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Glimpses of Bougainville by Pamela V. Beaumont
Page 1
Glimpses of Bougainville by Pamela V. Beaumont
Page 2
Contents Introduction
Sister Pamela Beaumont
About Pamela Beaumont by Peter Clyburn
Chapter 1: My Journey Back to Bougainville
Chapter 2; The Hens in the Rain at Kihili
Chapter 3: Time for Merle and Pamela to Join Kemueli and Aliti at Tonu
Chapter 4: New Church Opened
Chapter 5: School Holidays
Chapter 6: New Things to Do in 1955
Chapter 7: Douglas Oliver's Anthropology Book
Chapter 8: A Cremation Ceremony
Chapter 9: Evening Lotu
Chapter 10: Christmas Celebrations
Chapter 11: Misikori
Chapter 12: District Girls'School
Chapter 13: Synod at Roviana
Chapter 14: 40 Years of Methodist Mission work in South Bougainville, 1916-56
Chapter 15: Sister Merle Carter Left for England
Chapter 16: A Journey Through Nagavisi Villages
Chapter 17: Triplets Were Born at Tonu to Tapukoi and Tamahe
Chapter 18: "The Palace Beautiful" Built by Clarrie Wills and His Team
Chapter 19: August rain
Chapter 20: Summer Institute of Linguistics 1958
Chapter 21: Postscript
Digitized by Alec Utting September 2015.
I have added the tributes given at her funeral 22 May 2015
Glimpses of Bougainville by Pamela V. Beaumont
Page 3
Introduction
Previously I wrote about my early life, following it with the story of my first three
years in Bougainville and the Solomon Islands. I called that book "Falling Leaves".
Those were all interesting years but I was longing to get back to Tonu in Siwai, South
Bougainville to the work I felt God had called me to do.
My six months of furlough in New Zealand was a very happy time. Four of the
months were for holiday, making up for the lack of them in the islands, and the other
two were for deputation, which took me to meet the church people in Taranaki and the
Nelson West Coast area. This was all joy but I have no written records of those days.
My memories are of wonderful opportunities to share with people who were really
interested in what was happening in Bougainville and wanted to pray for us and help
us in any way possible. Thanks be to God for all that he did through those
experiences.
I have added as a Postscript the Thesis I wrote in 1962. The subject I was given by the
Deaconess Board of the Methodist Church of New Zealand was "Presenting Christ to
the Solomon Islands." The Rev. W.T. Blight deemed this satisfactory, and I was later
dedicated as a Methodist Deaconess.
I would very much like to acknowledge the skilful and cheerful help Caroline McNeill
has given me in setting up this book ready for printing. She has also designed the
cover using drawings from my mother Rosa Beaumont. My mother visited me in 1966
and did many lovely drawings of life in Bougainville. I am so glad that Caroline has
been able to put everything together so well.
May this book bring the joy and peace of our Lord Jesus Christ to those who look into
it.
Sincerely and thankfully,
Pamela Valerie Beaumont.
Glimpses of Bougainville by Pamela V. Beaumont
Page 4
Sister Pamela Beaumont
Born on 7th April 1928 in Ashburton, Pamela's first home was Ruapuna schoolhouse.
She became a big sister after moving to Timam, where Rosemary and Paul were born.
The family moved to Petrie St, Christchurch, Meriel was bom, then her parents bought
a new house at 8 McLeod St, the family home for over 64 years. Cousin Althea Nye
joined them permanently in 1946.
Pamela taught two years at Waihoarunga school, inland from Waimate, then on 25th
January 1951 was dedicated at Durham St Methodist, as a Missionary teacher for the
overseas church of the Methodist church of New Zealand. On 6th February she flew
on a TEAL flying boat to Sydney to begin her work in Bougainville. Passionate about
people and wanting them to have the Bible in their own language, Pamela spent 1960
under the order ofSt Stephen at Tonu, freed from teaching duties, and then qualified as
a Methodist deaconess with a "particular interest in translation and pastoral work"
"Mamanu Dirokisa", the New Testament for Siuwai people was published in 1978.
The 1970s were very challenging with the NZ Methodist church making their
missionaries redundant, but others gladly welcomed Pamela so she returned to
Bougainville, to the Arawa Bible School.
In 1985, Rosa Beaumont, her mother died and Pamela returned to New Zealand to
support her father and put her considerable energy into supporting many other people
too. When her father, Huia, died, Pamela left the family home and moved to
Wedgewood Ave, where very many people received a wonderful welcome to her
home and garden.
Glimpses of Bougainville by Pamela V. Beaumont
Page 5
About Pamela Beaumont by PETER CLYBURN
I didn't like Pamela before we met.
It was my first term on the mission field. 'Practical' was not my middle name. When something wouldn't work, Sister Lesley Bowen from Tonu Hospital up the road would try to cheer me up. 'Oh, don't worry,' she'd chuckle, 'Pamela will be here soon - she'll fix everything!'
When I couldn't seem to communicate with the national pastors or the Siwai people, I'd be sure to hear the same jolly refrain: 'Oh don't worry. Pamela will be here soon - she'll fix everything.'
I couldn't cook... but Pamela was coming.
I couldn't sing... but Pamela was coming.
I couldn't understand the culture or buy the right bananas at the market or discipline the Bible School students or sew a Baby Jesus costume for the Christmas play... but Pamela was coming.
It seemed to me that the Bougainville church was awaiting the Second Coming all right... the Second Coming of Pamela Beaumont!
I wanted to throttle her.
At last it happened. In the East, the golden sun rose and Pamela's plane landed. A woman appeared. A remarkable colourful creation made by her mother billowed from her hips, swirling around her legs. A large camera case slung tightly across her upper body gave the impression of an Amazonian warrior in battle array. The impression was completed when she swept up a sturdy suitcase in each hand, forging out into the car park toward our little green 4-wheel-drive.
Finally, strapped into our Suzuki, we looked face-to-face, and smiled. There was shyness and fear and excitement and hope in both sets of eyes. We joined in a simple prayer of thanksgiving - no competition, no criticism - just a brother and a sister grateful to our Father for each other. Over 20 years later we still feel the same.
Life with Pamela wasn't easy - living with a saint rarely is. They act like mirrors to your character, unbeknowingly reflecting both what you are and what you really should be. You react. We fought. I hurt her. I've apologized. We've laughed. I nominated her for Woman Of The Year in Bougainville, which she won.
I rejoiced with her at the Dedication of the Siwai new Testament - a translation task that had taken about 28 years with Steven Iroro's help. She rejoiced with me at my marriage to Marion and birth of our first baby Anna in Arawa hospital.
We trampled jungle trails together; co-led two Bible Colleges: Haari and Freedom; celebrated and mourned; fasted and prayed, and washed each other's feet.
What a marvellous honour. What a marvellous friend.
Peter Clyburn is a New Life Pastor.
This tribute was written in 1998 for Aunty Pamela's 70th birthday.
Glimpses of Bougainville by Pamela V. Beaumont
Page 6
CHAPTER 1:
My Journey Back to Bougainville
Before we left for the airport (on 11th June 1954), our minister Rev Wes Chambers
came with his family to our house to pray for us all Paul had to go to work but Daddy,
Mummy, Rosemary, Meriel and Althea came to Harewood where many friends from
Richmond Methodist church joined us to say good-bye. We had plenty of time to talk
because the plane had been struck by lightning on the way over and repairs had to be
done before we took off. Owing to the stormy conditions we had to fly up the East
Coast and through Cook Strait to reach the Tasman Sea I enjoyed this chance to see
this part of the country from the air but the whole journey took eleven hours and ten
minutes instead of the usual eight hours. The noise in the plane was considerable and I
was very glad to reach my room in the Federal Hotel in Collins Street, Melbourne late
at night.
Next morning, after buying a map, I explored the shops then enjoyed the Botanical
Gardens, especially the lawns, slopes, trees, black swans on the lakes and the lovely
views with church spires abounding. My Great Auntie Vi Ebert had arranged for me to
visit her cousins Mr and Mrs.C.Borrett in South Yarra for dinner. This was a luxurious
experience but I was touched by their sadness that though they had wealth they didn't
have any children. I felt their little dog didn't make up to them for the family love they
missed. Mrs. Borrett gave me a little pink china cradle, which she asked me to keep
always remembering her.
Waking early was not so easy after getting to sleep very late because of a noisy party
downstairs in the hotel. We left Melbourne on a TAA Skymaster and flew over some
interesting but sometimes very brown country although in places we did see snow
amongst the bush on the mountains ' After landing at Sydney those of us continuing
on to Brisbane were taken by taxi to dinner and then brought back to Mascot to join
our next flight. We arrived in the late afternoon in Brisbane where we flew low over
widespread suburbs with their neat houses enclosed by a patch of green.
I left my things at the T.A.A. office while I went to find a Methodist Church. Having
found it I ate my chocolate and apple in a tram shelter nearby, talking the while with a
dear old Aborigine woman. She caught her bus and I went into the church where the
Rev. Nash preached a great message. At the following Social Hour I met two others
from Christchurch, Mr. England and Mr. Beardsley from Ernest Adams Bakery! The
time passed quickly and I duly found my way back to the T.A.A. office. From there
we had a twenty-seven mile taxi ride to Redlands Bay to go aboard the Sandringham
Flying Boat for the journey to Port Moresby becoming airborne after midnight. Flying
boats are less noisy and more comfortable than land planes. We were wakened early
with a cup of tea and then taken ashore at Cairns for breakfast, including pawpaw! I
also found two new friends, Margaret Legate and Miss Betts amongst the passengers.
Glimpses of Bougainville by Pamela V. Beaumont
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What a treat! From Cairns we flew to Port Moresby where we had lunch, a rest and
some sightseeing before dinner.
After a hurried breakfast we waited by the wharf for ages while they fixed up
everything for the trip. We finally left in the Sandringham about nine and travelled
down the coast to land on the sea at Samarai, amongst some small islands at the tip of
Papua New Guinea. We flew across miles of sea after that, having dinner in the air
before we landed in Rabaul Harbour, New Britain, after two o'clock. We passed
through customs easily and Miss Betts and I went round the European shops. Post
Office and China Town before dinner at the Ascot Hotel. The bag I lost on my way
south had not been found which was a disappointing but not unusual fact of life.
In China Town I saw a lovely advertisement for Palmolive soap showing a local boy
standing on the beach holding a cake of soap. The caption was, Olgeta boi i mo laikim
dispela sop bikos i gat gutpela semel. (Everyone likes this soap best because of its
perfume.) I was back in the country where my heart longed to be.
It was a lovely morning early the next day as we skimmed off Rabaul Harbour with
many other passengers in the Sandringham. The crater below us at the edge of the
harbour was smoking just a little but it didn't look dangerous. There are many craters
in this area. The mountains of New Ireland looked difficult to climb as we flew over
them and then over the wide sea to Buka. I saw Petals and Skotalan, then shortly
afterwards we circled over Sohano Island and landed on the narrow Buka Passage.
Father Le Strange came out in his launch to meet Miss Betts, the new nurse for their
hospital, while Mr.Pascoe came for Margaret Legate for the S.D.A. Mission Station.
The men came on board to meet the newcomers while the mail and cargo was
unloaded first, as is customary.
After nearly half an hour of stifling Sohano heat we were up in the air again flying
down the Bougainville coast. I saw Kekesu from the air and had a good look at Kieta
when we landed in the harbour there. We came to rest a long way from the buoy so we
had to go back along the water, which gave an orange jeep on the shore, time to whiz
round to the wharf and its occupant time to canoe out to meet us. Again we had a long
unloading wait but I was interested in a delightful trio bobbing up and down in a small
canoe outside my window. Nearly all the rest of our passengers left us here but Leslie
Tong Lep, (my Chinese store friend from Kangu) and myself were left in Cabin B.
The steward said it would be twenty minutes before we landed at Tonolai Harbour.
Amazing! That journey takes eight or nine hours on the Cicely, our fastest boat.
I had my eyes glued to the mountains and rivers along this coast and then as we
circled to land I saw the little "Isis", sheltered in a cove, waiting for us. Mr. Boison
(Educational Officer) and Father Cleland from Monoitu were aboard as passengers for
the plane. Mr.Taylor and Mr. Humphries of Kangu were also on the boat and we
joined them with the mail for Buin. They loaded a great many Buin Baskets on the
plane for this trip.
Glimpses of Bougainville by Pamela V. Beaumont
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Back Home in Buin
I came ashore about two hours later, at Momot's wharf by the wreck where Jean and
Grenville were waiting for me. Voyces were in the midst of packing everything prior
to going out on the "Malaita" which was due any day. Mavis Mannell and baby
Wayne were here and also Sister Olive Money, Lucy's sister, who was doing "the
books". We were a big family at Sister Ada Lee's place, enjoying each other's
company to the full. Wayne was a very happy baby with a deep catching laugh. I
really enjoyed being back at Lotu in the evening. Murray and Bob Mannell were up in
Siwai with the truck and weapons carrier loaded with things for Tonu.
The next day I made a hat for Jean Voyce from a hat shape I had brought from New
Zealand. I covered it in black material and finished it with a red buckle to go with her
black skirt and short red coat. The Voyce family members were all very busy with
preparations for their trip home.
Visitors Friday we were busy making the houses and grounds beautiful for the arrival of the
President of the Methodist Church in New Zealand, the Rev. Fiebig. Mrs. Fiebig was
with him and also our Solomon Islands District Chairman the Rev. and Mrs. Metcalfe.
We didn't know exactly when they would come so someone was sent to watch at the
beach, about a mile away. When the signal was given there was a great scramble to
welcome them at the beginning of Coronation Avenue. They were glad to be on dry
land, as they had not had a calm crossing all the way from Choiseul on the Cicely II.
Later a large crowd welcomed them to Kihili, as the teachers were all down from
Siwai for the occasion. What a lot of talking and listening went on in the few days
they were with us. Mr. and Mrs. Fiebig were good friends of my parents. On Saturday
there were two football matches and on Sunday.
RevA.H. Voyce and Rev. Feibig
Glimpses of Bougainville by Pamela V. Beaumont
Page 9
Mr. Fiebig preached in his presidential gown and black and purple stole in our hot
little church. He was contrasting the different attitudes of Paul to his two visions
because of his growth in faith. Mr. Metcalfe spoke to us in the afternoon, sprinkling
his sermon with a number of illustrations that made even the local people laugh and
that is saying something. He was making the point that no one needed to be afraid
because the Spirit of Jesus Christ is stronger than any other spirit. In the evening we
sang lots of favourite hymns from the Army and Navy hymnbook in English before
the opportunity for us all to say our Bible verses and I relished it all. Mr. and Mrs.
Fiebig really touched my heart with their pastoral visit.
On deck on the Cicily II: Mrs Feibig, Mrs Metcalfe, Rev. Feibig and Rev. Metcalfe
A Trip to Tonu
Early next morning after saying good-bye to our visitors at the wharf we trudged back
home. Grenville caught us up and said, "Can you be ready in an hour to go up to
Siwai?" The Malaita wasn't going to leave from Kieta for a few days and there was
another load waiting to go up to Tonu. It was an opportunity not to be missed, as the
weather had been phenomenal with the roads passable for several weeks. Olive and I
raced to the house, collected clothes, food and a cushion each. We left before eleven
o'clock and arrived not long after three, which was a very good trip indeed in the
weapons carrier. The Miwo was divided into three fairly even streams and the very
deep channel I had come through last year was a dry bed of stones. Grenville told us
that a ten-foot crocodile had been caught there a few days before. We didn't have to
struggle with much mud.
It was good to see that our house was in good order and my cargo from Bilua,
including my little organ was all in the living room with the fairly new kerosene
refrigerator from the Voyce's house. A treadle sewing machine was on the veranda!
My roses and gardenias were still growing and the clover lawn had crept over a
greater area. I was thrilled to find that they had begun to build the hospital. Two boys'
houses and a teacher's house were in progress as well as Kemueli's house. We visited
the village and talked with the women and children and finished the day enjoying the
lovely meal thatAliti had cooked for us. It was great to sleep in my previous home
Glimpses of Bougainville by Pamela V. Beaumont
Page 10
again. They had set up my bed in the place where it had been before and even my new
sunburn didn't spoil my joy.
Morning came with a red sky and rain. Grenville had to mend the fan belt before we
could leave so I had time for a short talk with Kauma and Maiha explaining my hope
to come back to stay before too long. On the way up we had turned the laden trailer on
its side at the first Mopiai crossing but on the way home we had a smooth trip apart
from a bit of digging by the drum bridge. By the time we reached Ako we were all
sopping wet and shivering, but glad to stop to eat the lunch Aliti had given us for the
journey. We waved to quite a number of pastor-teachers on the road as they walked
back to Siwai after the President's visit. They looked bedraggled under their leaf
umbrellas, carrying their saucepans and their new school materials but their smiles
were bright. The last on the road was old Kehu and long before my steamed up glasses
would let me distinguish him clearly I knew who he was because of the loud laughter
from the two boys on the vehicle with us. Kehu always affects those who know him in
this way. The mere sight of him sends people into peels of laughter. He was very tall.
He started school late in life but at this time he was teaching the new beginners at
school and his shaky antics were enough to cause hysteria.
Kihili Again
The Malakuna was in view when we reached the beach but they didn't plan to leave
till the next day. Olive still had work to do on "The Books" with Ada so I took over
her classes at school. As planned the Mannalls and Olive left about 11a.m. in order to
clear the ship through customs etc. at the government station at Kangu and out of
Laumana on the other side of the border before dark, but to be off Bagga Island in the
light of the next morning. I had just got home for lunch to Ada's house when Jean
arrived to say they had to leave for the "Malaita" in three minutes. What a scatter! All
the last minute things had been in progress but it was time to walk. Ada walked beside
Mr. Voyce to hear all the last minute instructions. More confusion. Mr. Shaw had
changed his mind about when he was leaving so Grenville had time to bring us back in
the Weapons Carrier after our good-byes and to return to the leaving point on the bike.
The others had lunch at Shaw's place while they waited. Such is the uncertain nature
of travel in these parts.
After all the visitors we had gone and we had tidied up, it seemed very quiet to be by
ourselves. My job at this time was to help Ada with the Kihili School. While she took
the girls for sewing I added up the Government attendance returns for Kihili and all
the other schools with my new Exactas purchased on furlough for such tasks. It was a
forerunner of the present day calculator but it required concentration to get the same
answer twice! In the evening Bible Class times I took a series of lessons telling the
girls about the places I had been and experiences I had had in Roviana, Bilua and New
Zealand since I had last seen them. Ada had a lot of responsibility with Mr. Voyce
away so it was important that I stay to help her at this time. Rev. Kemueli and Aliti
from Fiji (Rotuma) were getting the work well started again in Siwai. Sister Merle
Glimpses of Bougainville by Pamela V. Beaumont
Page 11
Carter couldn't be spared from Teop until after Synod when Mr. Metcalfe said we
could go back together. Meantime there was plenty for me to do at Kihili in the way of
preparing school materials for Kihili and Siwai and the teachers in the villages.
Learning to enjoy and make the most of the present seems to be a very important
lesson.
New Hymn Books
The new hymnbooks Mr. Voyce had worked hard to produce were received with great
joy. The books had a stiff cover and contained 186 hymns in Siwai, 22 Responsive
Lessons, a good number of psalms, the Catechism, some New Testament passages, the
Ten Commandments and orders of service for Communion, Baptisms, Weddings and
Funerals. These books became the prize possession of the school children as well as
their parents. The girls in the dormitories spent hours singing through their favourite
hymns and with so many more to choose from there were new ones to learn. The
hymnbook helped me a lot in learning the language of the Siwai people. When it
rained heavily during the services the steady pounding of the raindrops on the iron
roof meant that a time of extra hymn singing was called for. It was impossible to
preach above the din of the rain.
Quick Discussions
When Mr. and Mrs. Metcalfe arrived off the Cicely unexpectedly I was glad that they
had decided to stay overnight with us. There was a lot to discuss and that takes time.
Mr. Metcalfe was concerned about the training of missionaries and wanted to discuss
his ideas with us. Synod was getting nearer and decisions made there would touch
many people's lives. Only God can give us the wisdom we need and hearing from him
takes more than just time. Morning came and there was a great scramble as usual to
get them ready for the boat as early as possible. While Mr. M. tried to give Ada more
instructions and she tried to stuff more and more facts into her already reeling head,
Mrs. Metcalfe hurried out with a knife and sack for cuttings for her garden and I
prepared some food ready for them to take on the boat. Ada started the school classes
but I had to come back for the beach store keys for Mr. Metcalfe. The jeep wouldn't
start and the fan belt of the weapons' carrier kept breaking so in the end we all had to
walk carrying the things, which seemed to get heavier and heavier along the mile
track. Mr. Metcalfe's voice announced our approach from down the road, as he called
out "Mai gamu" and "Dinghy" in his loudest Yorkshire tones. Sure enough when we
reached the clearing down to the wharf the crew appeared with the dinghy. After a
little look round and good-byes they watched the waves and ran for the dinghy just
before the next wave broke and rushed in. Maning and I waited to see them safely on
the Cicely, waved good-bye and set off on our hotter walk home. Little Tony (one of
the babies we cared for who was later adopted by Mr. and Mrs.Voyce) had followed
us and was tired. He was crying a bit, but at least he had had and interesting morning.
I went with him to his bed at Maning's place and left him with her while I came home
to prepare some more examination papers.
Glimpses of Bougainville by Pamela V. Beaumont
Page 12
CHAPTER 2:
The Hens in the Rain at Kihili
That night in the middle of Lotu a sudden downpour came on us almost without
warning. With rain still falling no one wanted to go home but as we waited at the door
little 5 year-old Joyce appeared under her father's extra large black umbrella. In the
dark the only clearly visible things we saw were the whites of her large pleading eyes.
They lived next to the church and the umbrella was for Ada and me. We collected all
the girls' precious hymnbooks and ran home under the shelter.
The next day in the rain I looked out of the window to see gray, brown and black
flashes of colour running for shelter with all the strength of their henny legs while a
big black and white duck waddled through the wettest of the clover obviously
enjoying it. The rain continued and I looked out to see the hens all wandering out
beside the patches of the flood with their shoulders hunched and their necks
outstretched. Their eyes were all intent on one thing, worms. Never had I seen such
concentration written on hens' faces. Seldom have I seen them looking more thin and
bedraggled. When the shower was over I saw them break up into two congregations,
one in a circle on the high bare ground to this side of the nearest bomb hole and the
others in single file on a huge fallen log on the other side of the garden. They were all
drying and airing every single one of their feathers because they had been wet to the
skin. The ducks met at our front door and laughed at them with up and down snake
like movements of their fat necks.
There were so many exam papers to mark it was quite a relief to have some "howlers"
to smile over. "The difference between a motor car and a bus is a motor bye." "Afraid
means run away quickly when you see a lion or a tiger." "Depart means keep yourself
from evil." Dora, in writing about some problem in her essay said, "So we took out
our good idea." As I smiled over their mistakes in struggling with English I was very
sure that they were laughing over my mistakes in Siwai. The way to learn is to keep
on trying.
A Strange Experience
About this time Ada told me about a Kieta girl I shall call Mary, who was living in the
girls' house with the others. One Saturday night after Lotu the girls were having their
meal in the house-cook when Mary said she was going back to the dormitory. Later,
when they came inside, they found that she wasn't there and the search for her began.
They all hunted and hunted for her in the dark and after a very long time they found
her lying in the tapioca bushes near the house, crying. They helped her into the house,
as she seemed strange, chewing at everything she could grasp. When she was lying on
her mat she talked somewhat coherently but in fragments never really answering the
questions her friends asked. Sometimes she spoke in her own Kieta language,
sometimes in Siwai and sometimes in pidgin. She thought one of the girls had taken
Glimpses of Bougainville by Pamela V. Beaumont
Page 13
her dress and her Lotu books, which she had had in the house-cook with her, but no
one could find them. The pain in her head was at times quite severe but eventually she
went to sleep and the others fell asleep near her on their own mats.
In the morning she woke up with her hands tied behind her back! She couldn't have
done this herself and none of the girls had tied her up. She was more coherent, telling
her friends that a little girl from Kieta, who had previously died, had called her out
into the bush and had tied her up.
More strange behaviour followed throughout the day. The girls and Ada kept an eye
on her but at times she was irrational and noisy and at other times floppy and
unresponsive. Eventually, in a good space she consented to take some Phenobarbital
enabling her to sleep. Ada was able to go to bed in the early hours of the morning and
the girls took turns in twos in watching Mary. Through the day they had hunted for her
dress and Lotu books finally finding them out in front of the house beyond our
section. They followed her trail and found that she had been a very long way through
the gardens, bush and long grass.
Ten days later a letter arrived with the normal mail for Mary from her mother. There
could have been no ordinary contact between them but her mother said in the letter
that the Mikai (Witch-doctor) had come to her and told her all about Mary's
experiences while sick and added that she wasn't getting well as quickly as she had
done on other occasions. She was anxious to hear the truth from her daughter. Such
unexplained things happened around us. The spirit world is very close to those who
are constantly aware of it. Mary grew up to be a very fine leader amongst the women
of her area, knowing Jesus was able to help her in every situation. '
Food
As we were expecting visitors on their way to Synod, I made some jars of lemon
honey to make up for our lack in tins of jam. I also made biscuits that usually turn out
well even when the wood is wet and the oven cooks things slowly. More productively,
I collected a good number of cuttings of hibiscus and poinsettia and other things from
round the station and improved the new gardens round Ada's house. We planted lots
of the little pink crocus-like bulbs that flower every six weeks. Rimbi said she would
make custard for dinner while I was outside. When I returned the custard powder,
sugar and milk were sitting in a cup on the edge of the stove. To my puzzled inquiries
about how long it had cooked she said "Do you cook it?"
We were short of sweet potatoes but there was some mature tapioca around the edge
of the potato garden. The tapioca tubers support a straggly bush and to replant for the
next crop you put some pieces of the stem in the ground you have prepared nearby.
These tubers are very dense and have to be prepared carefully. Sometimes they are
grated and made into delicious puddings with coconut milk but for everyday use they
are boiled with some coconut milk added near the end of the cooking time. Any
Glimpses of Bougainville by Pamela V. Beaumont
Page 14
leftover can be sliced and lightly fried next day This takes away your hunger for a
long time!
When the girls went with me to see the new bridge over the Muliko they had a happy
time in the water. They were racing downstream swimming under water then
gathering prawns in the long grass by the banks on the way back. Prawns are a great
treat usually caught after heavy rains have produced a flood. The bridge was made
with masts and heavy plates of steel from the wreck at the beach and welded together
Years later the Japanese people came to collect all their wrecks and reclaimed our
strong bridges for their scrap metal. The bridges were excellent while they served our
needs.
I was feeling a bit lonely when Ada and the others had left for Synod but I
remembered the verse Jesus had impressed on me, "As my Father has sent me, even so
send I you." I thought that he must have been homesick for heaven sometimes too.
People quickly filled my space as I pinned the top to the skirt of Hopuhopu's dress
while I heard Nujo and Tarakue their reading, helped Sera with her Arithmetic,
marked Hunutei's spelling and Emily's story. I had thought I would write a letter while
they did their evening study but interaction is good. As I needed to look after some of
Ada's classes while she was away I decided to gather the students together at times
and teach them as many new hymns as I could from the recently arrived hymn books.
They all enjoyed this although sometimes it was hard to get the boys to learn the tune
before they improvised a bass part.
Welcome Visitors
On the afternoon of the day I expected another group of travellers on their way to
Synod I had to make dinner for one or seven people. Daylight faded. The moon and
stars came out but the electric light refused to function... I went over to the church to
take Lotu by lamplight. When I arrived home I found that the Voyce's cat had come
into the kitchen, knocked the cover off the big baked pudding and eaten all but the
middle! My little pudding was safe in the cupboard but there had been no room for the
big one. All at once the sound of an approaching jeep heralded my visitors, Effie,
Lucy, Trevor, Doc., Allen, and Alistair McDonald. They said they could stay for two
hours. Trevor and Doc. went off to try to fix the generator but it wasn't possible. In the
dim lamplight I was quite glad that no one could examine the dinner too closely
though they did laugh with me about the naughty cat. They each wanted a bath having
been travelling on the boat for a few days, so in between organizing that and
collecting up the mail to go north I enjoyed snatches of English sentences. The bath
water was boiled in a copper under the house. Lucy and Allen were going straight out
on furlough after Synod. Alice McDonald was looking after their new little son back
in Choiseul. Trevor was building the church at Bilua and looking forward to having
Gloria and the children back with him from furlough. Effie, my special friend, was
encouragingly there, but in no time at all we were saying good-bye. As the jeep was
swallowed up in the night I could scarcely believe that they had come and gone. Alas,
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I had forgotten to give them the eggs and the biscuits! Though the friendly girls were
standing with me I have seldom felt so lonely.
An Outing to the Beach
A few afternoons later I picked a bunch of flowers, gathered some five corners (fruit)
and set off for the beach. The girls wanted to visit Mr. Shaw's store and I knew that
Mrs. Shaw was almost due to have her baby. I found that Mrs. Shaw was at Kangu
ready to go to Rabaul but there was another couple at the settlement too as the work of
gathering up pieces of wrecked planes and melting them into aluminium bricks was a
big business. I enjoyed this outing and purchased some salt and batteries while the
girls were choosing their material and soap. Dorcas Moata and her children Dora,
Evalini, John and Margaret came with us. Every chance to see the sea is precious. The
horizon is so far away and the sky is so wide as you stand on the beach! Being
hemmed in by the bush makes you long to be able to see outwards and upwards. Time
after time the girls lined up at the high water mark then ran together down into the
breaking swell. It was the first time Nujo, a new girl from the Uisai mountains, had
been in the sea but after much squirming and squealing Emily eventually shepherded
her into the water. She was terrified at first of the noise and the strength of the waves
but by the time we had to leave she was enjoying it all. We arrived back home just
before sunset, tired and happy with some beach ice-plant cuttings to grow on the edge
of our bomb crater.
David and His Smooth Stones
"In all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us." Paul
wrote that in Romans 8:37 after listing some of the things that might discourage us. I
wanted to preach from this text to encourage my hearers with this truth, so before
hand I made a plasticine model of David, dressed it, made a pouch for his five smooth
stones and plaited a little coconut leaf sling. We know that after he had killed Goliath
he still had four stones left. He was more than a conqueror. He could have dealt with
Goliath's brothers. In Jesus Christ we are able to overcome difficulties without coming
to the end of strength. In Him we can keep going. Even the youngest in the
congregation seemed to get the point as they saw the smooth stones lined up along the
edge of the pulpit. It is a wonderful truth to remember that when we are walking with
Jesus His strength is there for us. I needed visual aids especially because I was not
speaking in their heart languages but I think it is always good to have something to see
as well as to hear.
Pork for Dinner
A pig that continually came rooting round in his potato garden troubled one of the
teachers, Naurong. He went home to Siwai in the weekend and came back with his
hunting dog called Tiger. In a few days we were given a very nice piece of pork, some
for me and a big piece for the girls. Pig owners beware. Keep your pigs inside their
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fences or you may lose them! Pigs do a huge amount of damage even in one night and
I was to have many struggles with this type of problem in our mission gardens.
Naurong had recently preached about hiding God's word in your heart. He said that
sometimes we hide bad things because we are ashamed, but we hide good things to
keep them safe. We need to be careful about what we are hiding. Bad things
eventually get found out. God's word hidden in our hearts is always worthwhile. I was
constantly amazed at what Ovini, Henry Moata and the other teachers showed us out
of the Bible verses. Even though English was not their own language the Holy Spirit
interpreted it to them and helped them to express in their own languages or pidgin the
essence of what God is saying which is wonderfully relevant to our situations. Keep
reading the Bible. It is still a very powerful book.
The wind blew and whipped up the waves so much that the Gona. Mr Shaw's boat was
washed on to the beach. All day from after early Lotu until evening our school and
plantation boys joined the Police and Government work boys to get it afloat again.
They worked with ropes from the shore and the wreck to complete this difficult task.
It was a long heavy boat and needed all the manpower that could be mustered to push
and pull. No school that day but while some girls worked on the painting and spring-
cleaning at Ada's house others worked hard in a new patch of garden. They even
managed to have a number of bonfires, burning the twigs and other rubbish that was
too small to bring back for their cooking fires.
Anchored at Buin, Malakuna, Cicely II and the MV Gona by the wharf
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Page 17
CHAPTER 3:
Time for Merle and Pamela to join Kemueli and Aliti at Tonu
At the end of August the people began coming back from Synod, calling in to see us
again on the way. Bob Mannell managed to pick up my 27 small boxes, ex-Malaita,
from Kieta. He stayed at Kihili and after fixing the weapons carrier was able to take
some of them and Merle's boxes and medical things into Siwai ahead of us. At last, on
the 3rd September, Bob was able to take Merle and me to Tonu with the rest of the
cargo, complete with a kitten and plants for the garden. It was wonderful to be able to
get everything up there ready to be unpacked, without having to leave some of it
beside the road somewhere for later transport. Ada and the ones with her had arrived
at Kihili after 9pm the night before so there wasn't much time for talking however
when the others had gone to bed we were able to talk about the highlights, one of
which was the prayer meeting to begin each Synod day.
Bob Mannell driving the Weapons Carrier with Merle Carter on its way to Tonu.
(Pamela took the photo)
We spent the week unpacking, scrubbing, sweeping, nailing (and unnailing), turning
the house and storeroom back into a home. Twelve of my margarine boxes formed the
cupboard in my bedroom and twelve in my office for school supplies and as a
bookshelf. Uncle Norman France had gathered these steady boxes from Ernest Adams
Factory where he was the electrician who designed and looked after the ovens. It was
wonderful to have a place to put things away and with curtains in front of them they
served me for a very long time. These boxes also were highly praised for being small
and easy to handle in transit. When door curtains and such like were found and hung
up our home began to look very pretty. There were no doors, except on the food safe,
but I did fasten a piece of wire with little bells on it to be hooked up inside my curtain
when I went to bed to warn me of any intruder trying to get in. I know that God had
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Page 18
angels on duty round us who kept us safe. Psalms 3 and 4 were comforting to us but it
is also awesome to know that our Heavenly Father is watching over us all the time.
Kemueli, the Fijian minister, and his wife Aliti had done a lot of work establishing
Tonu as a mission station, with houses for boys and teachers, one for the girls and a
maternity ward and a church. Next to his house he had a store and a rice house. Over
the river they had begun to build the hospital. Merle was glad that the maternity ward
was by our house because in the first four weeks she delivered five babies. Being the
only nurse it was particularly hard when the babies came at night after a hard day
seeing to clinics and outpatients. Not long after we arrived the Roman Catholic Father
fell off his motorbike on the swing bridge. The Sisters at Monoitu were away so he
sent for Merle to come to come to see to his wounds. Fortunately, though they were
deep, they healed up well. All through the years the staff of our two mission stations
helped each other out in many different emergencies and on happy occasions too.
Released from Prison
On our first Sunday back at Tonu people from the whole area came to welcome us, in
fact there were so many people that the floor of our class-room church broke on the
women and children's side. Naaru and Pataaku welcomed us and Kemueli preached.
This was followed by Class Meeting, testimony time. I was especially moved when
Mangung (later Isaiah Mangung) from Tonui spoke. He had been released from prison
the day before our journey home so he travelled up with us. He was in prison because
he broke his slate over a girl's head in school one day at Kihili. His temper was
something to be reckoned with and he was not allowed back to school for a time. With
great courage and sincerity he confessed his sin and spoke of his time in prison. He
said he knew he was a 'man-no-good, bilong bikhed na kros' (proud and angry) but he
wanted to be born again as Jesus had told Nicodemus in John 3. (He must have been
reading his New Testament in prison.) He said that he hadn't got the strength to
overcome his bad ways by himself but was very sorry and he knew that Jesus could
help him. I didn't see him after the service but I know that I really prayed for him in
the following days. Actually his story went on to be remarkable and I will write it
when we get up to those on-going miracles. Merle and I prayed that we might be able
to learn the language accurately so that our mouths could be more useful.
Setting up our First Tank
During the week one group of village men came to finish building the girls' dormitory,
others were working on the hospital and the Tonu men were building the church.
