ADVENTURES in PAPUA NEW GUINEA - Andrew Strom
Posted by: prophetic <prophetic@...>
-Andrew Strom. (April 24).
I am writing this in a remote village called Gwadidi on the far
Eastern point of Papua New Guinea. It has been such a blessed
time here. The meetings take place under tarpaulins lashed to
tree trunks taken from the jungle. As I write this during a break,
there is a dog sleeping under the pulpit. I guess it is the only
place he can get some peace!
There is no electricity here, so last night I preached under the light
of large kerosene lamps. But the old old gospel still has power -
electricity or no electricity. It is still only the blood of Jesus that
can cleanse and set men free.
Today I attended one of the most beautiful baptisms that I have
ever been part of. Eight local people baptized in a river in the middle
of the jungle. Vines and creepers and lush vegetation overhang.
The Christians filling the air with beautiful song. Tears of joy all
around.
I am sleeping in a literal "grass"-type hut - but at least I have
"luxuries" like a foam mattress and mosquito net. Most everyone
else sleeps flat on the floor with no "luxuries" at all. As for the
'toilet' situation - you literally do not want to know!
Tomorrow, after eating the fatted Cassawary (a type of small Emu),
we depart for Samarai Island the same way we came - an exciting
blast over the sea in a "banana boat". Lifejackets - what are they?!
But amidst all the primitive beauty and the loveliness of the people,
there is one thing that leaves me with a lingering sadness. Some
of the pastors have been telling me about an invasion of "new
media" from the West. It seems that as the cellphone coverage
expands over Papua New Guinea, with it has come an epidemic
of pornography - the downloading and swapping of "dirty pictures"
by the boatload. Already they tell me that this - plus the Western-
type TV programming - is having a noticeable affect. Some of the
young people are falling away. Others are becoming hardened to
the gospel. The temptations of the world are becoming seductively
destructive in ways that have never been seen before. Could even
a place like Papua New Guinea fall victim to the worldwide media
plague that has already claimed so many?
Repentance desperately needs to be preached here - and in many
other lands also. The harvest fields are still white, but the devil is
certainly aprowl. The hour has come, my friends, to "work while
it is yet day" - an hour that demands a matching cry - "Here I am,
Lord, send me."
-Please comment on this article at the following website-
http://www.JohntheBaptistTV.com/
Yours for the harvest,
Andrew Strom.