Papua New Guinea: Over 3,000 women from all over Papua New Guinea gathered at the City of Lae for the 14th National Women’s Convention, with the theme “RiseUp” from Isaiah 52:1-2. Seventeen districts of PNG, from the Southern regions to the Highlands, down to Momase and the New Guinea Islands district, were represented during the event.
Some participants walked for four days to the nearest highway to board public transportation to the convention center in Lae. For these women, attending such a big event is a privilege that they could not afford to miss out on any of the five-day teaching or training sessions conducted. Every minute of the session or prayer time counts. They climbed mountains on bare feet, crossed flooding rivers, and slept along the tracks to hear the Word of God and make Him known.
The event lasted five days, starting as early as 7 a.m. to late night, around 10 p.m. The sessions covered sermons and testimonies from female speakers who preached the Word and empowered the participants through teachings and interactions with each other. In addition, the speakers and lecturers are clergies from the MSP Field Colleges (Bible, Teachers’ and Nursing). The speakers are Rev. Aggie Muaror (DS-North Coast District), Rev. Lucy Moime (Hagen District, Western Highlands), Rev. Gloria Yaeng (MNBC-Registrar), Rev. Elis Kunumb (Meri DS NGI District), and Rev. Ruth Nawe (Manus Mission Field). These leaders are District Superintendents, pastors, DS wives, Nurses and Doctors, Business owners, etc.
During the sessions, the participants were reminded of their identity as daughters of Zion and that this is the season for them to rise up above their circumstances and take the opportunity to take on their roles in the ministry. It was a blessed event where many women re-committed their lives to Jesus and poured their hearts out at the altar each morning and night during altar calls. Moreover, these women were privileged to participate in educational talks and demonstrations on various topics ranging from dental and menstruation hygiene, health issues, and lifestyle diseases, including cervix and breast cancer, financial literacy, and the doctrine of Holiness. It was highlighted that financial accountability and reporting remain fundamental capacities needed in the MSP field from the institutions to the district level.
Rev. Merilyn Wutsikn (MSP Field Prayer Coordinator) delivered one of the most potent sessions about the importance of prayer in one’s life as a Christian. A church without prayer is a dying church heading towards disorganizing or losing morals and membership, a district without prayer is a district in crisis, and a woman without prayer is a spiritually dead being.
The national coordinators and district presidents for NMI and NDI presented and promoted their ministries, especially the World Evangelism Fund and Alabaster topics, and the significance of the NMI as a global church. For the benefit of all participants, all presentations and even songs were done and translated into ‘Tok Pisin,’ a common language known and spoken throughout the country. Special items were presented in native dialect or ‘Tok Ples’ as well. They are set to have their next convention in 2025, which will be held at Jiwaka South District.