Hasing and Namarai put up the tank, a reclaimed fuel tank from an aeroplane, on
really solid posts beside the kitchen so that the water off the iron roof there could be
directed into it. At last we had a tap from which water flowed. The next problem was
to teach our new girls how to turn it on and off. This is an art we have learned from
our earliest days but turning door handles and taps and many other things was not
second nature to them. They could turn it crookedly and wrench it out of its socket. In
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Page 19
a very short time our tank and drums were over-flowing. How to wash a floor other
than just throwing a bucket of water over it is another thing that has to be taught and
demonstrated over and over. As for ironing, I had no idea it was so difficult until I
tried to get my helpers to do it! We have some Mrs. Potts irons to heat up on the stove
but there is an art to manoeuvring them without burning the clothes.
Merle contemplating our first water tank from an aeroplane wreck, 1954
Merle was very busy delivering babies which meant that it was often hard for her to fit
in some sleep as babies come at all times of day and night and are sometimes very
slow in actually arriving. When Merle did clinics a and lots of injections I helped by
writing down the names. The days were full!
On our second Sunday we biked for two hours down to Musiraka to take services
thereabouts. One service had a small attendance because some of the men had been
called out to help the Government truck through the Miwo. Merle was able to see
Mangung's hospital before we were called to a special dinner at Monori's house. On
the way back we called in at Harinai where the twins, Mary and Martha lived. As
before, Martha was thriving but Mary was not so well. Mary recognized me making
me very happy by clinging to me. Joan and I had looked after her over a year before at
Tonu. The afternoon was really hot and many of the congregation had difficulty in
keeping awake but Lotu was held at Sam, 10am, 2.30pm and 6pm on Sundays,
everywhere. At least it gave me the opportunity to preach at two villages on my
Sunday visits. I enjoyed doing it and the people seemed glad to listen to someone
different.
When school classes started I had 51 on the roll, including a number of girls as
borders but attendance depended on government work, the state of pig fences, coughs
and malaria. Mutona and Kuheu helped me with the younger children. The day I
began classes no teachers turned up because they were helping the Tonu people to
make sago to help to feed our boys and their families. Making sago takes teamwork
over several days, as I was to discover later. Our new classroom was one big building
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Page 20
with a floor in it, which made it easier for me to look after all the classes. I divided
them according to reading ability. Preparation for school took up my evenings.
In the afternoons I needed to supervise the girls with their gardens for food and for
laying out the lawns and paths around the houses. One afternoon they caught a
centipede and two snakes. One centipede, sighted on the roof post of our veranda, was
expertly dispatched. Centipedes are clever at escaping!
We needed to be very careful about keeping the ground swept round the outside and
underneath our houses. There were several Japanese foxholes underneath our floor but
the houses were about three feet above the ground so that any trails of white ants
could be noticed quickly. These termites work with great speed. We needed to keep a
close eye on all our high quality hardwood foundation posts because the hungry
creatures would build a mud- casing on the outside of the posts to give them access to
the softer wood of the superstructure as well as books and clothes and everything
inside the house.
Visiting Kiaps, (European Government Officers) visited us, bringing our mail,
whenever they were travelling nearby. Sometimes my students had to go to take their
turn at carrying these officers' cargo. They would join the village men forming a long
line and carrying all the equipment needed for camping out and doing their work.
Each carrier was paid for his work. Some Kiaps were surveying ground, some
inspecting the hygiene of the village settlements, some inspecting health or taking a
census, some were holding court sessions but whatever they were busy with they
enjoyed coming in for a cup of tea and a chat. We enjoyed having someone to fix
things that had us puzzled. It was a great chance to have an English conversation. I
remember one officer saying, after listening to a torrent of my pidgin, "Sister, I do
understand English."
One of the students told me that he would be away for a month to fix his pig fence
because he had been taken to court and fined in the village the evening before. His
pigs had escaped and badly damaged Nawa's potato crop. Pigs can do a lot of damage
in one night!
Sewing Classes
I began sewing classes for the girls with the project of each one making a
handkerchief. This required tacking and then hemming so it took some time.
Threading needles and making a firm start on the first stitch takes a lot of time but it
will be worth the effort in years to come. I seemed to have the usual queues waiting
for my helping hand. The hand machine I had bought needed to be oiled and cleaned
of rust. It was very useful in time but first every girl needed to be able to do tacking,
backstitch and hemming by hand.
Letters from home with family news was always a highlight. The great news that mail
day was that Paul (my brother) and Joan had become engaged and Meriel had got her
driving license. In connection with a youth conference my father wrote a sentence I
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Page 21
loved for two reasons, "Smoke won't boil the kettle. What we need is fire." At that
stage we were hoping to get another section of chimney so that it could go through the
roof instead of sideways. Wet wood and smoke make meal preparation more difficult.
Sometimes everyday work seems to produce just smoke!
Hianu
I went to Tonu village for afternoon Lotu and found Naaru was sick so he asked me to
take the service, a challenge I continually faced but enjoyed. I showed Merle round
the village later meeting up with those who used to be my close neighbours. I missed
Sara and asked Naaru about the family. The children, Neewai, Mitakori, Simon and
Tararu were there but I learned that Sara's husband, Hianu was now harder to find. He
used to be a pastor teacher who had saved Sara in the garden when she picked up a
hand grenade with the rubbish. He took it from her to hurl it in the river but it went off
in his hand. He was an excellent gardener, even with only one hand, but the shell
shock had taken away his normality. Each night he built himself a little shelter near
his garden and faithful Sara would cook him a meal and search for him till she found
him. It was very sad. Mitakori lived with us in the girls' house. Simon and Tararu
came to school each day but Neewai was often down at the coast working with the
men reclaiming metal near Kihili. Sometimes Hianu visited me with pineapples and
other produce but though he talked to us there was not much sense in what he said.
Brave Bomb Disposals Soldiers
Mr. Hume and Mr. Floreston were the first of many bomb disposal men to visit us. As
they shared a cup of tea I began to realize how many men had lost their lives during
the war finding out how bomb fuses of different types work. Apparently they worked
with a tape recorder describing exactly what they were doing. For instance, "I am
turning the nut on the right hand side, one turn, two turns, half a turn ..." Perhaps it
might blow up then, killing the man, but the next man would know not to touch that
screw but to try another one. The men, to whom we were talking, were on the way to
Toira, a village about an hour's walk from us, where they were going to detonate an
unexploded bomb recently found in a garden. Later we heard lots of explosions as the
people had pointed out many bombs to them. We had a small barrage on the mission
station one day when someone's bonfire in the garden caught up with a number of
cartridges that had been gathered in the rubbish.
About this time there was a dreadful wail in the night, "Akai ne, Akai ne, Akai ne!" I
bounded out of bed thinking someone had a centipede bite. Merle was hot on my trail
but when we got to the muli tree I found it was Simon, Hianu's son, who seemed to be
out of his mind. Hasing, who came with him, explained that Simon sometimes had
these turns. Hasing assured me that someone was going to die and that this spirit came
close to Simon and made him sing out and walk about. Up on our veranda Merle
examined Simon and gave him some medicine before sending him home to sleep
again. In the morning he was back at school and quite all right but Merle decided that
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Page 22
some iron tonic and Vitamin B would help him to better health. We didn't hear that
any one died about that time.
After a busy week, with the washing and the baking done, Merle and I celebrated
Saturday by visiting the hospital site to see the latest improvements. The people had
been planting up some sweet potato gardens as food for patients later. The buildings
are on a high, tongue-shaped plateau of land between the Kutana and the Pintai
Rivers. These are fast flowing creeks with steep banks covered in ferns and bush. We
visited the lovely spring down by the Pintai where the water flowed out like a lavish
supply of water, like molten silver from between three very large mossy rocks. The
trees in that grotto locked out the sunlight. Where the water poured from the rock
someone had placed a piece of sago leaf to direct the flow into one channel so that it
looked as if it were pouring out of a lion's mouth in the best fountain tradition. This
spring always produced an abundance of good clean water.
An Unhappy Baby
The next day, Sunday, straight after breakfast, outpatients crowded round our front
door, including a father with a seven-month-old baby girl. When he and his wife had
quarrelled the night before she had run away leaving him with the baby. Merle had
been called to the maternity ward so I made some milk and tried to give it to the little
one. She objected very strongly to my white skin, screaming as loudly as she could. I
gave her back to her father because he obviously thought I was hurting her but he
didn't make much progress either. He just didn't have the beginning of the knack of
giving milk to a baby. Eventually we gave up for a while. He took the baby for a walk
and we went to Lotu. In the afternoon I took the baby into the kitchen out of sight of
her father and managed with a cup and spoon to get about 6 ounces of milk into the
poor frightened little baby. I bathed her and put her to bed in a big basket. When she
settled I sent the father off to find his wife. She started crying again but the girls
helped me by taking turns to carry the baby for walks. We took her to Lotu where she
was very good because they discovered that if they covered her head with a cloth she
didn't know who had her and went to sleep. Later on her mother appeared and the
child was in no doubt of this person's identity as she made up for lost time drinking
happily. We were mightily relieved! The new baby Merle was helping into the world
was born before dark too, so all was quiet in our world again.
60 Children on the School Roll
On Friday afternoons I tried to make workbooks and spelling lists for each class for
the following week as well as apparatus for the children the beginning classes.
Marking the essays of the older children provided the light entertainment. In evening
Lotu the boys were gazing at something in the saksak roof somewhere above us. I
couldn't see what it was but I guessed if might be a snake. I had been reading Agnes
Sandford's book "Healing Light" so in harmony with her, I thought 'I belong to God
and the snake belongs to God so there is nothing but love between me and the snake.'
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Page 23
However I didn't concentrate very well. Afterwards the boys told me it was a very
long centipede, which crawled into the saksak to hide. I hope it comes out at a suitable
time to be caught, not Sunday morning! A centipede can certainly create chaos. They
jump unpredictably and their bite is exceedingly painful. I was very soon able to
distinguish the sound of a centipede walking and also the peculiar munching of
termites eating. We need to know these things.
Merle called me over to the Maternity Ward as she struggled to help a mother from
Morone whose baby was in breach position. Merle, with Esita and myself, worked for
hours doing all we could but finally the baby was stillborn. The poor mother needed
two hot water bottles and extra blankets to get warm when it was all over. The baby
didn't breathe in spite of Merle's best efforts. Such times are very sad but at least the
mother lived through this ordeal.
Visiting Matukori
Kemueli and Aliti went to Matukori and Kakotokori with their children for the Sunday
services. When they were away Naaru asked me again to take his service for him and I
found, as usually happened, that God gave me the message to preach straight away. It
is good to be able to have time to prepare but if there isn't time the thoughts just
tumble out. I enjoy it. I had prayed that there might be someone somewhere who could
take mail down to Kangu for us and in that service there was a stranger who said he
was going that way the next day. God is good.
All the mission boys were invited to Matukori to a big feast to lift the tambu off the
ground of a man who had died long ago. Before the thirty pigs were killed all the
guests with their panpipes had a night of dancing in a circle, to the beat of the slit
gongs. The next day I taught school until 10am, but most of the class was fighting
valiantly to stay awake. After Recess I took the 'slept-last-nights' for singing and we
had a good time. A baby had been born on the road as the mother tried to reach Tonu
in time. Later that night another baby was born and then in the morning Mitakori came
running to tell us that another mother had had her baby by the river. The Maternity
Ward was full and the school roll was also constantly increasing. We had plenty to do.
It was time to build an extension to the maternity ward so as the schoolboys needed to
help with that, I envisioned some extra time to do other things. About 1pm 'George,
the Bomb' from Lancashire and 'Don the Bomb' from Tasmania, arrived on the
doorstep. Merle made lunch for them and they invited themselves back for dinner in
the evening, with their radio, as they were staying at Tonu Village. In the darkness an
audience gathered round outside intrigued with the pidgin session from Port Moresby.
We didn't have a radio and the whole experience was new to those who lived near to
us. The men wanted to play 500 with us but it seemed very complicated to me. The
redeeming feature of the evening was that it taught me to be a little more sociable!
The next day the roof was on the building and part of the floor down; excellent
progress with bush materials and great co-operation. The girls were able to help with
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Page 24
'boning' the saksak leaves so that they could be sewn into strips of thatch by the older
men. It wasn't long before the building was in use. Merle was glad to be able to have
some input into the layout of things inside the building but Kemueli was annoyed at
what ( he felt was her interference. He came from Rotuma in Fiji and when he was
angry he was very frightening.
Kemueli and his family went out to a village on Sunday. Monori failed to arrive to
take our Sunday Lotu but Merle stepped ably into the pulpit. It was Merle's weekend
to cook but as she found she had a patient in labour straight after Lotu, I took over
making dinner. The wood was wet but our trusty bellows puffed the fire into life. The
girls can all direct a steady flow of breath on to a tiny ember but my skill in that art
needs more practice. I don't remember whether the bellows came from army supplies
but I was very grateful for them.
Just as everything was coming to the boil, Father Flannery arrived. He was glad of a
cold drink and was in no hurry to leave so dinner was put on hold. We all need
someone to talk to who can understand what we are saying. After he had gone I took a
snack to Merle who was feeling very hungry. The baby was in trouble with its cord
tightly round its neck but because of Merle's skill the mother was able to rejoice in a
bonny baby daughter, safely delivered. We finally had dinner about three in the
afternoon, but we were glad to be where we were needed.
Later, writing home, I commented that it was time to put everyone to bed. The singing
from the boys' house was a sing-sing chant off key to my ears, and the girls from their
mats were definitely misguided as they sang, "Guide me O Thou great Jehovah". They
couldn't hear each other and in the middle of it all I couldn't think straight. In my spare
moments I had managed to write in 78 Christmas Cards that my mother had designed
and sent out to me. It was October and they were ready to be sent on their way. I was
very rarely up to date with my correspondence but I knew that to have prayer help
from people at home I needed to keep them up 1 to date with what was happening.
Broken Steps
Our back steps fell to bits for which we were truly thankful! I kept my eye on the
making of the new ones, trying to put in a few suggestions without appearing bossy!
Steps are so important to our well-being. Our helpers 1 make their requests of us too.
Recently I received a letter asking me if I had enough mosquitoes for three men! He
meant mosquito nets.
Two new girls, Misinau and Huwereku, came to live with us but Puiri went home
because some boys put mud where the girls sit in the church. The joys of having
teenaged children! Pihani had rubbed his hands, one evening, over work I had put on
the blackboard for the next day's classes. As he couldn't write much at all he had to
suffer me directing his hand while he rewrote, the next day, the work he had spoiled. It
took quite a long time but he, and others, learned a valuable lesson. "
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Page 25
Quarterly Meeting at Kihili
We had been asked to come to Kihili for a Quarterly Meeting as Mr. Metcalfe was
arriving from the Solomons. On Saturday afternoon, when I had given up hope of
seeing the Weapons Carrier arrive and had „ decided that I wasn't going to Kihili,
Ovini arrived on his bike. It was two-thirty in the afternoon but he said the jeep was
waiting at the Sirupai for us and he had come to escort us immediately. What a scurry!
Merle had been up until two in the morning delivering a baby and we had both had a
very busy morning. The boys fixed Merle's bike and by 3.15 we were on our way. The
weather was helpfully cloudy and we peddled that downhill bike ride faster than we
had ever done before. The rivers were reasonable enabling us to reach the Sirupai by
dusk. The jeep lights were not functioning well, making a long weary ride of the next
section but at least we were being carried along to arrive at Kihili after nine. Ada was
surprised to see us but we are learning to live with the unexpected.
Dedicating New Catechists
The next day Mr. Metcalfe led the church services. These included the dedication of
six new catechists: Timothy Toworai, Samson Pataaku, Simon Kirahoni, Jacob
Kukuwe, Solomon Donguhoring, and Henry Moata. These men were each in charge of
a number of Pastor-teachers. On the Monday we had sectional meetings for Kieta,
Uisai, Buin, Siwai and Nagavisi areas ready for the three hour Quarterly Meeting the
following day. We had a memorable Communion Service together on the Wednesday
but in between these happenings there were account books to straighten, minutes to
write and many conversations to enable our points of view to be expressed.
The Journey Home Again On Thursday we set out at 7am in the Weapons Carrier with enough cargo and mail to
last us a long time!
Ovini, Merle and extra passengers
Alas, all went well till our vehicle stopped dead in the middle of the wicked Sirupai, a
very sandy river. We had to unload some of the things and push and heave the vehicle
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until finally it reached the other side. Water had found its way into the petrol causing a
three-hour wait during which time I was able to read my hastily gathered up mail.
Later Merle and I decided we would walk on with Tony and a few things with two
small boys to help us. We were just over the Poro River 1½ hours later when the W.C.
caught up with us again but frustratingly in going through the river the works had
again imbibed some water. After a while we walked on again, reaching the
Government Rest House at Aku about 5.30.
Everyone, including me, helping to carry the cargo across the river
to lighten the load for the vehicle.
By the time the "motor car" arrived on the scene about 7pm Ovini and the boys
decided that the water was getting into the petrol through a crack in the pipe leading to
the tank. The old seersucker dress I was wearing lengthened itself as I waded through
every river so I cut about four inches off the hemline with my nail scissors to provide
a bandage for the pipe. There is a story about a woman who had her petticoats cut to
her knees, who then began to shiver and she began to sneeze, but that wasn't my fate
because the hem was wet anyway and that made less dampness to sleep with.
A number of teachers and other people on the move had decided to make Aku their
resting-place for the night so we gathered them all together for Lotu before we settled
down to sleep. Merle and I had some bread buns and opened a tin of cheese for tea.
Ada always provided us with 'tamari' 'food for the road'. She had also given me three
new pandanus rain mats and a big bag of kapok. Kihili kapok trees were very prolific
and we needed to make some pillows. The rain mats were our welcoming beds and the
pillow was big enough for both of us to rest our heads on part of it. It was a cold night.
A furry creature woke me up by chewing my toenail. It was picnic night for the rats
and the mosquitoes.
At 1a.m. a noisy crowd arrived. Merle thought we were surrounded by marauders but I
soon recognized some voices. The mission boys and Kemueli had heard of our
troubles and had arrived to help us to carry everything home. With a little persuasion
we encouraged them to find a space on the floor to have a sleep until morning. What a
night it was! I kept getting the giggles as I thought about all that was happening.
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Early in the morning our chariot had yet more water removed from the petrol and after
Lotu we set off again. The next problem was to fix a bridge so once again Merle and I
walked on to be picked up later. We left Tony with the truck so were able to enjoy the
pleasant walk through the jungle before the sun got too hot. We employed our time
sharpening our wits with a text battle, i.e. recalling a Bible verse beginning with the
next letter in the alphabet from a to z. Later we were all seated again on the nicely
purring chariot when we bumped over some holes in the road. There was one bump
too many, which bent something important. This time as we walked on we left the
Weapons Carrier far, far behind us. We stopped at the 'House Drink' just over the
Mopiai River because all that we had had through the morning was a handful of water
at the Miwo River. The 'House Drink' was one of many new similar enterprises set up
beside the road at this time. For two shillings each we had a piece of watermelon, a
drink of tea and some fancy-shaped peanut butter sandwiches. This was very
refreshing. A little way further on we met Naaru and some more teachers coming to
help us. It was a great chance for a rest sitting down in the middle of the road and
swapping the latest news.
Is the truck still coming?
On we went again meeting many people in their gardens, which they were now
making close to the road instead of hidden in the bush as in previous times. The sun
got hotter and the patches of shade fewer and further apart. Our legs kept on going but
it was an effort. At Monoitu Roman Catholic Mission Station we called in to see our
friends, the Sisters, there. They gave us a cool drink, then sandwiches and a real cup
of tea. We always had plenty of talk to share with each other and enjoyed calling in on
each other at such walk-about times. When we stood up again we realized that we
were a bit stiff but that vanished as we pushed on towards home, arriving there about
three in the afternoon. Kousa's baby just waited till we arrived to be born which was
fortunate because he had a lot of mucus in his mouth and would probably have died
without Merle's assistance. When everything was straight again for the next baby we
sank gratefully into our own luxurious beds to rest our weary bones. We must have
walked about 20 miles in those two days.
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The truck finally broke down at Harinai and the cargo had to be carried from there.
The next week Ovini sent word for the boys to come to turn the truck around and push
it back over the river so that the government truck could tow it back to Kihili. When I
realized what was happening the boys had already left so I set off with Puiri and Esita
to take the parcel mail to the rendezvous, hurrying all the way and praying that God
would help us to get there in time. They were just pushing the truck through the river
as we arrived so I lent a feeble hand to push it up the other side, Wonderful! It was six
miles to walk home and in between our big journey and this one we had been to
Purikori to take the Sunday Lotu so we were in good shape but we were really glad to
be able to get on with work at Tonu. School for me, but at recess time Merle, called
me to help her in the Maternity ward with a baby that wasn't breathing well.
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CHAPTER 4:
New Church Opened Early in the morning of the 13th of November the boys and girls were all busy
sweeping not only the cleared ground but also the clover lawn so that everything was
looking in top condition. The boys covered the floor (ground) in the church with sand.
The girls polished the big brass cartridges and put branches of yellow cassia flowers
into them. The boys added croton leaves and coconut fronds to the display. The two
doorways were closed with coconut fronds. Blue and white monkey faces and other
flowers were threaded on bush vines and looped across the inside of the building, the
whole effect bringing the bush into the building to proclaim the glory of God. Food
was being cooked and in the evening the choir pieces were practised yet again. Two
people gave us pieces of pork and Naaru gave us a rooster as well.
Kemueli, Merle and students getting ready for the feast to open the church, 1954
The next morning Naaru sent a message to say that when the food was ready the bell
would be rung for church. Some time after eleven the procession of men, women,
babies, pots and baskets began to arrive. Children were everywhere and the
excitement was intense. After a hymn and a prayer outside the Rev. Kemueli declared
the church open and removed the barriers from the two doorways. In his sermon
Kemueli spoke about church buildings but then reminded them that each worshipper is
a temple of the Living God. It was a real thrill to have this special place for morning
and evening Lotu and for Sunday Lotus right in the midst of our houses. It was good
to realize as well that the school building was now free to be set up as a school all the
time.
Afterwards, as the sun shone brightly, coconut fronds were set out on t the clover
lawns, and then covered with big green leaves with purple undersides, to receive the
food. What a feast! Sweet potatoes cooked in different ways, yams, fish, pork roasted
in leaves, tapioca puddings in oblong leaf parcels and some in balls cooked in coconut
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cream and saucepans of greens in coconut cream and lots more delicacies were set out
on the "table". Everybody was very happy and certainly no one could have remained
hungry. Evening Lotu was another very happy time and I prayed that that building
might become a special meeting place with God for everyone.
Happy Girls After evening Lotu on the day of the church opening Nino's stepfather came to see us
to take Nino away. Her birth family lived on Manus Island but her mother had married
this Siwai man when he had worked there on a plantation. Manus people have really
pale skins and Nino was regarded as extra special in this land of dark-skinned people.
When an older man offered a good bride price to her stepfather it looked as if her
mission days were over but she was allowed to remain with us overnight while we
talked and prayed about it. The prospective husband already had a wife and children
and Nino had no wish to belong to him. She made her wishes clear and if they had
insisted that she marry the man, a Government Officer on his next visit to the area
would have held a court to set her free. She was allowed to stay and remained as a
schoolgirl and later a nurse trainee. The other girls were very happy to have her with
them.
Nino minding Ropiai
A few afternoons later, after a heavy rainstorm, I went to call the girls to sewing class
and found them at the elbow of the river in the muddy water feeling under the bank for
prawns. This is one of their favourite pastimes! Two girls feel under the bank while a
third one stands behind them with a big round net to catch the frightened backwards-
swimming creatures. They had gathered quite a catch so they gave us some and a little
fish as well for our tea. Some of the prawns were as big as my finger and others as big
as my hand but they all had fearsome nippers. On the next gardening afternoon I
helped them to plant the steep banks down to the river near our houses in rows of
pineapples. It is easy to get many side shoots off growing pineapple plants so
multiplication is a joy. They are very prickly though and need to be handled with care,
unless they are the big queen pineapples, which don't have thorns.
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Maiha
When I was at Tonu in 1952 Maiha was a young married man who did not come to
school but was very helpful. After a few months of married life his wife died of
cerebral malaria. He was very upset and wrote me a letter asking me to pray for him.
Shortly after that he went away to work on a plantation but I kept on praying for him.
When I returned in 1954 he was not with the other mission boys because Kemueli had
sent him away for being part of some grumbling campaign. I was sorry but a little later
he developed a dreadful cold and came to stay on the station with his relation Kuheu,
who taught the primers. Maiha wanted to be near the outpatients that Merle ran from
our doorstep before the hospital was built. I looked for the courage and an opportunity
to talk to him. My chance came a few days later, after which Maiha went to Kemueli
to ask permission to return to school. That evening he came to me to say that Kemueli
said he could come back if I would let him. I spoke about the need for obedience and
helpfulness and asked him if he had asked Jesus to forgive him. We spoke about
becoming a new person in Jesus. His reply was that he really wanted to follow Jesus,
knowing that Jesus was able to help him on this hard road. He came back to school,
working very diligently and trying to catch up in study to make up for lost time. He
became a good example to the younger students and a big help in the smooth running
of mission life.
As time went on I asked him if he would be prepared to go to Banga to train as a
pastor-teacher. He was pleased to be asked as he had been thinking about it himself. I
was very happy indeed but kept praying that he would keep on following Jesus. Many
people make a good beginning but some give up before they reach the goal. God is so
good. He does hear our prayers and can keep those we have placed in his care.
The others in that senior class were due for a change the following year too. Moimoru,
from Uisai, and Maiha went to Banga and Simon and Misiu went to Teop High
School. Misiu went on to become a doctor in Port Moresby and Simon worked as a
Government Agricultural worker before training later as a minister.
Exams for Everyone
I began with Class One pupils who were all very keen. When I had heard everybody
read except the little mute girl, Ruha, she heard her name mentioned and hurried to my
side, trying very conscientiously to make some sounds. While she watched my lips she
got a better idea of what to do and I resolved to spend more time with her in the future
to help her to speak and read. She was a good listener. The next day I heard each of
the children in the upper classes read and gave them some written tests in spelling and
their beloved Arithmetic. The lower classes had to do their exams on their slates so I
had to mark their work quickly. The older ones with pencils were able to use paper,
which I could mark at home. We have to use English numbers for maths because the
Siwai people have about thirty-five different ways of counting, with different
numerals for different types of things.
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English and printing exams were reasonably done but Class 2's health answers showed
a great lack of knowledge. One bright one thought we should drink good water so that
we can have plenty of spit. (I was hoping to confirm the idea that good clean water
kept us from getting sick.) Spitting is a real problem in this T.B.-ridden place so I
didn't want more of that. Other exams were in comprehension, Scripture, General
Knowledge and Social Studies. Moimoru and Misiu were far ahead of the others in
answering the questions, but Kungma, Tutou, Kombarako and Sema did well too.
For a break from exam fever I taught them all "Unto us a boy is born" from the Oxford
book of carols. It was quite hard for them to learn it all in English but they were very
keen to master it for the Christmas service. Tono, who is not a great scholar, helped
Merle to make some desiccated coconut to give variety to our baking.
One afternoon the kitchen girls made a sudden dash to the end of the veranda. I saw a
whole string of people going past our house along the road with one man in front
swinging a stick but the girls recognized that he was the witch doctor trying to divine
who was the cause of a baby's I recent death. (The baby almost certainly died of
natural causes.) His aim was to put a curse on the culprit at the request of the relations
of the baby. They paid him for this service. Fortunately they didn't feel we were to
blame. They made no attempt to hide what they were doing.
About this time we had some tremendous rainstorms and loud bursts of thunder and
lightning. I was chewing a crust at lunchtime when a great flash of lightning and
immediate thunderclap on the roof startled me so much that I almost put my jaw out!
Merle was hiking back from Musiraka through it all and made sure to keep her hands
on the rubber handle grips. It seems as if the lightning seeks out metal things, the iron
roof over our kitchen being a prime target.
The Importance of Pigs
I was washing my hair after lunch on Saturday when I heard people on our steps
discussing where I was.
Esita doing the maternity ward washing.
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"She is washing", they said as they heard me tipping out my basin of water. With that
they settled down to wait so I decided to rinse my hair before I appeared looking like a
wet hen.
When I asked what they wanted an old lady told me that she was Rumau’s mother and
needed me to know that it would be difficult for them to bring firewood and potato for
her to our hospital. Rumau was with us waiting to give birth to her first baby. Her
parents were Catholics from Hari village but her husband's parents were Methodists
from Panakei. I assured them that it would be hardfor their daughter to walk to
Monoitu at that time and that we would look after her carefully. The thought struck
me that perhaps the trouble was that her mother wanted to stay and be with her for the
baby's birth. Her husband answered my query quickly. "Oh no," he said, "She has a
little pig." The look on my face made him add, "She feeds it every night and every
morning." Even in spite of my tremendous efforts I fear that more than my inside
smiled. They went off happily in the end and Rumau, who wanted to be a Methodist,
stayed with us.
An Overflowing Congregation
The next day, just as we were waiting for Naaru to signal that it was time for Class
Meeting to begin, people arrived from Panakei with a patient in labour. Poor Merle
was looking forward to Lotu but the pretty pink dress had to be set aside as the white
uniform took its place. People swarmed round the house. Almost every woman was
holding a baby or a young child. Naaru took a long time to come but when he
appeared at the bend in the road there was a sudden surge towards the church. To ring
the bell seemed unnecessary but I rang it for those having a little siesta, who had not
noticed the migration. With Naaru inside and me outside we tried to sandwich more
and more, and still more people into the church, About 60 children were seated on the
platform and every inch of log seating was sat upon. Babies and small children were
nursed of course so that you might say that most of the seats in the middle and on the
right hand side (the women's side) were doubly sat on. A few babies screamed lustily
at this overcrowding so they and their mothers went out and formed the curtains on the
outsides of the window spaces. A log was placed on the ground outside the men's wall
and a rowful of men, the length of the church, sat there. We saw them during the
hymns when we all stood up and when some of them stood to speak of God's
goodness to them, at testimony time. It was a good service with a great sense that we
all belonged together to something big and important, the Family of God, the Church.
Naaru preached about the "No room in the Inn" problem, reminding us to let Jesus into
our hearts, while not allowing Satan to steal Jesus' place in our lives.
In the week that followed the students who had been away at Banga in the Solomons
returned home. Most of the Tonu children went miles down the road with Mutona and
Kuheu to meet the travellers and to help them carry their children and their cargo
home. It was a very wet time so banana leaves enveloped them as they trudged past
our house on the last part of their journey. The next day when the sun shone they came
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to shake hands and show us the children in their families. The men and their new
wives had left us as students but they returned as young leaders ready to take their
place in the work and to bring up their little children in a way that honoured Jesus. I
was thrilled to see the difference in Haupe and his wife Puutei. Haupe was a very quiet
boy when he left with his new bride three years before, but it was a fine, broad-
shouldered man who came up our front steps to shake hands with me. He looked every
inch a teacher, not at all like the ineffectual young man I had found at a teaching
practice session at Koau sitting reading his New Testament with his back to his noisy
class. Those days were over. It has made me very happy to see the results of years of
persevering training. Many missionaries have worked together and in different places
to bring about changes that have made a huge difference by the grace of God.
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CHAPTER 5:
School holidays
School came to an end for the year and I needed to gather up the reading books and
the slates. I spent part of the afternoon gluing the wooden frames of slates where
necessary. Two girls at a time were going to stay with us for the holidays to help us.
Puiri and Nino stayed first. The lantern, when it fell off the pulpit at evening Lotu, was
broken beyond redemption. Keeping the lamps in good repair was a frequent and
important task.
As Christmas Day was getting nearer the Catholics were carrying a statue of Mary
round all the roads in Siwai. This was quite a procession with banners as well. The
leader chanted "Hail Maria, Mother of God blessed are you among women. Blessed is
the fruit of thy womb." The people answered, "Maria, Mother of God, pray for us." To
cover all the roads in Siwai took many days but they were enthusiastically welcomed
by the faithful. When we heard them coming near to our place I made a dash to
change my torn dress and Merle hunted for her shoes in case Father Flannery should
be amongst them and wanting to pay a social call. Our house was only about five
paces from the road. An old friend from the R.C. village near us brought me two
pineapples and a bunch of bananas to tell me all about the procession. Some in the
procession sought out the Catholic maternity patients and called them to kneel on the
clover at the edge of the road. The inquisitive Methodists stood a little further back.
Afterwards the girls wanted to know if it was really true that Mary had come back to
earth from heaven. Apparently it had been said that the statue came from heaven to the
place where it was found and had only recently been brought to Monoitu. Some
people were taken to 'court' for saying the statue was an idol. The girls wanted to
know if my doll was a Maria too. I had some explaining to do!
Christmas 1955. Mothers and children coming into Tonu.
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As many people were coming to enjoy Christmas with us Kemueli, Mutona and
Kuheu took the mission boys into the bush for about four days to find opossums for
the feast. I spent my time finding all the little things I could to wrap up as presents for
those around us on the great day. I dressed a number of peg dolls and found some
extra needles and cottons, some marbles and a ball. We used to buy a big tin of boiled
lollies to use for trade and for extra presents. Merle made fudge and coconut ice. I
cooked some extra trays of biscuits.
In the lead up to Christmas we were given a smoked opossum to keep for the great day
but after it had been in our safe for half an hour we decided we could bear it no longer
and gave it to the girls complete with eyes and claws. They were thrilled and now
have its jawbone hanging in their house so that later they can thread its teeth up as a
necklace. A string of possum teeth is a highly prized possession.
A big flood swept down the Tuning River beside us. These floods come as a wall of
water, sometimes very suddenly. This one swept Puiri, Naaru's wife, off her feet so
that she lost her basket of potato, her sweet corn and her water bottle. Fortunately she
didn't have little Dasake with her. After a while her bruises healed, but it taught us all
to be very careful about crossing rivers. Sometimes floods come down when the sky is
blue and everything looks calm. A cloudburst further inland would make the
difference.
Chosen as Youth Representative
About this time I heard that I had been chosen to be the Youth Representative for the
Methodist Church in New Zealand. That meant that I was the Overseas Sister that they
were to correspond with and pray for. The Youth part included Sunday Schools and I
really enjoyed all the interaction as a result of this. I received many parcels from
Sunday Schools containing all sorts of treasures that the Siwai children were able to
enjoy. Some classes made scrapbooks, which were thoroughly looked at and discussed
in great detail. It was a great privilege to have this extra help and over the years many
people have told me that, because of the contact, they had a lasting interest in mission
work.
Christmas Eve
We were really thrilled to have Sister Ada to stay with us for this special time.
Christmas Eve became a busy day, as Mitakori didn't stay to get her sulpha medicine
properly. Ada came with me to look for her, going first to her parents' house in their
garden. Having led us through the bush on what seemed a long journey though he said
the house wasn't far away. On the way there he pointed out the coconut palm that
marks the spot where Kauma had his drum house in the days when David Pausu first
came to Tonu. We finally came to a clearing where lovely banana palms, peanuts,
pineapples, pumpkins yams and other good things surrounded a house, which had an
earthen floor and looked like an outback shepherd's hut. Domi, being deaf, didn't
know we had come until he looked up and saw us standing beside him. He was grating
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tapioca root for the feast. Sara, Mitakori's mother, appeared from inside and said that
her daughter was asleep in their Tonu village house. We set off the other way, down to
the Kutana Stream, round the pig fences and the mission boundary ditch to the village
where we were able to give her, her medicine.
Choirs Singing Through the Night
Halfway through the afternoon some helpers brought us a suitable branch that became
our Christmas tree. We had plenty of people helping us to make it look very pretty. By
9 p.m. the Tonu Women's Choir aided by their small girls and boys enchanted us with
their singing. I was glad to go to bed after that but on the dot of midnight the
Tokunutu choir sang "Glory to God" very well. I got up to give them lollies and then
the procession started as choirs from different villages gathered round our front steps
to sing the good news to us before going to the other houses here and in Tonu Line.
