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You are here: Home -> Current Fields -> Papua New Guinea -> West Papua (Indonesia) Missions Trip 2008

Missions Trip to West Papua
(Indonesia)

Nov 27th - Dec 8th, 2008

Uploaded: 17 March 2009

Be sure to view more photos from this story

The Missions Team left from Mt. Hagen in Papua New Guinea, and travelled to Jayapura, West Papua (Indonesia) to help the church there. This is Papua New Guinea's first attempt to reach it's neighbouring country.

November was a “first” for the Papua New Guinea church. For the first time in it's history, it sent a team to another country on a Foreign Missions Trip. West Papua (previously called Irian Jaya) is actually a province of Indonesia, but is on the same island as PNG. This extraordinary event indicates a new chapter in the history of the PNG Church as it prepares to look to the fields of harvest abroad. It was led by our World Missions Director, Conrad Wettao, along with a team of four others.

VISIT TO WEST PAPUA- INDONESIA

By Rev Conrad Wettao, World Missions Director PNG

God has been good to United Pentecostal Church of Papua New Guinea. A team of Pastors under our World Missions Division went for a Fact Finding Mission trip into West Papua, Indonesia in November 2008.

OUR JOURNEY

Ready to leave Madang for the border town of Vanimo (still on the Papua New Guinea side)

The trip was greatly blessed by God. Two General Board members Rev. Conrad Wettao (World Missions Director) and Rev. Andrew Awagl (Presbyter of Western Region) with 3 other faithful pastors of Western Region went into West Papua (Indonesia) for a Fact Finding Mission to commission a missionary worker into our neighbouring country West Papua in the name of soul winning for Christ.

The team journeyed from Mt Hagen in the Highlands to Madang on the coast by car, and from there by plane to Vanimo (a town near the border), and across the border to Jayapura in West Papua by car. We experienced the divine care of God in all our travel by car and plane.

To help raise awareness of the Mission Trip, we held meetings at home in the main centres of Mt. Hagen, Kundiawa, Goroka, and Madang. Each Region hosted us well, and we were very blessed with the support and offerings they gave us.

OBTAINING A VISA

We were worried when we departed Madang for Vanimo by plane on Friday morning. The Indonesian Consulate had informed us that all visa applications must be lodged before 12:00pm. The trouble was our plane arrived at 11:30 and we had no idea where to go. At the airport we managed to get to the head of the queue and get our baggage first. Then to our surprise, a brother from Vanimo church was waiting with his car at the airport, and he drove us straight to the Consulate.

Getting ready to cross the border into West Papua, Indonesia

We made it in the door just before 12:00pm, along with a large group of people also wanting visas. The Consulate Staff told us that it normally takes 2 days or so for visas to be approved, but asked us to come back after lunch to check. We came back after lunch, and out of all the other people applying, only our visas were ready. They had prepared our visas in just one hour, but all the other people were told to come back on Monday! We confessed in our hearts and minds "Truly You are a great God".

INTO JAYAPURA

We had been nervous about going to Indonesia as Ministers, thinking that this might not be acceptable in a Muslim country. But with all that God was doing for us along the way, opening every door, our doubts disappeared and with confidence we readied ourselves to walk across the border in the morning.

The next day, we crossed over the border into the Indonesia side and met Rev. Oyang Seseray, Pastor of Entrop United Pentecostal Church of West Papua, and his assistant Bro Daniel who had been waiting for us.

Rev. Conrad Wettao preaching in Jayapura, Indonesia

We had fellowship for two Sundays and night fellowship during the week days during our 9 days stay in Jayapura. Some of our pastors preached sermons to bless the Church which was translated into Basha language (the Indonesian common language) by Rev. Oyang. We stayed and had good fellowship with the church members.

The church members really felt the touch of the Lord in all our love and care we showed to them. They found it very difficult to let us go back to PNG. As we said goodbye to the church members tears were flowing down their faces, and down our faces too. They wanted us to stay longer and have more time together, but time had run out and it was time to go.

OUR BURDEN

On our side of the border in Papua New Guinea we are enjoying divine blessings from God. We were greatly blessed by God when God sent his servant Bro Richard Carver to bring the Gospel into our land. Now we must start to think of those countries near us that are still waiting to hear this message.

Our Fact Finding Mission to West Papua was now finished, and we concluded that the church in PNG should waste no time, but we should now take care of our neighbouring country, and identify West Papua, Indonesia, as a soul winning Mission Field for the PNG church.

- Rev. Conrad Wettao

Be sure to view more photos of the Missions Trip to West Papua, Indonesia


With the Youth Group of Jayapura	Our Missions Team at the Consulate, with Bro Oyang Seseray of Jayapura standing in the centre