This year, 2024, marks 90 years since several crucial developments for the Lutheran church in the Highlands of Papua New Guinea. In 1934, the first group of Highlanders were baptised, they were eastern Highlanders; the Lutheran Mission stations of Ega, Kerowagi, and Ogelbeng were founded; and a plane was bought to aid the spreading of […]

This year, 2024, marks 90 years since several crucial developments for the Lutheran church in the Highlands of Papua New Guinea. In 1934, the first group of Highlanders were baptised, they were eastern Highlanders; the Lutheran Mission stations of Ega, Kerowagi, and Ogelbeng were founded; and a plane was bought to aid the spreading of the Good News. But it took some time and effort to reach this pivotal year

In 1918 the Lutheran Mission station was founded at Kaiapit. Mission work in the Markham valley took the Lutheran church to the fringes of the Highlands.  Some villages contacted by the Lutheran Mission in Kaiapit were in touch with people from the mountain slopes, but generally this had been unfriendly contact. The Lutheran Mission’s message and activities were centred on peace and reconciliation which compelled the missionaries, both European and indigenous, to venture further into the Highlands from the Markham valley.

From as early as 1920, the Lutheran Mission started to explore the Highlands, beginning in the Gadzup region. In January 1920 an exploratory party of three European and several New Guinean missionaries started out from Kaiaipit, but the expedition ended tragically after only a few days. Another contact was attempted in 1921 by a group of evangelists accompanied by Leonhard Flierl. Then, for the next decade, New Guinea missionary-evangelists pioneered work in this region of the Eastern Highlands. Their lives were a Christian witness among the people they lived with as they gained their trust. Gradually, the evangelists extended the message of peace into situations of relentless hostility. Despite many setbacks, they did not give up. Their sending congregations at Sattleberg, Hube, and Bukawa sacrificed to support their missionaries in this Highlands Mission. Finally, on 15 September 1934, following thorough preparation by evangelist Gapenuo, the first Highlanders, Eastern Highlanders, were baptised at Wampur.

The many challenges of the Highlands Mission were often under discussion, and the Missionary Conference at Sattelberg in December 1930 decided that missionary Wilhelm Bergmann would be stationed there. In 1931, Wilhelm Bergmann and his wife settled at Kambaidan, and in 1933 he acquired land at Onerungke for a new central station in the Eastern Highlands.

Meanwhile, in 1933, gold prospectors the Leahy brothers and government officials had been penetrating further into the Highlands. Lutheran missionaries Wilhelm Bergmann and Henry Foege flew over the area on 24 October 1933, with the result that Lutheran Mission Finschhafen and Madang met at Finschhafen on 13 April 1934. They decided to make a joint overland expedition, with both parties to meet in the Eastern Highlands. They set out on 14 May 1934, from the evangelist station of Rabana, high up over the Benabena Valley. The group consisted of 106 men including six European and American men (Wilhelm Bergmann, Matthias Lechner, and Jakob Herrlinger from the Finschahfen group, and Friedrich Schoettler, Henry Foege, and Dr Theodore Braun from the Madang group). Among the New Guinean men on the expedition were Christian and Jaselung from Malalo, David Anam – a Jabem teacher and later wood carver and artist, and Gesengsu and Zangezia (Kate evangelists). The expedition went from the Eastern Highlands through the Chimbu, where they met Catholic missionaries near Mingende, to Mt Hagen, where they came across the first airfield built by the Leahy brothers, and on to the foot of Mt Ialibu. The Madang group headed back, travelling over the Bismark Range through the Jimi Valley to the Ramu Valley to the coast at Madang. The Finschhafen group basically retraced their route back to Onerungke arriving on 23 June 1934.

Immediately after this expedition, an extraordinary missionary conference held in Lae on 10-11 July 1934, decided that Lutheran Mission Finschhafen should set up mission stations in the Chimbu area and at Mt Hagen. A meeting of Lutheran Mission Madang and Lutheran Mission Finschhafen at Nobonob in July 1934 decided that Lutheran Mission Madang would set up a mission station at Kerowagi with the hope that they would also set up another station later, between Kerowagi and Mt Hagen.  Wilhelm Bergmann was chosen to begin in Chimbu with Kate evangelists, and Georg Vicedom in Hagen with Jabem evangelists. Missionaries H. Hannemann and H. Foege, with Madang evangelists, were to begin in Kerowagi. On 1 September 1934, the Lutheran Mission Madang team set out from Amele for Kerowagi: Edward Pietz, Herbert Hannemann, Henry Foege, John Mager, Jakob Welsch, Theodore. Church leaders from the Madang district also came: Sapuz (Bel), Mileng (Karkar), Nai (Nobonob), Ud and Samiap (Amele), Jagenip and Simgaip (Begesin). The number of evangelists was small. On 5 September 1934, the Lutheran Mission Finschhahfen team of 45 New Guineans, mostly Kate and Jabem evangelists, and four missionaries, set out from Onerungke. Besides Bergmann and Vicedom. Martin Helbig went for Chimbu with Bergmann, and Georg Horrolt with Vicedom, for Hagen.