Merle was in the Maternity Ward bringing Rumau's baby into the world. At 1.30 she
called me to help her with a problem that needed another pair of hands. Eventually all
was finished there and we came back to snooze in between choirs. After a little while I
decided to sleep on the sofa in the living room in my dressing gown, so that I was near
to the front steps as the next choir began to sing. For most of the choirs a small boy
had been chosen to hold the lamp high so that the older people could read the words in
their hymnbooks. These children were very tired by daylight! Choirs had come all the
way from distant villages such as Mokorino and Maisua through the night. This
annual carol singing was a real highlight of Christmas for us all.
In the morning we had breakfast early followed by Lotu before we sisters had our
parcel opening time. We had saved recent parcels to be opened on the day. What a
surprise when we found that Ada had carefully carried up, on the handlebars of her
bike, a precious Pyrex dish for us! Our gift to her was a Pyrex dish we had especially
ordered from Sydney for this occasion! All the way up here Ada had been consoling
herself that at least she wouldn't have the breakable dish to manage on the way home.
We had a great laugh and as both dishes were very much needed in our respective
kitchens we enjoyed the joke again each time we used them. My parcel from home
had something from each one in my family bringing waves of love with each
discovery.
Kemueli took the big Lotu outside under the big African Palm Nut trees that Mr.
Voyce had planted before the war. It was all very pleasant and Kemueli preached
about "glory" "peace" and "goodwill". The feast took place in the afternoon, followed
by the Christmas tree but by that time many of the people had already left on their way
home. It rained most afternoons and if the rivers came up a slow-get-away might mean
waiting by a river for the flood to go down. Rain did come and games were
abandoned, then while most people retreated for a sleep, we from overseas had
Christmas cake afternoon tea.
In the days that followed Ada and I sorted out the schools supplies that should come to
Tonu. One night of this brief holiday we played three kinds of dominoes! Another day
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I cut Ada's hair very short and gave her a perm. The result was soft and pretty because
the neutralizer wasn't very good but though it probably wasn't long lasting, the general
effect was pleasing. Ada's hair was very fine and curls helped it to be less hot against
her head. That day a pretty little brown-eyed teaching Sister from Sovele came in for a
drink of water on her way to Monoitu. Our contacts with the Catholic Sisters were
always valued and as our house was so close to the road they felt able to call in
whenever they were walking by. She had been walking for many hours and still had
about another hour of trudging along, before she reached the Sisters' House at
Monoitu. In the early days they were not supposed to have a meal with us but that
changed later by Papal Decree and we made up for lost time.
The sick baby Merle was caring for died about 9.30 in the evening. Such an event is
always heart-rending.
The next night there was a big singsing in the rain at Tonui and one man was cut very
badly when his knife slipped out of his hand. They carried him in to us and Merle had
to sew him up. The cut was deep and about a span long. Ada gave the anaesthetic and
I helped Merle with the forceps. First she had to find the two pieces of the tendon to
sew them together again. Next she sewed layers of tissue with blanket stitches Finally
she put 17 stitches in the outside skin. It took over an hour and a half but the man
recovered well without too much pain.
On New Year's Eve I managed to take the midnight service without yawning! A good
crowd came in to say thanks to God for the old year and to ask His blessing on the
new one. January 2nd was a Sunday and Class Meeting so once again crowds of
people came and the service was a long one, as many people wanted to speak. We
were feeling very tired.
Two young men had been seeking to win Nine's hand in marriage. It took much
delicate handling, many prayers and earnest inquiries (as I had been asked to help in
the process) but in the end the 'village court' decided in favour of the suitor whose
father offered the highest bride price. The girls in our house were upset and in Lotu
Nino looked as if she had cried all night. In the end she was allowed to come back to
school and to stay with us until she was married a long time later.
On Monday morning early Ada and some helpers left for Kihili, fortunately arriving at
the Sirupai at the same time as the jeep that had come to meet them. To our great joy
the helpers were able to return with our mail. The
Ladies Guild at Richmond had sent me "Don Camillo's Dilemma' a book which
looked as if it could be funny. How much we enjoyed a little light relief from time to
time. Medicines arrived for Merle too and the next day two carpenters helped Hasing
to make some shelves in the outpatients building to house all the medicines.
My days were filled with preparation of number and reading charts for school. I wrote
these on large pieces of brown paper and nailed them on to sticks with strings to hang
them by. This took a long time but it was fun in between times to visit the and help
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Merle with the labelling of the new medicines in neat rows on the shelves. When
Merle dressed the leg wound of the Tonui man she was very pleased with its progress.
Back at the house we found that our really helpful Tono who was working on our
ironing had just received a message from her husband. He had obtained a job with
Aisa, with a place to live near Kihili and wanted her to come. She talked it over and
while we were very sad to see her go we hoped she would be very happy there.
Not having to take school or see to the needs of many boys and girls for the holidays I
was able to enjoy reading "A man called Peter" by Catherine Marshall. How precious
it is to be able to enjoy real fellowship with people of like mind through books. Later
my mother sent me "Mr. Jones meet the Master" a book of Peter Marshall's sermons
which inspired me tremendously in sermon making.
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CHAPTER 6:
New Things to Do in 1955
By mid January it was time to say good-bye to students who were to go on to Kihili,
as it was not allowed for our students to go straight from Tonu to other training places.
Kauma, Maiha, Misiu, Simon, Moimoru, Solomon, Haupe and Tahing all set off with
their mats and the rest of their things. I had spent time praying with most of them
separately during the holidays to help them in the choices they had to make and for me
it was quite a hard parting. Most of their fond mothers, fathers, aunts and cousins
shook hands with them outside our house but Naaru and Mutona and a few others
walked on with them. We had been invited to a farewell feast for them at the village
the night before when six pigs had been killed. The women ate with us in Naaru's
house and the men and boys in his meetinghouse. It was a great time of fellowship and
the whole village seemed to be concentrating on good times in the future when these
young people would return as leaders. It was especially hard for Naaru to say good-
bye to Misiu his promising young son of whom he was very fond. Naaru was often
sick and I don't think they saw one another very often after that. Misiu went on to Port
Moresby and became a doctor.
Merle's doctor boy helper went home for his holiday proudly wearing Mr. Shaw's old
sandshoes. Neewai, who worked for Mr. Shaw, had given them to him in a burst of
generosity. While it rained that morning our girl helpers Puiri, Alice, Esita and
Tungori painstakingly took the black seeds out of the ripe kapok pods. It doesn't do to
leave seeds inside kapok pillows because the rats are quickly drawn to them. The next
day was sunny so the new kapok could be spread on mats in the sun and fluffed up.
Baby Miruho
The next day was fine too (12th Jan.) and Pikai from Rataiku arrived with her baby
daughter Miruho. She was over a year old and weighed only 8lb.9 oz, so her poor little
body was just skin and bone.
Miruha as she arrived to be with us.
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Merle took the baby into our house and had to send the mother home for a while so
that we could train the baby to eat and drink, to help her to grow. Miruho cried and
slept and cried again but eventually began to respond milk and food. She wasn't used
to being put down to sleep by herself and cried every time we came near to her but
slowly she learned to smile and to understand the routine of her new life. She had two
teeth and learned to sit up a bit. I laughed when I saw a hen looking at her curiously.
Miruho was lying in the shade, on the clover outside, when the hen came near,
stretched her neck, twisted her head so that her eye could get a better view and then
walked away apparently having decided that the 'thing' was human.
On the 17th
Jan a good number of Siwai teachers and Lotu people came to begin
building the hospital ward. The Nagavisi ones came in at sunset after walking all day.
A number of new mission boys came in to take their places in the boys' house and the
next day three new mission girls arrived, Moroi, Kangiri and Huwereku. The whole
place was a hive of industry as posts and saksak (sago leaf thatch) and kanda (bush
vines) were carried in from the bush for the new building.
A Visit from Gordon Cornwell
Midweek Gordon Cornwall pulled up in the Kihili vehicle at sunset on their 14th stop.
They had had petrol blockages all the way and I was amused to see that my skirt hem
was still on duty.
Rev. Gordon Cornwell
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With him he had another little baby for us. Doris was from Uisai and about 7months
old. Her mother had died of T.B. and this pretty little child was not well. She joined
Miruho in the babies' room. Miruho had put on over 1lb since she arrived, so we were
encouraged. Gordon came to help us get some limbon (palm bark) from quite a
distance away for the new building. It wasn't easy but Gordon was a resourceful New
Zealander. He mended the lamp, made cupboards, and fixed a tap on a pipe in the
bathroom so that the tank tap is not the only one. He did many other odd jobs as well
to make life easier for us. It was really funny to see one of the girls trying to get water
out of the hole in the tap into the kettle. She had to learn to take the lid off the kettle
and to turn the handle on the tap as well. She also had to learn to turn it off again.
Merle was up the entire night bringing Muku's baby into the world but her other
patient was proving to be a very difficult one. In the morning Gordon set off with
Merle and the patient thinking they might have to try to get to Kangu to the doctor, but
on the way they called in at Monoitu and the Catholic Sisters agreed to take over the
patient. That was a huge help for us but we learned later that the little baby was
stillborn.
Gordon took Quarterly Meeting on Saturday then both services for us on Sunday so
we were really blessed. Tukan, Siron and Tanevi had come with him from Buka and
Kemueli and Aliti invited us all over to their house for a beautifully cooked meal on
the Sunday. Things were going well, as we were all able to work and pray together
and the teachers were willing to go to the appointments that had been worked out for
them. Unity does make the work flourish smoothly. It would be wonderful if it were
always like that.
On Monday morning Gordon left with a great contingent hoping for a ride. He had
great trouble keeping the number of passengers manageable! At Musiraka he took the
marriage service for Emily and Pauru. I had sent a ring to Emily as she requested and
later Pauru brought us a piece of pork. (On furlough I had managed to buy a number
of wedding rings at Woolworth's for these occasions.) They were then on their way to
Goldie College in the Solomons. (Sadly before the end of their three years' training
Pauru cut his toe on coral while playing football and died within the week of tetanus.)
Catechism Questions
I decided to take one catechism question for a week at the beginning of school each
day. They need to know what we believe and what it means. The Ten Commandments
and Jesus' Commandments and the points in the Sermon on the Mount need to be
taught as well as Bible stories. We have plenty of opportunities to cover it all because
we have Lotu night and morning as well as School assembly, and Bible Lessons in
school classes. Outside of school we have Sunday School and Bible Class and I am
really stressing that each student needs to read something from the Bible or the
hymnbook for him/herself each day. They love singing through the hymnbook in their
free time, especially at night. It is good that so many hymns have been based on Bible
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verses, especially those written by John and Charles Wesley. The children really
enjoyed the catechism questions and answers at the beginning of each school session.
Paul Mason, Coast Watcher during the War
On a Saturday early in the year Mr. Paul Mason, a fine quiet man and a very special
Coast Watcher during the war, came in to see us. He was a very interesting visitor
who now managed Inus Plantation and was looking for labourers to work for him.
Merle knew him because she used to live at Kekesu near Inus. Mr.and Mrs.Mason
have two young children, Ingrid and Paul. During the war he had had to keep moving
through the bush secretly, all over Bougainville, receiving and sending messages on
his wireless transmitter about the movements of the Japanese planes and ground
soldiers. He lived on sugar cane and taro but had to be careful not leave tell-tale bits of
sugar cane skin etc. beside the paths, that might lead to his capture by the Japanese,
who were very conscious of his presence. The messages Paul Mason sent were very
important, especially in the last days of the war when Yama Moto's plane was shot
down over South Bougainville, not far from where I later lived. All the people of
Bougainville loved him and he was very kind and fair in his dealings with them.
By this time I had over seventy children on the school roll so the classroom was very
full. I found it hard to find a place to put my feet as I moved from group to group!
They all sat on the palm bark floor. A new qirl Kira, came to us from Harinai. She was
later to become my special cook and like a daughter to me. Both her parents had died.
I divided the children into six classes. At first Mutona and I looked after them until
Taima and Kouro were able to join the staff.
Women's Sewing Classes
Once a fortnight we began a sewing class attended by between 40 and 50 women plus
their babies and small children.
Aliti with the mission girls.
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In the morning Merle had a great time weighing and looking at the babies and pre-
school children and in the afternoon she gave a talk to the mothers about preparing
fruit or other solids for babies to have daily. I did a Bible Story as well as working
with Merle to help the women to sew, threading needles and getting seams started off.
A few could sew because pre-war Sister Ada had taught them hand sewing. They were
able to get along with making little garments more quickly. After the class it always
took a long time for us to get each piece of work ready for the beginning of the next
class with a threaded needle in position. The women were very keen and their babies
usually slept in their laplap slings on their backs but the ex-babies took a very dim
view of their mothers' preoccupation with a needle and a piece of cloth. The sound of
frustrations and effort made sewing days memorably tiring.
On the day of the first sewing class the girls worked very hard in the garden without
any supervision. I had said they could finish at 5pm but they kept on clearing bush,
heaping rubbish, chopping wood, digging heaps and planting sweet potato until
darkness came. They were very keen, after the holidays, to have a good food garden.
This was all a great help to me. Usually I had to visit them several times through the
afternoon to help them because the boys troubled them a bit. The girls had sharp
tongues too, and that could cause trouble but learning to live in harmony is a big long
lesson. The boys didn't like the girls coming to school and anyway their gardening
usually put the boys to shame. Boys love cutting down trees and opening up new areas
but most of them do not like planting and weeding. Fortunately the boys did well
when it came to building houses.
Sunday School
I began to take Sunday School on Sunday afternoons for all but the oldest school
children but I noticed that the older ones came too and tried to look as if I wouldn't
recognize them as belonging to classes 5 and 6! I tried to do it mostly in Siwai and
they were patient and attentive. I began with them in the church singing and praying
and then had them march over to the classroom singing, "Jesus loves me," in Siwai.
They marched in two lines, boys in one and girls in the other going through their
appropriate doorways. They thought the singing and walking was funny but I told
them that New Zealand children did that in the Cathedral and that made them feel very
important. They loved the story with the flannel-graph and colouring the pictures I had
prepared for them. Afterwards we sang choruses and that is something they always
love. As the older pupils had shown a keenness to join in I decided to get them to help
with the younger ones each week. I hoped the children understood my imperfect
Siwai. They corrected me when they could and I found that by trying to speak their
language I was getting better at doing it.
Shakespeare
I am reminded of an incident that happened in Siwai before the war. One day some
Government Officers were trudging along a bush track when they met a local man. He
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offered them a green coconut to drink. This was a very welcome gesture and they
asked him what he wanted in exchange for it. The man, who was a pastor teacher from
the Solomons, said "Nothing. It is for love!" The Officers were astounded and asked
his name. "Shakespeare," he said, to their further surprise! Gideon Shakespeare really
understood what following Jesus was all about and his time of pastoring in the Rataiku
area of Siwai was much appreciated.
Later in the wartime, many New Zealand, Australian and American soldiers had good
reason to be grateful that the living good news of Jesus Christ had made a vital
difference to the lives of these people.
Life went on busily with the usual tensions between the boys and girls, the abundance
of rain, many babies being born and increasing numbers of people attending school
and sewing classes. Another little baby joined Miruho and Doris in the babies' room.
Ropiai's mother was very ill in hospital and as his father taught school in his village, at
6 months old Ropiai joined our family. Tawang, one child we had cared for, for
several years, came to see me one day with Moki and the village men who arrived to
help with the buildings. We were very glad to see each other again and I was glad to
see that the men were friendly to him. His parents hadn't wanted him at birth.
A Pet Hornbill
There was great excitement when Pihani's father brought a tame hornbill to Kemueli
as a present for young Varia. This hornbill was bigger than most of our hens and was
very keen on every kind of fruit. He would fly over to our place and help himself to
any bunches of green bananas that were hanging from the rafters there. He frightened
our little children and tried to eat their food as they sat on the veranda with their plates
beside them. This handsome bird had a very large yellow beak and glossy black
feathers. His long black eyelashes were quite spectacular but as you can understand he
was not at all welcome. When the sound of his wings heralded his approach we rushed
to shoo him away, but he was not easily persuaded to leave. The cat tried to get rid of
this intruder but was really frightened by its beak. Hornbills can be taught to mimic
sounds and are interesting pets but very dirty and persistent. I don't remember what
happened to him in the end, but he had to be removed.
The hornbill wasn't our only distraction. At lunchtime one day a wild long-long man
visited us from Matukori. He was wielding a big stick and when these turns came
upon him he spent his time beating people up. It took Uming, Mutona and Kemueli
some time to grab his stick so that Merle could give him a calming injection.
Eventually they were able to return him to his village. Almost immediately afterwards
a long line of people went past our house with sticks in their hands. It turned out that
they were from Nagavisi being sent to Kangu Hospital by the Kiap who was
on patrol in their area. They would have walked for several days on this trek to
hospital, definitely needing the support of those sticks.
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The boys spent a week building their new house and finally got the roof in place on
the Friday.
Many helpers fastening the thatch strips to the rafters.
School boy Maika sewing thatch.
Catechist Philip Mutona sewing a strip of sago leaf thatch.
The girls were busy on their garden at this time and managed to kill four snakes and
twenty-five centipedes in the process. A centipede bit Rummo when she was picking
up rubbish for the fire. The girls had big rubbish fires to deal with the thick secondary
growth they had cut back but thunderstorms and heavy rain meant that we had no need
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to fear forest fires, even though it sometimes looked frightening to me. One day, when
I was working with the girls, I threw a three-foot snake we had just killed on their
bonfire. The girls gasped and protested. They were very upset with me. They were
sure that as a result my teeth would fall out. Shortly afterwards I found that the next
commotion was because they had found a small bomb, or maybe a hand grenade.
Rumau helped me and we cleared the ground very carefully round it so that the
bonfires couldn't reach it. We covered it with two weedy pineapple shoots to mark its
position so that we could show the bomb disposals people later where it was.
In my letter home at this time I expressed great comfort in knowing that my parents
and the church family at home were praying for me. With so many girls to look after
and scores of children to teach in school I just knew that I couldn't manage in my own
strength. The girls had to be looked after 24 hours of every day and they seemed to be
perennially at the giggly stage. From waking them up in the morning until I finally got
them to sleep at night I had to know where each one of them was. Outside school
hours they had different duties such as caring for the orphan babies, washing their
clothes in the river, sweeping inside or outside our houses, weeding the clover lawns,
collecting drinking water, cooking their food etc. etc. At night I had to be more or less
conscious of their sleeping or waking, though I found that they gave up prawn hunting
in the moonlight after I threatened to lock their door from the outside. Fortunately the
village people did not hold me responsible for what the boys did at night. They rarely
went to bed when the sleeping bell was rung.
Miruho and her sister Kira Mata
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When Kemueli had the boys each day for a week to work on building their house I
was able to help the airls and villaqe children more specifically with their schoolwork.
Usually the girls didn't answer well when the boys were there and a lot of them were
in Primer 1 or 2 when age-wise they should have been in class 5 or 6.
Ropiai was a very good baby, content to drink his bottle by himself when it was
propped up for him. Miruho grew fatter and happier daily but she hated sleeping by
herself and let us know through the night. Doris was good-natured but often unwell.
An Unfortunate Incident
One of the doctor boys became sexually involved with a patient. He came straight
away to tell me about it and though he was very sorry he was not allowed to remain at
hospital. This particular woman had got others into trouble and had been troubling this
helper for days. She was married but her husband was working in Rabaul and
probably hadn't been home for months if not years. This sort of situation of long
absences from home was quite common because there were very few opportunities to
earn any money in Siwai and it led to some very sad incidents. H had been trying to
find a wife for ages but the one his relations wanted him to marry was a Roman
Catholic girl and he wanted to remain a Methodist. After we had talked together H
wanted me to pray for him but I told him that God would hear his prayer too if he was
sincerely sorry. He pleaded with God, reminding Him that Jesus had come into the
world to save those who were sinners not those who were righteous. God heard his
prayer and his life changed but he still had to face the fact that his work at the hospital
was finished. Unfortunately for Merle, Quarterly Meeting decided that, as she had
three others helping her, no replacement was necessary.
Merle is Always Busy
Merle had plenty to do in the hospital across the river and in the maternity ward that
was built near our house as well as supervising our little babies. One day when Merle
was coming home to dinner she was presented with a small boy, Sosana, who had cut
his head open on a rock in the swimming hole in the river. She sent someone over to
me for the pressure lamp so that I would know what was happening. We had Lotu
without waiting for her and when she finally arrived back I discovered that she had
had to suture the wound with five stitches across his forehead. He was a cheerful little
mission boy in Primer 2. About this time Merle was up most of the night delivering
two babies so the following night she went to bed early to make up for lost sleep. I
didn't wake her when an urgent call came from hospital but went over myself to see if
I could cope with the emergency. Two 10-year-old boys vowed they had run into each
other in the dark. One had his eyelid slit almost from side to side and the other had a
gash in his forehead. Merle had to get up to put three stitches in each of them. Next
morning at school I was handed a note from Merle asking me to send a Doctor Boy
over to help her with yet another sewing up case. A little girl had fallen and cut her lip
through. A few days later we received a little baby whose mother had died in the
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village after giving birth to her. She was a very pretty baby but weighed only 4lb.1oz.
Soon after arrival she had a hemorrhage and was dying. We had to bury her later that
afternoon. The next night Ariku's wife gave birth to a tiny premature baby who lived
for only a few hours. Sadly we had two babies die in our house in two days but
Ropiai, Miruho and Doris continued to bring us real joy.
A Wonderful Parcel
My mother sent me a wonderful parcel for my birthday. It included a puppet. All the
children loved the puppet with her amazing features including beads and laplap. One
girl exclaimed, "Ana irima teuitana!" (She has been chewing betel nut.) What other
explanation could there be for red lips! The girls were not allowed to chew betel nut at
our place and the boys were discouraged from doing so. Here their lips are black
tinged with pink inside so some explanations were needed. Parcels from home and
from Richmond and Shirley Churches brought us all a great deal of pleasure as well as
help. My desk was heaped high with things I needed to say thank you for, because I
didn't put them away until those letters had been sent. Other things on the desk
included books that people wanted me to mend and charts for school waiting to be
finished.
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CHAPTER 7:
A Cremation Ceremony
About this time I was able to borrow a book from the District Office in Buin, called
"Studies in the Anthropology of Bougainville, Solomon Islands" by Douglas L.Oliver,
published in 1949. I found it very interesting because it was mostly about Siwai and
helped me to fit together little bits of information that I had found out.
One Monday Kehu's son, Rehungung, was carried to hospital because he was very
sick. (Scrub Typhus, I think from Rabaul). Kuhu was one of our much-loved older
teachers. His son had been a mission boy but more recently had been away in Rabaul.
He was married to one of my previous mission girls, Miruho, but he had been away
most of their married life. About midnight that night I heard Merle on the veranda and
when I called out she said that the boy had died. By the time I was properly awake I
could hear the wailing from hospital and shortly afterwards the lights of the Tonu
village people going past on the road reflected themselves on the inside of the roof
above my bed. Gradually the wailing waxed louder as they took up his body and
carried it down the hospital road, past our house again and thus to the village.
Quietness followed but I could not go back to sleep quickly for thinking of poor
Miruho and Kehu.
All the next day there was a constant undercurrent of talk but they said shush every
time I appeared to be listening. I wanted to know whether he was to be buried or
cremated so finally I asked the girls after Bible Class that evening. They told me that
he was to be cremated and that they wanted to go because most of them had never
seen a cremation.
Three days later, at 8.30pm, I set out for Tonu village with a bodyguard of 16
especially quiet girls. I found that the cookhouse where the body was lying was filled
to over-flowing with men and women wailing in tune, women on the high notes and
men on the bass. Outside were more would-be mourners. Sara, Mitakori's mother,
came to speak to us and said that it would be midnight before they had Lotu. I caught
a glimpse of a more intense blackness by Hewa's house which I took to be the funeral
pyre but the girls stopped me from going closer saying it was mikisa,-holy.-tambu. I
gathered my flock to me and took them home for a sleep, promising to wake them and
take them back at midnight. About 11 Ropiai woke and cried and Merle said that she
had heard the wailing getting much louder a few minutes before. We got warmly
dressed, called the girls and set out again for the village.
As we arrived we found the people outside finishing the washing of the body. They
had made him a kind of cradle of pieces of limbon, (palm bark that does not burn
readily). They had wrapped his body in two pandanus leaf rain-mats. The coffin was
carried back into the cookhouse where we heard a lot more swishing of water. This
latter proved to be the washing of all the helpers' hands by dipping dishes of water out
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of the drum by the house. One man had remained by the washing place crying as if his
heart would break. I thought it was old Kehu and longed to offer some comfort to him
but after about a minute he stopped abruptly and walked away. Then another man
came with a long stick, hooked up the dead boy's laplap and hung it on the funeral
pyre without touching it. Next he picked up the stick that had been beside the laplap
and very gingerly threw it on to the heap.
Mark Naaru called us and we went into the cookhouse where the women were, while
the men were outside. It was Lotu time. We sang 'Low in the grave He lay, Jesus my
Saviour..." then Naaru read the burial service in Siwai. I was impressed with the note
of'rumaru -life', which seemed to run through the whole service. We sang again and
Naaru asked me to pray. After another hymn Naaru asked me what the time was. It
was not much after mid-night but some of the women said they had heard a rooster
crowing. Naaru, after asking me to correct his clock by my watch, said we would be
better to go home again and to come back when the wailing was growing much louder
because it wasn't near enough to morning to light the fire. Once again we trailed the
quarter mile home to bed. At almost Sam I called Merle and woke the girls but Merle
and four of the girls decided that bed was best. It was a very cold night.
They had put the body on the top of the pyre by the time we arrived and were putting
burning brands inside at the bottom, to light the little wood that had been put inside in
a trench first. The fire was burning brightly and I could see that the pyre was about
7feet high and 3feet wide. The big logs were held in place by saplings. Men wandered
round the outside of the pyre, as close to it as they could, wailing with all their might
and holding up a rain-mat to protect themselves from the heat. The women and other
men were standing a bit further back, most of them wailing. (All those who mourned
must be given a piece of pork later.) The fire grew stronger and brighter and slowly
the body was consumed and the top began to fall into the middle. About half past three
I marshalled my girls for the final homeward trek. The wailing and the fire lasted till
the morning star came up and day dawned. The darkness ended and a new day began.
When the ashes had cooled the bones were collected and buried.
For us morning came quickly and the impressions of the night filled our thoughts.
That was the only time I witnessed a cremation. The old men told me that it was very
difficult to find enough of the right logs quickly to build such a big pyre and there
were usually not sufficient able-bodied men about in a small village to complete the
work in a day. Burials were acceptable and much more possible.
The day went on as usual, only more so for me, because teachers from distant villages
had been coming in to fill out the very long forms that the government required about
each of them. It took me half an hour or more to do each one of the teacher's returns
with him at my elbow to answer all my questions! Sometimes I wished we did not
have to be so tied to the Government but they did give us substantial financial help.
Father Flannery came in for morning tea a day or two later with news he had heard on
his radio. There had been a huge earthquake and tidal wave in the Philippines, which
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caused at least 400 deaths, and while Australian and N.Z. troops had gone to Malaysia
the U.S. navy was ready for action if China tried to take Formosa. Without a radio we
were unaware of the things happening in other parts of our great wide world.
Easter Time
Easter season came with its death and life messages. Ropiai's mother died at hospital
and little Doris also slipped away to be with Jesus. She was so weak and breathless
with T.B., whimpering whether she was in our arms or in her bed. On her last few
nights, as Merle was busy in the Maternity ward, I had her cot by my bed so that I
could reach my hand through the bars to hold her little hand. This seemed to comfort
her and we couldn't feel sad when Jesus took her. Her short life had been full of pain
and sadness. We buried her that day, Easter Saturday.
Pamela with Doris and Merle with Miruho. 1955
The next morning was Resurrection Day and I preached on the text, "As in Adam all
die even so in Christ shall all be made alive." It is so wonderful to know that it is true.
To illustrate my message I had a caterpillar, a chrysalis and butterfly wings and also a
maize corn seed and a little growing maize plant. 1 Corinthians 15: 20-26 and 35-58
had been translated into Siwai for the service so the women listened and understood
more easily. The men knew more pidgin and usually understood me better than the
women did.
My birthday often falls at Easter time and Merle prepared a lovely box of flowers
from our garden for the girls to give me as if it had come from home. Kemueli and his
family and Mutona joined us in a friendly evening meal together to celebrate this
milestone.
On the next Class Meeting Sunday when people from all the surrounding villages
came here I had 126 children in Junior Church in the school. They loved the flannel-
graph pictures and the chance to do some drawings of their own of the story. I told the
story in my not very fluent Siwai and the children corrected me as I went along.
Sometimes in very exciting parts the correct suggestion came from a pained voice
whose owner was dying to get through the stumbling and know what was going to
happen next. I loved having these opportunities with the children.
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CHAPTER 8:
New Zealand Teachers' Gathering
At the beginning of the May school holidays I was able to go to Kihili, for a meeting
about educational work. Kemueli asked Mutona to go with me on the bicycles to look
after me on the journey and especially at the rivers. We left very early but Mutona had
a great deal of trouble with his tyres and after I had had to go back several times to
find him we arranged that he should go first and I would follow. The track was strictly
single file. As we were once again trying to fix his tyre on the other side of the Miwo
we met Kehu coming from Kihili. He was wheeling Merle's bike that had been ridden
by someone else to Kihili to get the mail. Kehu explained to me with many flourishes
that there was nothing wrong with the bike except that it was too small for his six-foot
length. The bike was sports model with the broken seat tied down with bandages. He
gave me a demonstration that had me shaking with laughter as he receded into the
distance, a mass of bent arms and legs on top of a frail bandaged collection of
machinery. Finally Mutona's offending tyre was fixed and we set off again.
Ovini had not reached the Sirupai when we arrived there but we met him not far away
trying to fix his spark plugs. Eventually Mutona rode my bike the rest of the way
while I enjoyed being in the jeep with Ovini, the packages and the difficult bike. It
was pleasant to be under the canvas roof out of the sun, travelling along with no effort
on my part. Ovini was saying, "What happens when Sister Ada goes on furlough? Are
you coming to Kihili? I answered with three very common but very bad words, "Mi no
laik."(I don't want to.) The jeep stopped dead in horror. Again Ovini had to clean all
the spark plugs. He tried to get away with a quick fix but the jeep refused to move. My
sin had been unthinkably awful. In the end we drew up at the Kihili parsonage about
1pm where Mr. and Mrs.Voyce were waiting for me. They looked very well after their
leave and we had a chat over a cup of tea before I came over to Ada's place.
It was wonderful to be with Ada again. We had time to talk as we prepared for the
arrival of Effie from Roviana, Myra and Trevor from Bilua, Nancy from Choiseul,
Norma from Kekesu, Allen from Banga and George arrived a little later. I was everso
grateful to have the chance of this break away from Tonu especially with the
opportunity to talk with so many friends in English. We talked about Junior School
(Kinda) village schools, consolidated schools and school visiting. Later we discussed
Effie's work in helping with teacher training for the students at Banga and proposals of
Kihili and the District Girls' School. It was good to be able to share each other's
problems with Grants-in-aid, Sunday School programmes and lots of other day-to-day
things as well. The ministers went to a conference in Kieta. Thelma didn't arrive
because a speedboat damaged the float of the Catalina and it had to return to Port
Moresby without finishing the mail run.
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Beautiful Kihili
I was amazed to see how quickly the cuttings I had planted nine months before had
grown into big shrubs. It was especially lovely in the evenings and early mornings. At
night the growing moon was turning the garden into a wonderland but as the sun set
with a display of pink clouds behind the stiff branches of the kapok trees it looked like
one big patchwork picture, herringboned in black. Unfortunately the mosquitoes had
sharpened their tongues and no thickness of material seemed barrier enough to their
onslaught. However I was happy to find that the boys from Tonu were doing well at
school and that Ovini found them to be good workers in the gardens.
There was a lot more talk on the beach a few days later as we waited to say good-bye
to those going home again on the Malakuna, the Cicely and a bit later on the
Mandalay. The Mandalay had to have its water pipe welded by Mr. Shaw before they
could leave. We still had the Quarterly Meeting to deal with but when all that was
completed we were able to leave early the next day for Tonu. Kemueli rode with me.
"Are you alive?" they said.
I was dreadfully tired by the time we reached Harinai so Kemueli offered to carry my
bike across the swing bridge for me. While he went back for his bike I lay down on
the grass in the middle of the road and put my hat over my face. A few minutes later I
heard an agitated "Sister" and sat up to see four astonished boys evidently relieved to
find that I could sit up. They thought I had fallen off my bike or was dying. They were
very concerned and I felt I would always be looked after if I had an accident. We still
had a number of uphill miles to go but we made it home. Merle biked down the forty
plus miles to Kihili the next day 'to deliver a gift for Lorraine' as Kemueli put it in
evening prayers. Lorraine is Ovini's wife.
Babies are a Special Gift
While she was away, I was busy delivering similar 'gifts' at Tonu. The first was Moni
and Lempo's baby. She had been very ill with the current flu and high temperatures
but worst of all her baby was in breach position. Nino was helping me but we were not
in an easy situation. Better amenities were yet to be built. Moni was my first case
without a trained nurse and we spent a long difficult night struggling to bring a poor
little baby into the world. The baby did not survive the ordeal in spite of all my efforts
to get the little one to breathe, but Moni held on to life, needing much tender loving
care over a number of days to bring her very high temperature down. (Ten years later
she had a daughter, her second baby, whom she forgivingly called Pamela.) It wasn't
long before I had my second case alone and everything went really well for mother
and baby and therefore for me too. Another mother didn't get further than her village
before her baby was born but all was well and they arrived at hospital later to enjoy
the benefits of being there. GOD IS SO GOOD.
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Another Emergency
About half an hour after I had climbed into bed after seeing that everyone was
comfortable, loud crying and calls of "Sister, Sister' sent me flying down the steps
again. This time it was Mitakori who was writhing in pain from a centipede bite. The
creature had bitten her then swung its tail round to inject its poison and that is
excruciating, as I was personally to find out later. Morphine would have helped but I
was not allowed to give it. Instead I bathed her finger in kerosene and gave her two
aspros but they didn't take the pain away. In the end I took her into my room to rest so
that the other girls could get some sleep. Mitakori was very brave and tried not to cry
but sometimes all the twisting and lip biting in the world was not enough to give the
relief that crying sometimes brings. We fell asleep about 4am but that end of the night
is short!
School and women's sewing class as well as the care of our own babies filled up my
week but on Friday I had a pleasant surprise. Three bomb disposals men called in to
deal with the hand grenade I had reported. It was late afternoon when they stopped for
a cup of tea before they set up camp at the village further on. I invited them back to
dinner, as I was glad to have their company with the chance to hear the latest world
news. They enjoyed the meal that included three kinds of bush greens, sweet potato,
pumpkin and some tinned meat, but they considerately didn't stay late knowing that I
had to be up early in the morning. They said that the grenade I had reported was
dangerous and that we shouldn't touch them.
A comforting letter from Merle with reassuring instructions helped me to keep on
coping with all that needed to be done. I had delivered three babies in 36 hours as well
as running the school and all the other things that had to be done with babies and girls.
Sister Dolorita at Monoitu sent a note to say that she was home again and ready to
help if I needed her. Two sick babies arrived with their parents so I gratefully asked
them to go to Monoitu. They were not pleased to have a further hour's walk but I
helped them on their way to the main road and they turned to shake hands with me
before they left so I felt forgiven. These little children had very high temperatures and
we were always concerned about malaria. My lack of medical knowledge and other
duties made this option better for them as well as for me.
Dr. Tuza, a new Australian from Hungary, but now the Government Doctor from
Kangu, was on his rounds of the villages so the people were frightened to be caught
with a sick baby for which they were not getting treatment. Merle hiked home from
Kihili the next day feeling very tired on arrival but a very difficult maternity patient
kept her away from bed until 3am.
