Like other Australian missionaries who have served in Papua New Guinea (PNG), my wife Dianne and I are acutely aware that our presence and work there was made possible only by the many faithful people in Australia and New Zealand who gave financial support, prayer and encouragement. We are also ever grateful for the support […]
It’s a clear, warm day as Hanna Schulz and I walk towards the coffee shop. ‘Perfect sailing weather’, Hanna says exuberantly. ‘I’m an ocean person.’ Perhaps it is natural, then, that Hanna is a mate on the One and All, a vessel that offers five-to-seven-day sailing experiences for young people, often from troubled backgrounds. ‘I […]
As our church celebrates over 30 years of involvement in Bible translating, Tim Fischer explains how Australian Lutherans have brought God’s word to people in their own languages. On 8 October 2010 Lutheran Bible Translators Australia (LBTA) marked the passing of 30 years since the first meeting of its committee. In 1980 Lutheran Bible Translators […]
Eleven people from the Peace Lutheran Primary School community in Gatton, Queensland, have visited their Papua New Guinean (PNG) sister school, Bemal Lutheran Primary. John Trappet, a teacher at Peace said, ‘The journey took us out into the remote bush via a very bumpy and dusty route, including an unsealed logging road. ‘When we drove […]
Helping overseas students fulfil their calling to be bringers of the good news for more than 20 years, the Lutheran Church of Australia (LCA), in cooperation with the Australian Lutheran College (ALC), have awarded over 100 scholarships in that time. In offering scholarships to overseas students, the LCA are contributing a great gift to extending […]
Bags of coffee, rice, biscuits, shovels, machetes, mail, a coffin containing a body, together with people going to and from geographically isolated villages in the remote regions of the highlands of Papua New Guinea – all these can be part of the precious cargo transported, on any given day, by a Twin Otter plane in […]
In Australia, solar power is fairly new, and those of us who chose to buy or use solar panels are mostly doing it to help the environment or cut our electricity bills. So why is it important for Papua New Guinea (PNG) to have solar power for its health facilities? Imagine delivering a baby, stitching […]
“You should see my cupboards,” says Helen Thiele, laughing. “They’re full of baby gear.” St Petri Ladies Guild in Nuriootpa, South Australia, spent a day packing birthing kits and Helen wasn’t able to be there. She began to put kits together at home. In less than two years she has prepared and packed over a […]
My prayer for all of us who call ourselves Lutherans here in Australia is that we will all have “a pain in the gut”! Let me explain…I’m not a great theological scholar so when a pastor challenged me about my understanding of the word “compassion” I fumbled around with words such as “empathy”, “feeling sad […]
It wasn’t only the Lutherans; the entire nation mourned when dearly loved Bishop Rt Rev Dr Wesley Kigasung died unexpectedly on 14 May 2008. Now the people of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Papua New Guinea (ELC-PNG) have a new head bishop, Rt Rev Giegere Wenge, who was installed on Sunday, 7 March before a […]