wfn.org | Papua New Guinea: Health and the Gospel

["Christian B. Schäffler" <APD_Info_Schweiz@compuserve.com>]

June 13, 1999
Adventist Press Service(APD)
Christian B. Schäffler, Editor-in-chief
Fax +41-61-261 61 18
APD@stanet.ch
http://www.stanet.ch/APD
CH-4003 Basel, Switzerland 
 

Papua New Guinea: Health and the Gospel

Kora, PNG.    The remote village of Kora in Papua 
New Guinea may be committed to health, but that's 
hard to achieve without running water.

"Almost everyone in the village is a Seventh-day 
Adventist Christian," reports Stoy Proctor, associate 
health ministries director at the Church's World 
Headquarters. "They take the healthy lifestyle issues 
seriously, but without a water source in the village it's 
hard to achieve the basic principles of hygiene."

The 500-strong village, perched on a mountain 
ridge, is a two mile walk from the nearest water supply. 
Villagers have to make the long trek for all their water 
needs: cooking, cleaning and washing.

"We'd love to be able to help them fulfill their dream of 
a permanent water supply in the village itself," 
comments Proctor. "They have accepted the gospel, and 
want to follow Christian principles of healthy living. God's 
good news changes people, including their lifestyle, and 
we want to encourage their efforts to make not only a 
spiritual change, but a physical change for the better."

Proctor was part of a health ministry team that visited Kora 
in mid-May.  A nurse visits every two weeks by plane, and 
a physician flies in every month from Goroka, 
volunteering their services to help in this isolated village. 
They too see the need to help improve community health 
through providing fresh water.

"Jesus spoke of Himself as the living water," Proctor 
concludes. "These people want to have the physical water 
that we take so much for granted in the developed world, 
as well as the spiritual blessings that the gospel brings."