A Model for Mission in a Pacific Island Urban Context

Journal of Adventist Mission Studies, Sep 2017

By Graeme J. Humble, Published on 01/01/14

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A Model for Mission in a Pacific Island Urban Context

Journal of Adventist Mission Studies A Model for Mission in a Pacific Island Urban Context The evangelization of the largest non-western city in the Pacific islands, Port Moresby, capital of the independent nation of Papua New Guinea (PNG), has in the past often focused on large scale public evangelism campaigns. While not discounting the place of public evangelism in reaching the more than 800 people groups potentially represented in this largest Melanesian city, this paper posits an alternative incarnational approach grounded on a lay-based mission model. Introduction 197 It is vital to understand a little of the history of the modern city of Port Moresby, as this is the arena for Adventist urban mission in this non-western Melanesian city (for a more comprehensive history see Oram 1967, 1970, 1976; Langmore and Oram 1970; Latukefu 1989) . When the colonists arrived on the shores of PNG in 1873, ten villages of the Motu people were scattered across the current Port Moresby area (Inglis and Oram 1974:5) . From a colonial outpost, Port Moresby was propelled into the modern era during World War II as a strategic military center in Australia’s defense. As the country’s capital city it continued to develop as PNG gained independence from Australia in 1975, and resource industries, including mining, became major sources of income. It has become a center for “global modernity and global connections—local and transnational commerce, tourism, and media/telecommunications—and local government administration.” (Lockwood 2004:25) . The transition from a colonial expatriate town to a modern multicultural city has not come without difficulties. The influx of migrants from the various ethnic tribal groups contributed to social issues such as an increase in poverty, vagrancy, crime and gangs, mushrooming squatter settlements, together with the “disintegration of traditional norms and constraints that [once] held society together in familiar ways” (Butler 1994:157; see also Chao 1984; Goddard 2005, 2010, 2013b; van der Werf 2008:60-63) . Similarly, the prolific church growth writer Donald McGavran, reflecting on his Indian missionary experience spoke of “urban conglomerates”—multiethnic groups who were involved in a “rush to the cities” (1979:157), while more recent studies have focused on the effect of urbanization on Christians, such as Wenxi Zhang’s study of urban Chinese Christians (Zhang 2013). It is vital that the church recognizes that “cities have always been the repositories not only for people’s strongest hopes, but also for their deepest fears. Because of their size and complexity, cities can overwhelm individuals. It is easy to get lost and to wander into areas that frighten and confuse” (Pahl 2003:249) . Such a context provides fertile ground for mission in reaching out to the needs of people caught in the midst of massive social change, as is the case in the city of Port Moresby. City life has instituted a “shift from traditional identities derived from kinship, occupational and gender positions to ones frequently constituted . . . through . . . subjectively focused forms of self expression—including those centred on consumption and other displays of personal taste” (Gewertz and Errington 2004:278) . However, as Gewertz and Errington note, “despite continuing personal and social transformations, local ethnic commitments remain highly significant to many Papua New Guineans” (281). This is illustrated in the construction of the road linking the rural area of Rigo with Port Moresby. It was built with one of its original aims 2 to facilitate agricultural development and subsequent commercial profit. However, the new road had the unforeseen effect of facilitating the fulfillment of mutual kinship obligations between city dwellers and villagers as goods were now more easily able to be exchanged using the new highway (Ward 1970; see also Trompf 1991:65; 1994:114) . The Rigo road case study may seem insignificant, but it is an indicator of the high value of kinship relationships in PNG, often referred to as the wantok system. The extended family, kinship, community, and interpersonal relationships are of prime value across PNG (Shaw 1976, 1995:129) . They are in effect a social security system that can be relied on in an environment that is currently unable to offer government social security. The kinship loyalties and highly valued interpersonal relationships are useful conduits along which the message of the gospel in an Adventist context can be conveyed in ways reminiscent of New Testament times, for example, when Andrew brought his brother Peter to Jesus (John 1:41-42). Overview of NT Urban Mission When we think of evangelism in the early church, our minds are drawn to the sermons by Stephen, Peter, and Paul. However, these impromptu sermons were not so much evangelistic sermons as such but are more correctly designated as personal testimonies of their conversion and their witness to J (...truncated)


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Graeme J. Humble. A Model for Mission in a Pacific Island Urban Context, Journal of Adventist Mission Studies, 2018, Volume 10, Issue 2,