Beginnings: Through Indigenous Eyes

the entrance of Adventist missions

into the Highlands of New Guinea
PAUL C AVANAGH

Paul Cavanagh was born

in Invercargill in the
South Is of New Zealand.
After graduating from the
University of Otago (NZ)
with a BSc he went to
Avondale College in 1969
graduating in 1972 with
a BA in Theology.
After 6 years of mission
service at Fulton College
in Fiji he went to the
USA, where he graduated
from Andrews University
in 1979 with an MA in
Religion (Missiology )
and with an MPH from
Loma Linda University
a year later.
After 4 years in Fiji, Paul
transferred to Kukudu in
the Western Solomon
Islands.
In 1985 he commenced a
17 year period of service
at Pacific Adventist
College (University), and
in 1994 was ordained to
the gospel ministry.
Since 2002 he has
continued to serve as the
Field Secretary and
Ministerial Sec. for the
TPUM in Suva, Fiji.
Notable among Pauls
achievments at PAC/U
were the folowing:
designing and
implementing plans for
attractive landscaping;
initiating the librarys
Pacific collection of
documents and artifacts;
conducting Bible studies
with students, and
exerting a positive impact
on the spiritual tone of
the college/university.

ON SATURDAY 14 SEPTEMBER 1991, Paul

Cavanagh visited Napapara Village, outside of
Rabaul to record August Turtens memories on
the entry of Adventist Missions into the Highlands of New Guinea.
August Turten was a boy in 1929 when
the first SDA missionaries arrived in Rabaul.
In this account he recalls his first dealings with
the mission, his time in Mussau and his experiences as one of ten national young men who
accompanied the first expatriate missionaries
on the initial SDA penetration into the Highlands of New Guinea in the early 1930s.
August was therefore a pioneer missionary in his own right. He recalls this experience
as he remembers it.
First Contacts with the Mission
In 1929 Pastor G F Jones came to Rabaul
with his party. He had two Solomon Island
young men with him Oti and Salau. They arrived in Matupit on a small boat. At this time I
was at Napapara. Later, when I went to Matupit,
I did not see Jones as he had already left. I did
see Oti and Salau. Salau was stationed at Bai
and Oti was at Rabuane.
This was the time when McLaren came
from Fiji. He had brought with him a Fijian
Family Nafetalai, his wife Vasiti and their
daughter Siana. There was also a young man
with him. I cooked for this young man.
McLaren went to three new places
Mussau, Emira and Tench. He took Nafetelai
and family with him. This occurred after I was

Salau & Oti

baptised at Matupit. I had no father and mother

and was just roaming about so when the opportunity came, I went to Mussau with Ereman
who later became a pastor. There he became
very sick and was returned to Matupit by the
mission ship. I stayed on for several months at
a place called Loaua. The mission then said I
should go to school so I returned to Matupit
where I was taught by W W Petrie. It was a
good school and I went as far as grade three.
However, at that time I was twelve years of age
and was not really interested in learning.
Pioneering in the Highlands of New
Guinea
Then came an exciting offer. I was asked
to go with nine others to the Ramu1. The others were Oti and Salau from the Solomons,
Kovaia, Kukuone and Laia from Mussau and
Topaik, Pokai (also called Daniel Pokai or
Toropal), Elisa, Iliesa and myself from Rabaul.
We caught a ship called the MacDhui at
Rabaul and after one and a half days we arrived at Salamaua. Then after several days
McLaren, Elisa, three others and I caught the
plane that took us into the Eastern Highlands.
The rest came up on the following day. We slept
that first night in a tent near the aerodrome
near the haus benzene2. We were told we could
not make a fire. We were also instructed that if
the kanakas3 came we were not to run away or
be frightened. We were just to stay quietly. They
would come without clothes and would be carrying weapons. McLaren slept with the kiap.4

Nafetalai, Vasiti, Siana & JoseFijian Missionaries

28

It was planned that we build

picture roll and pointed to Jesus
a haus boi5 in one day. So the next
and called his name. We also had
day we got up, had worship and
two guitars one for Topaik and
then went to get trees from near
one for Oti. Salau had a ukulele.
the river and grass (pitpit) to
Note:
build the house. The trees proThis interview gives us insights
vided the posts and the grass was
into
the
initial entry of the Seventhfor the roof and walls. When the
day Adventist mission into the Highhouse was finished we put our
lands of New Guinea in the early
belongings inside. The haus boi
1930s. It was the time to acquire land
was the first house finished. We
and establish a mission station. It
then began on Petries house it
shows the dependence of expatriate
was much larger. We started it
missionaries on young national men
before he came. When McLaren
in the establishing of the work of the
left we were by ourselves. We
church in a new and dangerous area.
bought food from the kanakas
Stanley, Greta & Gwen Gander with Pr A G Stewart
Footnotes
with shells.
1
This is not the Ramu Valley. At
When Petrie arrived he told
that time the Kainantu District in the Eastern Highland Province
us that the committee wanted us to extend our stay. He talked
of PNG was referred to as the Ramu. Here the main stream of
and talked to us but Topaik, who was leading those us of
the Ramu River originates.
from Rabaul said No I have to return quickly to school at 2 Fuel storage shed
Matupit. Topaik was cross he wanted to return by plane 3 kanakas are unsophisticated bush people
but Petrie told us we should walk out, saying We should not 4 kiap district officer
waste money on the fuel for the balus.6 But Topaik was ada- 5 house in which boys lived
mant that we should go out by plane: Balus I kisim me kam, 6 balus plane
The names of the missionaries mentioned in the article: Pastor
so balus I mas kisim me back long Rabaul. (The plane carGriffith F Jones; Gilbert McLaren; William W Petrie; Stanley
ried us here so the plane must carry us back to Rabaul.) So

Gander
Topaik went down to Salamaua by plane.
(That, according to August, is why Topaik died
of a big sickness soon after). Oti and Salau
plus the Mussau boys, Kukone, Laia and
Kavaia stayed a little longer.
I wanted to stay on but the other Matupit
boys said, No! We are going back now. The
time is up. We began our journey by foot to
Madang. We got up on Sunday and walked
down to the Markham Valley. Gander, who
accompanied us a little way towards Madang,
shot some pigeons for us to eat on the way.
That night we slept in a small kanaka hut in
the bush. We cooked the birds that night and
then moved on. One policeman went with us
and another went back to protect Gander.
There were five of us. It took a week of travel
and we arrived at Madang on a Friday. The
following Tuesday, at 4 am, we boarded the
Mac Dhui that took us to Rabaul.
During the seven months we worked at
Ramu building houses we collected small and
big trees for the frames and grass to cover
them. Topaik and I would take turns with the
cooking. Once, when Topaik was cooking, a
kanaka broke into one of the houses and stole
tools. He was seen by Kapul, a boy who
worked for the Kiap. He came and told Topaik.
As for the mission work we did while
were in the highlands, sometimes we went into
the villages near Kainantu. There was one
small village we had to reach by crossing a big
river to a small island. The water came up to
our chests. On this island the inhabitants were
Some locations in Madang & Morobe Provinces mentioned in this article
safe from attack. They did not understand
Excerpt from Papua New Guinea (c) South Pacific Maps Pty Ltd 2004
pidgin so all we could do was point. We had a
Licensed by Hema maps Pty Ltd. Used by permission
29