On 12 September 1934 they reached Ega (in the Chimbu). This day is considered the day the station of Ega was founded.  On 15 September 1934, the Lutheran missionaries arrived from Madang in the Kero river valley and began to set up the mission station of Kerowagi. The missionaries G. Vicedom and G. Horrolt, and all the evangelists, helped in the task of building the station of Ega. In the same way, W. Bergmann and some of the evangelists proceeded to set up the station at Hagen. The Lutherans found a suitable place at Ogelbeng on 21 November 1934, the day on which this station was founded, in the vicinity of Mt Hagen. Within weeks, the New Guinea missionaries were living in villages in the surrounding areas of these new mission stations and were reaching out to the people. Unfortunately, Kerowagi suffered at the beginning from a lack of evangelists.

Papua New Guinea is a country with cloud covered mountains and deep valleys. It can be very hard to get from A to B. The initial expeditions were arduous journeys. Shortly before he retired, pioneer missionary, Johann Flierl saw aviation introduced in support of the search for gold in the hard to access interior. He wrote to his home board in 1927 that as aviation was being used for gold, he could see it being used for God. On 12 September 1934, as these new Highlands Mission stations were being founded, the Board of the Neuendettelsau Mission decided to buy a plane. Many donations were made, including from New Guinea evangelists who decided to donate their pay for that year. Pilot and aeroplane arrived in New Guinea in February 1935. In a little ceremony in Finschhafen, the plane was named “Papua”. It made its first flight to Ega in the Highlands on 5 March 1935. The first pilot, Fritz Loose, became famous for landing under the most difficult conditions. He had no map, just a sketch which roughly indicated the mountain ranges, rivers, and possible landing strips. There was no air traffic control and no radio communication. As far as is known, the Lutheran mission was the first mission in the world to use aviation as a tool in spreading the Gospel.

What an astonishing year 1934 was for the Highlands Mission of the Lutheran Church in New Guinea. Yet before the year was out, setbacks began to impede the mission. The first was when two Roman Catholic missionaries were killed north of Ega on 19 December 1934, and 8 January 1935. The government responded by putting restrictions on any new personnel to the area and requiring supervision of the existing personnel on their journeys in the area. By 1936 the restrictions tightened so that all New Guinea evangelists had to leave their stations and reside only at the station where an expatriate missionary lived, and only visit their former villages in the company of an expatriate missionary. This was devastating for the relationships that had developed and for the Christian witness of the evangelists who had been living amongst the people. They could not understand this development; the infrequent visitations that could be made under the restrictions were unsatisfactory to evangelists and to the people they had lived amongst. This ruling continued until 1947 except in the Onerungke area.  In the meantime, there was another major setback at the end of the 1930’s – the outbreak of World War II. How would these setbacks impact the major foundational events of 1934 that had established Lutheran Mission outreach in the Highlands? In the face of these obstacles, the future of the Highlands Mission appeared uncertain. Yet, despite the challenges, the Gospel continued to spread and transform lives. The Christian witness planted in 1934 endured, and today, 90 years later, Lutheran Christians in the Highlands continue to celebrate the Good News that reached their region in such a dramatic way.

As we reflect on the remarkable events of 1934, we are reminded that the mission of the Church is often fraught with challenges and setbacks. But even in the face of adversity, the power of the Gospel prevails. The sacrifices made by missionaries, both indigenous and European, the perseverance of the evangelists, and the unwavering support of the sending congregations all contributed to a foundation that continues to bear fruit today. The Lutheran Church in the Highlands stands as a testament to the enduring power of faith, the unyielding commitment of those who carry the Good News, and the incredible ways in which God’s mission unfolds—even in the most challenging circumstances.

Reference list:
Fugmann, Wilhelm. ‘The socio-economic concern of the church.’ In The Lutheran Church in Papua New Guinea – The first hundred years, 555-622 (especially ‘Mission aviation’ 574-579), edited by Herwig Wagner and Hermann Reiner, Adelaide, SA: Lutheran Publishing House, 1986.

Mrossko, Kurt-Dietrich. ‘Missionary advance to the Highlands.’ In The Lutheran Church in Papua New Guinea – The first hundred years, 187-222, edited  by Herwig Wagner and Hermann Reiner, Adelaide, SA: Lutheran Publishing House, 1986.

Reitz, Gerhard O. ‘Partnership across Oceans – The American Lutheran Church.’ In

The Lutheran Church in Papua New Guinea – The first hundred years, 141-186, edited  by Herwig Wagner and Hermann Reiner, Adelaide, SA: Lutheran Publishing House, 1986.

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