Papua New Guinea (PNG) Prime Minister James Marape expressed his appreciation for Australian missionaries during a service at Avondale Memorial Church in Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia, on December 7, 2024.

Marape attended the church service during his visit to Sydney for the PNG Investment Week conference held at the International Convention Centre. Speaking to approximately 300 attendees, Marape said he was thankful for the mission work of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Australia.

“Thank you very much to all the pioneers of faith,” Marape said. “It means a lot to some of us. You don’t know how much it means. I’m a testament to one of the contributions Australian missionaries in the [Adventist] Church have made.”

Marape spoke about some of the challenges of being an Adventist in public office. However, he also acknowledged that the role provides him with an opportunity to evangelize and witness to places many cannot reach.

He said almost 30 percent of the country’s civil servants are Seventh-day Adventists, several of them holding key government portfolios, including the head of the judiciary, the chief justice, deputy chief justice, chief secretary of state, and the speaker of the parliament.

“We want to ask for your continued prayers as we balance a life of being a public official and trying our very best to make sure we shine the light of Christ,” Marape said.

He also spoke on the impact of the recent PNG for Christ evangelistic initiative on the communities back home. “Your tithes, your offerings, and your church here continue to support for Jesus the work up there,” Marape said. “We harvested a great deal, [as] more than 200,000 were baptized in the event, and after that, they continue nurturing equally. More than 200,000 are being nurtured in the church right across the country. We continue to expect more baptisms but keep on praying, keep on supporting,” he emphasized.

Marape explained that church is committed to continuing the PNG for Christ movement as “ongoing work,” ensuring that it doesn’t become “just an event” but that it is carried on as a lifestyle for the Adventist Church in PNG.

He specially mentioned Kenneth Boehm and his fly’n’build team. “His team of fly’n’builders had a lot of hand in much of the work that is up there in PNG right now,” he said. “Thank you for all the support the [Adventist] Church in Australia rendered. You’ve laid a good foundation for PNG to be a lighthouse to a global mission field.”

The original version of this story was posted by the South Pacific Division news site, Adventist Record.