Is It Time to Reconnect?

"Everything that happens in this world happens at the time God chooses."  Eccl 3:1 

Picture to the left:
The group that visited Papua New Guinea in 2006.

 

 

There was a time when we cultivated the soil and planted the seed.
There was a time when we taught and toiled.
There was a time when we built and directed.
That's what God led us to do.
There was a time when we withdrew and stood back,
To let them do it, to grow.
It gave us time to consider, 
Where God would take us next.

                                                                         .
And now it's time to respond to their plea, "Come back" ..
It's time to get up and go,
To re-connect, to encourage what God has done
When he made us a family in Him.
 Everything that happens in this world
happens at the time God chooses."   Eccl. 3:1

That's what our two visits to Papua New Guinea seemed to say to us: It's time for us to reconnect, to go back, to encourage and be family in Him.

Independence in the mid 1970's brought many changes. With it began the gradual withdrawal of the majority of overseas Mission personnel. This was a deliberate, well considered step undertaken by all the partner Churches. It was a move that time has proved to be correct. We handed over the leadership and control of all that was mission to the young Church of PNG with a deep feeling of gratitude to God.          

Among the many things that followed was the immediate desire and request by the newly formed Evangelical Church of PNG for all overseas Churches with a past in PNG to continue working together with them wherever they deemed necessary. Today we thank God for His flourishing Church in that land. It is a growing Church of over 800,000 members that has spread to all corners of the land with people sharing Christ with their fellow countrymen wherever they go.                                             

In the Asaroka Circuit where we visited in 2006 and again in 2007 there are now twelve pastors where 40 years ago there were only three. That's a big change. Work among the women in the congregations there is alive and well. They have some excellent leaders and new people are constantly being trained for the work to continue and grow. The schools are also running well with competent Principals and teachers. There are many positive things to report. From what we have seen and experienced we would like you and others to know that PNG has not ground to a halt as some would have us believe nor is it a country that we should all avoid because there is no law and order in the land There has been progress. We thank God for this.

Of-course there are problems and the Church has its share too - sometimes similar but often quite different to ours. It's necessary that when we compare our PNG Christian achievements with anything that we do here that we do not forget how brief the time has been since they took over the running of their Church over-against our much longer history of being Church here in Australia. Seen in this context they surely are doing quite well under some fairly extreme circumstances and they deserve our encouragement.

Our visits to Asaroka were in response to repeated pleas by the people there to come back to visit them. My wife and I had not been there for more than 30 years and we clearly hesitated for some time before we felt called to go. We wondered what we would find. Members of our congregation at Golden Grove were interested too and asked to come with us. That's why there were 13 on the first trip and 11 on the second, the Pastor of our congregation Pastor Rosenberg and his wife included. Both visits were brief by choice, no longer than 12 days. We spent most of our time at the High School mixing with the people and getting to know them,  but we also had a good look at the Primary School and the Congregational Centre nearby. All of us came back deeply moved particularly by their welcome and worship life. New Guineans know how to embrace people in love.                                                                             

On our second trip in August 2007 we set out to help them in several areas where they had struggled for some years and clearly needed outside assistance.  Through the generous help of our Congregation and School at Golden Grove and some friends we were able to provide them with 50 computers that had been on their need list for some time. As a result they are now able to add computer education to their curriculum, a vital step towards Asaroka High School becoming a Senior High School soon. (This means having only years 11 and 12 students - still a rare thing as most High Schools end at Year 10).

We were also able to repair the irrigation system that had served the school well for over 40 years. For more than 30 years it had supplied enough water to irrigate 25 acres of fertile, arable land that had produced most of the food for the 800 plus student body But through many years of wear and tare water had stopped flowing to the gardens and food had to be purchased rather than grown with devastating consequences to the school budget. More than 50% of money available to them previously now had to be used for buying food. All this has now changed thankfully through the efforts of our last team who made the repairs with the help of some very willing New Guineans. It was a good team effort. Money saved as a result of this project can now be applied to school development and other purposes. We thank God for this. The school can now move ahead.

Our congregation gladly accepted the Asaroka High School and Primary Schools' offer to our Golden Grove Congregation and School to become partners in faith and love. It seemed quite natural for this to happen. Being partners in Christ has brought us into a special relationship with the people there. We feel very blessed because of it. These are still early days in our commitment to each other nevertheless we are confident that with God's guidance and blessing He will bring us even closer together enabling us to grow in our love for Christ and each other. God willing, there will be more visits. We are looking forward to more time together where we can share our faith, provide help when needed, run short courses for teachers, students and the congregation and they in turn can teach us about their Church, their culture and ways. As we said our goodbyes they told us of their plans to visit us at the end of this year. That's already an important step in our partnership. 

When talking to others our conversations have often turned to PNG with people wondering about our future with the Church there! We have had such a rich past together but for several decades now we have deliberately stood back and for very good reasons. Shall we continue like this or is it time to respond to their call to get closer to them, to re-connect? It is clear what they want. They see us as their next-door neighbour, and as brothers and sisters in Christ with whom they have a common past. That's true!                                  

Perhaps we could begin by praying more regularly for our Lutheran brothers and sisters in PNG, especially in our services. And because of our past history and proximity with the Lutheran Church there we could visit them more frequently, welcome them as they welcome us, help each other in our journey of faith and celebrate with them the oneness that we have in Christ our Saviour. And especially those of us who have worked there in the past, we might like to reconnect with the people and the places we once knew. There would certainly be a blessing in that. The Board of Missions of our Church and others can help us along the way. Somehow our past should bring us much closer together than where we are now.  We are brothers and sisters of the same Lord. The time seems to be right. Many of us believe that it's time to reconnect.

Len Tscharke    (Missionary in PNG 1954-72. Founding Principal of Asaroka Lutheran high School in the Eastern Highlands Province.)