One day in June I was much colder than usual when I got up and after shivering my
way through school until recess I came home for a cardigan and two Aralen tablets. I
was only back at school for an hour before I retreated to my bed with a quilt, a
blanket, a hot water bottle and all my clothes in an effort to get warm. It was gastric
malaria and I was better again in a few days after much time spent lying down. The
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girls went home because it was Queen's Birthday Weekend. What a blessing! Merle
was glad to rest a bit too between her many duties. At lunchtime we were able to look
out over the clover lawn to the church with its backdrop of trees under the lovely wide
sky and murmur about how peaceful life was. We wondered why we ever complain
about the noise but the wondering would cease about sunset when the students all
arrived back. We love them all and would miss them terribly if they didn't turn up.
Peanut Butter
On sewing day I saw that the girls had almost finished their new laplaps with
embroidered seams and their names framed by a spray of flowers in the corner. Merle
had made some very good peanut butter. Turning the handle of the mincer was hard
work. If anyone had been especially naughty we gave this task as an effective lipulipu
(punishment), but sometimes when our stocks of this spread were low we had to do it
ourselves! We grew our own peanuts but they were also easy to buy from people who
came to the door with produce to sell such as tomatoes, beans, bananas or pineapples.
Musiama
About this time Musiama of Nagavisi provided much drama. He was a notable man
wanted for murder and other crimes but when the police tried to catch him his friends
always managed to help him escape. One Sunday, as we sat in Lotu, most of the
congregation found a crack in the wall or even stood up to look as Mr. Hook and his
cargo carriers followed by Musiama, chained to a police boy or two, filed past. They
would all have been very glad to finally arrive at the prison many miles away on the
coast at Kangu. The Catholic Sisters and village people who lived near his village
were also very glad that the source of their fear had gone.
The weeks went by filled with the usual tasks. I took time to look at the contents of
some boxes in my study room and found that the white ants had begun an invasion
and had eaten almost all my Papuan Readers. Further hunting revealed that the boxes
lined with tarred paper had managed to keep the termites from the contents. It takes
constant vigilance to make sure that white ants don't get the upper hand.
Babies
Many new babies were born including another son for Aliti and Kemueli. They named
him Charles Susou. We had baby Inata staying with us, as she had not been thriving in
the village. Mavinu, her mother, came to learn how to make up powdered milk for her
and especially how to keep everything as clean as possible in the process. Her father,
Korimotu, is a very careful doctor boy in Mihero village so all will be well eventually.
Our other babies, Ropiai and Miruho had learned to crawl, amusing each other with
their private giggles. When baby Inata cried Miruho would crawl up to the cot and put
her hand through the bars to hold the baby's hand very tenderly. She couldn't stand up
alone but was able to pull herself up and walk round the cot. One baby born while
Merle had a cold was very slow to breathe so Merle called me to come from school to
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breathe into the little one. He took hold of life, but weakly, so had to be tube-fed for a
few days until he learned how to suck for himself.
Maasi, Kumei, Mark, Puriri & Miriam, Heqa & Ada, Mana & Harusa.
Nineteen girls kept me very busy as I tried to keep track of all their activities. One girl
left a spade in the garden overnight and it disappeared. Another girl couldn't find her
mission knife, (machete). It was quite difficult to make everyone put things back in
their right places every day. Putting soap in the baby's eyes and drying the bottoms of
saucepans with the tea towels were problems to be fixed.
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CHAPTER 9:
Evening Lotu
"Day is dying in the west,
Heaven is touching earth with rest;
Wait and worship white the night,
Sets her evening lamps alight
Through all the sky.
Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of Hosts;
Heaven and earth are full of Thee,
Heaven and earth are praising Thee,
O Lord most High."
MaryArtemisia Lathbury.
The roosters were giving their final crow.
The crickets were making the air quiver with their two notes.
The drum in the village was beating out its invitation to Lotu.
Ropiai was sobbing himself to sleep having got caught in the gate, trying to crawl to
me to escape bedtime. My peaceful mood was broken by Misinau showing me the
potato she thought was her fair share for my approval, informing me in an agonized
tone that Tapua had three and she the virtuous one had only two; but hers were larger
so I sent them both off. Serving food fairly is always a problem. Another girl arrived
wanting a spade and asking me all about where it was though she was born with two
very good eyes. Close on her heels came Merle who said that the baby had arrived and
asked if tea was ready. It was, so we ate and enjoyed our scrambled eggs, cucumber
and bananas.
Rev. S.G.Andrews The Rev. Stan Andrews, General Secretary of the Mission Board in New Zealand
Came to Visit us With the Rev. Voyce. The day before they arrived we reached the
final peak of preparations as the paths were weeded and swept till every unwanted
thing died for shame, except some very lively things that hide in the leaf walls and
limbon floors of the girls' house. These bed bugs come to us in the girls' mats when
they arrive from their villages but even our weekly war against them doesn't seem to
reduce their number for long. In honour of the visitors we made a very determined
effort to get rid of these pests. First I asked Mori to wash the floor then I began to
spray every inch with Shellite, an insecticide. After that I swept the room with a stiff
sago leaf broom and found some creatures that were still alive. The girls helped me by
sweeping the underneath side of the flooring followed by a team of five girls coming
inside and jumping all over the floor to dislodge these most unwelcome bed bugs. The
roosters called the hens and chickens for the feast that fell to the ground! A girl tried
to kill a freckle on the back of my neck. What a game it was. This performance of
some sweeping the top of the floor, alternating with others working underneath lasted
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a long time. Finally I did all the girls' heads with anti-mite lotion and my own with
insect repellant before coming in for a hot wash from head to toe, lest something more
than a freckle had settled on me.
Saturday morning saw the girls sweeping the grounds feverishly again and I heard one
of them telling the wind not to blow down any more leaves. About noon we lined the
road and sang 'Onward Christian Soldiers' to welcome the visitors who were just
longing for the cup of tea quickly brewed for them. After lunch we talked until the sun
began to run down the sky and it was cool enough for our guests to visit the school
buildings and the hospital. (Siwai people have a special word to indicate our 3pm time
as the time when the sun appears to turn downwards in a hurry to meet the horizon by
about 5.30pm. It indicates that time is short because darkness is coming. Time to come
home from the garden.)
Rev.Kemueli Pita and Aliti and their sons
Varea, Joseph and Charles Susau from Rotuma, Fiji.
We had a big welcome service that night as many people had come in to stay on the
station for the weekend. On Sunday morning there were over a thousand people
gathered under the shady trees for a very happy service. Numerous village choirs sang
anthems they had been practising for weeks. The Rev. Andrews baptized Kemueli and
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Aliti's two younger children. Mr. Andrews had been a missionary in Fiji and had
taught Kemueli there, The text for his sermon was "Jesus said, I am the way." He
spoke amongst other things about roads he had recently been on in the New Guinea
Highlands and we found it all very interesting. Mr.Voyce interpreted it all afterwards
so that everyone could understand. The huge feast that followed was really enjoyed by
all the families that had gathered, men and women and children together, in a way that
would never have happened before the people learned to trust in Jesus and thus to trust
each other.
August 1955, the Rev. S.G.Andrews baptised two younger children.
Before the sun set, Kemueii, Aliti, the catechists, Merle and I had a - beautiful
communion service together in the church with our visiting - ministers. We really
appreciated the very few times in those days that we - were able to celebrate
communion. Next day there was a farewell feast and dancing, before the jeep carried
our friends away back to Kihili. For us it was a time to remember and talk about for
ages.
Earthquake Season Merle went to Synod at Choiseul but Dusa came to help me.
One very hot day there was lots of lightning and thunder that sounded like all the
saucepans crashing on the kitchen roof at once. We were also in a season of many
earthquakes but not a great deal of damage was done. In a letter from Ada she told me
that her only calamity was that the tomato soup tipped into the pineapple jelly, in the
fridge, I presume. Our stove chimney, which doesn't reach the roof, fell from its
precarious place and emptied its soot in a neat heap on the kitchen floor. Kemueii was
away visiting Nagavisi villages so Aliti and I encouraged each other. At this time I
had 86 students at school and 19 girls boarding near me. Dusa, Timothy Kutomai's
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widow, came to help me with the babies, the girls and the maternity ward and I was
increasingly grateful as the days and weeks went by.
Ropiai bit the top off the teat on his bottle so he was promoted to drinking from a
tumbler. He looked like a young hippopotamus swallowing a river. He loved it
because he could get so much more in one gulp than he did with the bottle. Miruho
took her first steps alone and I envisioned her running to meet Merle when she
returned. The men who were replacing the Government Rest House at Tonu Line
made plaited bamboo walls for it. I was very surprised and amused to see that they had
put the word "HOME" into the plaiting. I am sure that would bring a smile to the lips
of those who wearily came to rest there. It was Neewai's idea. He brought me five
lovely tomatoes and didn't want anything for them. He nearly died of Scrub Typhus
when he was in Rabaul but now he was being very helpful building a new home for
his mother and father and younger brothers and sister. His father Hianu, who suffered
badly from a hand grenade explosion, had come back from the bush to live in the
village. He is a good gardener but limited for building work by having only one hand.
Paul Mason with his wife and two children arrived to stay in the village while Paul
was recruiting labourers for his plantation at Inus. I really enjoyed seeing them and
invited them to dinner one evening. Everyone loves to see white children and both
young Paul and Ingrid are fair, sturdy and adventurous. Mrs. Mason was always full of
stories and when her quiet husband starts to talk his war experiences as a Coast
Watcher are fascinating. He is much loved by the local people and they are glad to
work for him.
Our little cat, Meow, had three kittens but, as many girls had their names on the kitten
list, some will be disappointed. For years the "Pussy List" had to be fairly consulted
and there was never any danger of running out of candidates for the beautiful little
kittens who were taken home to their villages. Sadly once or twice a small brother
loved a kitten to death but mostly they were treasured members of the family. They
kept the rats and mice from eating the sweet potatoes and the rice. The people loved
and cared for their hens and roosters too but sadly some cats got a taste for chickens.
We all welcomed Merle with great relief when she returned one Friday from Synod.
She had plenty of news to share including the fact that Ada was to look after a Girls'
School at Kihili. Other news was that I was to go to Kihili on the Monday to supervise
the exams for the students who wanted to go to Goldie College, Banga in the New
Year. That meant sorting out lots of things and packing up in a hurry but I had my
sermon prepared for Sunday about pruning. With a branch from a lime tree and my
secateurs I was able to make my points clearly. That night about 7.30 we really were
glad that Merle was home.
Violence and Mercy A young woman arrived from a distant village at our front door with three deep gashes
in her head, one of them very close to her eye. Her husband had taken to her with an
axe and very nearly killed her. We placed her on the table in the living room and
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Merle gathered the things she would need from the hospital. It was dark and the little
lanterns didn't give much light but fortunately my torch had good batteries. The
patient and her relatives were Catholics but they decided that it was better for us to
help her than to take her another hour further down the road. After a while young
Father Fahey arrived from Monoitu. He managed to get the big lamp going but battled
with nausea as he held it in the best place for Merle to see what she was doing. For
more than three hours we prayed and worked together as Merle cleaned up each
wound and put in the necessary stitches. Our God is merciful and helped us through
this terrible task. The weary patient slept on the table that night watched over by her
relatives. In a week or so she was well enough for the inevitable court case and in time
her wounds healed while she was in prison for the adultery that had angered her
husband. I can't remember whether he also was put in prison for attacking her so
viciously.
Philip came with me the next day on our nearly 7-hour bike ride to Kihili. It was Jean
Voyce's twenty-first birthday so I enjoyed the celebrations. Each day of that week I
supervised the exams for the many candidates and though I couldn't afford to write
letters I did get one glove knitted! It was very pleasant, as usual, to stay with the
Voyce family. Ada was in New Zealand. Saturday's ride home took ten hours as it was
uphill and we had bike troubles, but the next day I was back in the pulpit preaching
about prayer.
T.B.Tests The other excitement of this time was the Mantoux test for T.B. that was done on
every person in Siwai. We had to shepherd everyone on our station down to a village
near Monoitu. There we all had the test pricked into our arms and the local people all
got 3ccs of Penicillin as well. Many of the school children had a bad reaction but I
was able the next week to have a B.C.G. injection for which I was grateful because
T.B. is very common in Siwai. The ones with a positive reaction had to go to Kangu
for an X-ray and this provided a big logistical problem for the Government. Not only
was Kangu two days' walk away but the people would also need somewhere to stay.
Government Visitors A new kitchen, things everywhere, and Government visitors arrived!
The carpenters made us a wonderfully stable new kitchen bathroom and dining alcove.
It was great to have the chimney going through the roof and a door on the bathroom! It
took time and in the meantime the usual kitchen things were accommodated on the
veranda. Mr. Voyce sent up a bath for us from Kihili and in time taps brought water
inside from the tanks. Now that we had a little more roofing iron we were able to
catch more water. In the middle of this upheaval it was found that there were white
ants eating the flooring under the five ply sheets on the living room floor so all that
had to be uplifted and treated promptly.
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What a surprise it was when the No. 1 Government Officer from Kangu, Mr. Gow, arrived with his wife in the middle of this muddle but they were very thoughtful, and cheerfully climbed over things to find a place to sit down. We thoroughly enjoyed their visit, fitted in on their return from Boku where Mr. Hook was in charge. He lived alone and I am sure he was encouraged to see them too. When they went with Merle to see the hospital I hurried to call the girls back from the potato garden. It was time for "finish work" but I also wanted them to see Mrs.Gow. She was a tiny, dainty woman with red finger and toenails, wearing pretty sandals, gray pedal pushers with buttons below the knee, and a lemon blouse printed in an Hawaiian pattern. On her loose gray curls a coolie type hat of natural and red straw shielded her laughing brown eyes. She was such a nice natural person as well as being their senior Govt. Official's wife. She was far more natural than any non-missionary European woman I had met in this part of the world. Most of them were striving consciously or unconsciously to be elite but she allowed herself to be like a long lost friend. What a lift such visitors gave us just by coming where we were.
The New Classrooms The next task for the carpenters, Anungu and Tapara, was to build new classrooms. The school building that had been built before I returned was one room, 36ft. by 24ft., with a palm bark floor about four feet off the ground. There were no desks and all the children sat on the floor. With 92 children and 5 teachers in the same space it was not easy. Fortunately we seldom had 100 attendance on any single day. One of the distractions I found difficult was the continual sound of voices. Those under the floor were asking those above them to show the exact crack that the slate pencil fell through! Gray slate pencils in stirred up gray dust! I would climb down the steps and get all of my class back on top but a sudden flood of Primer one children would descend as they began their writing lesson. I really looked forward to the day when the rooms would all be on the ground. The carpenters built log seats on posts in the ground and then corresponding log desks to go with them at the appropriate height for the children who were to sit there. I had to bring a sample child each time they were being built to get these desks and forms at a satisfactory level. I was even able to organize a sloping blackboard on the front wall for each teacher. In all my teaching in New Zealand after the war I had never had the joy of being in a real classroom except as a student teacher. Here the government supplied us with blackboard paint so as long as we could find a suitable piece of wood we had a new blackboard. When a tea chest could be spared from storage duties this provided four pieces of plywood for blackboards but we were able to have some new hardboard too. It was quite a long time before slates were replaced with exercise books but in the meantime paper from Armed Services supplies left at Torokina provided something for letters and special notes. This source also gave us some New Testaments and Army and Navy hymnbooks, which were highly prized.
Meow Surprised by Golly One evening as we were eating our tea by lamplight we saw Meow suddenly come
down the wall to my study windowsill. A black Golly with brightly striped trousers, a
present from a lady in our church at home, was sitting there, propped up and waiting
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for Ropiai or Miruho to play with him. Meow caught sight of him and got the fright of
her brave young life. Being an excellent ratter she decided to stalk this new monster. It
was terribly funny to watch as she slowly and stealthily came forward. Each glide was
followed by a pause. First she smelt one unusual leg then slowly she allowed her nose
to smell right up Golly's body until his bold eyes met hers and she knew in that instant
that he was harmless. Poor Golly! He was only trying to be friends. She jumped down
and started chasing a cockroach. At least they move. Meow had five kittens on Merle's
chair but was content to look after them in the box cupboard by the table. This meant
we had our meals enlivened by the squeaks of the little Meows. She is an excellent
mouser and looks after her babies very well.
Ropiai explored the edge of the riverbank by the girls' house too closely and rolled
about 12 feet down to the base of a tree, which saved him from the stones and the
stream. I heard the agitated girls shouting and by the time I arrived Kombarako had
retrieved him. His cries were to express his indignation at having yet another wash in
the river before he was brought up the cliff path again. He cheerfully stretched out his
arms to me as he often does and I found that his only injury was a small graze. Thanks
be to God!
Ropiai and Miruho went home At the beginning of the holidays Ropiai and Miruho went back to live in their villages.
Ropiai's father's face was wreathed in smiles when he took his healthy young son
home to begin a new life in the village. His mother had died in hospital but he had
never really known her. Piku was glad to have Miruho to look after again too. She had
certainly grown into a different child from the sad bundle of flesh and bones that we
first saw. Then she was only 8 pounds at 18 months and very malnourished. Now she
was cheerful, full of life and loving all food. Both these children went back to the
same village so they would see one another from time to time to continue the
friendship they had had together at our house.
Merle ready to give Ropiai to his father.
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CHAPTER 10:
Christmas Celebrations
The school children were busy having extra practices of the Christmas Pageant.
Kakapasa was Joseph for this year and Kira Rehab was Mary. Domi, Kangisai and
Hihisa were shepherds and Kingona, Kungma and Pihkaku were the wise men. Taima,
Noru, Komoru, Hongopo, Kamu and Nene were representing various other nations.
The rest of the upper classes were to sit in a semicircle round them to sing appropriate
carols. Some of the girls became angels when I hunted through my pieces of material
to find suitable drapes for everyone. The ones doing the singing had flowers in their
hair as their 'dress-up'. I even made a new dress for my much-loved doll in her role as
the baby Jesus. They loved doing this little bit of drama.
Eight boys carried the harvest of peanuts down to Kihili and were able to return three
days later with the projector and battery from Kihili so that everyone could see the
New Guinea Highlands films that the Mission Board had sent to Mr. Voyce. This was
a very special treat. While the boys were away we planted more peanuts near the
house but the hens saw us doing it and that was that. Two hens had insisted in laying
their eggs in my bedroom but eventually the eggs that I allowed them to keep were
hatched and they continued their motherly work outside.
Exams and marking were finished. I had heard everyone read, some two at a time I
must confess. In our last Bible Class time I invited those who wanted to, to write their
names in my special red-covered notebook to make it clear to everyone that they had
decided to follow Jesus. Many took that opportunity seriously and I still have that little
book. I think that most of them have kept on growing in Jesus.
A Picnic at the Beach
The girls finished all the weeding of the peanuts, pineapples and potatoes ready for the
holidays and were able to make tapioca puddings in the stone oven for the next day's
adventure. We left home about 20 to 8 for the ten mile walk to the beach with
Kemueii and the boys setting fast pace, arriving at Moreka about 10 past 10am. The
final hazard was a one-plank bridge over the lagoon, reputed to be the home of
crocodiles. I crossed it on my hands and knees much to the consternation of those
before and after me anxious to reach the sea at the edge of the steep sloping beach.
The girls were really intrigued with the ocean, especially those who had not seen it
before. Some daring ones very soon got used to the idea and started swimming in the
surprisingly calm water beyond the first breaker. The others dug for shellfish and only
after a considerable time did their laplaps get wet. They thought that the sea was
pushy because of the innocent wave at the edge. Some of them stayed in the water
from the minute we arrived till 2pm when I had to call them all out to start the long
uphill walk home again. The sun was very hot, especially on the black sand, but the
sandflies didn't follow us into the cooling water. The girls found that their corncobs
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and pieces of tapioca pudding tasted wonderful when dipped in the salt water. Back at
the village the students washed the salt water off their skins in the river, then we set
off home happily chewing at sugar cane pieces that Mauroko and Lydia gave us. The
road home seemed very long. I heard Misinau commenting that an evil spirit had
stretched it while we were enjoying the beach. At the Panakei turn off we got caught
in the long threatened pelting rain accompanied by thunder and lightning. A very wet
bedraggled bunch finally arrived home at 20 past 5 just before it got dark, a much
longer journey than the morning one. We were all stiff and tired so our closing Lotu
was short. I asked them to preach to the people in their villages over the holidays by
their blameless lives, good works and soft tongues. Next morning nearly all of them
were able to go home. Moni, Kira Mata, Esita and Misinau stayed to help us for the
first part of the holidays. Each of the girls had the chance to work for us for a while in
the holidays to earn a new dress. It kept me busy at the sewing machine but it was
worth it for their help and to see the great joy they had in owning a dress.
Christmas Eve Choirs
They were all back for Christmas Eve, when we had a present ready for each student,
from the things that church people in New Zealand, especially my mother, had sent us
in parcels. The girls went off to sing carols to the nearby village people returning to
sing to Jesus in the church and then to us by 10.30. They each received a lolly from us
but the village people had given them treasures of salt, soap, sugar cane, pineapples
and coconuts. What joy! Throughout the night, village choirs from far and near came
to sing, first at the church and then at our front steps. As any hymn was counted as a
carol to them I heard strains of "O day of rest and gladness" at midnight, then a male
voice choir at the girls' dormitory steps singing "Saviour while my heart is tender, I
would yield that heart to Thee"... .singing in Siwai of course! It was an up and down
night but it is always a very special one here. Carol singing is the most loved part of
Christmas.
On Christmas Day we opened our presents in the parcels we had refrained from
opening earlier and enjoyed many happy surprises, like the long-limbed little figure
that the girls immediately called Ikai Pakai (Stick Insect). With his flexible arms and
legs he became a favourite, helping at Sunday School and even on the pulpit. Merle
gave me a broach that I still treasure
We had a lazy day on Boxing Day, as was our custom after all the people had gone
home. On Christmas Day the nurse was always very busy seeing babies and children,
pregnant mothers and old people who did not usually make the journey to Tonu unless
they were really ill. But for the day after Christmas I had a new book to read from the
Ladies Guild in the church at home. It was the enthralling "A Lamp is Heavy". I
couldn't put it down! Other things didn't get done while I was transported to funny
situations in a nurse's life.
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Merle and I Go to Kekesu
A few days later Merle and I had a fairly trouble free bike ride to Kihili, helping each
other through the rivers as our planned helpers had to keep fixing their bikes. At the
beach we found the Malakuna had arrived, ready to take us north the following
evening. We bought some bread from Aisa and were able to have a comfortable night
in the Voyces' house, though they were away at Skotalan. We went aboard the
Malakuna early next evening while the crew waited for 10pm, the correct hour to
leave Kihili, so that we were able to see the reefs round Kieta in daylight the next
morning. Biti from Roviana was the captain. My old friend from 1951, Rumata
seemed to officiate at the Primus for all meal getting. Baby Sue's father Akaveroi, was
asleep in the dinghy. He and some others from Rotokas were coming along to help
with the loading of the timber. We had Lotu with the crew on the boat then retreated
to the bunks. It was moonlight and Biti and Rumata shared duty at the wheel. Every
now and then I saw a hand holding a match to the clock to find out what the time was.
Davinia, one of the boat’s crew, Merle, Rewa
on the Malakuna going to Kekesu.
Sunrise at sea was beautiful. The water was calm. We went ashore at Kieta before the
dew had gone from the grass and the trees. Merle needed to see Joe Tack Long, as she
had to give him details of some cases coming on the Tulagi, so we enjoyed seeing the
beautiful things in his store. While we were looking round he asked us if we would
like a cup of tea which we accepted with thanks. The cup of tea turned into two fried
eggs, two pieces of fish with bread and butter as well! That was a great treat. Back on
the Malakuna we travelled up the coast, skirting the places where the waves crashed
on the reefs. The white sand-fringed islets took our eyes towards the bluish bush clad
hills, back and back, higher and higher to the central mountains of Bougainville. At
10.30am, the crew stopped the engine so that they could hear the radio sked with
Roviana thus we received the news that Gloria and Trevor Shepherd had a new son,
Denis John, born on the 26th Dec.
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About midday we reach Mabiri where the crew unloaded some goods from Kieta for
them and went on to the point to load some timber. We were able to go ashore and
spend time with the families working there. We had a lovely lunch with them before
climbing back on the boat. As the Shaw family was not at home we passed
Numanuma without calling in but were close enough to appreciate the gardens with
their bright croton hedges and flowering trees and shrubs.
Our next stop was Tearaka where Daniel Palavi and his wife Vasiti were in charge.
They are from Tonga. Their two children, Sami and Robin soon came to the beach
with Davinia and Rewa to meet us. Thelma had gone back to Kekesu by canoe to get
ready for our arrival. We stayed the night at Tearaka but were on our way again
straight after breakfast and Lotu. Vasiti had made us two wonderful meals in our short
stay. Because the sea was calm we were able to go ashore at Hovinu instead of
Vapahan. Thelma was waiting on the stony beach as we and our luggage went ashore
in outrigger canoes. It was fun and nothing much got wet. The Malakuna went round
to Vapahan to unload the timber while we walked up a much shorter path to Kekesu. It
was very pretty but after the climb up the hill we were glad to have a cold drink in the
sisters' house. In the afternoon we settled in after having a good rest. This was the
beginning of our first Sisters and Maramas' retreat. The men folk were able to go to
Synods and other meetings but the women were very seldom able to leave their
stations.
Thelma and Rewa’s hospitality
Thelma and Rewa prepared lovely meals for us giving us a wonderful holiday in this
very pleasant place.
Davinia, Thelma, Merle and Rewa.
We had studies, discussions and prayer times together before morning tea then time
outside under the shady trees doing fancy work for Davinia's Glory Box. (She was
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married to the Rev. Philip Taylor in October) Lunch outside followed by another long
rest then more fancy work filled in the day till sunset. In the evening we went over to
George and Nancy Carter's house where, with the light generated by the water wheel,
we were able to see Rewa, Davinia and Thelma's coloured slides. Davinia had a
projector. The water wheel seemed to be labouring so a bell was rung to signal the
need for a helper down by the beach to turn it off. Next day we found that it needed
repairs and while Thelma fixes most things this needed some specialized help.
We took turns with leading the studies and discussions about Jesus' words from the
cross, from a study called "The Seven Windows of Calvary". I, for one, was very glad
to have time to talk things over with my sisters. We also took turns with Close of Day
before we gratefully went to our beds. The sound of the sea breaking on the stony
beach soon lulled us to sleep. We were all tired and so glad of this holiday. We
enjoyed singing together too, going through the hymnbook. One afternoon we heard
some gramophone records while we did our fancywork. On the Saturday afternoon we
walked to the Roman Catholic Mission Station at Tearouki to visit the sisters there
who are very friendly with the sisters at Kekesu. Dr. Mary Leo and Sister Mary Rita
met us and took us to see the new European patients hospital. Other sisters joined us
on the verandah for a fun filled afternoon with an amazing afternoon tea. We left
about 5pm and reached home about sunset. Rewa found that the cow hadn't been
milked so I helped her to find it and even tried to help her with the milking by
lamplight, when her fingers got tired. Afterwards we had to flounder through the
paddock in the dark and cross the creek above the water wheel because it was so
flooded.
Sunday Lotu and then our final study knitted us together even more. Thelma showed
me the library in her school set up. She is very good at everything and it has been
great to see the results of her work. Her garden is lovely and the meals were
wonderful. I helped Rewa too when she went down to see to the patients at hospital
and fed the calf for her. It was such a treat to be together with the others. We went on
board the boat in the evening and slept there so that the crew could get under way at
the appropriate time of 4.30 am. We were heading for Sohano.
Northwards on the Malakuna
As the sea was choppy on this part of our journey I was glad to stay lying on the deck
and felt no need of breakfast. When we tied up at the Sohano wharf Davinia dashed up
to the Post Office looking for the mail and the rest of us went to Miss Covers' house.
She was a teacher at the Sohano School and friendly with us. She also had a toilet, a
great blessing to boat travellers! We had to hurry off to the other side of Buka Passage
to the wharf on Buka mainland where Chinatown and especially Wong Yu's store was
like the hub of our world. Wong Yu in his usual hospitable way gave us a lemon drink
and a chocolate each before taking us in his green truck to the airfield nearby.
Sister Effie Harkness stepped off the plane for a short time before continuing on to
Barakoma in the Solomons. I was so thrilled to see her again, looking very well and
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pretty after her furlough. We were sorry to learn that she would be back for only a
short time as her elderly mother and father needed her help at home in Auckland.
Sister June Hilder had come on the plane with her and came with us to Sohano on her
way to her appointment at Skotalan. Miss Covers gave us all lunch before we
continued up the west coast. Skotalan looks very inviting perched on the hillside
surrounded by green grass and coconut palms. Petals Island, just opposite this landing
place is very flat and closely populated. Mr. Voyce was on the wharf to meet us and
when we finally reached the sisters' house away up the hill, we were rewarded with a
beautiful sunset over the sea. At evening Lotu crowds of people from Petals and other
places gathered together to welcome June, who was to work with Davinia. We were
included in the welcome as well and choirs and a wedding added to the happy service,
but once back at the house our great desire was fall asleep on a bed that didn't move
about.
Next day we set off on our return journey with Mr. Voyce, who was going to Saposa
on the North West coast of Bougainville. Mrs. Voyce stayed at Skotalan as she was
sick with Malaria and her ulcerated leg (from a coral wound) was giving her a lot of
trouble. The boat also had troubles so while it was being fixed at Sohano we stayed
again with friendly Miss Covers. The next day Merle and I caught the Catalina at
Sohano for the joy of a flight down to Buin. As we flew over Kekesu, Rewa and
Thelma were out with mirrors flashing their greetings to us! Mr. Hook was at Tonolai
Harbour to meet the plane in Leslie Tong Lep's little boat. The sea was rough when we
got outside the harbour so we got splashed a bit but the ever-welcome mailbags had
arrived safely. Mr. Chung lent us his jeep and driver to help us back to Kihili from
Momot's place, where we went ashore. Hihisa and Nene had come down from Tonu
for the mail and, with Kanamare, were able to help us back to Tonu the next day.
After leaving things ship-shape in the Voyce household we set off early. I was feeling
so well that I was even able to bike up some of the little hills but by the end of the
journey I was thoroughly worn out as usual. I had a pack on the handlebars and
another on the carrier. It is a long way from Kihili to Tonu. We drank at most of the
rivers but that didn't stop us from having four cups of tea and a glass of muli water
when we arrived atAliti's place.
In the evening we went to Tonu Line to Naaru's house for a feast in honour of
Huhutoru's daughter's first birthday. The first birthday is always a very important
occasion, marked with a feast and a special sort of 'baptism'. All the invited guests
bring something for the baby or a shilling. ItwasahappyLotu.
As I was kneeling by my bed praying before climbing inside the mosquito net that
night I heard a noise near my window and said, "Do pa?" (Who are you?) To which
the answer came "Mi" (It's me). I continued "Jewo, do wa harung?" (What do you
want?) The answer was that his wife was in labour and had got as far as the teacher's
house. Merle went with the husband and I went to get some things from the maternity
ward. We were able to bring the patient to the ward and it wasn't long before the new
baby arrived. Finally we could all go gratefully to bed.
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Kira and Iroja came to help us for the week, earning a dress, which I made for each of
them. I also mended the bellows on the organ and fixed up one of the reeds, which had
grown some verdigris. Another holiday task was letter writing, an on-going task that
never seemed to bring me up to date. I was very glad to receive letters and was
thankful for the prayers prayed and the interest shown in the work we were doing. I
really enjoyed writing too but it was hard to find time for everyone. We were also
invited to another first birthday celebration. This time it was for John Anungu, Muku
and Kakapasa's son and therefore Naaru's grandson. Kakapasa took one service on
Sunday and Misiu, his brother, took the other. During the following week they left for
further studies. Misiu eventually went to Port Moresby where he studied to become a
doctor.
By Saturday 21st January 1956 many of the school students were back and really
pleased to see each other again. Kira, Iroja and Tungori gladly welcomed Sera,
Kangiri, and Kombarawo from the area near Nagavisi and Moroi and Esita, Asapi and
Mitakori came from nearer villages. Later Tapua and Tonse joined them. Many boys
also arrived and we began a week of weeding the food gardens and the station grounds
on the Monday.
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CHAPTER 11:
Misikori
Misikori, from Nagavisi, had been with us for a week or so but we were very glad
when he followed the students who were going down the road to Kihili. They were
going for further training. Misikori was a village pastor-teacher but he had been
overcome by problems. Early in the morning he was given to long loud and substantial
prayers. Most mornings I was awakened by the sound of his praying outside the
church. He prayed in pidgin but the content of his prayer was "Papa God in heaven,
you must give good thoughts to Sister Pamela. There is no one on earth who can save
her from her sins. Only you can do that so I am asking you to teach her your ways so
that she can teach us about you. " It was a very humbling experience to find myself
still in bed when he was up and praying for me. He would appear by our house
reading his English New Testament in his unintelligible singsong, punctuated with
little dances. I found him hard to accommodate. He felt that everyone should own
everything and stores should be abolished. Other than that he proclaimed loudly that
Jesus Christ was in his body and God was in his head. He carried a heavy walking
stick like a cross and he nearly cried when he kept asking us if we were going to hang
him on the cross. When he was at Kihili the teachers there held night and morning
prayer meetings on his behalf. The Doctor at Kangu allowed him a three-week trial
before probably sending him to Port Moresby for treatment, but he improved enough
to be able to come back to Tonu. I was quite glad when he decided not to stay with us
as a student but to return to his own village with this wife and son.
I was to meet him again many times but especially when I lived in the Nagavisi area
near his village. That is another story for later, but suffice to say here that he later
explained to me the curse put on his life in the Duke of York Islands. He transferred
this to me but both of us have been set free through the power of Jesus Christ who is
supreme over all evil spirits. In 1956 I didn't understand what it was all about so was
unable to deal with it. God is very merciful in the way he guards and keeps the ones he
sends out to do his work. His timing is perfect.
While the weeding was going on I was sorting out the schoolwork for the coming
year. Merle helped me to sort out all my Social studies pictures into their correct
scrapbooks. With no libraries to consult, any pictures for all kinds of lessons were a
great help. The carpenters were busy making desks and seats for the new classrooms
from logs of wood. When school began the following week Mutona and Kirahoni had
classes one and two in the church and I had 32 in Classes 5 and 6 in my room and 18
in classes 3and 4 until another teacher could come. On Sunday I had 82 children in
Sunday School so the work was growing. Merle helped me with class three when she
could. Mutona wanted to retire from teaching but his real problem was that his pig
fence needed to be mended. This was crucial. One pig can do a lot of damage in one
night so he needed time off to fix it. Neewai began to teach class. Later, when his
permit to enter P.N.G. was granted, Nelson Ivapitu from Bilua came with his family to
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join our staff. I taught with him in Bilua in 1953 and was very pleased to see them
again.
A Centipede in the Thatch
At this time I gave them the thoughts from the World Day of Prayer leaflet for that
year linking them with the rest of the women in the world. In the middle of all this I
had a bad cough and tried to keep fever away with medicine. As I preached on Sunday
morning a centipede roaming around in the saksak thatch above Aliti's head held the
congregation's attention with far greater intensity than I was able to produce. Over
these days and nights Merle delivered a number of babies. Tonu maternity ward was a
very busy place and Merle was on 24-hour call!
Letters and photos from home kept me in touch with the events surrounding my sister
Rosemary's marriage to Hamish Roake. When the girls saw the photos they could
hardly believe that I was not the one in the photos. They were very interested in my
family at home and loved the parcels my mother sent as well as all the interest of
belonging to people in New Zealand. We are one family really. I asked for ones in
Christchurch who wanted a prayer challenge to adopt one of my needy pupils such as
Deviri, whose badly crippled body and consequent inferiority complex caused some
problems at school. Real prayer always makes a difference, and I was grateful to all
those who helped us in this way.
One Monday morning the boys were up at 1am to go down the road past Harinai to
collect our medicines and other cargo. By lunch time all but the 44 gal. Drum of
kerosene had arrived, proving how much more willing to help the boys were these
days. Mr.Voyce sent up sixty hymnbooks and the same number of gospels of Mark for
sale, but as the girls had no money they worked for us to earn them. In their sewing
classes the girls made loose cloth covers to protect their precious hymnbooks. These
they embroidered distinctively and the boys really wanted them. I felt that the girls
were unable to say "No" to the boys who wanted their covers but Moroi assured me
that everyone was happy and the boys had said "Thank you". The girls were pleased to
make another one, from the pieces of material I had received from New Zealand.
