Church Responds to Double Disaster in Papua New Guinea

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Minj Papua New Guinea District President Timothy Joseph works to gain access to 27 families in Kangare following a landslide caused by torrential rains in April 2024.2024 by Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved.

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By Rachel Sterzer Gibson, Church News

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has been sending food, water containers, canvases and other supplies to areas impacted by double disasters in Papua New Guinea.

Torrential rains combined with strong winds during March and April triggered flooding and landslides throughout the nation, which comprises the eastern half of the island of New Guinea north of Australia.

The floods and landslides killed at least 23, reported Australian Broadcasting Corp. One of the landslide victims was a member of the Koningi Branch in the Goroka Papua New Guinea District, the Church’s Pacific Newsroom reported on May 1.

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Torrential rains and a 6.9 magnitude earthquake caused massive flooding and landslides along the Sepik River in Papua New Guinea in March and April 2024.2024 by Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved.

East Sepik Province Gov. Allan Bird told Australian Broadcasting Corp. that the flooding stretched more than 800 kilometers (about 500 miles) affecting 60 to 70 villages along the Sepik River.

Then on Sunday, March 24, a 6.9 magnitude earthquake struck near the northern town of Ambunti, shaking villages along the Sepik River and in surrounding areas already inundated by the flooding. It is estimated that nearly 1,000 homes were destroyed.

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A Church member uses a tarp for shelter following landslides in areas of Papua New Guinea in April 2024.2024 by Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved.

Elder Robert Gordon, an Area Seventy, convened an emergency response committee over the Goroka and Sepik River districts of the Church.

Sepik River District President Barney Ambuia and Pacific Area humanitarian managers Taulia Tafiti and Uraia Levaci drove three hours from the town of Wewak on the northern coast of Papua New Guinea, then traveled two and half hours in a dinghy along the river to meet with local Church leaders and assess damage and needs. Many villages are not accessible by land.

The most urgent needs were shelter, clean water, food, and canvases to keep belongings and firewood dry.

President Ambuia and the others organized several trips of trucks and boats to transport water containers, canvases and tarpaulins, and food supplies.

“It’s great to see how quickly and efficiently all are involved to get this on the ground and in the remote areas of Papua New Guinea,” Elder Gordon told Pacific Newsroom.

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A family receives food supplies from the Church following flooding and an earthquake in Papua New Guinea in March 2024.2024 by Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved.

Johnny Leota, a spokesperson for the Church in Papua New Guinea, told Pacific Newsroom that a visit by Papua New Guinea Lae Mission President Charles W. Hosea to Goroka and Chimbu was “a huge blessing for the members and friends of the Church.”

President Hosea, who traveled with local leaders and missionaries, was well received by Church members, Leota said. Local Latter-day Saints felt “remembered, uplifted and loved in their time of need.”

Paul Reid, Pacific Area welfare manager, called residents “impressively self-reliant.”

For example, members of the Yombai community were temporarily separated from their food gardens when the floods damaged a footbridge, their only access. Working together, they were able to repair the footbridge on their own.

Pacific humanitarian manager Tafiti also commented on the resilience of villagers. Local Church members “still attended church where partaking of the sacrament was a priority. The Moim congregation had 180 in attendance; Pinang had 186,” Tafiti recalled.

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Villagers along the Sepik River display water containers distributed by the Church following flooding and an earthquake that contaminated water sources in April 2024.2024 by Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved.

As flood waters continued to rise throughout April, the Church continued to send tarps, water containers and food. About 550 twenty-liter water containers were delivered from Wewak up the Sepik River to the meetinghouse, where local residents filled the containers and took the water to their temporary dry land locations.

Reid said: “Even when they have so little left, they still want to give to you as a recognition of your coming. It’s literally all they have that they can say thank you with. Sounds like a Papua New Guinea version of the widow’s mite.”

Papua New Guinea is home to more than 38,000 Latter-day Saints in 94 congregations.