Tribe Asks Forgiveness For Killing And Eating Missionaries
Wednesday, August 22, 2007 (12:00 am)
By BosNewsLife News Center
PORT MORESBY, PAPUA NEW GUINEA (BosNewsLife) — A tribe in Papua New Guinea has publicly asked forgiveness for killing and eating four missionaries nearly 130 years ago, BosNewsLife learned Tuesday, August 21.
The Tolai tribe said it condemned the murders of the Christians in 1878 on the island of New Britain, which is part of Papua New Guinea.
The four missionaries were originating from Fiji and arrived in New Britain to evangelize.
They were send by George Brown, who dedicated his life to missionary work and preaching the
Gospel on different islands in the region, BosNewsLife established.
SMALL COMMUNITIES
Instead of founding thriving churches, Brown established small communities of believers, who he taught the Bible. They continued Brown's missionary work, allowing him to visit different islands.
At a reconciliation meeting this weekend in Rabaul, the capital of New Britain, Tolai representatives said they were wrong to kill the missionaries. In statements they asked the population of Fiji to forgive them.
About 53 percent of Fiji's almost one million people are Christians, the rest are Hindus or belong to different religions, according to official estimates. (With reporting by BosNewsife's Eric Leijenaar).
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