PREACHING IN THE “BIG VILLAGE”

Twelve years later, on September 22, 1951, a tall Australian stepped out of a plane into Port Moresby’s oppressive heat and humidity. Tom Kitto​—a 47-year-old Witness—​had responded to a call for volunteers to open up the Kingdom work in the Pacific islands. His wife, Rowena, joined him six weeks later. Their territory was all of Papua New Guinea.

The Kittos soon discovered that most Europeans in Port Moresby were indifferent to the Kingdom message. But then they met Geoff Bucknell, a fellow Australian, who had drifted away from the truth as a young man. Geoff agreed to study and later became a faithful Witness, as did his wife, Irene.

Tom and Rowena then moved on to Hanuabada, a name meaning “Big Village” in Motu, the local language. Extending over Port Moresby Harbour, the village included hundreds of stilt houses connected together by long wooden walkways reaching out from the beach. “People flocked around us to hear the good news,” writes Rowena. “There was so much interest that we returned every evening to conduct Bible studies, missing only two evenings in two months.” Tom adds: “The hope of the resurrection and life on a paradise earth really appealed to these people. When Christendom’s missionaries and a local policeman pressured them to stop their studies, every one of them stood firm. The truth had settled deep in their hearts.”

Among those who took their stand for the truth were Raho and Konio Rakatani, Oda Sioni, Geua Nioki, and her husband, Heni Heni, who had obtained literature from the crew of the Lightbearer 16 years earlier. 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. “The hall had a bush timber frame, thatched grass roof, and waist-high plaited bamboo walls,” recalls Elsie Horsburgh, who later attended meetings there. “Sapling seats, a kerosene lamp, and a small blackboard completed the internal decor.” This modest structure became the first Kingdom Hall in Papua New Guinea.

Bobogi then wanted his wantoks in the nearby mountains to hear the good news too. So he and Tom set off along a precipitous mountain road to the Sogeri plateau. Soon they were studying with over 90 people in three villages there.

◼ WHEN my older sister saw Tom and Rowena Kitto preaching along the wooden walkways of Hanuabada village, she asked me to attend their meetings to find out about this “new religion.” 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.