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.

Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/26a-13-inside-story-stolen-bible-plants-a-church/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=26a-13-inside-story-stolen-bible-plants-a-church

Daily Lesson for Friday 27th of March 2026

“The soul that is yielded to Christ becomes His own fortress, which He holds in a revolted world, and He intends that no authority shall be known in it but His own. A soul thus kept in possession by the heavenly agencies is impregnable to the assaults of Satan. But unless we do yield ourselves to the control of Christ, we shall be dominated by the wicked one. We must inevitably be under the control of the one or the other of the two great powers that are contending for the supremacy of the world. It is not necessary for us deliberately to choose the service of the kingdom of darkness in order to come under its dominion. We have only to neglect to ally ourselves with the kingdom of light. If we do not co-operate with the heavenly agencies, Satan will take possession of the heart, and will make it his abiding place. The only defense against evil is the indwelling of Christ in the heart through faith in His righteousness. Unless we become vitally connected with God, we can never resist the unhallowed effects of self-love, self-indulgence, and temptation to sin. We may leave off many bad habits, for the time we may part company with Satan; but without a vital connection with God, through the surrender of ourselves to Him moment by moment, we shall be overcome. Without a personal acquaintance with Christ, and a continual communion, we are at the mercy of the enemy, and shall do his bidding in the end.”—Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, p. 324.

Discussion Questions

1. Look at the Ellen G. White quote above. There are, yes, only two sides in the great controversy, and unless we consciously choose Christ, we are on Satan’s side (Luke 11:23). However much that idea might bother our sensibilities, God is not under any obligation to make sure His truths don’t offend them. What does this reality tell you about how crucial the surrender of your will to Christ really is?
2. Read Revelation 14:14-16. The early rain of Pentecost enabled the gospel seed to sprout and grow, while the latter rain prepares the earth for the final harvest. How does Revelation 14:12 relate to this prospect?
3. What are the various ways that we, as a church as a whole and as individual believers, are impacted by the culture and world around us? How can we be protected against the negative in­fluences of the world, which have always been a problem for God’s people in every age?

Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/26a-13-further-thought-standing-in-all-the-will-of-god/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=26a-13-further-thought-standing-in-all-the-will-of-god