A group of 12 people from Tāmaki Community Church (TCC), Manawarū Bible Chapel and Northgate Community Church recently travelled to Papua New Guinea (PNG) for two and a half weeks to support Sam and Hannah, who were recently commissioned by TCC to serve there as mission partners with GC3, Global Connections in Mission.
Sam, a third-generation missionary from New Zealand, and Hannah, from Australia, have partnered with a local couple, Peter and Frieda, to establish the first drug rehabilitation centre in PNG. The centre based in Jiwaka province (Western Highlands) currently works with eight local young men, offering a combination of Bible study, life skills, and manual labour to support their rehab journey.
During their time in PNG, the team ran a holiday programme that started with 55 children and grew to 97 by the end of the first day! They also installed five water tanks, set up solar panels, fixed trucks, built a cookhouse, plumbed, wired, built for others and led two Easter Saturday outreach events, each resulting in someone responding to the gospel and coming to faith.
Shannon Samuels, who was part of the TCC crew, shared:
“Tāmaki sent a team to support Sam and Hannah and to walk alongside these young men, to disciple and love them. One of the biggest highlights for our team was getting to know people there, loving them, and joining in with what God was already doing. We went to bless them but came home feeling like we'd received more than we gave."
Shannon also shared a moving story:
“One really significant thing that everyone would mention was when one of the men in the rehab programme, who was a drug addict and known as a 'bad man', chose on Easter Saturday to return to his village to ask for forgiveness and get rid of his marijuana plantation. That same day, his half-brother came to faith. It was such a privilege to witness.”
