• Papua New Guinea
    2011 Yearbook of Jehovah’s Witnesses

    • The only way to reach many of the villages that pepper Papua New Guinea’s long coastline and numerous riverbanks is by boat or canoe. Steve Blundy recalls: “Brother Daera Guba, from Hanuabada, Port Moresby, was an aged man and had a lot of experience with watercraft. He had two hollowed-out logs under his house, so my pioneer partner and I helped him to obtain the timber he needed to build a puapua, a local form of catamaran. The sail was made of canvas. With Daera as captain and two or three other brothers from Hanuabada as crew, we made quite a few trips to coastal villages near Port Moresby.”

      In the late 1960’s, Berndt Andersson was serving on New Ireland, a beautiful island some 400 miles [650 km] northeast of the mainland. Berndt writes: “People came from the small islands nearby, asking us to visit them. In order to do so, however, we needed a boat, which seemed an impossible dream in view of our small monthly reimbursement. We did have a few planks stored in a shed, but not nearly enough to build a boat. So we took the matter to Jehovah in prayer. Then, out of the blue, a brother in Lae sent us $200 to help us visit the outer islands. Thus, we were able to build a boat, which we named Pioneer. However, it lacked an engine. Once again, that dear brother provided the funds we needed, this time to purchase a small outboard motor. Now we could answer the call to visit those picturesque islands!”