The Nelson Family Indonesia

Today we traveled from Lae back to Port Moresby and then from Port Moresby up to the Highlands, landing at Mount Hagen Airport. There we were met by Rev. Dr. Ron & Mary Anne Rall, LCMS missionaries who have served full-time and part-time for over 50 years in PNG. In order to fly on the major airline, I opted to backtrack to Port Moresby rather than try another, smaller airline to fly us directly from Lae to Mount Hagen.

Our travels were, thankfully, on-time and uneventful. Flights are often canceled in PNG, so proper planning to leave enough space for such unexpected obstacles was important to me. The Ralls strongly recommended not taking the last flight of the day to Mount Hagen, as that flight often gets canceled. So I opted for an early flight from Lae to Port Moresby, and then an early afternoon flight from Port Moresby to Mount Hagen. This would also enable the Ralls to make the two-hour drive from Birip to Mount Hagen to pick us up at a reasonable hour.

The weather in the Highlands is beautiful – in the mid-70’s. Skies were cloudy (they almost always are) but we didn’t have any weather issues. The Ralls found us without difficulty in the small regional airport and we soon had our bags and were on our way. We had lunch with the Ralls in Mount Hagen at one of their favorite spots. Here we were also met by a contingent of Gutnius Lutheran Church (GLC) pastors as well as the interim bishop. They wanted to meet us at the airport but we left too quickly (since we didn’t know they were coming). They wanted to accompany us all on the drive back to Birip to ensure we didn’t run into any problems.

Problems? What kinds of problems might we run into?

Well, on the highway from the Lae airport into town two days earlier, the concern was gangs of armed robbers who sometimes commandeer vehicles and force people to pay money at gunpoint. But here in the Highlands the danger is tribal fighting.

We were made aware the week before departing that tribal fighting had erupted in several areas in the Highlands, all surrounding Birip and the seminary there. It was touch and go – even though we already had our tickets – whether we would make the trip. Security consultants to the LCMS suggested only going if we were accompanied by an armed private security force. The Ralls, who have been in the Highlands for half a century, felt fairly confident we would be safe without that. But even they acknowledged the situation was much more violent than usual. Fifty years ago tribal fighting was done with bows and arrows and spears. Now it’s done with high-power assault rifles, and the number of injuries and deaths are correspondingly higher. Plus, the tactic in the tribal fighting involves burning buildings and trees to the ground as punishment, when one tribe is victorious over another. The Ralls shared that there were buildings burning in the night in the hills around the seminary, and the sound of gunfire would keep them awake. Lovely.

But our trip was uneventful. Gorgeous, but uneventful.

We passed through the market area of Wabang, which was not a particularly attractive sight. Here is where people come to buy, sell, and trade whatever they need or have. Plenty of clothing options as well are fresh fruits and vegetables.

Close to Birip we stopped to see the first church built by LCMS missionaries back in 1948 when they crossed the mountains on foot (since there were no roads!) and entered the Highlands. A plaque commemorates those missionaries who risked life and limb to bring the Gospel into the wilds of the PNG Highlands, where few Westerners had ever ventured.

There is palpable and very conscientious gratitude from these people. They were brought the Gospel and saved from animism. Their reverence for those missionaries who did this for them is high. There is still a need for workers to come – to go into other areas with the Gospel, to teach in schools, to provide medical care and nutritional information. To work with women and children. So much work that could be done. Pray the Holy Spirit raises up workers to go into this harvest field!