The Bishop of the Diocese of Port Moresby in the Anglican Church of Papua New Guinea (ACPNG), the Rt Revd Denny Guka, wanted to accompany three brothers of the Melanesian Brotherhood to the village of Pivo. It is one of the remotest villages in the world with an Anglican presence. The diocese is building a chapel, an elementary school and an adult education center in Pivo. The journey from his See in Port Moresby began with a six-hour truck drive from Port Moresby to Kerema. Then the bishop and company switched to a small fibre-glass boat with an outboard motor. They traveled in the boat for two hours over the open sea to the mouth of the Vailala River. The determined band then followed the winding river to the convergence of the Lohiki River and on to the Pivo River for a total of 11 hours of river travel to the village of Pivo.
The Diocese of Moresby is one of five dioceses in the ACPNG that serve 166,000+ identified Anglicans. The members of the Melanesian Brotherhood have been ministering to the village of Pivo for two decades. Two of the brothers on this journey, David and Simon, will remain in the village for the next three years. The Diocese and the Brotherhood will soon dedicate the St Francis chapel in Pivo. The ACPNG has partnered with Anglican Church of Australia’s Anglican Board of Mission and with the Australian government’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade to finance the buildings and the social services they plan to offer in the village.
The Melanesian Brotherhood is an Anglican religious order that serves Anglican churches in Melanesia, primarily in the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and Papua New Guinea. Formed to take the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the non-Christian areas of Melanesia, the brotherhood was responsible for evangelizing large areas of Guadalcanal, Malaita, Temotu, and other areas in the Solomon Islands, Big Bay and other places in Vanuatu, and the Popondetta area of Papua New Guinea.
The village image is from the Anglican News Service. The maps are screenshots of Google Maps.
This was originally reported here.