Harvesting Our Rice
While the boys were on carrying duties the girls busy harvesting our rice, as the
weather was hot (90 F.) and dry. We cut it stalk by stalk, straightened it and tied it in
bundles with the strong skin of the wild banana plants. It was a long job and very
prickly, cutting the skin of our hands and arms. Afterwards it was hung up in a safe
place to dry out thoroughly, and then later it had to be taken to Konga to the
government agricultural station to be hulled. They had 5x25lb.flour tins full of rice but
when hulled this produced just 23lb. A lot of the rice was not well formed but the girls
were thrilled with it. It was for Thanksgiving but I bought it so that the money could
go to Thanksgiving and the girls could have a meal of rice on very special occasions.
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Suri Season
February is suri season, loved by everyone. Suri is like a big white bull-rush. At this
time the singing tops are brought out and spun on the paths near the streams where the
suri grows, to cause the heads to fatten up quickly. We really enjoyed this addition to
our diet sometimes cooking the heads in coconut milk, sometimes boiling it and
covering it with a cheese or curry sauce. Other new seed heads were brought to us to
try too and we loved them all. Sometimes people brought us lovely mushrooms that
had grown on the trunks of felled sago palms. The Siwai people had more than thirty
different kinds of bush leaves and seeds that they gathered to enhance their evening
meals, each in their season.
A Moonlit Rainbow
One night about this time the moon was particularly bright and beautiful. As we filed
out of the classroom after evening Bible Class we looked up at the wide-open sky with
wonder. Moroi said, "Look at the rainbow!" Sure enough my unbelief had to give way
as I came out into the moonlight and looked away to the west. With the moon behind
us we could see a distinct but not very colourful bow curving over the clouds by the
big nut tree. We gazed until our minds had stored up yet another picture of the beauty
round about us. They wanted to hear the story of the first rainbow over again but I
didn't get a chance to tell the whole story because they kept chiming in with the parts
they already knew. On such nights everything was so soaked in dew that it glistened
and shone. The long coconut fronds looked as if each leaflet was encased in glowing
smooth ice. I would have loved to go for a walk but I knew that I needed my full quota
of sleep. The locals however rarely make an attempt to resist the attraction of the
moon. In the villages they dance and sing or sit in its light while they talk and make
baskets.
Kemueli was home from his village visiting for Easter and crowds came in to worship
with us on Good Friday and Easter Sunday. Kirahoni helped me with the big groups of
children that I looked after on these occasions. I was working on some simple pattern
prayers for children to pray, which Nene helped me to translate into Siwai. My mother
sent me a helpful book on prayer by Frank Laubach who had written, "Teaching the
World to Read". That book helped missionaries in many countries to create good
primers to start people off in being literate in their own languages.
Lightning
Terrific lightning struck as we were working in the garden. I had my umbrella up so
that I could go on marking books but when a second jagged streak of lightning came
in a straight line along the ground with fire on top of it, followed immediately by
thunder, the girls shrieked, "Go home". I hesitated but it happened again so with all
speed we set off sloshing through the garden and keeping away from the trees. Once
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on the road I was pleased that my umbrella was keeping my books and me dry but
Esita exclaimed, "It's your red umbrella!" She implored me not to come near her. The
worn foot-track down the grassy road was like a glassy river, however we reached
home drenched, but safely, in spite of my umbrella. (I know now that they were right.
Lightning goes for the thing that is sticking up the highest.)
Even worm-hunting hens had thought better of the weather for a while and stayed
under the shelter. Usually after the first rain has fallen they come out from their hiding
places to seek meaty food. I was tickled to I see them one evening standing on the
slightly raised ground with their backs to the pale sun fluffing out their feathers, trying
to get as dry as possible before nightfall. The local people do a similar thing. On cold
mornings you see them crouching in a band of sunlight with their backs to the sun,
getting warm. To be really conditioned to life here I think we all should borrow a little
duck oil. I recorded one and a half inches of rain in a straight-sided container one
afternoon. Later I bought a rain gauge and kept records for years.
We had been having a number of earthquakes as well as storms. At times we could see
the plumes of cloud billowing out from our nearest volcano, Mt. Bangana in the
distance.
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CHAPTER 12:
District Girls' School
As Sister Ada had returned she was able to start her special task of looking after the
new Girls' School at Kihili. From Tonu, Sera Paripari, Pookuma and Iroja were the
first to go. We had a little feast to mark the occasion. The girls made 25 tapioca
puddings wrapped in leaves ready to put on the hot stones in the mumu they had
prepared. These were to cook all night ready to be taken on the journey next day as
'tamari', 'food for the road'. They cooked sweet potatoes for the evening meal to which
we added some tinned meat. The meal was topped off with a bunch of bananas. Rain
rather spoiled the enthusiasm for games but they always enjoy themselves singing
through the hymnbook and that can be done in any weather.
By May Ada had thirty girls. Thelma had escorted the Teop girls there and was able to
help Ada for a little while. It is a very big task to look after so many girls day and
night every day of the week without an assistant. There is much to do with supervision
of school and gardens and meals as well as the teaching and preparation of lessons.
Dora Rande is taking over the teaching of the other children on the station.
Meanwhile at Tonu in early April we had days of heavy rain made more depressing by
the fact that Merle had several babies in a row that were still born or didn't live long.
This trend was reversed with eleven new little ones making a safe appearance in the
next few weeks. One of the babies that died belonged to Kirahoni and his wife Muku.
Their little son had died several weeks before delivery but it was still very sad. Their
three lovely little daughters who had, what Siwai people call "uto panui", eyes like the
morning star, comforted them! Their house was near ours so we knew them well and
felt their sorrow.
My birthday was marked with flowers and song as Merle worked hard in the
background to make it happen. Gerberas and zinnias with tiny pink roses and fern
leaves arrived first but later Parai climbed a tree and brought me a spray of orchids.
Merle had done some nice baking and made special meals and there were some
presents as well. We even had a game of dominoes in the evening for a celebration.
New Teachers Arrive from the Solomons
Nelson Ivapitu with his wife Mavis, and their children Virginia, Wilson and James
arrived with John Betakera, his wife Grace and their new little son David to join our
staff. We were truly grateful!!! Both families were salt-water people from the
Solomons and quite unused to walking long a distances. They broke their journey at
Musiraka and our girls went down to help them carry the children over the last miles.
They spoke well in English but as they didn't know pidgin and ours didn't know
Roviana it was difficult for a while. I gave Nelson the top class to teach hoping that
they would respond well to the English challenge while I concentrated on getting class
five up to a better standard.
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Building the Jubilee Church
Kemueli had been very busy with his village visiting and he enthused people from
everywhere to help to build a much bigger church that would house the crowds that
often gather here. It was nearly forty years since the good news of Jesus had come to
Siwai. Some brought in bundles of sago leaf and others carried strips of palm bark.
Soon these were sewn together into strips of thatch, heaped up and ready to be tied in
place on the rafters. They were making the best house they could and many of the
posts were stripped of bark and smoothed. Kemueli allotted various sections of the
roof to different villages so life at Tonu was very busy. They put the strips of thatch
very close together to make the roof waterproof for a long time. They are taking great
pride in making this a building that will be of lasting beauty as well as strength and
comfort. In the meantime we had our big services under the pink blossom tree and the
yellow cassia.
Teachers and other village men carrying in a post for the church.
Parcel from Home
A parcel arrived from home with chewing gum to help us to mend the holes in the
kitchen roof but much more wonderful was the lovely birthday cake that arrived in
very good order. Starr Daily once said that food cooked with love was much more
easily digested than food cooked out of duty. I knew that we were going to have many
happy times savouring that cake little by little. There were many other little surprises
in the parcel too as usual. I was thrilled about the plastic bags! They were a novelty in
those days. I had managed to send a number of parcels of Buin baskets home. These
baskets, made by the men, are very fine and strong but not waterproof. The women
made theirs of coconut or pandanus leaves.
The parcel contained a 'blow-up' globe, which was wonderful, and put to frequent use.
The boys as well as the girls loved to hug it and study all the names on it. There was
also a copy of "Isles of Solomon" by C.T.Luxton. I really enjoyed reading this history
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of the church in the Solomons and used it to help me teach that history to the students
over many years so that now my copy is a bit worse for wear but still loved.
A new medical assistant from the government, Mr.Gannon, called in and gave us
some real meat, potatoes, onions, butter and cheese, which were his freezer goods and
unable to be taken further on patrol in the bush. What a treat! He enjoyed Merle's
baking and said so! We found some eggs and biscuits for him to take with him.
One night I felt something flat between my dress and petticoat and decided to shake it
out. It was just as well I did because it was a real scorpion, not just the straight tailed
one that doesn't hurt so much I was so glad that it was round the front and I hadn't sat
on it. How grateful I am that God protects us so amazingly.
The Agricultural Station at Konga
We were thrilled that a European Agricultural Officer, Mr. Tomlinson, was coming to
live at Konga to look after the work there and our area. This was great for us in many
ways as he had a vehicle and received mail regularly. The rice huller was there and
they began to grow demonstration plots of coffee and cocoa and other things. With
this new neighbour at Konga and Mr. Hook at Boku beyond us we were now far less
isolated. It also meant that the village men were able to stay at home and earn money
from cash crops instead of having to go to the Kieta side of the island to work on
plantations. Mostly it is the women who look after pigs but the men need to keep the
pig fences in good repair. The people were able to make some money from rice and
peanuts from time to time.
The little deaf and dumb girl, Ruha, was beginning to read. I took her with all the little
children for half an hour before the rest of the school started.
She made sounds from time to time, usually shrieks, which made me | jump, as they
were so loud and unexpected. She became very good at looking after the little children
in the village.
Samson Pataaku
Samson Pataaku was our senior catechist and a very reliable teacher. He was chosen
as a candidate to be trained as a minister and I was given the task of teaching him
Theology from the textbook "What a Christian Believes and Why" by Hunter. He
came in one afternoon a week from June onwards and we both enjoyed these sessions
very much. In later years I was asked to help Samson Mangung and John Zaie in the
same way and they also went on to become distinguished ministers. More often I was
helping Local Preachers to improve their sermons and services. These studies were
also a help to me as part of what I had to learn for my Local Preachers Exams in New
Zealand. Pataaku had to be ready to be examined by the ministers at Synod in August
so I had to make each chapter as simple as possible so that we could cover the ground
in time with understanding.
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Merle and the general hospital buildings, 1955.
Merle's Busy Birthday
Merle had a busy birthday, firstly weighing many babies as their mothers had come in
for sewing class. We had over 70 women that day. After our special dinner she had to
deliver a baby before late bedtime. There were over a hundred on the sewing class roll
but fortunately they didn't all manage to come every time. I suppose 80 had toddlers or
babies or both, so the din was quite terrific when the toddlers particularly took
exception to their mothers being so engrossed in the sewing. When the grass was dry
enough some of them could go and sit on the lawn outside, which made the afternoon
less wearing for us. Afterwards we checked all their work so that when they picked up
their little garments again they would have a threaded needle with the next stitch
started to help them to get going by themselves without joining the endless queue for
our attention. The favourite thing to sew was a small pair of pants that they call
trousers. Merle cut them out from any piece of material that could possibly be big
enough. When they had finished the garment complete with elastic they bought them
for one shilling, or a bunch of bananas, or six eggs, or a lot of tomatoes, or a good
handful of beans, or something else from their gardens. Trousers stay on much better
than laplaps, so were popular for the young ones at school too. The seams were all
French seams for strength. Some women progressed to making sunsuits or dresses for
Sundays for their little ones. Patchwork blankets with flat fell seams were made from
even the smallest scraps of material. All of these were sewn by hand of course. Any
pieces of plastic material were made into bags as waterproof carriers for hymnbooks
and special things in this wet world.
People came to see us all the time every day of the week and this was good, as it was
the people we had come to help. Certainly our life was full of opportunities for really
getting to know the folk and we prayed that our lives might be kept blameless through
the power of Jesus Christ under this scrutiny. No part of day or night was hidden.
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I permed my hair one Saturday and on Monday morning Dongoho tapped the shoulder
of the girl next to her as I arrived at school, saying in Siwai," Look, she has made her
hair crooked," I tried hard not to laugh. As it was Monday we sang the national
anthem after roll call and had a special prayer for the Queen and for those in our
government, before each class went out with their teacher to their own classroom.
Keeping in Touch
Each year my mother designed and made unique Christmas cards and sent them out to
me early enough for me to write in each one. In this way I was able to catch up on my
correspondence once a year sending each one off with a Papua New Guinea stamp.
My parents also sent out newsletters for me using pieces from my letters home. All
this was a great blessing to the work at Tonu and I am sure that their efforts made a
great difference to the results of the time I spent there. We were team members
working together.
An Arson Attack
Early one morning Maning came into hospital with burnt shoulders. She and the
young child in her care had been asleep in their comfortable garden house, "huru pau",
when someone wakened them by shining his torch through the doorway. They went
back to sleep but woke later to find the house on fire round the doorway. They had put
out their usual fire with water before they went to sleep on the platform at the end of
the room. Maning had to break the log- cabin-like wall to allow her to escape with
little Parung, her mat, pillow and blanket. She went back in to get her husband's box
and things and it was then that she got burnt. The whole structure burnt to the ground.
These "huru pau" houses are very special to Siwai people and a place where they keep
their special treasures. They enjoy living in them but the government requires each
family to build a "line house" in the village, making it easier for the Kiaps to ensure
law and order. Maning recovered but as far as I know the arsonist was never
discovered. The flames in the roof haunted Parung for a long time.
New Church at Panakei
The time had come for Kemueli Pita and family to be farewelled from Siwai and to
mark the occasion he was asked to open the new Church at Panakei on Class Meeting
Day when people from every village would be gathered together. Merle was to have
gone to represent us but, as she had a patient in labour, I went instead. We had school
till nearly 10am when I rushed home to see whether the baby had been born. No
progress there so I saucerized my tea and ate a biscuit while I tied up my sandshoes,
collected my hymnbook and New Testament before racing off. I knew it would take
more than an hour to get there and the service was to begin at 11am. Aliti and her
children and Mavis with her little ones had left with the others earlier. Wilson,
Nelson's two year old son rode on his father's shoulders ahead of me and Inata, a baby
we used to look after followed me comfortably slung in a laplap on her mother's back.
All round me, in front and behind were very excited mission girls. At the stony creek
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we turned off the road into the bush on the short cut. The path through the bush was
shady except where people were making gardens. We passed one woman with a bone
through her nose heaping up dry branches and rubbish ready for a bonfire. Her two
shorthaired brown and white dogs stared at us with interest but without showing any
signs of resenting our presence. Another woman was weeding her sweet potato crop.
They were obviously Catholics or they would have been hurrying along with us. Soon
we left the bush and rejoined the road as it went its purposeful way under shady trees
and across stretches of bright sunlight. We crossed over several beautifully made
plank bridges with roofs over them to keep the decking in good repair. Nearer to
Panakei we passed the row of coconuts that were planted along the edge of the road
'on the day the Queen got her hat'. As soon as my dripping form was sighted coming
round the end of the village and down towards the church the drum was beaten in the
traditional manner to tell everyone that Lotu was about to begin. My hair and my dress
back and front were very wet with perspiration, but it is all part of the game. It was
five past eleven!
The church was beautiful inside and out, decorated with fronds for the occasion, but it
was always beautiful because it had been so well built. We had a hymn and a prayer
outside and then filed in to sit on the flattened log seats. Kemueli led the service and
spoke from 11 Corinthians 13:11 "Finally brethren, farewell. Mend your ways, heed
my appeal, agree with one another, live in peace, and the God of love and peace will
be with you." Many people spoke in the testimony part of the service and then
afterwards we all came outside for the feast. This was set out on a very long table in
front of the church with the food covered by big leaves. While we were in Lotu, a man
with a bow and arrows had kept watch lest any hungry dog should try to get a
mouthful before grace was sung. I could see this dedicated figure through the window
during the sermon.
Counting With a Fern Frond
While we were all seated beside the table Kauma, who had designed the church and
especially the decorations, came wandering past us with a bunch of fern fronds under
his arm and one in his hands. Carefully, one by one he was nipping off a piece of
leaflet for every person present. When he had finished he counted all the stumps and
said that there were 229 people sitting down at the feast. The Panakei hosts were not
sitting with us as they were serving and others had already gone so maybe there were
as many as 275 people present. It was a good feast with plenty of sweet potato, tapioca
"sausages" cooked in boiling coconut oil, green leaves cooked in coconut milk and an
abundance of pieces of roosters and pigs. There were bones for every baby to suck and
more than enough food for even the hungriest souls to enjoy.
On the way home we turned aside to yet another track and came through some
different bush. It was very pretty with gullies down to the creek beds. One creek bed
was especially lovely with the water flowing over tiny stones in the deep shade under
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very thick sago palms. So we arrived home to share the news of the day with Merle
and to hear of the new baby born to Mahki and Kindi in our absence.
Mistaken Dawn
I woke to the sound of footsteps on the back steps by my doorway. It was very bright
moonlight and about 3.15am. I asked who it was and received the answer "Ni". I
recognized the voice and sleepily told her that it wasn't time to light the fire yet, but
she didn't hear me. I heard her scraping the ashes out of the grate and found it
necessary to get up and explain that though it was as light as day neither Merle nor I
were keen to have breakfast in all that much hurry. Mitakori went off back to bed and
to sleep and so did I! Moonlight is very lovely here and exceedingly bright.
"The Star of Hope" Rebuilt by Wesley Leonard
Mr. Leonard, from Canada had been working at Kihili completely renovating the
weapons carrier, which had been a wonderful help to us but needed a radical overhaul.
After Mr. Leonard had taken it to bits completely and put it together again he made it
a corrugated iron roof and painted it silver He arrived up to visit us with Mr- Voyce
and also our much needed groceries and school supplies one sunny mid-day and we
were astonished at its radiant splendour. They stayed for the weekend, which was a
great treat. Mr. Leonard not only mended all the troublesome things that had beaten
our ingenuity but also assessed the possibility of generating hydro electric power
between our two rivers.
Wesley Leonard and the “Star of Hope”.
Mr. Voyce took the big service under the trees because so many people had come in to
say good-bye to the Kemueli family. In the evening I was thrilled when Ruth Nino,
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Miriam Tungori, Dorcas Asapi, John Kupiraki, Matthew Simou and Jacob Kuijaka
were baptized. These were students I had been -mothering'. The next day "The Star of
Hope and its passengers were off to Kihili.
Two weeks later Mr. Leonard and Ovini arrived to see us again with wire mesh doors
on the back of the vehicle now named "The Calaboose" As wen as fixing things this
time they brought some slides of New Zealand and Canada to entertain us after Lotu.
For the Siwai farewell service for Kemueli and family, 962 people were present. He
preached about building on good foundations and afterwards we had communion,
using leaves for communion glasses. The feast was huge and featured fish, opossum,
pigs, fowls as well as plenty of sweet potatoes, and the usual vegetables.
Goodbye
Next morning, after tearful goodbyes, Kemueli, Aliti and their children left in the
shining vehicle for Kihili. It was holiday time so we went with them ready for
Quarterly Meeting the next day. We had a good journey without accident and though
we were bogged down twice we were able to regain momentum quickly. It was a real
pleasure to travel so comfortably all the way.
The boys and girls at Tonu went on holiday while Merle came with me to Kihili.
Mavis and Nelson Ivapitu looked after our house while we were away. Kigona and
Rupokei were looking after the hospital and Mavis and Parai cared for the Maternity
Ward. Merle came to Kihili so that she could mind Ada's girls while Ada and I were
allowed to go to Synod at Roviana via Choiseul. We travelled that way on the Cicely
II as Sister Jessie Grant was on board on her way back to Sasamunga.
Pamela on the swing bridge at Harinai.
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CHAPTER 13:
Synod at Roviana
After Lotu we started our journey to Synod in the Weapons Carrier as far as the beach.
The sea looked calm and the moon was riding between the clouds across the sky as the
boat's crew brought the dinghy up the sand to collect our luggage. Our turn came next
and soon the anchor was pulled up and we were on our way to the Shortland Islands
about 10 p.m. At first we sat on the deck at the back until it became a little cold.
From Kihili Beach to Ozama Twomey in a dinghy.
The others went down below to the bunks while I found my sleeping bag and secured
a place to sleep on the deck. Fine drizzle powdered my face so I moved my position
from time to time. At 1 a.m. we tied up at the Laumana wharf and I went below to
sleep for the rest of the night. Laumana is a very pretty island plantation with a
gracious home near the wharf. Mr. and Mrs. Hammot lived here and had the duty of
"clearing" the boats going to and from the Solomons.
When morning dawned and breakfast on the boat had been enjoyed, Mr.Voyce went
up to the house with the boat's papers. We followed later to join the Hammot family
and others gathered on the wide veranda, which was well supplied with chairs. These
friendly people have created a great venue for exchanging news with the travellers on
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the small ships that were continually calling in. The sea was fairly calm so we were
able to go straight across the area where there are usually tide rips and on down the
Choiseul coast to arrive at Sasamunga just after dark. (If it had been rough we would
have had to sail differently arriving after midday the following day.) We found Lucy
Money and Nancy Ball and the others at Sasamunga entertaining people from the
"Corvette" already anchored in the bay. This ship had brought U.N.O. team on a yaws
campaign. They waited for us to disembark so that we could all enjoy dinner together.
Because Ada's cold was worse she had a bath and went straight to bed. The other
visitors spoke to the Lotu people about their campaign and followed this with a picture
show! Great excitement!! The first film was of the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth 11,
which I really enjoyed, but after that I couldn't keep awake so accepted the offer of
Jessie's bed. She made herself comfortable in the lounge. The house is very close to
the beach and the sound of the sea breaking on the shore soon lulled me to sleep. This
mission station is a very pretty and peaceful place.
Sailing On
In the morning it was time to say goodbye to Nancy, Jessie, Mrs. Alice McDonald and
the five children. Alistair McDonald and Lucy joined Ada, Mr. and Mrs. Voyce and
myself on our journey to Munda, sailing down "The Slot" and bypassing Bilua. We
had morning tea at the usual time but after that no one thought of food again until late
afternoon, though, in spite of the choppy sea, nobody was actually sick. I chose to stay
on deck but got burned by the wind, sun and the glare so crawled into my sleeping bag
and lay across the stern by the steps to the cabin. All the bunks down below were
filled. The waves sprinkled my face and hair till my glasses needed windscreen
wipers! About 5pm, in the shelter of another island, we were able to have a cup of tea
and some tomato sandwiches. With that soft food I lost a filling from my tooth. The
cold wind sent me down below to snuggle up on a bunk beside Ada.
Inside the lagoon the sea was smooth but very soon Lucy warned us, saying, "In two
minutes we will be there." What a scurry ensued. With only one side of my hair
combed, (salt-water tangles are hard to undo) I climbed onto the wharf to meet
everybody.
The Rev. and Mrs. Metcalfe, Bob and Mavis Mannell, Rev. Alex and Sheena Watson,
Mary Addison, Norma Neutze, Audrey Grice were gathered there to greet us. Soon
Effie Harkness and Olive Money were with us too, welcoming us to the Sister's House
where we were glad to have supper a bath and bed. The next morning Dr. Gerald
Hoult, a doctor and a dentist, agreed to look at my tooth. He fixed the filling and
found two more teeth that needed attention. I was so grateful for this. In the late
afternoon I went with Audrey to take the girl boarders down to the beach for a swim
as the sun was setting in a brilliant display.
After Lotu the Malakuna still hadn't arrived with George Carter, Gordon Cornwell,
Trevor Shepherd, June Hilder, John Taufa, Daniel Palavi and all the local
Bougainville representatives. Those in charge of the next day's preaching plan were
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looking for someone to help so I volunteered. Effie said she would come with me to
see the village people, as she had no Sunday school that day. When the Malakuna
finally arrived George was very glad that I was to take his place, as he was not a good
sailor.
Village Visiting
We left about 6.30 the following morning in the Vecta, going through the very pretty
Wonawona Lagoon, which is full of small bush clad islands, fringed with coconut
palms. We reached appointed place, Mandau, about Sam and Alex Watson and
Alistair McDonald went on to two other preaching places. Mandau village was strung
out near the sea, with the houses dotted about in the thick cushion-like grass that
covered the coral. Flowering hibiscus and frangipani bushes brought lively colour and
sweet scent to the scene. We were well looked after with drinking coconuts and a meal
of sweet potato and chicken before the service! I really enjoyed preaching on the text,
"Without me you can do nothing." The choir sang in soft harmony. After we had
shaken hands with everyone the teacher, Edwin, said that the women, including his
wife Violet, were coming to sit and talk with us as friends. That was a lovely surprise,
much appreciated. It is important to talk with our guests as well as to feed them.
About eight women and some little girls spread banana leaves on the floor. Potatoes,
fish, shell fish, chicken soup and other good things were laid out in dishes on the
leaves and after Edwin had said grace he left us to enjoy each other and the food.
Afterwards I preached again for the afternoon service and they listened well to both
services though I spoke in English. When the Vecta came back with Alex Watson they
asked him to take two baptisms, which he did very simply and meaningfully. Off we
sailed into the sunset, which was beautiful but not good for reefs. Bump, bump, bump
and alas we were stuck. Alex swam round and helped the crew to push us off into the
channel again. As we came towards Roviana the captain made sure that the beacons,
wharf and house lights were lined up, showing us the way to the wharf. Praise God we
were safely home again.
The following day some of us were invited up to the Chairman's house on Kokengolo
hill above the mission station. From this vantage point the Metcalfes had a splendid
wide view of the islands in the lagoon all around this part of New Georgia. The sea is
a blend of wonderful colours and the scores of bush-clad islands edged with cream
sand make a picture of paradise.
Synod time was very busy for everyone. Typing reports and balance sheets, checking
the figures on the adding machine, and recording minutes from various committees are
all tasks that computers and photocopiers would make short work of today. The
sessions, when we all sat down together, would begin at 7am and go on until 12.30
with a short break mid-morning for the chance to stand and have a welcome cup of
tea. The backless bench seats seemed very hard! More of the same followed in the
afternoons and evenings, but there were some chances for time off.
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One Saturday afternoon Norma loaned me a bathing costume and we walked about a
mile to a beautiful pool at Kindu. It was not far inland from the sea, but surprisingly
the water was lovely, cold fresh water bubbling up from a spring in a pretty grotto. It
was about 30yds.long and 10yds wide. The bottom was white coral sand but the water
looked a delicate green-blue shade, paler than the colour of the water over the coral
reefs. Seldom have I enjoyed a swim more than I enjoyed that one.
Sunday was special for services and time to wear our best dresses, of pretty materials
in rainbow colours. There were nine Sisters there that year enjoying the company and
good fellowship with all the other staff members, men and women. We even had the
joy of a special service together in English. MaryAddison, Norma Neutze, June
Hilderand Lucy Money were nurses; Effie Harkness, Audrey Grice, Ada Lee and
myself teachers, while Olive Money did accounting and secretarial work often with
Lucy's help. It was just wonderful to be together.
I was amazed at the efforts of the local girls in doing the flowers for the services. The
tall brass cartridges were well polished with Brasso, then the tall stiff-stalked ground
orchids that grow so well in the Munda coral, were arranged like a huge Victorian
posy. The centre might be white then a ring of mauve followed by more white and
edged with a collar of fern leaves. Ground orchids range in colour from white through
pink to mauves and purples. They also had hibiscus of many many colours to work
with. They pierced these blooms with the strong midribs from sago leaves or coconut
fronds of different lengths to make pretty displays. Hibiscus flowers live only one day
in or out of water. They had lovely canna lilies too.
On the 9th September 1956, at the afternoon service, Scotter Bo and his wife Mary
were nominated by their minister, Alistair McDonald, as candidates for the missionary
work in the Highlands of P.N.G. It was wonderful to hear their testimonies and to be
part of the group that sent them out to this work. After this, two leaders, Solomon Alu
and Simon Rigamu, were introduced by their ministers as the ones who had been
chosen to go to New Zealand on a visit to the churches there. (They stayed in
Christchurch with my parents for part of the time.) Next Mr. Voyce introduced
Samson Pataaku and Mr. Metcalfe introduced Joeli Zio as candidates for the native
ministry. These senior men spoke earnestly of God's call to them. It was very
encouraging to realize that the church was growing and going forward to meet the
next generations.
I was thrilled to meet some of the girls I had known when I lived here in 1953.
Spontaneously they sang to me some of the songs I had taught them previously. That
was special because in those days I wasn't able to talk with them much in Roviana.
Obviously some happy memories had lived on.
Many decisions were made to be put to the Mission Board in New Zealand for their
approval or otherwise. One that interested me was the possibility of a house of
permanent materials at Tonu. Mr. Voyce felt that the time was right and this did in
fact become a reality. They also asked that Mary Addison be appointed to Tonu as the
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nurse there. In the end we had ten happy years together before Mary came back to
nurse in New Zealand and to be near her mother.
The sound of the buki (conch shell) called us all to hurry down to our last meeting.
We had high hopes of finishing all the estimates and
Board suggestions as well as the minutes so that we could begin our various journeys
home that evening. About 5pm George Carter read the last minutes and we all stood
while the Chairman, Rev Metcalfe and Secretary, Rev. Shepherd signed the book then
while we were still standing, Mr. Metcalfe led us in our final prayer. I was conscious
of a wonderful sense of peace. It seemed to me that we were all in wonderful unity;
that though we sometimes disagreed with each other yet we were all very close friends
because we had lived through many of the same kinds of joys and problems. It was
just like Paul said, "many members but one body." Mr. Metcalfe, the head, led us all
as one to the throne of God.
The Journey Home from Synod
After the finishing service there was a great old scramble. Gordon drove the ‘Green
Hornet’ round to collect the luggage from the various houses and put it on to the
appropriate boats. Most of us had been almost packed since the day before, ready for
instant take-off, but there are always some last minute things to do. I was thrilled to
find that I was allowed to travel to Bilua on the Cicely II and thus was able to visit my
friends there en route home. I shared this part of the journey with George Gordon,
June and Alistair.
We had chicken, roast potatoes, pumpkin and greens for our farewell meal at the
Sisters' house. It was probably more hilarious than usual because we nine were sorry
to be saying good-bye to each other and we covered it up with mirth. We had so
enjoyed our time together.
The buki sounded and then the drums calling us to the wharf for evening Lotu. The
Malakuna was tied up at the end of the wharf and the Cicely was tied to the Malakuna.
We sang a hymn together as the last stragglers arrived then Mr.Metcalfe read some of
the verses from Psalm 107 especially verses 38-32 about the sailors who called out to
God when they were in trouble on the sea. As the moon and the stars shone down on
us he prayed for us all. Much hand shaking followed as we said good-bye to the white
and black friends we were leaving behind. When I thought I had been round the whole
circle I dashed over the Malakuna to the Cicely to see if my things were safely there.
Hands grasped mine from all directions. As I emerged from the cabin Audrey and
Mrs. Metcalfe were on the Malakuna waiting to say good-bye. I was so glad that I
hadn't missed them in the dark.
The Cicely slid out first over the moonlit water but before we were through the
markers at the sides of the channel George realized that we had left Gordon behind.
We stopped round the corner at Banga, visiting the Halls at the College, until the
Malakuna came by and slowed down to let Gordon off at the wharf to sail with us.
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Casting off our ropes at the wharf we rolled our way through the night until in the
morning we were near Bilua. We spent a whole day there with Myra and Joy and I
was able to see the new church and the school, to spend time with Ailsa and even to
go over to Ozama Island to renew my friendship with some of the leprosy patients
there. There was so much synod news to share with Myra that the day went very
quickly. Mark Pivo and his wife were glad to hear how Mavis, their daughter, and
Nelson and the children were getting on at Tonu. Rene was at the wharf and Elsie and
Sito with their lovely baby. In my time at Bilua in 1953 I had found many friends and
we were excited to see each other again.
As we pulled away from the wharf at dusk to sail through the gap in the reef, we
passed the good ship Mandalay coming in to collect Alistair McDonald to take him
back to Choiseul.
George, who was not a good sailor, went to his bunk immediately but June, Gordon
and I watched the Bilua lights till they went from our sight as we turned round the end
of Vella. The coast slipped past us in the moonlight as we sang hymns and storied
together. Gordon, a Navy man a in the war, didn't want to lie down till we were safely
through Bagga Passage and out in the open sea so we kept him company on the deck.
The boats-crew were fine sailors but I think all of us were glad to have Gordon with us
when we sailed in difficult places. When the swell grew heavier and the islands round
the Vella coast receded we went down to our bunks till daybreak.
We had breakfast near the Shortland Islands and when we tied up at the Laumana
wharf, the men went ashore at 10am, to present the necessary m papers to customs for
clearance from the Solomon Islands. June and I were intrigued by the layers of fish in
the clear green water under the wharf. The bottom was white sand so we could see the
layers of fish very clearly. Near the top of the water were dear little tiny fish and on
the next layer down were a much more numerous gathering of slightly larger ones that
swam in formations almost like playing "The Grand old Duke of York". Underneath
them were some football jersey fish with black bands on their yellow and cream
bodies. A different shoal of graceful fish swam among them while at the same level
tiny blue fish played hide-and-seek round the wharf piles amongst the barnacles
growing there. As we looked deeper we saw a lovely big flat fish, just right for
breakfast! Deeper still were a whole tribe of fat, more ordinary shaped fish and
amongst them " one big enough for our dinner! At this juncture Mrs. Hammet and
Gordon came down the steps from the homestead veranda so I went along the wharf to
meet them. I had collected up the things Myra had sent for the Gurney family, as their
house had recently burned down on this very pretty island plantation.
As we sailed on towards Kangu we had morning tea then I packed up my things. We
stopped at the hospital first where Gordon went ashore to get a clearance for us from
the doctor. Mr. Wern the Assistant District Officer was there too so he attended to our
re-entry papers, saving us from the need to stop again at the Government Office. We
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were able to make our way along the coast to the Japanese Wreck where we went
ashore and made our way on foot up to Kihili.
Buin Show Day 15th September 1956
The day after our arrival was the much-anticipated 4th Annual Buin Show. Hundreds
of local people had come from their villages in Siwai, Buin, Uisai, Nagavisi and even
Kieta down to the coast at Kangu. There were also 46 white people and their children
present, including Catholic Sisters and Fathers, all the Government officers and their
wives, plantation people and store-keepers, ourselves and the missionaries who were
on their way back from Synod, more than I had ever seen together on Bougainville
before. We were all invited to a luncheon in the unfinished new hospital so it was a
great chance to meet one another. I don't think that such a large crowd of expatriates
has ever gathered at Kangu again, or anywhere else in Buin. Previously entries for the
competitions had been gathered to be judged and the prizes were awarded in the early
afternoon. Hand writing, drawing, sewing, woven mats and baskets, cane work and
chairs, spears and axe handles, model canoes and houses even a model of a cremation
pyre were all on display. Vegetables and fruit of many kinds filled another large
shelter. There was so much to see on this very hot bright morning. Mr. Atkinson, the
District Officer from Sohano was in charge of festivities but the friendly crowd was so
huge the loud speaker really couldn't reach everyone. A great sports programme was
arranged for the afternoon but when heavy rain pelted down tired, sunburned people
were glad to have the excuse to start walking home again. On these occasions there is
always the concern that the rivers might come up and stop you from getting back to
your village that day.
The next day Mr. Voyce asked me to preach at the morning service, which I was very
glad to do, using a modified version of my talk for Synod. "Jesus said, I am the
truth.... If you continue in my word you shall know the truth and the truth shall make
you free."
The following day Tuma brought us home in the Weapons Carrier. How glad we were
to be back. I painted two beds that we had been given and sawed the legs of Merle's
bed to make them even. The children hadn't yet returned from holiday so we had time
catch up on what needed to be done. Mr.and Mrs. Voyce visited us at the end of
September to discuss the up-coming Jubilee and also where new buildings should be
built.
