The work of the Holy Spirit in Papua New Guinea
28 April 1999 08:01
Guy Joris sends this report from Papua New Guinea.
The work of the Holy Spirit in Papua New Guinea.
After Vassula’s visit in March 1998 the demand for books of the TLIG messages was overwhelming. The Filipino Sisters, Daughters of St. Paul, helped me to distribute the books through their bookshop. So in no time we ran out of the books. Lack of finance to buy new sets and work commitment in the charismatic centre as volunteer builder slowed down the spreading of the messages. But every week the Lord sent people in to ask for videotapes or books. We helped them out as well as we could with copies. Apart from the starting of a TLIG prayer group in Port Moresby nobody seemed to take any further action.
In November the Lord sent me and a Bougainville friend to his village to deliver a brickmaking machine and to train the village people in brickmaking. This was so that they could rebuild their classrooms, hospital and church which were destroyed in a 10 year war. We took a set of videos and TLIG books with us. What seemed to be an easy trip became an exercise in patience and faith.
Due partly to ‘post war’ problems on the one hand, and on the other to someone seemingly wanting to prevent us from reaching Mierua village. Instead of a three day trip it took us two weeks to reach Mierua. We were forced to stop in three different villages and stay overnight for lack of fuel. After sharing the TLIG video and books, the villagers insisted that we return on our way back and stay a further day to share some more.
So we did and it was wonderful to see how these people, after ten years of total isolation, no priests, no media, no food, kept their faith and welcomed and accepted and confirmed the messages. How were they kept informed about Medjugorje, Naju, Akita, TLIG ? It is still a mystery.
Bougainville Island is 99% Catholic but during the war all the priests and the bishop had to leave. Holy Mass was reduced to a prayer meeting, no Holy Communion. But the ‘rebels’ had their own catechists and parish leaders who kept the services going.
Joe King was one of those. When we met he was in doubt and had run away from his village. We shared a full day on TLIG and Fr. Gobbi’s Marian Movement and I left him my videos and my last set of TLIG books. A week later we met again at Father’s place and he told me he was back in his village. He apologised to his people for running away and asked for forgiveness. He was so happy to have TLIG make him turn back that he now assists Father in his ministry.
Back in Port Moresby two people, one from the highlands and one from the islands, came to see us. They met each other after Sunday Mass and one shared his copy of volume one of the TLIG messages with the other. They decided to form a TLIG committee to spread the messages in their regions. In what a wonderful way the Holy Spirit works! At the same time, again through a Bougainville, our finance problem got a boost.
I should have been back in Europe in August last year because my government no longer supports volunteer work in Papua New Guinea. We are still here. The Lord is good to us, He sends the right people to assist; finances improve. So we are ordering books and tapes again to spread TLIG through the whole of PNG. We assist the Bougainville restoration and continue to build our centre. We hope that the Lord will bless us with Vassula’s second visit next year.
Guy Joris