“Would you be the May River Station guest speaker for PNG for Christ?” Pastor Marape, the Sepik Mission president, asked Orion a few months ago.
As Orion looked at the “Revelation of Hope” presentations, he knew he would need to translate all the slides into “Tok Pisin.” Even using an AI translator to speed up the process, Orion would still need to do much editing. He prayed for wisdom as he considered how to translate hundreds of slides and began with the Bible verses.
Once people began arriving onsite for the presentations, the hilltop location became a tent city, with groups coming from Ama, Tipas, Drupas, Iwatri, Imombi, Nemo and many other villages. A group also came from Arai, the other organized church in our district.
Two large families came from Samao, located upriver and deep in the bush. While the village has no local Adventist congregation, one son from each family studies at an Adventist boarding school in town, and both were baptized last year, awakening the family to an interest in discovering more about the Adventist church. While attending the presentations, the families used our internet connection to have several phone conversations with their sons at school.
A camp committee handled decisions, all grievances and distribution of resources. We provided food, mosquito coils and several large tarps to camp under. When the potentially endless line of people needing those supplies began arriving at my door, I cheerfully replied, “I gave it to the camp committee to distribute.”
When an older man came to Orion asking for laundry soap, the camp committee began distributing bars of laundry, dish and bathing soaps I had given him. The next afternoon, he told me, “There is now a bar of soap in every camp kitchen, and I am watching the people. Those who are bathing and washing laundry without soap are the ones I am giving the soap to.” I thanked him for figuring out this way of helping those truly in need and improving everyone’s health by cutting down on germs spread by poorly washed dishes.
With some concern, we looked at the sky in preparation for the first evening meeting. Shortly after our opening ceremony, the heavens opened, and torrential rains fell. After moving all the audiovisual equipment to the driest place we could find, Orion and the committee agreed, “Nothing more for tonight!” and added a day to the end of the scheduled two weeks of meetings.
One of our trusted canoe drivers served as head of night security. I chuckled one evening during announcements when I heard, “There isn’t any reason for you to be wandering around after 9:00 p.m., so if security sees you, they will come and ask you to explain yourself.” I suspect this served to warn teenagers to stay in their own campsites. Our friend was also always happy to carry equipment down to the riverfront, so we made sure we supplied his team with hot chocolate and snacks to make their work more comfortable.
Each day began at 5:00 a.m. with a loud bell announcing it was time for personal devotions, followed by morning worship led by Minister Jacob. Before sunset, we would gather on the riverbank around the stage and screen and begin with singing and announcements. As the sun set and it became dark enough to see the screen, Orion began the evening’s presentation. I sat with the projector, carefully following Orion’s notes, advancing the slides, and praying for Orion’s clarity as he gave the presentation. Behind me sat about two dozen pre-teen boys who always helped me in any way they could.
Early in the series, Orion made a general call, “Stand if you want to dedicate your life to God.” Looking around, I saw everyone rising to their feet. Then, I spotted the boys. A few were so tired that they had laid down on the ground and were sleeping through the sermon. But now, they were being shaken by their friends. “Wake up! You need to stand for this part!” Soon everyone was standing — a testament to the power and value of community. Although we are not saved through relationships, God gives us each more individual choices than these boys were given that night. On subsequent evenings, the boys were more alert and generally didn’t need their friends to wake them to respond to the call.
There were multiple evenings where I watched the sky, praying for the weather and Orion’s words throughout the meeting. Two more meetings were postponed due to rain. Several times, the rain started half an hour or less after the program ended.
One evening was just misty. As I focused the projector, I knew this much mist gathering on the equipment for the next hour and a half would be harmful. I raised my umbrella — too small. I then looked behind me and spotted Lena, a strong grandmother in the church. After telling her what I needed, she quietly collected Orion’s umbrella, and as she tried to hand it to me and leave, I asked her to stay and hold it above the projector. “I need a chair!” she whispered. We spent the evening together, sharing a chair. She steadily held the umbrella while I managed the equipment.
After much prayer and preparation, Orion gave a call, “Stand to dedicate yourself to God. Come forward if you desire baptism.” As everyone stood, including all of the young boys, a steady stream of people began filing past. Over 40 people came forward for each of Orion’s baptism calls. Some had been attending Sabbath morning baptismal classes for many months. Many were new interests. Others had backslidden and needed to prayerfully reinstate their membership in the local congregation.
Later, as I sat with the candidates during one of their final pre-baptism sessions, we talked about the precious gift of Jesus and God’s love and desire to save each person. I looked at the group. Some were children who grew up in the church. Others had been studying to join. I was confident that each in the baptismal class was prepared for this next step.
God answered prayers and provided a beautiful, clear Sabbath day. Our guest speaker, Pastor James Amos, gave a sermon about faithfulness. The candidates were called to the front, where they publicly accepted the baptismal vows before immersion. I took pictures and prayed for God’s blessing on each of the 41 people as a deacon or deaconess carefully guided them into the water. Having a strong arm to lean on as they made this journey also represented how we are to help one another through our spiritual journey.
Crowds lined the water’s edges as everyone wanted to see their friend, family member, or someone from farther away publicly give their hearts to God. As they left the water, another deacon or deaconess greeted them with a dry towel and flowers to go around their necks before they joined a happy line of people greeting everyone.
Days afterward, I asked some of the recently baptized what led them to make their decision to follow Christ.
Said Linjoy Paul, “During PNG for Christ, God came down and changed my life. I had to get baptized.”
Vanisha Ani said, “When I was outside of the church, my life was hard. Getting baptized, I have God’s blessing on my life.” She shared that her favorite verse was Matthew 24:14.
These girls are both ‘organic growth,’ which is common. Linjoy has been in the church her whole life. Linjoy’s parents are both church leaders; her father is Elder Paul, and her youngest sister, Naomi, was featured in the story “Friends” (June issue of Adventist Frontiers) about my cat. Both Linjoy and Vanisha are currently in school and have some experience in reading, hearing and comprehending English.
We are now in a phase of ministry marked by an increased need for active discipleship, mentoring new believers and training leaders and mentors who can continue the work beyond the area we are able to reach.
