you will know, the nation of Papua New Guinea recently celebrated 50 years since its independence in 1975. However, you may not know the legacy of the church’s mission to this island nation that is captured within its founding documents.

The constitution of PNG bears great testimony to the impact of the many missionaries on the faith and modern identity of its peoples. The constitution clearly describes the people’s desire to both acknowledge the ‘worthy customs and traditional wisdoms’ which have come down to them from generation to generation, but also to pledge themselves ‘to guard and pass on to those who come after us our noble traditions and the Christian principles’ that are theirs now. The preamble then triumphantly declares that

‘WE, THE PEOPLE, do now establish this sovereign nation and declare ourselves, under the guiding hand of God, to be the Independent State of Papua New Guinea.’

On Sunday 21 September, Peace Lutheran Church Gatton joined with local members of the PNG community to acknowledge and give thanks for the work of the missionaries who took the word to this nation, and for the continuing ‘guiding hand of God’. Celebrations were held in both church services, with leadership of the second service provided by members of the local PNG community from the Lockyer Valley and further afield. These services were followed by a PNG ‘mumu’ (a traditional cooking technique within a firepit) for lunch with pork and vegetables.

This journey started several years ago when the Peace congregation decided to develop a church plant within their own community. The approach here was not to develop a second service on a Sunday, but to support the development of a second congregation in whatever direction God led them. Peace now has a vibrant and faithful worshipping community that is different every week, with Sundays as diverse as the people leading them – be they members of the school community assembling to be led by school children, or services led in both English and Tok pisin ( New Guinea Pidgin).

Main image: Pastor Rob Edwards and members of the PNG community celebrating 50 years of PNG independence at Peace Lutheran Church Gatton.