PEACEMAKING IN PNG

Godly leaders must be equipped to deal with conflict. For this reason, we include principles of Forgiveness and Christian Conciliation in every Scripture Application & Leadership Training (S.A.L.T.) course. Also, where there is bitterness between individuals and/or churches, we pray for forgiveness and reconciliation; and often God answers our prayers and blesses our efforts.

The story below appears in the Spring 2007 edition of “Peace on Earth,” a quarterly newsletter from Peacemaker’s International Ministries.

COMPETITION OR COMMUNITY? A STORY OF PEACEMAKING IN PAPUA NEW GUINEA

by Molly Routson, Assistant to the Director of International Ministries

Who gets the building when a church splits? What if it wasn't their building to begin with--who has the right to continue using the facility? Two churches in Papua New Guinea recently faced this very dilemma, and the pastors were gridlocked in conflict as they tried to protect their congregations' rights to the building. But with the help of peacemaker Mick Bandy, these pastors learned to channel their leadership energies toward a peaceful solution that would model God's reconciling power for their congregations and their community.

When Pastor Paul and more than half of the congregation of the Papua New Guinea Bible Church broke off to form a new church, they wished to continue holding their services in the community's meetinghouse. However, their plans for using the hall competed with Pastor Michael and the original congregation's plans for the same space. Eventually, their disagreements became so heated that they erupted into verbal and physical violence, and the frustrated village leaders closed the meetinghouse completely.

Both sides recognized the damaging impact that their conflict was having on their Christian witness and on their own congregations, but they had reached a point where neither wanted to concede to the other. And so the meetinghouse remained closed until missionary Mick Bandy offered to try to help them work out an agreement.

Read the rest of this story of peacemaking in Papua New Guinea.