Celebrating 500 Years of Reclaiming the Good News of Jesus Christ

Our contact information in

PNG is as follows:

Martin and Marie Dicke

PO Box 803

Mt. Hagen 281

Western Highlands Province

Papua New Guinea

Our e-mail addresses are:

martinpdicke@gmail.com

marieadicke@gmail.com

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Contact Information in PNG

Martin and Marie Dicke—Missionaries Serving the Lord in Papua New Guinea

November 2017

Volume 2, Issue 4

By Martin Dicke

In 1948 the Good News of our

salvation through Jesus Christ

came to the Enga Province of

Papua New Guinea through

Lutheran missionaries. Last

month, thousands upon thou-

sands of Papua New Guineans

celebrated this Good News

probably with more joy and

fervor than many in the United

States. 500 Year Reformation

Celebrations for the Gutnius

Lutheran Church started on

October 13 across the moun-

tains in the Hagen District and

were held in the Porgera, Kan-

dep, Laiagam regions as well at

circuits and individual churches

ending with celebrations at Birip

and Irelya on October 31. The

celebrations included marches,

Bible Studies, lectures on Martin

Luther and his theology, wor-

ship services, and showings of

the 2003 Martin Luther movie. I

suppose some might think there

was too much focus on Martin

Luther, however if a person

truly focuses on Luther, they

focus on Jesus Christ because

Luther always points to Christ.

I heard that there were Luther-

an churches in the United States

that really didn’t do much if

anything to celebrate the 500th

Anniversary of the Reformation.

We could all learn something

from the Papua New Guineans

who did the exact opposite.

They used October to proudly

celebrate and proclaim who they

are to the entire valley and coun-

try: baptized and redeemed dis-

ciples of Jesus Christ. The Holy

Spirit used their witness to bring

many back to the faith and bap-

tize many more. In some areas

there were mass baptisms of 50

or more souls. We used the cele-

brations to remind believers that

the cross of Jesus Christ must be

central to their life and faith.

When Jesus Christ is boldly pro-

claimed, the Holy Spirit is able

to work and Christ builds His

church as He promised in Mat-

thew 16:16-18. May God protect

and richly bless His Church

here.

1) Watching a Reformation skit at Yaramanda on October 29. The back of the shirts say “1517-2017 500 Year

Jubilee Lutheran Reformation—Baibel Tasol, Marimari Tasol, Bilip Tasol, Krais Tasol (Scripture Alone, Grace

Alone, Faith Alone, Christ Alone).” 2) Pointing to the cross of Jesus Christ while explaining Luther’s Rose at a

presentation on Martin Luther at Wabag Lutheran Church on October 30. 3) Marching from Wabag to Irelya on

Reformation Day October 31. 4) Smiling women on the October 30 seven-mile march from Wabag to Birip singing and

joyfully proclaiming their salvation through Jesus Christ. The woman in the front has “500” painted on her face.

Devotional Thought: Apologists for Salvation by Grace

There are many opportuni-ties to serve as short-term or GEO missionaries. Check out the current list and download an application at lcms.org/service. Click on “Service Opportunities.”

Alternatively, you can send checks

payable to the LCMS with “PNG/

Dickes” on the Memo Line to:

LCMS Mission Advancement

1333 S. Kirkwood Rd.

St. Louis, MO 63122-7226

To support the work of Martin and

Marie Dicke with a tax deductible

gift or to establish an ongoing

giving plan, visit lcms.org/dicke or

call LCMS Mission Advancement at

(888) 843-5267.

You can also send your gifts to our

dear friends at the world famous:

Mission Central

40718 Highway E-16

Mapleton, IA 51034

(712) 882-1029

Two Faithful Harvest Workers in the Fields (Luke 10:2)

It can be challenging to be a

faithful Lutheran in Papua New

Guinea and proclaim the Scrip-

tural precept of salvation by

grace through Jesus Christ alone.

A new church might come into

your area with new “bebop”

music and half your congrega-

tion leave to join it, not really

thinking about or understanding

the theology it professes. Argu-

ments might break out with the

local Seventh Day Adventist

church who tell you that because

you worship on Sunday and eat

pigs, you are damned. Or you

might be confronted by one of

the “movements” who still call

themselves Lutheran, but think

they know more than Luther

and profess a theology that is

anything but Jesus. As a result,

faithful Lutherans here tend not

to be “apologetic” for their

faith, but rather active

the church back to Jesus and the

Holy Scriptures, but it wasn’t

that easy. And it never will be,

until Jesus returns. Like all the

Apostles, may we remain faithful

to the Lord Jesus until the end.

“Surely I am coming soon.”

Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.

Revelation 22:20

“apologists” for it just like in the

Reformation. But at times dis-

cussions are futile. One Luther-

an church in Muritaka found

their weekly arguments with the

SDA church to be so distracting

they just abandoned their

church building near the road,

went up the hill about 300

yards, and built a new one.

For awhile in the history of the

world the Good News of Jesus

Christ was all but lost. Century

by century, council by council,

pope by pope teachings and

practices were added to the faith

that are not found in Scripture.

As early as the 1100s there were

some who saw these problems

and advocated for reform. All

were met with fierce resistance

by the established church. There

was Peter Waldo (c1140-c1205)

and the Waldensians of France,

John Wycliffe (c1320-1384) and

the Lollards of England, and Jan

Hus (c1369-1415) and the Huss-

ites of Czechoslovakia. Hus was

burned at the stake in July 1415

after the Council of Constance

who also sent a delegation to dig

up the bones of John Wycliffe

and burn them posthumously.

Then came Martin Luther (1483-

1546). He simply wanted to point

My uncle, the Rev. Dr. Willard Burce, was invited to preach at Irelya’s Refor-

mation Day celebrations. Unable to come, he sent a message which I was privi-

leged to read. His subject was: “What would Martin Luther say if he were here

with you today?” It is in English. If you would like a copy, please contact us.

After taking communion at Irelya on October 31, I walked among the crowd

and met two very interesting and historic people. On the left is Ete who was

among the people my Uncle Bill thanked in his message (at left) for helping

them when they arrived at Irelya in 1949. At the right is Pastor Pes Ivi.

When the Porgera was opened up for mission work in 1962, he walked the

mountains with my dad and Rev. Ob Spruth to begin mission work there. He

still serves the Porgera area today as the pastor at Mungulepa Kongregesin.

Marching up the long and very steep Irelya hill on October 31.