• Papua New Guinea
    2011 Yearbook of Jehovah’s Witnesses

    • Soon a group of about 30 interested ones was coming to Heni Heni’s home for regular meetings. “Men and women sat apart on separate sides of the room,” recalls Oda Sioni, a young boy at the time. “The women wore grass skirts and no tops and carried their babies in colorful string bags that they suspended from the rafters in the room. After breast-feeding their infants, they placed them in the bags and gently rocked them to sleep.”

      Tom Kitto conducted those meetings with the aid of an interpreter. Understandably, things did not always run smoothly. “At one meeting, Heni Heni’s brother, Badu Heni, served as interpreter,” relates Don Fielder, who arrived in 1953. “Things seemed to be going well at first, with Badu interpreting Tom’s words and even copying his gestures. Only later did Badu confess that he did not understand a thing Tom was saying. He just repeated what truths he knew and copied Tom’s gestures so that the talk looked right.” Despite those challenges, the group grew rapidly, and soon a second group was formed at Raho Rakatani’s home, also in Hanuabada village.

      “COME AND TEACH MY PEOPLE”

      Early in 1952, Bobogi Naiori, a Koiari chief and prominent witch doctor, visited Heni Heni​—his wantok, or fellow tribesman—​and attended a meeting at his home. Impressed by what he saw and heard, Bobogi later approached Tom Kitto and pleaded: “Please, come and teach my people about the truth!”

      Soon afterward, Tom and Rowena drove their old pickup truck over boggy dirt roads to Bobogi’s home at Haima, a small village about 15 miles [25 km] north of Port Moresby. Tom preached to the assembled villagers while Bobogi interpreted. As a result, about 30 people began studying the Bible.

      Later that month, the group at Haima built a small hall for Christian meetings.

  • Papua New Guinea
    2011 Yearbook of Jehovah’s Witnesses

    • At the time, the meetings were held at the home of Heni Heni Nioki, a local Bible student.

      I was 13 years old and very shy. I went to Heni Heni’s home, where about 40 villagers had gathered, and sat quietly in the background with my head in my hands. I liked what I heard and kept going back. Soon, Heni Heni asked me to interpret Tom Kitto’s English into Motu, the language spoken by most of those present.