President Toroama commemorates 100 Years of the Gospel in Kieta
President Ishmael Toroama joined United Church members to commemorate the centenary of the arrival of the Gospel in Kieta during celebrations held at Roreinang on Sunday and Kongara One on Monday this week.
The gospel was first introduced to the Mountains of Kongara (Moru Village) by a missionary who came from Rataiku in Siwai. The missionaries brought the word of God and also brought education and health services to the people of Kieta, as they did in other parts of Bougainville.
The United Church is the first revived Church in Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands, formed by members of the Papuan London Missionary Society based in the Papuan Region, and the Methodist Church based in the New Guinea Islands Region.
His Excellency, who is from Roreinang, a mission station of the United Church, encouraged the people on Sunday to look after the assets that the missionaries set up in the villages.
“When you look the buildings, the missionaries did not just build the church; they built it with schools. To the teachers who are teaching in church-run institutions, either United Church, Catholic, or Seventh Day Adventist, you will see that these are the institutions they set up to educate us, and our job is to protect them.”
In Konngara One (1), Dunara Primary School, His Excellency and the Honorable Thomas Pataaku, who is the ABG Member for Ramu and Minister responsible for Education, and ABG Member for Kongara Constituency, Earnestly Peter Tedu, joined the community speech day and ground-breaking ceremony for a new Community Hall.
“I want to thank everyone of you for coming today, ending the first one hundred years of the church in Kongara and bridging it to the next one hundred years. Leaders of Kongara, pastors of Kongara, and everyone, this is the bridge you are building into a prosperous Kongara. This journey will take time, but we will get there.”
Education is one of the most important sectors that echoed through His Excellency’s speech, as he encouraged the younger generation to take their education seriously to be the human resources of Kongara and Bougainville.
“You must learn, do not leave school, and always act in your best interest because in the next 30 years you will be leaders of this place.”
Minister Pataaku reinforced the President's message by committing to the construction of a four-in-one classroom at Dunara Primary School.
He expressed his views on how education must be valued not only in the classroom but in each home. He said that children learn not only from reading and writing but also from seeing the actions of adults; therefore, the parents must put effort into being the best role models for their children.
“We want the best for you (students); that is why everything that we are going to do in Bougainville is because we want this place to change,” Minister Pataaku said.
With the vast evolving technologies slowly being introduced into the rural villages, like Artificial Intelligence, he encouraged the students to use their God-given brains and talents and not solely rely on technology.
“I believe that we should not allow AI to take over the brains God has given us; we can use those facilities but let us not allow such technical facilities to override how we use our brains.”
As the government continues to move towards self-governance and independence, the churches, chiefs and local NGOs continue to commit themselves to providing services to the people of Bougainville.
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