My Grandfather, the Rev. Samuel John Webb
In the next mail I learned that my much loved grandfather, the Rev. Samuel John
Webb, had died just two days before my sister Rosemary gave birth to her first child, a
son, Simon Roake. (23rd and 25th September 1956) My mother wrote, "The king is
dead. Long live the king." Simon was his first great-grandchild and we pray that he
will follow in his great grandfather's example of a very productive life. Grandpa could
play any instrument and indeed invent new ones, but though music was as much part
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of his life as breathing his great passion was to preach in pulpits or on street corners to
make sure that people would know that Jesus longed to give them new life. After
collapsing two or three times in the pulpit, that avenue was closed to him in his
seventies but he joined the Salvation Army to preach and play his instruments in the
Square in Christchurch. He loved to talk to the old men who congregated in various
bus shelters there, often inviting destitute ones to come home with him. In his early
eighties when he became ill my parents took him into our home. He longed to go to be
with Jesus now that he felt no longer useful. One morning as a cup of tea was offered
to him he said, "Is that you, Rosa? I thought it would have been the angels this
morning." I really praise God for all that Grandpa taught me and especially for his
love and prayers. He taught me to play the violin and when I went overseas he sent me
The Christian Herald, which I read eagerly. I look forward to meeting him again in
God's good time.
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CHAPTER 14:
Forty years of Methodist Mission work in South Bougainville 1916-
1956
We called this time the Jubilee, at 40 years, as there were still many people living who
could remember the days before the light came. There were some German Roman
Catholic Fathers on Bougainville before that time but when the Siwai people saw the
difference that Jesus had made on the lives of their trading partners in Mono they
wanted this new way for themselves, and sent a message to the Rev. J.F.Goldie in
Roviana asking for a teacher. (See "Isles of Solomon" by C.T.J.Luxton Chapter 7,
Pages 105-109 for the recorded history of these times.)
Monori and Naaru with Ovini, Kemueli.
Opening the Jubilee Church.
Mr. Goldie and Mr. Wheen came to the beach at Mamagota in 1916 and went 5 miles
up to the inland village of Harinai to talk to the chief men. As a result of these talks
Daniel Sireheti, Shadrach Peuhai and Paul Sai were appointed to this place and later
David Pausu and Chillion Kiau were sent by steamer and were met by Harinai natives
who took them up to other Siwai places. For the Jubilee new churches had been built
at Mamagota and Harinai and these were visited and dedicated on Sunday 14th
October, at the beginning of the days of Jubilee. David Pausu had begun the work at
Tonu, which had become the main mission station for the area. David was my very
real friend and wise advisor. His amazing story needs to be told in a separate chapter.
By Thursday afternoon crowds of visitors were arriving including ministers Trevor
Shepherd, Alistair McDonald, and John Taufa. Doctor Hoult was there and many
leaders from other areas of Bougainville and the Solomons. Mark Pivo and Harry
were from Bilua, Siron from Buka, Mosesu from Teop, Gideon Shakespeare Kaigasi
and Kiau from Roviana. It was a very happy time of being together.
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Early on Jubilee Day Alistair McDonald killed the pig for the cooks to prepare for the
feast. I was able to join Trevor, Alistair, Doctor and some other folk in the truck to go
to the beach at Mamagota, where we walked across the rickety one plank bridge over
the dark waters of the lagoon to the edge of the sea. (The village men had put a rattan
cane handrail up for us so I didn't need to crawl over this time.) Crocodiles live in this
lagoon but with all the noise we were making we didn't need to worry. We were there
remembering the bravery of Mr. Goldie and Mr.Wheen as they met the rather
fearsome looking local people on the beach, that day forty years before. They had not
expected to go inland but accepting the invitation of the delegation they walked in the
rain five miles up to their village to spend the night, in their company. The results of
that meeting have been momentous.
Ovini, Kemueli, Pamela, Merle.
1500 at the Service at Tonu
When we arrived back at Tonu we were amazed to see so many people. Mr. Voyce
estimated that there were 1,500 people present. The service began almost straight
away with 11 choirs longing to sing to us and many other people waiting to speak.
Mark Naaru presented the church to the Secretary of Synod, Trevor Shepherd, in the
absence of the Chairman. Trevor replied with a suitable word then many others
brought greeting from other places. Some teachers from earlier days spoke of the
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beginnings of the work in this area. Old David had some great stories to tell of the
changes in forty years. After all that the people enjoyed their feast but, though there
was to have been a football match, most people hurried away to beat the rain!
New Land for Food Gardens
Later in the week Trevor, Alistair and I went with Ariku and Naaru to view the land
that they were willing to allow the mission to use for food gardens for the students.
This was hard walking through bush, up hill and down dale for most of the morning.
A few days later we went over an adjoining piece that Kuna was allowing us to use as
well. The problem of having enough garden ground for students' food had almost
caused us to have to go to another place. We hoped and prayed that this land would
not be contested but that we would actually be allowed to use it. God was merciful and
in time we had wonderful gardens there and years later the Tonu High School was
built there.
Merle was pleased to have Doctor Hoult's help in examining many village patients
who had come to Tonu for the celebrations. One day I was called in as an extra
assistant while Doctor and Merle cut out a 14oz. fatty cyst from a man's back.
On Sunday Doctor preached at two Rataiku villages while Trevor preached at Tonu in
the morning and then at Purikori with Merle in the afternoon. I took Alistair and Ada
to Panakei. We all arrived back at Tonu about 5.30, just before dark after a very happy
day.
In the evening Alistair took evening Lotu using three small tins of kerosene with
wicks in them to illustrate his story about how sharing our light is the best way to keep
it. The fun began when the lights were to go out. Alistair blew and nearly lost his
eyebrows, and then Merle threw some sand from the floor in it and splashed the
flames around. The suggestion from the congregation was to find a flat stick. A
coconut frond stem quickly and easily ended the drama.
We Were Given a Radio!
On Tuesday it was time for Ada and her girls to go back to Kihili in the Cicely II after
they had walked at least part of the way to the beach.
Some set off walking early and others left later in the weapons carrier to change places
with them half way. It was a memorable visit for everyone. I was so glad because in
the midst of this a radio had arrived as a gift for us from the Young people of the
Methodist Church at home. With help from the missionary men present an aerial was
set up and we heard news from 2YA New Zealand.
Mr. Voyce had been busy superintending the construction of a paddock for the cattle
we were to look after and the young bull arrived not many days later. It seemed so
huge compared with pigs! Many adventures followed especially when a cow arrived
as well.
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Beware of Falling Trees
Another exciting event happened at this time too as a woman arrived one afternoon as
Merle and I were taking sewing outside under a tree. I can see the awful sight now.
The woman hadn't wanted to move from where her husband was chopping down a tree
and as it fell some branches peeled her scalp off from one ear to the other. They had
walked all the way from Sikurai, many miles. I was Merle's assistant as she sorted out
the mess and then put in 26 sutures. The woman recovered very well by the grace of
God and everyone learned again the lesson about falling trees.
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CHAPTER 15:
Sister Merle Carter Left for England
After Jubilee school went back to normal and preparation for Merle's departure for
London became pressing. I made her a hat and mittens of the same green wool jersey
that her dress and jacket were made of and the outfit looked really good. I also
crocheted her a maroon chenille hat, which I trimmed with little pearls. (In those days
we wore hats!) Sister Mary Addison arrived here a week before Merle left and was
able to help her finish the jersey she was knitting. We were all able to be part of the
farewell dinner that gave us the chance to say goodbye in style.
Merle Carter, Mary Addison, Clarie Wills, Pamela Beaumont.
Clarrie Wills, Builder from Timaru, Joined Us
Clarrie Wills had also arrived to begin building our house and the girls' dormitory and
Wesley Leonard was often with us as he drove the rejuvenated weapons carrier to
deliver building materials to us, before he left to return to Canada. We also had to
make numerous trips with the students to the beach at Moreka, where much of the
timber had been put ashore. The planks had to be carried from the beach, across the
lagoon, through the swamp and up to the place where the vehicle could later pick them
up. This was a difficult task but they all helped together in spite of pouring rain or
strong sunshine. I went to the beach with the boys and girls to encourage them.
At one stage I was carrying one length of timber on my shoulder with Nino at the
other end of it. Progress was slow and after a while I felt the load being lifted off my
shoulder and saw that Kauma had set me free. He had the end of a piece of timber on
each shoulder with two girls behind him each carrying the other end of one of the
planks. I realized that my most useful contribution was to see that the bucket was kept
full of drinking water from the spring and that it was fairly shared out amongst
everyone. When it came time to go back home to Tonu I gathered all the girls together
to start walking with them. Clarrie took the bike for the first part of the journey and
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left it against a tree further up the road for me to have a turn of riding. Taking
turnabout we were able to keep everyone moving along. At times the rain poured
down, soaking us and even getting into my waterproof watch. I had to send it down to
Sydney to Mr. Brochert to be fixed.
Very unusual calm sea allowed the Malakuna
to land this timber on Mamagota Beach.
Clarrie was great at fixing things like the holes in the iron over the stove in the kitchen
part of our leaf dwelling. While he waited for all the materials for the new house he
arranged a tap for us over the basin in the old bathroom, a tremendous boon. It was
Clarrie too who fixed up an aerial and earth for our new radio so that we were able to
receive news from 2YA in New Zealand. He also took my little organ to bits and
mended the bellows with tarred paper so that I could enjoy playing it again. This man '
from Timaru and was cheerful company for everyone. The carpenters he was working
with gladly learned a great deal from him because he was thoughtful and patient as
well as being very good and neat in his work. All the boys on the station appreciated
him too and that helped me with the overall running of Tonu.
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The concrete foundations and piles for under the floor for our house were set in place
and others built for the adjoining Girls' Dormitory for which the New Zealand
Methodist Women's Fellowship paid. The children were busy part of every morning
carrying sand and gravel up from the river for the concrete. Those who deserved some
punishment found that they had to carry extra sand. It was a great deterrent to
naughtiness.
Kira, Men, Moroi, Ruha, Agnes, Miri
Tungori, Tapua, Moroi, Mitakori
In the afternoons the girls started their new garden on the land we had recently been
allocated. To get there we went across the grass behind the school then down the bank
by the swimming pool, but on the other side of the razorback cliff. Next we climbed
over the pig fence and wound our way amongst the sago palms and other trees till we
came to another bank to clamber down before we crossed a stony creek. Up the path
on the other side, just around the corner there is a beautiful view of a very high cliff
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clothed in bush with a good sprinkling of tree ferns amongst it. This is the bank of the
next river we walked through. It was wider and swifter than the creek and when it
rained hard the girls had to hurry home from the garden lest they be caught in a flood.
The water usually looked cool and inviting here mirroring the bush on either side
where the water flowed calmly over deep places before splashing over the stones by
the crossing. On the other side we went through old David Pausu's suri plants, then the
rice plot, next his corn, his peanuts, his sweet potatoes and finally his yam and taro
gardens bordered with banana palms all carefully tended. The girl's garden adjoined
his and before Christmas they had planted sweet potatoes and cooking bananas ready
for the next year. After I had started them on their work for the afternoon I had to go
back to the house to work on exams and other school tasks. I am sure that they had
some swimming as well as gardening in my absence. There were plenty of springs in
the rocky river banks and they would carry water back to their thirsty friends in leaves
that they carefully folded for the purpose. I loved going back to see their progress and
bring them back in the late afternoon, when the light was softer about an hour before
sunset. It was like a walk through the Botanical Gardens except that there is much
more colour in gardens at home.
Soon it was time for exams. Peter Nene, one of Sari's children, was dux of the school
that year. The extensive work in the food gardens went on apace, even in the pouring
rain, so that there would be plenty to eat after the holidays. We worked really hard and
I ended up in bed with two rugs, the eiderdown quilt, a hot water bottle and some
malaria medicine but by morning I was much better.
On very wet nights the students had their own Lotu in their houses. I let them choose
their own leader on these occasions and they loved it. The girls particularly loved
singing through the hymnbook until they fell asleep. This gave us a free evening to get
letters written.
A Visit from Mr. Taylor
Visitors were very welcome though they were almost always unexpected. Late one
afternoon, just as I was adding some cocoa to flavour the slightly fusty semolina
custard I was cooking, I heard a European voice enquiring whether any one was home.
It was Mr. Taylor, the Government schoolteacher from Konga. He was having bicycle
tyre trouble on his way back home, and as a good neighbour for about five years, he
was glad to pop in. While we shared a cup of tea it began to pour with rain again so he
gladly accepted the invitation to stay to dinner. The rain didn't ease but we enjoyed a
great evening hearing all the news, and eventually he accepted a bed for the night in
Clarrie's house. I was very glad to hear his ideas on Government educational matters
as I was in a muddle over all their circulars. He was shortly to go on leave then to
return as the senior educational officer for the whole of Bougainville-Buka, living at
Sohano. Friendly relationships are invaluable.
The next day after lunch the Weapons carrier arrived with Mr. Voyce and we were
able to sort out the internal space arrangements for the new house. Clarrie had made
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careful plans so that we could each have one and Mr. Voyce approved of it. Clarrie
also was glad to report that the new maternity ward would be ready by Christmas,
which was great news as the old one was being so thoroughly digested by the white
ants it was unsafe. The new one had a concrete floor and sheet iron walls with gaps
between the floor and the wall and also spaces at the top between the walls and the
roof.
Christmas Eve was a Very Busy Day!
Mary and the nurses transferred the maternity ward things over to the new building,
ready for it to be dedicated the next day.
I went with the girls to cut down a Christmas Tree. We hauled it up an almost
perpendicular bank, like ants carrying a big beetle up a tree trunk. We called and
called and finally help arrived to enable us to get over the edge at the top. The tree was
a bush one with pretty pink flowers on its many branches. The girls decorated it while
I continued to sort out the presents for 20 girls and 30 boys from Tonu and about 50
village teachers. The Methodist Youth Department parcel from New Zealand and
other parcels from home ensured that there was something for every one.
While our girls were out singing carols to the village people I prepared my sermon for
Christmas Day. The village choirs began singing to us soon after evening Lotu and
continued coming all through the night. About 2am when our girls were safely in bed I
went to bed myself. At first I got up at intervals to show my appreciation but finally a
sleepy Happy Christmas was all that I could manage until the last one at 5.30 when I
realized that day had begun.
At breakfast Mary, Clarrie and I shared the presents that we had kept back from home
parcels for this moment. We were interrupted by the girls telling us that the calves
were out of their paddock. Pandemonium reigned while we herded the animals
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together and finally got them back inside. Most of the students were frightened of
these big animals.
When I rang the first bell for the service the wise men, shepherds, angels and Mary
and Joseph (Mavis and Nelson) came over to our house to be dressed up in the
garments I had prepared for them. When all this was complete the next bell warned
the crowds of people to head for the church or a shady place within earshot. I took the
service because I wanted to keep everything moving. We had 7 choirs to fit in with the
pageant and everything else. While the congregation sang "O come all ye faithful" in
Siwai which is definitely their favourite, the people came to the front to put their
shilling into the offering basket for the young church in the New Guinea Highlands.
During my short sermon I saw that Miruho, the baby we had returned to her mother,
had recognized me with smiles from the back or the church. What a happy time we all
had together.
The New Maternity Ward
After a short break Ovini opened the new Maternity Ward as all the people gathered
round to give thanks for this well appointed new building.
The 2nd Maternity Ward, 1957
During the night Mary arrived just in time for Pirih to have her baby there while the
Mission boys sang a carol outside. It was a real day for babies! After the ward was
opened Mary weighed all the babies whose mothers had come with them for the
Christmas celebrations, and that took a long time. That Maternity ward was very well
used for many years. It was light and airy and a good design, but later a larger building
needed to take its place and it became an extra indoor place for the piles of washing
that go with a busy ward. The nurses and patients were able to store their food and
firewood there as well.
Ovini and Lorraine and family were with us for Christmas dinner in the evening,
returning to Kihili on Boxing Day. Miss Covers, the Government School Teacher at
Sohano came up with Tuma on the return trip to stay with us for a few days. She read
three of my books while she was with us. Mary was very busy nursing a young boy
with cerebral Malaria. He seemed to be getting better with Mary's constant care but in
the end he collapsed and died on the last day of the year. Mary was very upset so we
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went back to hospital to have Lotu with them using the lovely reading and prayer from
the children's burial service in the new hymnbook.
Ovini and Lorraine with Agnes and Caleb.
New Years Eve 1956
On New Years Eve the students from Banga had arrived home so I arranged for
Haupe, a newly qualified pastor-teacher, to take the Watch Night Service. We decided
to stay up until it was time to join everyone in the church at 11.30pm. While we were
waiting a huge centipede fell out of the thatched roof on to the floor at our feet in the
living room. I was glad that the lamps were lit and we were able to deal with it with
out any one being hurt. After that excitement we rang the bell and people from
everywhere filled the big church. I gave Haupe my clock so that he could see the right
time to announce the New Year. Midnight came and went and Haupe went on and on
preaching. Text after text was thoroughly dealt with as we struggled not to fall off our
seats as sleep tried to overtake us. Finally at 1am the New Year was announced! Later
as I received my clock back, I asked Haupe why he didn't stop at midnight and he said
that he saw the big number on the clock and thought that that could not be the new
beginning. We entered into 1957 in a way I have never forgotten.
The first of January was a drizzly day but I took Clarrie and Miss Covers on a walk
through a particularly pretty section of original bush where there were many kinds of
beautiful ferns. After meeting the road we came back another way through a different
sort of bush. We enjoyed it and returned to find that Mary had made us some
wonderful hot soup. She had stayed home because she tired.
A Journey Round the Ruhuaku Villages
The next morning Mary and I put our bikes on the weapons carrier and accompanied
Miss Govers for the first part of her journey back to Kihili Tuma was driving and as
we said goodbye, he set our bikes down near the Musiraka turn off. Musiraka and
Duisei were deserted as everyone was away at their gardens. At Mangung's hospital
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we found just one sick patient, an old man called Pauru. We talked to him for a while
to cheer him up then Monori's son appeared to find out why we had come- a very
natural question. After meeting Ruthie, a past pupil of ours, and her children, we
traveled on to the House Kiap for a rest. Our lunch included a favourite for such times,
a small ripe pineapple cut in half and eaten with a spoon. It provided a drink as well as
sweet nourishment and was easy to carry. At Hurai we noticed that they were making
a new church with great care for all the extra decorative binding details in the roofing
tha showed they wanted to really honour God. At Musimiinoi Kehu's wife met us and
showed us round the village. Three prize sashes from the Bum show were hanging on
the wall of one veranda. At Kunu we met quite a few people. There in the centre of the
village was a pit with a big board in it where the women danced at night celebrating
some special event with two women at a time in the pit stamping their feet to mark the
rhythm. There too we saw a house with a little clover lawn and a flower garden. May
there be many more flower garden lovers.
Kutingori
Next we called briefly at an R.C. village before travelling on up the road to Kutingori.
I had never been inside this village before and it was a pleasant surprise. A side road
led us down a deep dip. Leaving our bikes at the top against a coconut palm we
walked down and across the river. The villaqe was high on the bank and there was
Tawang wearing the trousers I had made him in 1951! He had grown a little but not
much. I was everso glad to see him again. Iroja was there and Uming-s wife
surrounded by lots of friendly children who ran behind us when we left and solemnly
shook our hands to say goodbye further up the road. There were many boggy parts on
the next piece of road but in a while we reached Konga We went to have a look at the
Mopiai River far down below the edge of the cliff where we were standing. It looked
so like New Zealand it made me homesick. The bush on the other side and the water
dashing over great boulders could have been somewhere on our West Coast. As we
stood on a cleared grassy patch the Government School teacher, Malim and his wife
Salome came over to speak to us inviting us into their home for a lemon drink. The
school and the hospital are part way down the cliff.
As we climbed the hill again we met Stephen Sukina and Mary Kira coming home
with Nara and Maria for a holiday. They were going across the river up into the
Rataiku area. I asked Sukina to plan my Nagavisi trip for me between the 19th and
26th January. I would visit his school up there.
Time was going quickly but as there was a lot of down hill on the next stretch of road
our weary legs managed fairly well. Near Panakei we saw Esita coming home from
her garden but we couldn't stay there. We arrived home at Tonu after 6pm worn out
but glad about such an interesting day. For Mary, poor soul, two women had arrived at
the ward in labour. Two new little babies were eventually born before she could have
a rest in her bed!
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We discovered that Clarrie and later Mary had hepatitis! They both felt unwell and
needed to rest as much as possible but neither of them was particularly good at resting.
Eventually they both got better and I was spared from catching the germs. Other
people in South Bougainville had it too. God is so merciful to us and helps us in all
kinds of trials. It was especially hard for Clarrie to be confined to bed with no male
company to cheer him up. He was glad that we had been given the radio and that he
could hear lots of news from 2YA. My glasses snapped in the middle of the nose
bridge but Clarrie was able to mend them neatly. Plastic isn't as everlasting as we
thought i would be but Clarrie rises to the challenge for all kinds of fixing.
Clarrie on the girls’ stilts.
Amongst other holiday jobs I made applique embroidered sacking covers for the three
sponge rubber footstools made from the nose shields of bombs. When we have a
chance to sit down it is great to have the added comfort of putting our feet up. Since
the covers are washable it doesn't matter if our feet are a bit dirty. Rain, rain, glorious
rain means mud and more mud but it is good.
Our New 'Little House’
Clarrie designed and made us a really wonderful toilet from two and a half drums set
in concrete so that we no longer lived with the daily fear of falling through the floor
into the dismal abyss below. The usual way for making a toilet was to dig a huge hole
and then to lay timbers across the top covered with strong leaves and sand abutting a
box in the centre. The trouble was that the white ants went to work on the soft timbers
and you had to be careful to step on to the strongest parts of the floor. Clarrie's model
had fibrolite walls and an iron roof with only two chewing-gum-needing holes, but
best of all it had a door, not just a doorway. I made a trellis round the outside planted
with honeysuckle and crotons and a sweet-scented large yellow-flowered creeper to
make it a beauty spot.
Drums that had come to us with army supplies from Torokina eventually I began to
wear out. For our washing and the maternity ward washing the copper rested in a
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drum, housed under a sheet of old iron. The copper fire was very important but when
the drum began to disintegrate it was necessary to make sure that no-one got scalded
feet from the boiling I washing. As each load was lifted out of the copper it was taken
down to the Kutana creek to be rinsed, unless copious rain made rinsing possible in
buckets nearby. The next stage, in wet weather was to hang every thing on the lines
round our veranda hoping for a breeze to aid the drying.
Progress
Clarrie struggled on with the building on his days of feeling well. Village men helped
to get the prepared walls standing up and eventually the roof and floors were in place.
The stove in the kitchen was set into a block of concrete. The outside walls were made
of fibrolite, the roof of aluminium, inside walls of 3ply from Bulolo in New Guinea.
The ceilings were made of pinex. While Clarrie and the two carpenters, Anungu and
lamu, built our house and the girls' dormitory other men were setting up the recycled
Quonset huts nearby on concrete floors. Clarrie was directing all this work as well
creating a 60foot three classroom block on one side of the lawn and a block of the
same size but divided into chapel and school library/storeroom on the other. It was a
major effort. Mr. Voyce kept the materials coming by road and God mercifully
blessed us. Mary and Clarrie and I were a good team. We took day about for saying
grace at meals and taking our prayers together at the end of the evening. This was very
important because it meant we dealt with all the little irritations and frustrations
together before they could fester into bad feelings and it also meant that we could
share our joys with each other too. We each took services on the station and in the
villages as well.
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CHAPTER 16:
A Journey Through Nagavisi Villages, 21st-28th January 1957
With my two ex-army haversacks packed up and my sleeping bag and lilo fastened in
a roll we were ready to leave Tonu shortly after breakfast. With my watch away being
mended in Sydney I went by sun time for the week. Simeon, a teacher and students,
Nene from Siwai and Nembango and Rupunai from Nagavisi walked with me,
carrying my things, and the teachers we visited helped us along the way. The first
rivers we waded through were only thigh deep at the most and the walk along the bush
roads was very pleasant. Boku Government Station is built on a series of plateaus high
above the Uhai River. We crossed over three of the braided streams of this wide river
safely and continued on to the Methodist villages of Pikei and Boku by early
afternoon. We were to stay the night here so I asked the women who welcomed us to
boil some water for me so that I could make some cocoa. Both these villages were full
of energetic children, taught byAhai and Maimoi, Pastor Teachers here at this time.
When Ahai arrived home from his garden I had the chance to talk with him about his
family and the school. We had worked together before at Tonu in 1952. After I had
taken Lotu with Psalm 128 about children growing up as a blessing, Ahai brought us
some lovely soup followed by sweet potato, suri and greens. I was very tired so was
glad to be able to set my lilo on the floor ofAhai's nearly finished new house.
Nembango slept with me and Nene and Rupunai were given another room to sleep in.
Sleep is a great blessing!
Early next morning I was up early and away down to the river below us for a wash. In
my early Bible reading I was impressed by Philippians 1: 29 which I remembered later
in the day as my legs became almost too tired to put one foot in front of the other.
Ukang, who had been one of the orphans that Mrs. Voyce had cared for, offered to
come with us from Pikei as our guide and he proved to be a great help. We went
through many rivers and by noon we had reached Rarenai where a man wanted to talk
to me about the possibility of having a pastor for his village. While we waited for
Kopisa to appear I lay down for a rest. Some shy women gathered in the shade nearby
but our best communication was smiling. We had no common language. Kopisa and
Ukang appeared with green coconuts. That coconut drink and the soft flesh of half of
one really put life back into me. It had been a long time since breakfast and we still
had many miles to go. After this we were constantly up hill and down dale, crossing
creeks at the bottom of the valleys until we reached Haunai where Uming was the
teacher. A swim in the deep pool in the river here washed away my utter weariness. At
sunset, just as Uming gave me a wonderful meal, hurrying people ran past the house
rushing to see the flood that was coming down the river. I had my meal first and then
joined the crowd amazed at the swirling muddy torrent that was completely
uncrossable! I was glad I had enjoyed my wash earlier! At Lotu time I spoke in pidgin
about the story of Solomon's dream. The pastors in each place could understand me
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and my main aim was to bring them encouragement in looking after their people.
Uming put up a mosquito net over my lilo for which I was very grateful.
We left Haunai early next morning and Uming and Kopisa came with us to help us
over the first rivers. Up and down we went for miles through lovely bush. At one stage
the path led down into a beautiful little valley where the houses of the Seventh Day
village folk were surrounded by oblongs of yellow crotons. The mountains up on our
horizon made this place look like a piece of the West Coast of New Zealand. Here a
woman was weeding and another was straightening out her almost dry pandanus
leaves, ready to weave a mat. We exchanged smiles with them all and I learned that
the greeting here is Tambe'.
Just past this village we met a mighty rushing river. Part of it was a good waist deep
but Pesupava and Ukang helped me across. We celebrated afterwards with a piece of
sugar cane each to chew. My helpers reminded me that one must not spit out the
'bones' on the road but throw them away carefully. On and on we went past the R.C.
villages and the road to Kieta. My left shoe hurt so much that I took it off. The trouble
was that these sandshoes had built in sponge rubber insoles and as they had been wet
for days they were now too small for me. Near here we saw a very good pig fence
being constructed. Every post was right beside the next one, and each post was
expected to grow so that no pig would escape from there! We had arrived at Bereriki.
Teacher Ukura was out weeding his clover lawn! How gladly we sank down to rest. I
kicked off my other shoe! In a while Nembango put some of my clothes on the clover
to dry but I lay down and fell asleep. Someone cooked some food for us then it was
time to set out again in the hot early afternoon sunshine. We went through Waruwaru
and saw Sianikei. Between them was a little building with the sign "TRAED STOER".
I sat on a stump and the others shared the coconut they had been carrying with me.
Ukura had come with us and he produced some neatly cut sugar cane as well.
Thoughtful people are a great blessing.
On we climbed to Baradiu at the foot of a mountain shaped like a huge inverted V.
Mountains were all round us but from the road we caught a glimpse of the SEA far
away. All the gardens were fenced and everything was on a slope. The foundation
posts of the houses were all accommodated to the mountainside too. Hosts of friendly
people were living here. Korenopo had made a wonderful bed and a table in the room
where I was to sleep. The bed was about 9ft. wide and nearly the whole village came
in to watch my lilo being blown up. I showed them some pictures and told them some
stories then Nembango suggested that we go for a wash. What a walk! Down the cliff
side we went, then through lovely bush we trailed for about a quarter of a mile till we
came to another cliff. Down we clambered again and there was the river looking as if I
was right back at Arthurs Pass. The same bluish-green water rushed down in jumps
amongst mighty boulders. We had a lovely wash, so cold and refreshing. Three little
children had come with us, one of them clad only in the shell money beads round her
waist. On our return she helped me up the hill, especially at the place where the shelf
was a bit narrow for one of my fat feet. Her big sister carried a length of bamboo full
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of water back home for her mother. Mothers wore bones through their ears and most
of the children were wearing shell money or necklaces of opossum teeth and tiny trade
beads. While tea was cooking other busy hands were busy making a 'little house' for
me. "Tomorrow", I heard them say, "We will put the saksak back again." They had
taken some saksak thatch from some other house for the sake of my privacy. What a
burden I was to them but they were very kind. At Lotu I spoke to them about Jesus
being so willing to help the Centurion's servant. He loves us all. Afterwards I talked
for a while to lots of people and finally was able to go to bed. (From memory I think
that this was the village where many others decided, when they thought I was asleep,
to find a space in this room to go to sleep as well.)
Mt.Bangana
Morning dawned with a bright pink sky behind the three mountain peaks to the east.
Away to the northwest Mt. Bangana was puffing out white smoke. Everything was
beautiful and the chill in the air suggested home. In Lotu I spoke about prayer from
Luke 11. I had enjoyed my own quiet time in the church but soon we were part of the
family again. I nursed a little girl whose mother had recently died. Father had the baby
and she was evidently happy to enjoy my arms around her even as I was thrilled to
have a trusting child to cuddle. Breakfast was a feast of taro, watercress and chicken
served with the lovely soup from the big saucepan.
I noted that Baradiu needed one blackboard, thirteen slates and some slate pencils. At
each place the teachers were able to tell me of their needs and show me what they had
been doing. I was so glad to have these chances to see what was really happening
away up in these isolated places.
Soon we were on our way again with Korenopo joining us on our downward trail
where steep gullies lead us to rivers and then up again to the next ridge. The turquoise
water showed the presence of the copper that was to be mined nearby in later years.
Up and up we climbed seemingly forever but when we reached the top there was
Kariha's house and a heavenly welcome. When I had collected my breath again we
had Lotu where I spoke about the parable of the pounds and our need to make good
use of the opportunities God gives us. Kariha had learned his culinary skills from Mrs.
Voyce and later I very much enjoyed his soup, with its hint of curry. Afterwards I
talked quietly with this gracious pastor, inspired and encouraged by him here on top of
the world. Many years later I was his neighbour in a village by the sea where I spent a
year checking and typing up the nearly completed New Testament in Siwai with
Stephen Iroro.
After a little while we walked to Osiangi, the village Nembango and Rupunai called
home. Opura, one of our mission girls, was at the edge ' of the village leaning over a
pig fence to welcome us. She had been sick and unable to come down to Tonu. There
was a lot ofT.B. amongst these people. Beyond her the people made a line so that we
could shake hands with each person as we walked up towards the teacher's house.
After a coconut drink we had Lotu remembering the woman at the well, Jesus and
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living water. We mingled together for quite a long time, being friends and enjoying
the babies and children. I took photos including one of the TultuI (Government
appointed leader) who was Nembango's guardian. The small boys were playing "kick"
enthusiastically with a tennis ball.
Nembango and Rupunai spent the night here but after the rain the others took me on to
the next village, Nukui, where Isaiah Misang was waiting to welcome us. He took me
down to the Ore River for a wash almost straight away. The large pool was deep, the
clear water a lovely shade of green flowing over flat white stones. There was room to
swim here. Misang \ collected a bucketful of water from a spring in the bank on the
other side of the river to carry up to his house. The flood did come but raced down , to
sea as quickly as it came. Up in the village Kuri and Misang took me to see a deep
cliff nearby, dropping at least 100feet down to the river. From this vantage point we
could again see the sea away in the west. This time in Lotu I spoke of God's mercy to
us though we are so undeserving, illustrated by the story of David sparing Saul. God is
so good to us.
I was glad to go to bed early here but the teachers who had travelled with me went
over to the house-Lotu to enjoy a time of hymn singing together. It sounded really
good to me and I know that for each of those lonely teachers it was a priceless
fellowship. Most of these teachers were from Siwai and Nagavisi was a different
culture from the one they were used to.
In the morning Ukang fried up some slices of sweet potato for me and heated up the
chicken soup. That meal and the one Misang gave me the night before were set out on
a table and served with skill that showed Mrs.Voyce's training years before. Several
small village groups round here wanted to join together and it happened later. I saw
some of the place before going on to Batameku where two children filled my water
bottles for me from a spring. Kungke was waiting for us at Muaino where I had a rest
and took Lotu. Always the people were hungry to hear what God gave me to tell them.
At this place it was the last few verses of 1 Corinthians 15. A coconut drink and a
piece of pineapple were fuel for the next climb upwards to Okaru. From there we
pressed on up the ridge to Rotari where old windswept trees and tree ferns lined the
way. After shaking hands with all the people we went into the church to sing and sing
through the rain. Nearly twenty years later I came to live in this area for three years
and I found that when the rain hammered on the roof the children all began to sing as
they went on with their written work in school. Rain is very noisy but very unifying
even if isolating. You can't hear anyone but you are close to all those sheltering with
you.
When the rain stopped I was frozen. I gathered the children and taught them some
action songs to get us all warm.
We came back down to Okaru where Bana had made us some soup with little peppers
in it that really heated our insides. Unfortunately we had a long way still to go so
saying goodbye to Bana and Namarai and their people we set off through the bush,
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wary of tree roots. Cold and tired and sometimes dizzy we hurried through the
gathering twilight to Pisikulu. My sore toe was very swollen and tender. When we
were able to go to bed we were still very cold. I gave out Nivaquine tablets but for me
it wasn't enough to break the fever. Half of me was burning hot and the other half cold
as ice. I took another tablet and Rupunai boiled some water in my little tin billy and
filled my two water flasks, one for me and one for Nembango, who was also struck
down. The water bottle made me warm but I spent most of the nigh waiting to be sick.
In the snatches of sleep that did come I was dreaming wild Nivaquine dreams of
brightly coloured lumps colliding with different coloured lumps at great speed with
frantic results. In the morning I was slightly better. I was able to eat some food and
take Lotu then we set of early on our next journey. Sometimes we were on a fairly flat
path but often we were going up and down deep gullies, Nene held my hand to help
me over some of the worst places. Near the top of each ridge I felt "seasick" with the
sudden up and down changes of altitude. I kept thinking of the song of the little
engine, "I think I can, I think I can, I think I can...." Eventually we were at the top of
the last ridge and far below us we could see Sirura away down by the Uhai River. I
threw my stick ahead of me and began to climb down backwards, hanging on to roots
and things until I reached the stick and threw it further down again. At one stage I got
stuck between a rock and a tree but I managed to continue by hanging on to a bush
rope. In the swampy ground at the bottom there were lots of little begonias, pink and
white. Rupunai filled my water bottles at one lovely little stream. Soon we were at the
edge of the beautiful green-blue water of the great river. The huge boulders were hot
and nice to rest on, drying out my dress a bit. Soon we were on the drier path to Sirura
where Stephen Sukina had set up a mission station school for the people of this whole
area. Wherever he worked Sukina made a great difference. He put into practice the
good lessons that he had learned in many places and from many people but especially
from the Voyce family. Sukina had saved Mr.Voyce's life at Torokina when he set Mr.
Voyce free from the wire that was electrocuting him. Minister's hair was white from
that day. Sukina was waiting for us with some pineapple and a drink. His mission
children, 28 boys and girls, were all working in the school potato garden. I was free to
lie down for a rest.
