Inside Story for Friday 27th of March 2026
By David Fletcher
Tribal fighting broke out between five villages in Papua New Guinea in 2021. Many houses were scorched, and property was looted in one of the villages, Kemefa. At least 16 people were killed.
Amid the conflict, a fighter entered the Kemefa Seventh-day Adventist Church and stole a Bible. The fighter, Abuni Ane, took the book to his home village, Orege.
After the clashes ended, Abuni began to read the stolen Bible. As he read, his heart was touched.
Image © Pacific Press
Several months passed, and an Adventist pastor visited Abuni’s village. Abuni brought out the stolen Bible and explained to the pastor, Dicks Neheza, what had happened. Expressing remorse, he said he wanted to repent and commit his life to God.
The pastor and Abuni established a house church in Orege, and before long, Abuni decided to be baptized.
At his baptism, Abuni shared his story with attending members from the Kemefa church, where he had stolen the Bible. He asked for their forgiveness, and he handed the Bible over to the church’s elder.
The elder, speaking on behalf of the church, forgave Abuni and asked him to keep the Bible. He also gave Abuni a church hymnal as a gift. The elder encouraged him to keep reading the Bible, to sing praises to God, and to plant a church in Orege.
Abuni went right to work. The next day, he and two friends went into the bush to collect timber for a semi-permanent church structure. Pastor Neheza brought carpentry tools. A church company with three founding members opened that day in Orege.
Since then, the church has grown to 18 members, including eight people who were baptized during “PNG for Christ” evangelistic meetings in 2024.
Pastor Neheza is amazed that tribal fighting and a stolen Bible resulted in a church. He said the first structure is now too small and that plans are in place to raise a larger, permanent building.
Your weekly mission offerings support church-planting in Papua New Guinea and around the world. This quarter’s Thirteenth Sabbath Offering will go to the South Pacific Division, whose territory includes Papua New Guinea. Thank you for your generous offering this Sabbath.
