April 6, 2025

Papua New Guinea

Port Moresby

Rick, Elder John Leach, and part of the real estate team spent 5 days in Papua New Guinea visiting sites approved for simple meeting houses, potential sites, and meeting with local counsel and other attorneys that can help with the challenging customary land laws.

Elder Leach with the locals in Banz.

Roadside shops

Woman selling bottled water

Papua New Guinea Temple

The site is under 24-hour security as materials easily disappear from any location that is not secured.  Concertina wire rests atop most fences throughout the country.  The people are poor, subsistence farmers yet so humble and faithful.

Rose Vada and her sister, Jessica.  She uses her covered patio for the local branch each Sunday.  Her parents died so she cares for her 8-year-old sister.  Rick felt humbled by the vast sacrifice of the members here.

A security guard in Saivara.  Most properties in Papua New Guinea hire security to fortify the fenced properties.  This provides an additional source of employment for an impoverished country.

One of the nicer meeting houses in Port Moresby

Bilu church and side buildings

The darkness of the photo reveals it was snapped at dusk.  The group experienced several 12-hour days.  The work that needs to be completed never end.  The church membership in Papua New Guinea is growing faster than any other location in the Pacific Area.

Inside the simple meeting house in Konedobu

The Branch President’s wife and child

Flooded Stake Center in Port Moresby.  They work to clear the mud-covered floor.

A simple structure built with local materials in Kurumul.

The meeting house with a sand floor.  Members are hoping for an update.

The new simple meeting house on the left now houses the growing branch.  The older building, on the right, was built by members in Tombil.  It remains intact as the older members of the congregation feel pride in its construction.

These papers show the lesson helps for class.  The ‘Come Follow Me’ lesson is visible.

Boxes of Sacrament trays rest in the corner.  Notice the floors and walls made from local materials.

A separate teaching facility houses classes a small distance from the main chapel.

This sister, her children, and her brother-in-law stand near her farm.  Rick said her handshake is as firm as any man’s.  He observed their dedication to the gospel and felt that immediate need for improvement in our own service.

Raising sweet potatoes.  A wooded stake raises the vines so the potatoes will receive most of the nutrients.

The church rain gutters drain into a water tank in Minj.  That supplies the building’s water needs.

The baptismal font in Minj is then filled with water from the tank.

Rick saw this crooked pole providing a home for the basketball hoop in Minj.

Rick talks with Michael, of the Real Estate Department, and Henry, the Branch President in Tombil.

The Jeep got stuck near Ban Omani.  Locals offered help with only a machete.  They cut this huge tree to use as a lever.  It finally did the job.

These men seem pleased to have assisted the strange white visitors.

Rick and Elder Leach gave their full strength to free the jeep from its muddy trap.  Their clothes are filthy, but their smiles tell the whole story.

Paul, the local driver and assistant, talks with the crowd that appears to see the visitors. 

Departure time.  Rick tells Paul that they are not ‘Blood Brothers’ but ‘Mud Brothers’.  Working to free the stuck jeep was a rewarding experience. 

Rick with the crowd.  Four are returned missionaries and two are preparing to depart.  His smile reveals the joy he feels in meeting these faithful, wonderful people in Papua New Guinea.