That night I had some fish that school children had caught in the river added to the
other good things Sukina had prepared. The others had freshly caught opossum but
fortunately I wasn't offered any. "Liklik dog" is not my favourite food. Rupunai was
always trying to find something to do for me. His mother had died and he was
obviously glad to have me for an extra mother.
The next day was Sunday and the people from Iru village came over the hills to join in
our Lotu times. I preached from the verse,' Whereas I was blind, now I can see.'
Simeon took the afternoon Lotu preaching about Jesus the Light of the world, and at
both services Sukina's school choir sang very well. Later I was able to talk with
Sukina and the other teachers about their needs. I wanted to try to make them a
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Nagavisi language reading primer. Meanwhile they learn in Siwai and from English
reading books from the government.
Clarrie had sent me letter to say that Mr.Wearne, the chief Government Officer for our
area, was arriving to survey the ground for our new food gardens at Tonu. This meant
that I had to try to return on Monday. For Lotu early in the morning we went up to the
level where the school was built. To get to this level we had to follow a steep stony
path then pull ourselves up the cliff by grabbing the two vines tied to tree stumps,
which were hanging there for that purpose. My foot almost dislodged a big stone but
fortunately it didn't roll away until Sukina pushed it over when everyone below us was
out of the way. It was time to say goodbye so we set off for Iru, over the ridges and
through the creeks. At Iru we only had time to shake hands with everyone before
walking on the down hill trail from that lofty village. All of us were happy, singing
hymns as we went along. Ukang, Simeon and Nene were so jubilant that they cut
some lengths of bamboo for panpipes and went dancing on. Noon found us at Mihero
where we had a rest, enjoying some pineapples that Timothy Korimotu, (doctor boy,
teacher and pastor), grew so well. We still had a long way to go with some big rivers
to cross but we arrived home at Tonu in the late afternoon just as the rain began to fall.
God, our loving Heavenly Father, had blessed our going out and our coming in.
It was good to have a cup of tea with Mary and Clarrie, catching up with all the news.
Mary helped me to make the four dresses for our helpers for the week and four
tailored laplaps for the boys who had helped me on the walkabout. There were school
workbooks and requests from teachers to see to and the preaching plan for all our 32
Siwai villages to work out for the coming four months, as well as many more things
that needed to be done, but mercifully every day is followed by a night.
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CHAPTER 17:
Triplets were Born at Tonu to Tapukoi and Tamahe
16th February 1957 was a very special day at Tonu. It was a hot windy afternoon
when Mary received a call for help from nearby Tonu village. Tapukoi had had one
baby and there was obviously another one waiting to be born. Mary helped her with
the second baby then to Tapukoi's horror, she found that a third little baby was not far
away. The slow procession to the maternity ward must have been dreadful for the poor
distressed mother but by 7pm she had three new little daughters. The babies weighed
5lb., 41b.7oz.and 3lb 14oz. The tiny one was just a little handful but perfectly formed
like her sisters. Tapukoi asked us to take the last one into our care, so Beryl joined our
family. Later I made her a tiny pale green nightdress, as she was too small for the
usual little jackets we put on the babies. Clarrie gave up waiting for us to cook dinner
and made fried bread with fried eggs for our tea in celebration! The three babies grew
up to be healthy children who have since each had children of their own. Tapukoi and
Tamahe already had three other children. I knew them well because as they returned
from their garden each evening Tapukoi often sent one of them to ask me for a fire
stick from my stove to help to get her own fire going.
Triplets born 16/2/57. Dongoho with Tohi,
Peema with Beryl and mother Tapukoi with Komura.
The next day Mary delivered two more babies, for two mothers, and the hospital was
full of patients as well. I walked to Panakei to take the service there. On the way I
heard a strong wind coming and then saw the coconut trees in narrow strip bent and
waving in the wind while those a bit further away were scarcely moving. That evening
as I was taking Lotu an even bigger roar grew and when it hit us the children were
frightened. In the din of the wind and later heavy rain we sang, "Sing we the King
who is coming to reign" at the tops of our voices. By the time we had finished every
verse things were a bit quieter and the roof was still in place. Praise the Lord! During
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the week Clarrie was busy finishing our house and beginning on the framing up of the
girl's' dormitory.
Noose with her twin boys, born 7/4/57.
Mary is holding the smaller one.
A good group of keen students joined my evening classes for those wanting to learn
how to preach and on Tuesday afternoons local preachers and other interested village
folk came to Tonu for Bible Study and preaching classes. I really loved taking these
classes because I knew that in the end they would reach far more people with the good
news more effectively than I could manage. Girls sewing classes were on Thursdays.
On Monday night the prefects and teachers' meetings began to make a real difference
in the behaviour on the station. Clarrie was a great help in all of this. We were trying
to get the boys as well as the girls to give up smoking.
Letters and parcels from home were a tremendous encouragement to us all. My
mother and father had had Solomon Alu from Bilua and Simon Rigamu from Teop
staying with them to their mutual benefit. My brother Paul and his new wife Joan had
just celebrated their wedding and my sister Rosemary and her husband Hamish were
the proud parents of Simon, the first of a new generation. Meriel and Althea were busy
finding their places in the grown up world. My cousin sent a well sealed Earnest
Adams cake which Clarrie wanted me to hurry to say thank you for so that we could
eat it. When sea mail arrived it was like an extra Christmas! My supply of "Mendits"
for fixing saucepans was down to the last one when the new supply arrived. Most
students, in fact almost everyone had at least one oval Japanese saucepan left over
from the war but they wore out with the constant cleaning. Our cooking was done over
open fires.
It was a great milestone when Beryl slept through the night. She didn't keep it up but
sometimes we had a good sleep. She was growing well and each week a different girl
was her primary carer, but we gave her any bottle she needed at night. I put down
Beryl's weight gain beside the carer's name to encourage them. In fact I was giving all
the girls marks for their work with the children, in the house or wherever to encourage
them to go the second mile.
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Wild Honey
One day I found that the girls had left early for the garden. When I caught up with
them they had a fire of dry coconut leaves under the branch of a tree where the honey
was. The smoke was driving the bees away and Motiau was standing on the end of the
branch chopping with the axe to break the wood away from round the hole. The rest of
the girls were standing round under the tree clamouring for a piece of the honeycomb.
The tiny black bees were not very pleased but they don't sting like our bees.
At the end of April we had a grand opening for the new house. We were sad that
because of the heavy rain and mighty floods Mr.and Mrs. Voyce were unable to join
us, but the same rain had made our old house very uncomfortable and the move was
necessary. Clarrie took the service outside the house, and then opened the door for all
to come inside. As they came through I gave each one some boiled lollies in place of
the customary pork feast. The boys, having examined our part of the house I went in
to see the baby in her room then on into the girls' room. They took their mats and
dresses and ran off with them to hide them outside via the back steps. What bedlam
reigned! Eventually the visitors were ushered out the front door with a goodbye lolly
each as the door was shut behind them. We had dinner when the tumult died down and
felt glad that we didn't have a house opening every day.
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CHAPTER 18:
"The Palace Beautiful" Built by Clarrie Wills and His Team
The new house was painted with dark green doors and windowsills. The walls were
gray with pale pink batons over the joins in the fibrolite. On the front door I painted
the name "The Palace Beautiful" from Pilgrim's Progress. This was the house where
Christian rested on his journey, helped by the sisters who lived there, Charity,
Prudence and Piety. He gained his Armour there when he slept in the room called
Peace. I hope that the girls who live with us will be similarly helped. The story of
Pilgrim's Progress is much loved and often told as a serial in evening Lotu.
Pamela and Mary on the steps of “The Palace Beautiful”.
The gardens we have made round the house have beautiful gerberas and, with orchids
on the oil palm tree and pink and white lilies at the edge of the lawn. A shady tree
often covered in bright red flowers grew between the house and the riverbank. Tiny
P.N.G. mint grew through the clover lawn so that we could always tell when someone
was wandering round.
Inside most of the plywood walls were oiled and varnished but the kitchen was
painted pale blue. The big veranda off which all the rooms opened was a wonderful
place for the children to be fed while wires spanning the rafters there were excellent
for completing the drying of our washing, and the babies' as well as the maternity
ward washing.
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The next day I was helping Clarrie to write our welcome notice on a big sheet of iron
when Tuma arrived with Sister Beulah Reeves, Sister Ada Lee's co-teacher at the
District Girls' School Kihili. She was a very welcome guest and began by helping us
with the sign.
On one side the sign said:-
WELCOME TO
TONU METHODIST MISSION Grace to you and peace from God our Father
And the Lord Jesus Christ. 11 Corinthians 1:2.f
The other side for departing visitors to read said: -
TONU METHODIST MISSION
COME AGAIN.
It was hung across the road between two trees near the Pintai River and remained
there for many years.
Good weather allowed the truck to get through.
The Visitors' Book
Beulah helped me by ruling up our new visitors' book, a treasure of history now
stretching over the years to 1989, containing many interesting signatures because we
always had lots of visitors. The next day was Sunday and while Clarrie left early to
take services in one direction Beulah and I set off early towards the Rataiku area with
Kangiri and Nino to help us. At Konga we saw Mr. Tomlin, the Agricultural Officer,
by his doorstep. He promised us a cup of tea on our return, a welcome thought. We
turned at the crossroads and walked on and on up the path to Sikurai. We learned later
that Konga is 250ft. above sea level and Sikurai just on 500ft. There was plenty of
time to talk together. Eventually around a bend we saw the ledge where the village
rested surrounded by clover lawns. Hatagor welcomed us and rang the Lotu bell as
soon as I had changed my shoes and combed my hair. The little church was packed
with people, some I knew and some I hadn't seen before. Beulah sat with me on the
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wider pulpit seat and sang a hymn in English as an Anthem to add to my preaching.
Hatagor was a teacher from Buka and his wife brought us a lovely meal later, which
included a big fish, caught in the Mopiai River below us. We had a rest on their
veranda before saying our goodbyes and beginning our return journey. We were both
very tired and indulged in several rests along the way much to the amusement of our
companions who are much more used to walking miles and miles. At Kinerui we took
the next service for another congregation. Rokonong and his wife Dowa were the Lotu
leaders here and they had prepared another lovely meal for us. We enjoyed the soup
especially.
Quonset Hut, now Assembly Hall with Library and School Store.
As we neared Konga Mr. Tomlin's dog came bounding out to greet us. I was a bit
frightened but when his master spoke a quiet word he became a model escort. We
thankfully subsided in his cushioned chairs as he brought us a lemon drink followed
by a cup of tea. He took us to see his big new rice huller and peanut sheller, wonderful
helps for the new crops people were growing. We couldn't stay long as the sun was
slipping down the sky and we had about 7 more miles to walk. It was easier walking
in the late afternoon and when we arrived home Mary had dinner waiting for us.
Beulah took evening Lotu then she played the organ and we had a grand time singing
hymns till it was bedtime for every one. Next morning it was time for Beulah to go
back to Kihili leaving us all with lots of happy memories.
The very big underground concrete tank was not complete when the rains and floods
had come but when the following dry spell had finished we were able to receive water
into its copious interior. This water had to be pumped each day with a hand pump up
into the drum in our roof space to give pressure for water to the kitchen and bathroom.
Water flowing from a tap is a huge blessing!
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All the triplets were gaining weight consistently and Beryl began to sleep through the
night, apart from a cry and the need to be changed about 3am, so we rejoiced greatly.
We all needed our sleep.
Mr.Taylor came on Wednesday and stayed until Friday to thoroughly inspect every
class in the school. At first I was so nervous that I couldn't add up the class totals.
Nothing would come into my head and I had to tell him that I couldn't do it with him
watching me. He was very understanding and taught me lots of points I should
remember to get our school lined up according to Government standards, which was
the Australian way and different from New Zealand plans. I had my own Admission
Register in an exercise book but he helped me to write it all into a proper book. He
said the school was not up to standard in oral work because I had to leave the different
classes to do too much written work on their own. Spoken English is what the
government was aiming for.
As Mr. Taylor had taught at Konga school in this area before he became an inspector
he really knew that Siwai people are very shy about speaking out loud about anything
that they are not absolutely sure about. They would much rather write the answer on
their slates. If asked to reply they would raise their eyebrows for "Yes" or put out their
bottom lips for "No" rather than actually utter something. Other groups on
Bougainville were much more willing to speak even if they really didn't know the
answer. I found this out as I taught later at the Girls' School. Mr. Taylor and I had
commiserated about this problem before.
Mr. Taylor wrote in his report that Tonu really needed a European Minister to come so
that I could concentrate on teaching. It left me feeling that I was a great failure but I
knew that what he said was true. I was trying to cover too much ground. It was a
mercy that we had school holidays after this visit! Either we would be recognized as a
school or not according to his report. Meantime we had to wait and just get on with
the tasks at hand.
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CHAPTER 19:
August Rain
The rain came pouring down day after day and our favourite game became measuring
the rainfall in a tin. When I wrote home on the 11th August we had measured 2 VA
inches of rain that day and 2 the day before. It took a while to convince the girls that I
had not put the tin in the gerbera garden by mistake. It had been emptied and carefully
brought inside several times before everyone got the message. Now they joined in the
fun. Opeti's fat white ducks were having a glorious time but the hens and chickens
didn't think it was funny. One hen lost two half grown chicks when she flew to her
perch over the Kutana and 2 of her 5 didn't make the grade. The river was very
flooded and carried them off. It was too wet for work in the afternoon but I was
mistaken when I thought that I was keeping my students dry by not sending them to
the gardens. When I came back from preparing the next week's work books with the
teachers, I found the boys and girls on the high banks of the Tuning getting the
coconuts that swirled by in the rising flood. The river was up six feet or more. The
children on the top spotted the coconuts in the muddy water and the brave souls below
would swim out from the undergrowth at the sides or dash down the cliff like
parachuters and make a grab. Great fun!!! Wonderful coconuts!!! The rain continued
and the floods grew deeper. One day we measured 4and 3/4ins. and so it went on.
Another day we recorded 11 ins in 12 hours. That may have been the August that I
recorded 38ins for the month but I am not sure because I left my records with the
Agricultural Dept. at Konga. It was always very wet in August. I was feeling very glad
that the girls and baby and ourselves were all under the same good roof.
I needed to go to take Lotu with the boys and found the water, in places, was over the
tops of my gumboots. In the hour that I was away another 4 ins. fell. As I finished the
prayer one of the boys said, "Bris em i mek nais." The bridge is shaking. They thought
that we should move the landrover that was sheltering under the roof that covered the
bridge. We pushed the vehicle as far as we could up the road though that wasn't far as
the incline was steep. The landrover was immobile because it was missing some parts
that were away being mended.
Back home we prayed together that either the rain would cease of we would have the
courage to cope with it. More of the banks round us were crashing into the river and
the girls were frightened. I tried to get them to go to sleep after we had sung together
and promised that I would not lock their door so that they could get out quickly if
necessary. Clarrie offered to stay the night with us so I gratefully made up a bed for
him on the window seat in the lounge. The boys' cookhouse and about 10 feet of the
bank that it stood on had crashed into the river with a great rumble. The rain was still
pouring down and the river looked like the sea as white waves came down the river
adding a couple of inches to the depth each time. I kept trying to get the girls to come
away from the edge of the bank but one or two kept going back to check until finally I
heard them say that the river was going down. We all slept eventually. It was a relief
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in the morning to see through my window that the roof was still over the Kutana
Bridge. In Lotu that morning Kumuka showed real thankfulness to God for his mercy
towards us during the night.
Bridge at Tonu over the Kutana.
Later we found that nearly all the bridges round about had been washed away and the
village people had had an equally frightening time. Flooded rivers are very powerful.
When the sun finally came out the boys and girls had a wonderful time making rafts of
banana trunks and sailing them down on the current then towing them back to do it all
again. I had the girls weeding their peanut garden and they told me that they were
fishing! It certainly looked more like a paddy-rice field than a peanut garden.
One of the mission boys sometimes acted very strangely. At this time he was worse
than usual. Apparently when he slept he could rest in the rafters even sleeping while
hanging from a rafter by one hand. He seemed to have terrific strength to break posts
with his bare hands. He sometimes went round and round in a funny hopping step.
One morning he had a dead hen in one hand and a sharp knife in the other. I tried to
take the knife from him but the boys stopped me. Since it was sharp I decided to
comply but I was very grateful that he didn't hurt any one with the knife. He flew up
the steps, through the boys' house and out the door at the other end impossibly
quickly. After a week of two he came into his right mind again and I was able to talk
with him about his problem. I knew that Jesus could help him. He agreed to come to
pray with me when he felt an attack coming on and in this way things improved for a
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long time. He really wanted to follow Jesus. Much later he went to work in Rabaul.
Amongst the students a girl and several other boys had mental problems that were
difficult to deal with.
We had had 34 inches of rain in September and 24 inches in October so it was a very
wet year. We had plenty of sickness to go with it. The girls thought that I was only
encouraging the rain by measuring it. In all this difficult weather other under currents
of lies and false accusations began to surface. As the leader of the mission station I
was almost taken to Court but they decided to send Naaru to tell me of my
shortcomings and of how I ought to behave. It was a very wearing time but God is full
of mercy. He kept me under the shadow of his wings and the troubles sorted
themselves out. I was very tired and on the brink of malaria frequently. Mary was
often busy with maternity patients and sometimes she needed me to come over from
school to help her in an emergency. Mr.and Mrs.Voyce were both really sick with the
prevalent flu at this time as well.
It was time to get my things sorted out ready for furlough and I was greatly looking
forward to that. I planned to go to the Summer Institute of Linguistics in Melbourne
for three months on my way home to New Zealand. As I got bogged down in detail I
kept hearing in my ears the wise words my mother often impressed on me; 'Brevity is
the soul of wit.' 'Speed is everything.' I needed that advice!
Baby Beryl, the third triplet, was growing well. From quite early in her life she slept
from 6pm to 5.30 next morning. She had four teeth and a lovely smile but the girls
were alarmed that she had teeth before she could sit up alone so they spent time trying
to teach her. They hollowed out a hole in the ground and put her in it in a sitting
position or they put her in one of the really big basins used for the washing. In her
own time she reached the skill of sitting and even began to try to move forward on the
floor on her tummy. When she did learn to crawl it was on her hands and her toes, not
her knees. I used to keep the boys in my senior class up to date with what she was
doing and eating because I didn't want the enlightened girls who cared for our babies
to be hindered later by husbands who didn't realize the importance of good food
supplements to breast milk. Our babies had sturdy bones with the extra help of raw
egg mashed into their potato and other vegetables and plenty of fruit from an early
age. The boys were very interested as many of them had younger brothers and sisters
and boys were traditionally fond of small children. The girls all had week long turns to
look after Beryl, feeding her, washing her clothes, bathing her and making her milk
under Mary's supervision. The most devoted was Agnes, 10 years old and the smallest
mission girl. She had difficulty getting Beryl out of the cot and also counting out the
correct number of leveled spoonfuls of milk powder. It helped her counting skills. She
was also a good table setter but at school no reading or arithmetic seemed to penetrate
her charming head. (Later we found the she suffered from epilepsy. One holiday time
she died at home when she had a seizure by a small stream of water.)
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The Grocery Order
It was time for Mary and myself to get our order away to Mcllrath's in Sydney for the
next year's groceries. This took us about 2 and1/2 hours but we decided that it would
take more time to do that much shopping at home. We were reduced to corned beef or
tinned fish in the meat line, as I had been slow in getting the order away. Sorting out
our accounts and then setting and marking the exams for everyone kept me busy
before I could think of packing for the exciting furlough ahead. Parcels from home
ensured that I had shoes and warmer clothes to wear as I went south. At breakfast on
the 2nd November I remarked to Mary that it was the first fine Sunday of the month
that we had had for a long time. On the first Sunday all churches in our area came to
Tonu for the service and I took the children for Sunday School. Rain had halved the
attendance but this day promised better things. Alas, from 12.30 to 4.30 we had over
four inches of rain and the river rose very high. It carried away one of the boys' big
saucepans left at the edge to soak and be washed later. They needed two saucepans for
enough potato for them all so this was a concern.
A few days before we had had very little rain but there were dark clouds north of us. I
heard the roar of oncoming rain and rushed to shut windows and gather washing but it
was actually the sound of a wall of water rushing down the Tuning River beside us. A
Tonu village woman, Kumei, was crossing the river at the time. Her potato basket full
of potatoes was swept off her back and her hoe was tugged from her hand. Even the
laplap she was wearing went racing out to sea with the swirling madly rushing water.
She nearly got swept away herself but when she managed to reach the bank she made
herself a skirt of big leaves and was able to get back to the village. Her husband killed
a pig and gave us some of the meat as a thanksgiving that she was not drowned. She
had three little children who were in Sunday School on the 2nd of November!
Some children kept asking me when 'the races' were going to start. They love exams
and those who have been away on an unofficial holiday all turn up for these special
days. I began to feel smothered by piles of papers to be marked. Sunshine for several
days meant that the areas they girls weeded stayed free of weeds for a while and the
roads and the riverbeds made journeys to Kihili by vehicle more hopeful. Clarrie's
clothes and tools were still waiting to be transported down there where he was
building the sisters' house and dormitory for the girls.
It all worked out well. Merle returned to Tonu with Ada and Beulah joining her for the
ride. We had a big service of welcome and farewell on the Sunday when hundreds of
people joined us. The vehicle needed repairs after getting cargo from the beach so we
had a few days together to see Merle's slides and hear her stories. When we did set off
for Kihili we found that rivers had changed their courses. In one river we were
thoroughly stuck with the driver's side in a deep hole and the other side up. Ada,
Beulah and I took our lunch tin and walked on while the men and boys freed the
vehicle. Eventually Tuma caught up with us and soon we were greeting the Voyces at
Kihili. I was free of all responsibilities. Free to rest or read a book. On mail day we
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visited Kangu and the Chinese Store where Tong Lep gave us a treat of chocolate!
Then plantation people and those from Catholic Mission stations as well as the local
government people all gathered at the Office to watch the great sorting of the mail that
had been picked up from the Catalina by the Hammets' boat. We had a happy
Christmas at Kihili. We enjoyed carol singing and Mrs.Voyce served us a wonderful
meal. My parcels from home had included a coat g and beret ready for the colder
weather in Melbourne!
Flying Home
On January 8th 1958 we left Kihili at 7am for Kangu where we waited for the other
plane passengers on the foreshore while watching the Pollurian anchor not far away.
Straight away they unloaded the big dinghies and their little motorboat then began
unloading the cargo. When one dinghy was full the motorboat towed it nearly to the
water's edge, casting it g off to come up the beach on its own. The crew jumped out
and began unloading while the motorboat waited between the beach and the Pollurian
either for the second dinghy being filled or to return the empty one for another load.
There was no wharf at Kangu but the bay was fairly calm.
Soon it was time to say goodbye to Ada and Mr.Voyce. The other passengers and I
climbed into the canoe, which ferried us out to the Kombon, a small Chinese boat, for
the journey to Tonolai Harbour. Dr. Papp and his wife from Hungary were passengers
with me. She was going to Brisbane to finish her medical studies and they were
talking sadly in Hungarian as the time for parting for a season loomed closer.
Conversation in English was difficult and the engine noise was deafening so I
steadfastly read my book for the three-hour journey. As we waited in the harbour for
about half an hour Dr. Papp dived off the side of the boat and enjoyed a swim, basking
in the admiration of his wife. A distant engine sound grew louder, and then the
Catalina came flying over the hills to land on the water near us. The boys took the
mail to the plane first and came back for us. The Kombon couldn't go near the plane
but two canoes joined together by a platform ferried our luggage and us to the blister
of the plane. Eventually everything was stowed and checked and we had a trial run
before lifting off the water and soaring away leaving Buin and Siwai far behind. In a
short time we were landing in Kieta Harbour. As you come down you feel that the
water will scrape the bottom off the plane but it never does. The crew open up the
blisters, (big rounded windows in the entry-way,) when we are safely down and a
welcome breeze comes in. It is cold up in the air but very hot on the water. Eight more
passengers joined us here. We were seated along the sides of the body of the plane on
aluminium forms with the luggage stowed in the middle between us. Obed Itu from
Siwai, who later married Hazel, was one of the other passengers. He was going to
Teachers Training College in Lae.
Our next stop was Teopasina. Here a regular fleet came out to see us! Rewa and
Thelma paddled out to say," Hello, Goodbye". They had a dear little eight-day-old
baby with them in a basket tied to the canoe as they were on their way home from a
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village visit down the coast. They moved on and the Carter family moved in. I was
thrilled to see George and Nancy with their four lovely children, Ian, Judith, Anne and
baby Donald. I hadn't seen Nancy since Ian was a baby at Koau so it was a special
thrill for me as Nancy and I were friends from our Training College days. Our good
friend Mrs. Mason and her little daughter Ingrid from Inus Plantation joined the plane
here.
Sohano was our next stop. A big wide dinghy came out to the plane with Mr. and Mrs.
Atkinson and Miss Covers on board. Mrs. Atkinson gave Mrs. Mason a beautiful
spray of white roses and orchids, which she brought to the table at the hotel where we
were staying that evening. I enjoyed talking with our friend Miss Govers while the
purser was sorting out the mail and the luggage and others were catching up on all the
local news. Meeting the plane and talking with everyone is a great social occasion at
each landing.
After Sohano we were given sandwiches and tea with an apple and an orange! I was
hungry after eating nothing but a piece of Mrs. Papp's pineapple square since early
breakfast. We arrived at Rabaul about 4pm. Soon I settled into the pretty Ascot Hotel
situated at the edge of the harbour where we could watch the coming and going of the
ships. The Bulolo and the Malaita were both anchored there with their lights at night
beautifully reflected in the still water. There are hills and volcanoes all around and the
gardens are luxuriant and colourful
Over the next day or two the Australian Methodist missionaries in Rabaul helped me
with business things. The Rev.Lutton was able to do me the favour of allowing their
mission to go bond for me so that I could get a permit to re-enter the Territory. I
looked after Ingrid for Mrs. Mason while she had her hair permed and later I was able
to get my ears syringed which was a huge blessing. At the hotel the walls of the rooms
don't go up to the roof so it is rather noisy. Some people drink and talk until very late
and at 4:30 each morning some are wakened to be up and ready for their on-going
flights. The lights go on and the day begins.
My turn to fly south came on the 11th January. Our first flight was from Rabaul to
Lae. From there were boarded a DC6 and flew across the mountains to Port Moresby
where we all had to disembark again for a time while the plane was refueled. When
we were all settled in the plane again we were given a wonderful lunch. There was
plenty to see outside the window before we reached Cairns about 3pm where we all
had to go through customs with our luggage. As we flew over the coast of Australia in
the gathering darkness I was enchanted by the strings of green, red and blue lights
threaded through with all the lovely yellow ones. The velvet darkness was a perfect
foil for the lights of the towns strung along the coast. At Brisbane everyone had to get
out again for refueling. At these times sleeping children are a problem for harassed
mothers travelling alone. I felt that I should check to see that my suitcase was in the
right group but decided that I should trust the busy officials I as they had told me that
all would be well. Alas, I will listen to these inner warnings in the future. Up in the air
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again and everyone asleep only to be awakened to have our safety belts fastened as we
were flying through a storm. The lightning flashed around the propellers. I was by the
wing and kept my eyes firmly closed till we approached beautiful Sydney, looking
like a sequined evening gown. It was nearly 1am and when we arrived on the ground
and my suitcase was nowhere to be found. I slept the rest of the night in a hotel room
provided by Qantas. A luxury sleep, shower and breakfast and then I was taken to
Kingsford Smith Airport where I almost missed my plane to Melbourne as I enquired
about my missing case. When I finally was reunited with it several days later the
lovely rug that my parents had given me for my 21st birthday was no longer strapped
on to it.
The Airways Bus brought me to Flinders Street Station where I caught the train to
Fern Tree Gully. While waiting for a bus to take me to Belgrave Heights I was feeling
very sad and bereft without my luggage when I saw some sparrows looking for
crumbs on the lonely platform. Sparrows are so special. They don't live in the tropics.
They speak of home but also of our Loving Heavenly Father who cares for each one
of them.
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CHAPTER 20:
Summer Institute of Linguistics 1958
Someone from the Summer Institute of Linguistics arrived to take me to join the
others at the Convention Lodge at Belgrave Heights. Soon I found new friends who
lent me clothes and sheets and things until my own things turned up. Three interesting
months of study were beginning. The six other girls in my dormitory were Mary
Harris, Dorothy Drew, Audrey Payne, May Moore, Yvonne Joseph and Joy
Newcombe. The Rev Cliff Keightley from New Zealand and the New Guinea
Highlands was the only person I had met before but I soon found many new friends.
Dr. Harland Kerr was the friendly Principal of this S.I.L. School. His wife and their
new first-born child joined us a week or so later. During the school sessions we had
Friday morning Chapel talks led by the Rev.Nash, a wonderful 90 year old man who
helped me tremendously to experience the wonderful comfort and closeness of God as
our loving heavenly Father. He had for years been leader of the Melbourne Bible
College and understood our deepest needs, touching our hearts with grace and
humour. Twice during the course we had a Day of Prayer. These were well organized
times of great refreshing which we all soaked up.
We studied Phonetics, Phonemics, Grammar and Field problems, such as
Anthropology, Literacy, Bible Translation and ordinary problems of living in
somewhat difficult situations. I enjoyed all these studies very much and did quite well
at mastering them but I was very tired. We began early in the morning and had duties
to do as well as studies and then homework kept us busy in the evenings. We were on
a hillside surrounded with pine trees, shady gum trees and tussocks.
Kookaburras were laughing at the funny noises we made in an effort to learn
phonetics! I found this subject really hard, needing a lot of quiet practice by myself
out under a tree. We have to learn to write and say about 300 different sounds. There
was plenty of study but we also began each lecture with prayer and had many other
prayer times in our small groups. I think prayer was the secret to the relaxed
atmosphere. We had fun times too and those with musical instruments gave us lovely
concerts. On Fridays after afternoon tea we were divided into cleaning groups, the
boys doing outside windows and cutting grass and the girls doing floors and inside
things instead of volley ball, which happened every other day at that time. One week I
was thrilled to be on the warm job of making the toast each morning for about 90
people. My helper, Elma, had broken her wrist and thumb at volley ball, so I cut the
bread and made toast in the small oven while she used the long toaster which could do
six pieces at once. Later blackberrying took over from volleyball. We enjoyed them in
pies and jam.
Cliff and I were invited twice to Brighton Methodist Church. It was a long way to go
but Mr. Bock came to get us for their Harvest Festival service. His daughters Valerie
and Noel were part of the Methodist Mission in the Highlands. The Hutton family was
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also part of the congregation. After dinner we were taken to see the extensive
Botanical Gardens in Melbourne. Teatime was followed with hymn singing round the
piano before the evening service. A few days later I was able to pick a lot of
blackberries to give Mrs. Bock when they came on Visitors' Day. About 750 people
came to see our drama, the displays and the film about Rachel Saint and how her
brother Nat Saint was killed in reaching out to theAuca Indians.
Near the end of the course we had an Informant Week when, in groups, we had either
a Fijian or Vietnamese or Chinese or Arabic student to speak to us. I was with Joe
Kamikamica, the Fijian man. We had to find out and record greeting words and the
names of things in phonetics on the first 5 hour day, comparing notes in the evening.
Next day we recorded a story that he told us and we recorded conversation as well.
After that we had much sorting out to do before we were each able to prepare a
Grammar and a Phonemic statement of his language together with a dictionary of at
least 200 words. We all had great experiences with our informants and they shared
with us all about their own countries and their food.
Later we had exams, oral and written on all our subjects. I had learned a lot that was
very helpful in my learning of the Siwai language and how to transcribe it. Each of the
subjects showed me things I needed to know. As well as that I came to know a fellow
student, Mrs Belcher a missionary teacher in Borneo. She inspired me to believe that I
could be an instrument that God could use to give the Siwai people the New
Testament, in their own language. The next years of my missionary life were devoted
to that goal. (It took my helpers and me 17 years but eventually the Motuna New
Testament was available to be owned and read by the Siwai people).
We said goodbye sadly to each other when the course ended on the 28th March. Most
of these people I have never seen again but some of I us managed to keep in touch
occasionally. Some of them served with Wycliffe Bible Translators in Papua New
Guinea with their headquarters S in the Highlands at Ukurampa and I was glad of this
association.
I visited my friends Zena and Jack Cohn in Bendigo and then the Metcalfe family in
Frankston before flying home to Christchurch on the 4th April. Mummy and Daddy
and Rosemary and Hamish were at the airport to meet me and I was overjoyed to be
home again. It was Good Friday and after tea I went out with them to the Methodist
Girls' Bible Class campers at Leigh Camp to speak at the Missionary Meeting that
evening. Menel and Althea were there. Next day I went to the boys' camp at Amberley
where Paul was but I didn't have to speak for long there. I was home in beautiful New
Zealand amongst my own people, all speaking English and understanding what I said.
The Lord our God is so good and His mercy has no end.
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David Pausu, the first missionary to Tonu, with his fish trap.
Pamela and David by some of the classrooms at Tonu.
Catechist Mark Naaru, an early leader at Tonu.
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Chapter 21:
Postscript
When I returned to Bougainville my interest in translation and pastoral work grew to
the point where I was eventually released to be a deaconess. In 1960 I did a year under
the Order of St. Stephen, freed from teaching duties, to begin translation work.
Teaching Sister Beryl Grice from New Zealand joined me as an Order of St. Stephen
worker which means we were both working without being paid except for a boarding
allowance. The money that would have been used for my salar was spent on Beryl's
airfare etc. Mary, Beryl and I had a truly wonderful year, which I will write about
some other day. To finish off this part of my story I want to record the thesis that I
wrote in 1962 as part of the studie needed to help me to qualify as a deaconess. I am
copying what I wrote then though many details are different today.
I was given the topic, "Presenting Christ to the Solomons"
Introduction
The Solomon Islands look small and unimportant on a map of the world but they don't
look small when you are travelling around them in a mission boat! Here are
mountains, rocky coasts, sandy beaches and quiet lagoons. Here are lines of village
houses along the beach or inland on the spurs of the hills. Here hill people and coastal
people loot-different from one another and have different customs. Here languages are
multiplied, most of them understood only by one small group and some of their
neighbours.
The Overseas Missions Department of the Methodist Church of New Zealand has
pastoral oversight of the Western Solomons, including the islands of Bougainville and
Buka, which are (were) part of the Territory of New Guinea. The other Islands are
(were) in the British Solomon Islands Protectorate. The political division of our
mission district creates many ever-pressing problems. It isn't simple to go back and
forth across the border.
Bougainville is a bigger island than Choiseul, Vella La Vella or New Georgia and
consequently more people live inland there. It is the people who live inland in South
Bougainville that I know best and I have written with them in mind although the
subject "Presenting Christ to the Solomons" would include a much wider area. Much
of what I say would apply to other areas but some things would be different because
the Siwai people are very quiet and reserved.
Customs and ways of doing things are very varied, even on Bougainville so an
indigenous church will show differences in the out-working of the general system of
Church life. The village churches, the circuit mission stations, the Quarterly Meetings,
May Conference and the Synod all help to keep us together as one body - the Church -
presenting Jesus Christ to the people of the Solomon Islands.
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Siwai Life as it is Today
Siwai begins at the Miwo River, and here it is a wide gray riverbed with several
streams carrying the rush of water to the sea. Stones roll themselves against our feet or
the wheels of our vehicle as we cross. The sun shines from a cloud-scattered noonday
sky. How glad we are to be through the river before rain and floods make it difficult.
On the first bank we saw the remains of a fire where some folk had camped while they
waited for the 'tide', as the locals call it, to go down.
Up the shallow bank we go and into the cool green of the rain forest. The road is green
except for the two tyre tracks or the less straight foot track over which Bougainvillians
travel in single file. Beyond the ditch, at each side of the road, entangling vines reach
up into the tall shady trees. Occasionally a white parrot screeches as it flies to another
perch. The plop of rain on the leaves and the swish of our feet through the puddles are
other familiar sounds linked with the high-pitched radio Morse of the crickets.
