A reflection on the martyrs of Papua New Guinea
Today's story begins at Westminster abbey in London. Over the west door of the abbey there are statues of 20th century martyrs. Martin Luther King Junior, Oscar Romero and Dietrich Bonhoffer are some of the more well known martyrs. One that you may not have heard of is a gentleman Lucian Tapiedi. Lucian was born in 1921 or 1922, on the north coast of Papua New Guinea. He was taught at mission schools and in 1939, he entered St Aidan’s teacher training college. Here Lucian became known as a diligent and cheerful presence, fond of physical recreation but also a musician. In 1941 he became part of the staff as a teacher and evangelist.
You have probably realised that this was war time in Papua New Guinea and worked out that this story does not end well for Lucian. War was marching on towards PNG and in January 1942 the Anglican bishop, Philip Strong, who at that stage had responsibility for the Anglican souls in PNG, broadcast an appeal to them to stay at their work, come what may. Many of the missionaries themselves wished this, and had already resisted calls to turn to safety.At the time Lucian was one of two Papuans who cared for a small group of missionaries, two of them from our diocese of Ballarat, Mavis Parkinson and May Hayman. They were hiding in the bush near Isivita from July 22nd 1942, making daily trips from the village with food. As the hostilities escalated their position became more tenuous and they decided to abandon the hide-out and make for the coast. Lucian made the decision to travel with them as a guide. He didn’t have to, but did not want to abandon the missionaries with whom he worked.They had only travelled a short distance when it was found that the carriers had left a package behind, some think on purpose. Lucian offered to return for it and was never seen again by the rest of the party. It is possible that this was the intention all along, to separate him from the rest, in order to kill him. Lucian was 20. Now at Sangara mission station in Papua New Guinea there is a row of graves: Mavis Parkinson, May Hayman and the third is the grave of Lucian.
A total of 333 Christians lost their lives in New Guinea during the war. The greatest number of those who died - 198 - were Roman Catholics. But there were also Methodists, Salvationists, Lutherans, Anglicans, members of the Evangelical Church of Manus, and Seventh Day Adventists.And you might have thought that was the end of that. But there is a twist to the story. It transpires that the man named Hivijapa, had killed Lucian near a stream by Kurumbo village. Hivijapa later converted to Christianity. He took as his new baptismal name… Lucian.. and built a church dedicated to the memory of his victim at Embi.
So there is a very real sense in which their story is our story, which is Our Lord's story, which never ends and is still unfolding, here in Hamilton all these years later.
A few random thoughts to finish with.
First, we usually think of martyrs being people who died a very long time ago within the first 5 centuries after Christ. The events I’ve outlined happened less than 100 years ago, and there were many more martyrs in the 20th century. But no matter when they died, or where, they are our brothers and sisters in Christ. They inspire us and they pray for us still.
Secondly, vocation finds you. Not vice versa. Lucian, Mavis and May did not set out to be martyrs. They did not write a little note in their diary the week before they died, saying that they had an appointment with sister death. Nor was it something they aspired to do. When asked what they wanted to do when they grew up, they would not have said “I want to be a martyr” Like marriage, parenting and ordination the vocation finds you. Another one of my countless pet theories is that farming is also a vocation.
Thirdly, even when things go awry, God can still use the worst of human mistakes to His glory. A bit like a picture when a child colours outside the lines. It can still be a beautiful picture and useful in the big scheme of things. In the case of the martyrdom of Lucian, nothing could have been further from God's plan than his untimely death, but God still used it for His glory and Lucian’s single minded selflessness is an example for us to follow all these years later. Lucian’s martyrdom is still bearing the luscious fruits of encouragement, inspiration and prayer.
Finally, God’s love is unstoppable. It is unstoppable even when and perhaps especially when, we are oblivious to it or when tragedy wallops us between the eyes. For His love is most powerful when against all odds, sin gets in the way to confuse and bewilder us. So if God can work wonders in war time in remote PNG, He is most certainly working them now in 2020, in the postcode of 3300.