Papua New Guinea is one of the most beautiful places on the face of the earth. But its picturesque mountains and lush jungles cannot mask this island nation’s ugly dark side.
Many people believe their ancestors’ spirits control the world and can be appeased through dark rituals, animal sacrifices and even murder. In one remote village called Yomneki, the people felt so skilled at pleasing the spirits that they named their mountain “Satan’s Throne.”
But in the face of this deep seated evil, God was calling the people of Yomneki to Himself.
God led a Yomneki man to a faraway church where he heard the gospel. When the man returned to his village, he excitedly shared the message of salvation with the village.
“We knew what we were doing was wrong. We knew the truth was out there, but we did not know what it was,” said a tribe leader. When ABWE missionaries heard about these new believers, they immediately made the difficult journey up the jungle mountains to Yomneki and found people desperate to learn more about Jesus.
Enter ABWE’s Goroka Baptist Bible College.
Established in 1974, the Goroka Baptist Bible College is a four year school that equips local believers to be church leaders and church planters. More than 400 men and women have graduated from the college — including 30 Yomneki graduates who have planted nearly 20 churches in their region and freed hundreds from the chains of spirit worship.