As we come near a garden we see a family working there. Tapukoi is weeding with
her baby, Peema, slung in a laplap on her back. When he falls asleep she will put him
down on some boards in the little shelter from the sun and the rain that is built in
every garden. If we are with the tractor or the landrover the older children will run to
the garden's edge to wave and gaze. Father Tamahe will stop his chopping to wave too
from the edge of their clearing. "Where are you going?" the children will ask for that
is the usual greeting.
Further on we come to the village where our gardener friends live. Here they will have
a 'house-sleep' built on stilts, which the government requires every family to own in
the interests of health. Adjoining this house, perhaps on the ground or again on stilts is
a kitchen. This is the real living room. Here are the shelves for vegetables and planks
for seats and, most important of all, the fireplace with smoldering embers waiting to
be blown into usefulness.
The family will came home about half past three, (sun time). Mother will carry the
sweet potatoes on her back in a big finely woven coconut leaf pouch. In her hand or
her bundle she will have a banana leaf parcel of greens gathered from cultivated
shrubs or from ferns and certain bush trees. Perhaps she has an eggfruit or some beans,
some tomatoes or a cucumber in her parcel. Above the potato basket will be a bundle
of sticks and riding high on top will be baby, if he is old enough to sit up. If he is a
tiny baby he will be slung in a laplap in front of his mother. Little daughters will have
small loads of sweet potatoes and firewood and will walk behind mother, bent forward
and slightly staggering like her. They love the privilege! The boys may be good
enough to carry home some pineapples on a sapling suitable for firewood but this is
not always the case. Boys are more likely to have been fishing or hunting since school
got out but they would go up a palm for coconuts, if they were needed and carry some
nuts home for the evening meal. If father were with the family in the late afternoon he
would walk home in front of the procession carrying his knife and axe with his string
bag, containing his betel nut, gourd of lime, tobacco and pipe swinging under his
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armpit. If he is a young father he might leave the axe in the garden, give his wife the
knife to carry, and carry the baby himself, either riding on his shoulder, clutching his
hair, or sheltering from the rain in his strong arms. When it is necessary father would
carry a bag of potatoes or a log of firewood on his shoulder.
If the garden were near their village house the wife would probably cook the pig's
food there are then go back to serve it to her pigs on plaited leaf plates.... each pig its
own portion. Otherwise she would cook this food in the house near the pig fence.
For Tapukoi there is water to fetch from the spring and the fire to make. She will wash
herself and her children and the potatoes in the creek on her way home from the
garden. Perhaps it is necessary to go to the outpatients' room for medicine or for a
dressing on a sore. While dinner cooks there may be time for a little chat with her
neighbours. The houses in the village line are all very close to each other. Siwai
people really prefer the seclusion and peace of their hamlet homes near their gardens
and pig fences but government regulations and school make a village house a
necessity.
As the sun is setting about a quarter to six the bell rings for Lotu and almost everyone
wanders over to the little chapel. The teacher brings his hurricane lamp and sets it on
the pulpit. The women and girls on one side and the men and boys on the other sit
reverently waiting unless a pig, a duck or a dog comes in and has to be shooed
ouf'Noni sironghenuiong sojori Mumih siro namba 42." (Jesus thy wandering sheep
behold.) If the teacher cannot keep a tune someone else in the congregation will start
the hymn for him. Not many hymn books are in evidence - it would be too dark to see
anyway but each person, especially the women, will be praising God with all the vocal
powers available. A reading of Scripture and an explanation of it are followed by a
further hymn and then the wick of the lamp is turned down to conserve kerosene for
you don't need a light when you pray. The benediction and perhaps a softly sung
vesper bring evening prayers to a close. The babies are sleeping in their mothers' arms
as the church empties and the families gather in their cookhouses. The food is ready
and the main meal of the day is eaten contentedly; potatoes and greens with a
saucepan full of the 'soup' it was all cooked in, as a splendid climax.
If the night is dark the families will soon be asleep but should the moon be round and
golden and full of light the children will dash off to play; the young men to dance with
their pan pipes; the older men to sit and chew their betel nut and lime as they talk
together of the news of the day. The women and girls will sit on the swept ground
with their legs stretched out straight together in front of them. They will be weaving
pandandas mats or coconut leaf baskets by the clear light of the moon... Parents begin
to feel sleepy but the children have gone off to hunts for ngali nuts. Never mind, the
parents think, they'll come home later.
So night comes and goes. In the morning at sunrise the waking-up bell and then the
Lotu bell are rung calling the village people to gather for praise and prayer before they
scatter for another day's activities.
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Todays' Problems
The Siwai people, like most other people, feel the need of a religion...a belief in
something outside what can be seen physically.
The fear of evil spirits was a terrifying thing before they heard of the Gospel of Jesus
Christ. These fears and beliefs have not all gone away. It takes a great deal of faith to
really believe that Christ is stronger than all the evil spirits as they are in no doubt
about the reality of the spirit world. It is our task to show them that the truth that is in
Jesus Christ can make them free.
However the Europeans have brought more than one idea to them and they find it
difficult to fit all these things into one way of life. For long years now they have
known the Government, represented for them by Patrol Officers, Doctors, Police boys
and 'Hat-men' with other officers introduced more recently. The Government has
brought them many benefits and the people are grateful. Mostly, and with good
reason, they look upon the Government as benevolent.
Recently (1962) the government has brought into being the Siwai Council. The men
and women of the villages elect the councilors, each village or group of villages
electing their own man. This body elects a President, Vice-president and secretary.
They meet in the council buildings to discuss the wise spending of the money gained
by taxes and to promote the betterment of Siwai materially. Some folk feel that the
council has superceded the ‘mission'. The visible material advantages of the council
appear to be greater advantages to some people than the spiritual blessings that the
mission extols. The council belongs to them. More and more we must step aside and
let them realize that the church in Siwai is their own church. They are the church.
With their own Siwai minister, the Rev. Samson Pataaku and many able leaders who
do realize their privileges and responsibilities, this Jubilee year marking the beginning
of partial self-support, should help them to see this clearly.
Similarly there have been those who turned to the new Siwai Rural Progress Society
as their 'church'. They didn't think there was room for both. The Agricultural Society
has now fallen on difficult days for there is need for permanent crops and hard work if
this is to succeed Land problems are so complex that the situation looks hopeless but a
truly Christian outlook amongst the native people in this problem, could make a vast
difference.
Slowly the people will fit each part of life into place. Slowly they will come to see the
oneness in the strange new diversity with which they are so puzzled. They look to
their leaders for guidance. We white people might have good ideas but they feel that
we do not understand. Our ways are different from theirs because our ground, our
land, is different so they feel. They think that their evil spirits have no power over us
simply because they are the spirits of their ancestors, not ours. They need our help but
it carries most weight when it is given through a thoroughly convinced leader of their
own.
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The Mumih
In the Siwai society each group of people was led by a ‘Mumih'. This man arrived at
his position not only or necessarily by birth but by ambition and industry. Before the
days of Government administration he was a war leader but more recently he has
gained the top position by his ability to give the biggest feasts. To do this he has to
have unstinted co-operation from his followers. But this is mostly gladly given as they
enjoy the renown of their Mumih. In "A Solomon Island Society" Dr D L Oliver says
on page 410:
"Scrupulous trustworthiness is also expected of a leader... cooperativeness and
geniality on the leader's part are of course essential to the conduct of successful
social climbing... Above all the leader must exhibit generosity - not only the
formalized and calculated munificence of feast giving but everyday open-
handness as well. In normal times natives do not hesitate to take coconuts or
areca nuts from their leader's groves, asserting that "We are his children." In
this and other respects, the demands of 'noblesse oblige' make deeper inroads
on a leader's possessions than on an ordinary man."
In the old days the people followed their leaders, as they became Methodists or
Roman Catholics. In many cases enemy groups chose the opposite way of
worshipping. Methodist Headmen asked for teachers to be sent to their villages. The
Pastor-Teacher, a graduate from a mission school, taught the children simple reading
and Arithmetic as well as Bible stories and hymns and how to pray. He took morning
and evening Lotu and the services on Sundays. He buried the dead and pointed the
living to healthier habits. He does much the same today. It is he who can really make
Christ most relevant to life in Siwai. When his own faith is real and his experience of
Christ a vital thing his people grow in grace.
Some who would have striven to be mumihs under the old order have become Pastor-
Teachers in response to the call of Jesus Christ. This position has given them the
opportunity of leadership and the joy of following the greatest Leader of all Mumih
Jisu Karisto. Many of the qualities that these people have extolled are good ones in the
Christian way too but there is more to it than the Siwais dreamed before.
No one can provide feasts of spiritual food without spiritual resources. To be able to
go on presenting Jesus Christ and His way to the people the leaders must grow in
knowledge and experience of God through Jesus Christ and His Holy Spirit. Richard
Baxter wrote in "The Reformed Pastor":
"When I let my heart grow cold my preaching is cold; and when it is confused my
preaching will be so; and so I observe too oft in the best of my hearers that when I
have a while grown cold in preaching they have cooled accordingly."
The people who attend Lotu have continued to say, "We are his children." They have
expected him to look after them. "We belong to the mission" they say and add in their
minds that everything belonging to the mission belongs to them. This can be very
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difficult for busy Pastor-Teachers who have little time to accumulate material
resources. They hate to be thought 'mean'. The rank and file must come to realize
more understandingly their responsibilities towards their spiritual leader and towards
their Lord Jesus Christ through the church.
The old order is changing a little. Teachers with Government Certificates must teach
for longer hours in central schools. In some places two men are needed, a pastor and a
teacher. Local Preachers have a part to play too. Catechists each have a pastoral
oversight of a section of the circuit. Solomon Island Ministers look after larger areas.
We must help all these men with material -they cannot read very widely for
themselves - and with prayerful understanding and friendliness that makes them able
to share their problems with us.
The Missionary's Presentation of Christ
Above all other things we European missionaries must show the beauty and the
strength of our Lord Jesus Christ. We know the wonder of the merciful forgiveness of
God that we have found in Jesus Christ. We know the joy of His presence and his
power helping us to overcome sin. We can rejoice for we have a message that we have
proved to be true. Our lives must make it look attractive to them.
God himself has called us and we have come to the Solomons in response to His call.
It is His work and of ourselves we can do nothing. It must always be Christ who is
seen in us. When our own selves fill the picture the work of God is limited by our self-
importance. We must be careful. In "The Reformed Pastor" Richard Baxter says "Take
heed to yourselves for you have a depraved nature and sinful inclinations as well as
others."
A.H.McNeile in "Devotion and Discipleship" writes, "Every Christian who is trying to
be holy for the sake of others knows that immeasurable responsibility attaches to his
sin".
W.Temple in Readings in St. John's Gospel says, "We must not forget that our
vocation is so to practise virtue that men are won to it; it is possible to be morally
upright repulsively!"
Wherever we are we are watched carefully for the folk are more persuaded by our
practice than our preaching. Married missionaries have a wonderful opportunity in the
ordinary business of living to show what a Christian home is like. The way a husband
and wife love and respect each other; the way they bring up their children; and for us
all the way we greet our friends and strangers; how we work with others; the way we
act when we are tired and hot and everything seems to have gone wrong; all these
things can show them what life in Christ can be. Of course we ourselves could never
sustain such a high calling but thanks be to God, that in Jesus Christ we have the
power and the grace we need.
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The teaching and nursing sisters are even more constantly living in the view of eyes
that are quick to see everything. The girls in our care learn more from firm loving
leadership in the garden, kitchen, hospital or school than from the words they
understand so inadequately. They must sense and see Christ in our lives. This is the
supreme way in which we can present Christ to the Solomon Islands.
The way is not easy for us or for them. When they see some way in us that challenges
them to higher living they say, "That is your way but we are different. This is right for
you but not for us." Even the Bible in English makes them feel that it does not really
apply to them. Our prayer must always be that there may be more and more
wholehearted Christians amongst the Solomon Islanders themselves.
It is the Holy Spirit who bears witness to Christ. (John15: 26) We are his channels.
We cannot do his work but he can work through us. He glorifies Christ (John16: 14)
and makes the way plain. We must be constantly in fellowship with him through
secret earnest prayer.
We must not pretend anything but be utterly sincere. In our discussions together and in
our Class Meetings we must be humble enough to confess our own shortcomings with
sincerity in their hearing. Only by sharing these thoughts with them can we reveal the
depths of God's mercy towards us. In "Readings in St.John's Gospel" W Temple says,
".... we are good pastors by what we are. And we are poor sheep like those whom we
would tend. The one hope is that as folk come to know us they find in fact another -
not the sheep turned shepherd but in truth the Shepherd, the Beautiful one. It will be
so if we abide in Him and He in us ... not otherwise."
Barclay in his commentary on Acts says "When H.M.Stanley discovered David
Livingstone in Central Africa and when he had spent some time with him he said, "If I
had been with him any longer I would have been compelled to be a Christian and he
never spoke to me about it at all."
Ours is a great high calling in which we must show true meekness and humility that
Christ may be all in all.
Learning to Know People
The injunction that we should be "quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger"
James 1:9, is particularly good advice for a missionary. Our New Zealand ways are
not the only good ways in the world. Solomon Islanders may offend our ideas of good
manners at times but we offend theirs too sometimes. I wondered once why the
catechist I was visiting briefly hadn't offered me a place to sit until I found that it was
considered manners to leave the important one standing while the rest sit. They regard
us as rather unteachable in some things and so do not point out all our errors to us, but
we can learn a great deal with our eyes and ears before we show our shortsightedness
in a foolish statement.
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They are willing to share their thoughts with us when we can listen sympathetically in
their language. No matter how good their English or Pidgin is, the deep thoughts of
their hearts are best expressed in their mother tongue. Until we can understand this we
are barred from the deepest fellowship of exchanged thoughts. To know them well we
must know them against their own background... not merely against the background of
the mission station. How they act in their homes, villages, gardens and at their various
gatherings for talking or dancing or feasting, these give us clues to understanding their
ways.
When they seek us out we must be available to listen with patient graciousness. This is
hard because we have a busy routine to follow but we can be too busy and miss the
real opportunities of pointing the way to Jesus Christ.
Barclay says in his commentary on John's Gospel, "In any kind of work it is true that
we cannot really interpret the thought of another person unless between us and his
there is a bond of sympathy...
Love is the great interpreter."
Dr. Frank Laubach in "Letters by a Modern Mystic" speaks of God talking to him this
way, "This is the best way to act; Talk a great deal to Me. Let others talk a great deal
to you, appreciating everything fine they say and neglecting their mistakes. The
talking others do to you, when they are trying to talk up to your expectations is more
important than the talks you give to them."
This is all very true for it opens the way for them to find out what their deepest
thoughts really are. Guiding this kind of speech is not easy but as we 'Talk a great deal
to God' His Spirit leads and teaches us.
In the Alliance Witness the Rev. W.D.Carlsen said, "A Japanese Christian leader was
asked to prepare a paper on the subject, 'The Missionary as a Hindrance', at the South
East Asia Conference of Christian and Missionary Alliance Churches. One suggestion
that he made was that the missionary should endeavour to be like salt. Salt, to have
any value, must lose its identity as a crystal and melt into the substance in which it
finds itself. In other words, a missionary must lose, as far as possible, his nationality
and melt into the thought and cultural pattern of the people to whom he ministers, if
his presence is going to have any savour of life unto life."
When they have accepted us as 'one of the family' we can more meaningfully show
them the way of Christ. Olive Wyon says in "The Altar Fire', "We cannot serve or
pray or suffer or give ourselves, unless He communicates His power to us, and fills us
with His Spirit of love and readiness for sacrifice."
The Place of Prayer
Prayer is our constant need. Nothing will avail without it. We need to be in close
contact with Christ so that we can be sensitive of others' feelings before we can
understand their ways. Long before we can speak to them in their own language we
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can pray for them with thanksgiving Miss M.Laugeson, for many years a missionary
in India once wrote words along these lines, -I am sure we shall find when we get to
heaven that we have accomplished more in the hours we have spent praying for
separate people than we have spent in conversation with them.
As we pray earnestly for this one and that one we ourselves or someone else more
suitable, is prepared by the Holy Spirit to meet the needs of those for whom we pray.
The Holy Spirit influences the one we are praying for too. Especially in our early days
on the field we cannot be the ones to do the conversing because of language
difficulties but we can fight in prayer for the victory of Christ in the battle against the
powers of the darkness of this world in a single soul.
Prayer work is secret and not spectacular but it is indispensable for presenting Christ
to the people of the Solomon Islands. In this those at home can help us. Many and
many a time the victory that we are privileged to see has been wrought by the faithful
prayers of our prayer-partners at home.
Tennyson truly says:
'More things are wrought by prayer
Than this world dreams of. Wherefore, let thy voice
Rise like a fountain for me night and day.
For what are men better than sheep or goats
That nourish a blind life with in the brain,
If, knowing God, they lift not hands of prayer
Both for themselves and those who call them friend?
For so the whole round earth is every way
Bound by gold chains about the feet of God.'
As well as individual times of prayer we need to have times when we pray together.
We need to pray with our fellow workers, European and Solomon Islanders. The idea
of prayer is not foreign to these people. They feel that it is right and natural that we
should ask God's guidance and blessing on all that we do. Village prayer meetings in
Siwai have recently become more vital. Days of Prayer, recently introduced have been
times of real blessing and spiritual fellowship such as the isolated teachers and leaders
long for. There is work to do when we gather for Quarterly Meetings so we need a
special day for prayer and Bible Study together.
Our Days of Prayer
Our first Day of Prayer was held during Synod time, attended by those who were left
at home. The day was arranged with a definite programme using the three studies
which the Rev. S.Andrews had prepared for Synod. We began with a short devotional
opening after which we praised God in short prayers, which were not supposed to
include any petitions. After this one of the teachers led the first study and the
discussion of relevant points. The discussions were good because they had been well
prepared by the leaders, (I had helped each one in his preparation) and the people were
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expectant as many of them had been praying for God's blessing on this day for some
time beforehand. After the discussion I introduced about three things needing prayer
and asked that two or three people should pray aloud for these topics... then after those
prayers I introduced three more topics so that we systematically covered everything. I
did the introducing only because the idea was new to them and because they need to
learn that time has to be carefully portioned out and not wasted. Soon they will have
the general idea and they can do all the leading after we have helped them with some
preparation beforehand.
We had three studies, discussions and prayer times and three breaks during the day as
well as frequent hymns to keep us from getting tired of one position. For one of the
prayer sessions I divided the people into groups of about eight. In these groups each
person spoke of something they especially wanted help with in prayer. These requests
ranged from problems of health to problems of faith and Christian practice. Down on
our knees we went to pray earnestly for each other and I know that God answered
these prayers in His way, some quickly and some slowly, but He heard them all. To
conclude our day together we had a time for testimonies before we joined together in
the Sacrament of Holy Communion.
This day of prayer had far reaching effects through Siwai. The Pastor-Teachers went
home to try out the new ideas we had discussed. The people were in awe, believing
that God had been with us because it had been in the middle of a very wet time and the
whole of that day had been fine. The rain clouds had rolled away without spilling any
water on our flooded district. Village prayer meetings have grown stronger and the
more earnest teachers been invited by the folk of other villages to come and explain
more fully the way of Jesus Christ. Joshua Montoro and Luke Deukari have been
particularly used of God in this and they earnestly wish the people to give all the
praise to God. May it always be so! In the past Joshua has been one of our biggest
problems. Today he says to his people, "You remember what I used to be like, well
the change has come through the power of Jesus Christ and He can do the same for
you."
On the second day of prayer I was pleased to hear in the prayers a growing concern for
others, not only in their own villages but for other areas of Siwai and indeed other
areas of our Solomon Island district. There was evidence too of a deeper experience of
the grace of God in the lives of some and the time for testimonies was all too short.
Our day was for prayer and praise and in these we glorified God together. (Many of
the helpful ideas used on these days I gleaned from experiences at the Melbourne
School of the Summer Institute of Linguistics.)
In some places, particularly in the Rataiku area the prayer groups pray much for sick
people. Often when people are sick the people send for Joshua or one of the others to
come and pray with them. Sometimes a prayer group has come to hospital at the
request of a patient and much blessing has resulted from the cures and even from a
death.
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A very sick woman was brought into hospital and Sister Mary Addison and her staff
did all they could to help her with medicines, treatments and prayer. Her husband sent
for one of the prayer groups to come but he (the husband) was unwilling to go the
whole way and give up the evil spirits who helped him in his witch doctor work. His
wife was a partner in his work and while many prayed earnestly that the couple might
have faith to believe in Christ's superior power yet it was plain that the choice lay with
them... so the praying ones told me. Different ones came over (to the house) to discuss
it with me but they were the ones who were dealing with the actual situation. It is easy
for us to think that the evil spirits do not present a great problem but his fellow Siwais
could see the depths of his problem. If he renounced his spirits where would they go?
They lived in his house mostly and would be angry if he sent them away. Would
Christ really be able to protect him from their wrath? He wasn't sure. As well as this,
the spirits brought him great power and wealth. He was one of the greatest 'mikai' men
in Siwai. To give them up would be to lose this and perhaps his life as well.
His wife died. She was very ill. Others with many of the same symptoms have
recovered over the years as we and their friends have prayed earnestly. Her sickness
must have been different. It was certainly severe. She died. Her husband is still unsure
and those of his village are still trying to help him. Once he was a Pastor-Teacher.
How terrible is the lot of a backslider. No one is beyond God's help and all the people
have certainly observed Suavita's problem with awe. He, the powerful witch doctor,
has found that his power is insufficient.
Presenting Christ Through Our Hospitals
Sickness and death are puzzles to every group of people. In Siwai different medicine
men were regarded as having as having good recipes and/or a powerful spirit-familiar
to help overcome different troubles. Today folk mostly come to hospitals especially if
their initial trial of the medicine man's goods has not been satisfactory. For some
sicknesses they feel that we have the appropriate medicine and they come in quickly
to get it. For some they feel that we cannot help because the trouble originates with the
spirits. Whenever it is possible sick folk eventually come to hospital for the
Government authorities are very strict about this. Almost all babies are born in
hospital these days and the women like it. They have their own Lotus in the maternity
ward.
The sick people usually want us to pray with them and they appreciate all our efforts
in that way. After all the medicine man always does his work with the correct
utterances. We need to be patient and lovingly concerned for them so that they grow
to trust Jesus Christ, the healer of men's souls and minds as well as their bodies. The
gentleness and unselfishness the sick ones and relations see in the sisters, nurses and
dresser boys, help them to understand the love of Christ which sets them free from
fear.
I have been amazed at the number of pastors and teachers who have given their lives
to God's service as a result of sickness. Solomon and Neewai were both sick and away
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from home when they considered the path of their feet and turned back to God and His
service. I could multiply examples of this but it is sufficient to say that when they are
seriously ill, or rather when they are getting better, they are ready to think about their
relationship to God and Jesus Christ.
Presenting Christ Through Our Organized Lotus
"The untrained mind finds it difficult to maintain a pure spiritual ideal without some
scaffolding of ritual and the humble Jew in the Exile, struggling to keep himself
unspotted from the world groped helplessly until he found something he could do to
express his loyalty and devotion." So says Roy Smith in 'Know Your Bible Series'
Study 5.
The morning and evening Lotus give people a wonderful opportunity to be still and
worship God. They value this highly and many boys returning from plantations have
told me how much they missed the Lotus. Two of our teachers who were chosen,
amongst others, to go to Kavieng on New Ireland to vote for our district's member of
the New Guinea Legislative Council, were horrified when they saw life there without
morning and evening prayers together. They asked for permission for one of them to
speak in a big combined service we were having that Sunday after they returned. In a
few very earnest words Luke told the people to be careful to look after the good thing
that they had in daily worship together.
In their Lotus they sing and pray and hear the Word of God. It is something quite
different to the rest of the day. Men, women and children are all gathered together
under one roof. They are quiet. Speakers in the men's drum house are continually
interrupted as one and another thinks of something to say. In the 'haus kivung'
(Meeting house) in the centre of each village people speak as they wish without
waiting for others to stop speaking. In village court sessions there can be two or three
speaking at once but when the headman speaks the others are told to be quiet. I do not
say that they always listen in church but they all sit quietly and they are glad of the
quietness.
We all need some time of quiet. A.C.Bouquet in "Comparative Religion" says; "Much
of the life of early man was communal... It lacked privacy." Their lives as individuals
in their homes or as households of a village are all open to the scrutiny of others. In
their own gardens or hunting in the bush they can be alone but I think the serious ones
value particularly the opportunity to start and finish the day with God in fellowship
with others in the church. Of course Lotu attendance depends quite a lot on the
popularity of the local pastor.
John Wesley said, "No man ever went to heaven alone; he must either find friends or
make them."
In many villages the Christian men and women take it in turn to lead the morning and
evening Lotus. Those who can read have the opportunity to share, in this way,
passages of the New Testament about which God has given them understanding.
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Those who can't read have an opportunity to pray in the prayer meeting or to speak in
the Class Meeting. The children and others can repeat the texts they have learned so
all who want to have a chance to take part actively in church worship.
After our discussions on the first Day of Prayer, many teachers have tried to introduce
discussion Lotus into their week's activities. It is not easy, for those who cannot read
have not a great deal to contribute to a discussion at first but they will learn to express
themselves about their own personal experiences as Christ becomes more real to them
through their search. Much of their present Christianity is second hand. The younger
men have not known the great darkness of the old days. As at home here in New
Zealand, they don't realize how much they owe to the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Another thing that some villages have tried recently is separated Class Meetings; the
men in one and the women in another. With the graduation of more girls from the
District Girls' School at Kihili there are some very fine leaders amongst the village
women. Sister Ada Lee and others on the staff have done a great deal of work in
training the girls in Lotu leadership and Sunday School teaching etc. They have
written out their corrected Lotus and talks and have a great deal of material ready to
use. They have also learned how to look up and prepare material so they will be able
to add to their present supply. Mothers cannot listen much to the sermons in church
because of the distractions provided by the many babies and toddlers and also because
the ones who have not attended school have never learned the art of concentration on
one speaker. They are interested in what the Girls' School graduates have to say and
they can understand them.
The leaders who have been trained at Goldie College under the Rev Allen Hall have
similarly gathered much inspiration and material which the home folk are keen to
hear. Those teachers, pastors, catech'ists and our Siwai minister who have come to a
vital experience of the power of Christ to make them new are listened to with real
respect. Many are seeking a deeper and more real relationship with Christ now that
they see its outworking in the lives of their kinsmen.
Presenting Christ Through Our Schools
Education has always been a feature of our Methodist Mission work Schools give us
an unequalled opportunity for daily instruction in the Christian faith by example and
character training as well as by stories and lessons. Children enjoy the Bible Stories
and they also enjoy learning texts and catechism. What we can teach them while they
are young will stay with them always. In singing lessons with the older children I have
found that hymns are the favourites. Teaching a bright ordinary song can make you
feel that you have lost the art of teaching but rub it off the board and put up a new
hymn and you have their attention straight away. (They love singing in harmony.)
They eventually enjoy some bright secular songs but give them a choice and it is a
hymn every time. These words firmly fixed in their minds cannot help but give them a
deeper knowledge of what they believe. Choirs and choir practice are not only for
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children, of course, but this is a good Methodist way of keeping the truth in the minds
of the singers.
It is not only in assemblies, lessons and singing that we can present Christ to them. As
they learn to speak and read English with understanding the world of books becomes
available to them. As at home, some are readers and some are not. I allow teachers and
others who are interested to borrow books from the school library. Many use this
opportunity to borrow books with pictures that can be used to illustrate Sunday School
lessons. This creates a wider interest in books, which will grow as those who have
enjoyed the pictures want to find out more.
Our Solomon Island pastors and teachers are best able to make the stories and the
doctrine clear to their people but they often fall short because they are not good at
story telling...when they have learned the story in a foreign language. We can help
them by preparing material for them simply so that they can really know it and present
it in a lively way. We must persevere in teaching them to use aids such as flannel
graphs.
Our Circuit boarding schools provide wonderful opportunities for helping the boys
and girls individually to know Jesus Christ. The group teaching in Lotus, Bible
Classes, school Scripture lessons is all of great value but Jesus called his followers one
by one and that is the best way. If apples are picked one by one eventually the whole
crop will be carefully packed away. There are times in the life of each boy or girl
when they would like to discuss things with us. We need God-given grace to be ready
to help them.
As we pray for them one by one we cannot help becoming more and more sympathetic
with understanding towards each one. We care because God puts His love in our
hearts.
William Temple in "Readings in St.John's Gospel" says, The way to call anyone into
fellowship with us is not to offer them service, which is liable to arouse resistance of
their pride, but to ask service from them. Of course the request must be prompted by a
real need. The Lord was actually tired and thirsty when He said, "Give me to drink."
And then drew the woman into conversation by asking for her help."
I remember reading the word of a retired missionary who said that on looking back he
had found that he had become closest to those who had helped or served him in some
way, rather than to those who had only accepted the service he gave.
We must give them opportunities to help us and to help the work of God. This gives
us the chance to speak, and more important, to listen There ' is always a struggle when
someone turns away from Satan to be born again as a Christian. We cannot wipe out
the struggle but we can help tremendously as we struggle privately in prayer for them.
In The Reformed Pastor' Richard Baxter reminds us that "Paul taught publicly and
from house to house', and -warned every man and taught every man in all wisdom,
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that he might present every man perfect in Christ Jesus." The first step in faith is good
but we must not forget our charges when they have given themselves to Jesus Christ
We must continue to help them in their struggle upwards.
A studious young boy, son of one who came from another island to be a missionary in
Siwai in the early days, followed Jesus Christ to the best of his understanding. He
went through our circuit and district schools until he had become trained as a pastor
teacher. At the end of his training he dKJ something wrong. He was very sorry, not
only about being found out but also because he truly wanted to do what was right. His
punishment was completed but something that had never been found out tormented.
We were working together over the translation of Acts and one day as we fished our
verses I asked him to pray with me in our closing prayers for his cousin who was
causing us some concern. When we got up from our knees he was very distressed as
he told me of the books he had taken from the library of the school he had last
attended. We parceled up these books and sent them back and once again he felt the
loving forgiveness of Jesus Christ.
Sometime after this in Class Meeting he told how he had recently taken something
from someone else’s garden as he had come past it on his way home. When he
reached our bridge he remembered that one of the fruits of the Spirit was self-control
so he was given the strength to go back and replace the thing he had taken... and
strength also to confess his weakness and God's power at Class Meeting. Prayer
partners have helped us in prayer for this one for a long time. How much more could
be accomplished if more people would pray for each other, that we may be strong in
His strength.
The boys and girls often come to ask me to pray with them and for them. They know
their need and they know their Saviour and in their prayers they are able to speak the
deepest thoughts of their hearts to God in their own language... for He understands.
After they have left school and gone away, some of them write back from their work
place with the same plea, "Please pray for me... and answer my letter soon." Alas, they
often have to wait for answers to letters but there are lots of minutes in the day for
quick prayers. It is all so worthwhile. We can help them.
Presenting Christ Through the Translation of His Word
An African writing in Portuguese Territory said; "We like to have the Portuguese
Bible for we read it and it makes us feel good, but the Bible in our own language
makes us feel uncomfortable." Dr.A.C.Stanley-Smith of Rwanda quoted him.
What we hear in another language doesn't really arrest us in the same way as the
words of our own language do. What the Siwai people read or hear in English is
understood incompletely. What they read in Motuna, their own language makes them
think again. What a blessing are all the hymns that have been translated. Every day
people sing them and know what they are singing. There are some Psalms, other
passages and some services too in their hymnbooks and these are very highly
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regarded. Mark's Gospel too has been published for them in Motuna. It is a good
beginning.
The written Word of God is our guide in the Christian way. When we study it and
follow it completely the Holy Spirit can teach us God's will for our lives. God can
reveal Himself to all those who truly seek Him and He wants everyone to be able to
read His word in a language they can really understand, their own language. In this
way they can be kept from error and led on in the truth. Solomon Islanders are
learning to stand on their own feet. There are many fine ministers and pastors amongst
them. With the Bible in their own language to lean on they could keep their doctrine
pure and find the guidance they need should they be left in the care of the Solomon
Island Church alone. There is translation work being done in every circuit of our
district. This does not cover every language but a real start is being made. I have been
privileged to go on with this work in Siwai. It will be several years yet before we can
complete the New Testament but I pray that God may continue to help us to work as
quickly as possible.
Translation takes a great deal of time. After the verses have been worked out with an
informant it has to be checked and typed and checked again. It needs to be duplicated
so that many people can read it and offer their criticisms. It must read smoothly and
yet be exact in meaning It must be readily understood, yet a translation not a
paraphrase. More typing and checking will follow and finally submission to the Bible
Society for more checks before final printing. All this calls for perseverance and strict
attention to detail, which isn't easily attained. In the end the translated New Testament,
and for some bigger language groups, the whole Bible will continually and
consistently present Jesus Christ to the Solomon Islanders. Meantime Bible reading
helps, translated and newssheets etc keep them reading.
Learning the Way
"Sister, please give me your Bible, the very big one." The voice moved from the
doorway to the table and I looked up from marking English books to see seventeen-
year old John standing there in the gatherinq dusk. "Why do you want a very big
Bible?" I asked. "I want to put it on the sick man," he said. "I am very sorry for him
and his pain does not grow less. I have prayed for him with my hands on him but he
has not been healed. Other people have been healed when I prayed for them but he is
just the same. Please give me your big Bible."
John perched on the edge of the library table, his face full of youthful earnestness that
was undeterred by difficulties. I explained to him that it wasn't the size of the Bible
nor even the Bible itself that cured people but the power of God, perhaps flowing
through us, or perhaps some other way. Because he was so very serious I asked him if
he had experienced the power of God. He told me that recently at a service in Rataiku
he had given himself to God and had felt that God really was with him. He later
prayed with various sick ones and they had been healed. He felt that God was using
him.
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It is true that I had noticed a change in him of late. A more serious attitude towards his
schoolwork and faithfulness in work outside had replaced the old somewhat sullen and
fitful seasons of zeal and laziness. I had been startled in our prayer meeting the
previous Sunday when he had led us in prayer with power. It isn't easy to explain but
you could feel it was a Holy Spirit inspired prayer, not just an effort on a boy's part to
pray for others.
We talked about the sick man and the power of God and the work of prayer. I tried to
show him that his prayers had helped and would help the man to be strong and brave
as he faced further treatment and days of pain. (The man was very ill and had to go to
the Government Hospital and finally they sent him to Rabaul. He was afraid when he
first came to us but I am sure John's prayers and his thoughtfulness helped him.) John
went away satisfied and keen to go on helping his friend by prayer that he should have
courage to live through his trouble and become well again.
I think John's father was a medicine man. If not then one of his relations is almost sure
to have been one. I don't want him to become another sort of 'mikai' so I asked if he
would like to train as a dresser boy. "I think I will be a teacher." He said and I was
glad. It is the whole gospel he wants to preach and teach. As God's servants at home or
perhaps in the Highlands or some other district they will keep on presenting Jesus
Christ.
Conclusion
In presenting Jesus Christ to the people of the Solomon Islands we are showing them
the best thing in the whole world. We must always be in the background. Christ must
have the pre-eminence. We are only ambassadors. They must see Christ through us. If
our lives are not attractive we will not be able to point them to the one we are seeking
to mirror.
The Solomon Island leaders are the ones who must be increasingly put in the
prominent places. There are some things that they cannot do yet but they must be
taught to master these things. They need our help with method and organization, ideas
and ways to carry them out, material that they can use and a sympathetic ear to help
them in their troubles In some areas leaders need more help than others but
everywhere we must give them the chance to do their best and even make mistakes
perhaps Above all we must be faithful in remembering them and their needs at the
throne of grace.
This is 1962, the Jubilee year, the year of the beginning of partial self-support. The
young church faces many difficulties, especially in the Roviana Circuit where the Eto
movement has caused so much trouble and unrest. The people are beginning to realize
more vitally that this is their church and that they must pray and sing and work
together for God's Kingdom in the Solomon Islands.
"As each has received a gift, employ it for one another as good stewards of God's
varied grace: whoever speaks, as one who utters oracles of God; whoever renders
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service, as one who renders it by the strength which God supplies; in order that in
everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To Him belong glory and
dominion forever and ever Amen." 1 Peter 4 v10-11.