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Our Stories

Aerial view of the Fly River.
The Fly River is one of the three longest rivers in Papua New Guinea and is the biggest in terms of its volume discharge into the Gulf of Papua. From the rangers of the Star Mountains to its mouth, it runs the 1060 km length of the Western Province supplying the both sides of the banks with all sorts of marine life and the natural habitat of wild life.

Its natural down stream flow and its upstream current powered by tides sets the timing for all movement in its 76,000 km2 basin.

The OK Tedi mine operation upstream has contributed to vast sediments build up making it a challenge to travel by river. All movement is tied to the tide and so timing to do anything is very important.

Our first crossing of the Fly after we landed at Tapila airstrip was around midday to Kawiyapo Local Church where we would be for two weeks. This training held at Kawiyapo is a result of 2019 participants wanting more training and new participants discovering that such a training was available in a remote location.

The type of computer training they were used to was huge registration fees and handouts, without practical experience. The arrival of blue boxes (our equipment boxes) was too good to be true. Every time we open the boxes, the participants gasp in awe that they will be using computers for computer training.

The 2019 training was an effective awareness drive for the ECPNG as a church to use technology which also motivated pastors and ministry leaders to purchase laptops to be used for ministry.

Some of these pastors brought along their laptops for the Kawiyapo training thus freeing up our training laptops to be used by more participants.

This second training indicates the need for more training for the ECPNG pastors and ministry leaders. The timing for ECPNG as a Church to receive basic computer skills for ministry was the result of ECPNG’s Ministry Coordinator, Rev. Dacky Wakili attending the Connect Conference held at CLTC Banz Campus in 2018.

River boat arrived at Kawiyapo during high tide in time for the cargo to be off loaded during the low tide
It is all the Lord’s timing to connect churches and organizations for ministry. After the all the communication and confirmation is finalized, the last factor that determines the actual delivery of the basic computer training is the tide.

The high tide fills up the little waterways that are actual inlets into communities which makes it easy to travel by canoe and dinghy.

Some of the original banks of the Fly River is

all taken up by sediments which became new ground over a period of time. Even river boats that bring store goods and building materials follow the rules of the tide.

For MAF Technologies, our plan is to deliver the basic computer courses for the ECPNG church for the next two years by following the same rules of the tide. An Ok Tedi Community Development Officer, Louise Olen, who attended the Kawiyapo Basic Computer Training graduation said not many organizations look forward to doing ministry type work in the Fly River corridor because of the hash conditions. She is willing to work together with organizations whose vision and goals are for the remote people groups.

Louise was specifically invited to witness the graduation of some of the Women leaders who were assisted by the community development funding to attend the basic computer course. We thank the Lord for OK Tedi Company for its Community Development Funds that are available for the Churches and ministry groups along the Fly Banks.

Canoe waiting for the tide.
In terms of ministry, the tide is good for movement in the Middle and South Fly districts of Western Province. We look forward to using the “high tide” that the Lord has given us to bring help, hope and healing to the pastors and ministry leaders of Wasua District.

The canoe is the vital form of transport that took the Gospel of Christ in all the parts of the Western Province when the first missionaries

came and continues to bring services to the remote parts of the province with the tide as the X factor for logistical planning in movement to get work done.

We thank the Lord for the opportunity to equip the pastors and ministry leaders at the ECPNG church with a challenge to preach the truth of the Gospel in the Western Province.