May 18, 2002

To all the Saints of God:

     I greet you in Jesus Name, He who was, and is, and forever shall be Amen!
     I would like to take a few moments of your time to update you as to what the LORD has been doing in my life as well as the work. I will start from the time I departed the US during the month of April of the year 2001. I have sent out several reports since then and will not be redundant in my report.
     The work in Malawi has grown beyond our expectations and the LORD has blessed in more ways than thought possible. There are twenty organized independent churches who all have their own pastors and are independent of any and all.
     I try to teach the African people what was taught to the Papua, New Guinea, PNG, people, namely that is to be “autonomous” in nature. I am finding out that even some of our own kind of “Baptists” do not fully understand this word. I have also come to know some who say they believe this, but teach otherwise. At the end of the day we all must stand before the LORD and give an account of what we have done in this body, whether it be good or bad. I am responsible to my LORD and His church for being faithful to the word and work which He has called me to do.
I have tried to teach the Africans that there is no “godfather” or “mother-church” here in America. One of our greatest battles in Africa is that of combating with the “package ministry” that most churches and missionaries offer to the people.
     I too could have as many churches organized as I wanted, and could have just as many converts if we wanted to campaign with the LORD’S money and/or purchase the converts, but at the end of the day that is exactly what it would be, they would be “our churches”; and “our converts”. There seems to be this trend today where churches are in competition as to who has the biggest and most successful mission work going “pending on numbers”. I see it happen a lot on the mission field where missionaries and churches are building their own little kingdoms. My prayer is that I shall remain faithful to the truth, that I shall commit it to others as it was committed to me. I desire your prayers that I shall keep to the truth and in eveiything give all the honor and glory to my LORD and SAVIOUR JESUS CHRIST, AMEN!
     One thing I have tried to do is keep the Bible School going there in Malawi. this seems to be the back bone of our work in as much that we get a lot of preachers who attend simply because it is offered free. Anything in Africa that attaches “freeness” to it gets their attention. I have chosen to do this simply because most of the people have very little means of having any type of income. I have tried not to burden the people with a load until the churches get to the point where they get involved. More about this later.
     During the last six years that I have been in Malawi. I have tried to give the pastors a good foundation upon which to work. I have also encouraged each of them that it would be in their interest to complete a four-year program, but they are not limited to just four years. With each new year there seems to be a new “crop” of preachers who want to attend. Having said that, I have now four different classes, anywhere from six to twenty students in the classes, all needing different lessons taught as well as different needs. All the material must be translated, in which I am involved. The material I use must be reformatted to fit the education and level of tribal and/or primitive people.
     I spend a tremendous amount of time with the classes in discussion, reading, explaining, etc.... It is not like the schools we have here or in other developed countries where you have a professor giving a lecturer and the students taking notes from the dictation. They are given their assignments and then they carry on with their home work preparing for exams which in most cases are already prepared. I said all that to say this, it is an extraordinary work and labour in the field. I am not complaining, simply reporting on what does go on in the work.
     This past year I had to close the school earlier than the normal five months that it is conducted, simply that I did not have enough hours in a day nor could I keep up with the demands of the load. One man can only do so much in a day and when you have extended yourself all you can, somewhere something has to be revised.
     I took the extra time that I had with the school being closed and applied it to some of the areas where folks have been inviting us to come for the past three years to get a work started. One of those areas has been in Mozambique, which borders Malawi. This particular area is about six hours drive from the house there in Blantyre. That does not mean great distance, but rather driving time is usually how we measure distance in Africa. It actually is only one hundred and two miles. During the dry season we can drive it in four and a half hours, during the rains it takes six.
     I would pack up the duce and a half with food, water, cooking ware, my tent, sleeping bag, back-pack, medicine, emergency equipment, extra fuel, a tool box, and depart the house. I would stay in the bush anywhere from one to three weeks depending on the place and the reason for being there. At times I would go to an area where we might have three or four churches organize and spend a couple weeks holding classes during the day, and preaching services during the evening. This seemed to go over well with the people. and I have found that most of the folks have asked me to try and carry on in this manner when I return.
     I also spent some time traveling up north where for the most part we have been invited, but not able to go due to lack of time and man power. I made an effort and was given a warm reception and request to come back to get a work started. Frankly, I do not believe in just going Out and starting a lot of “mission points” and keeping them that way. From what I understand the Bible to teach in the NT whenever the apostles went out and a work was started, it was not long until a NT church was organized. Yes, Paul spent long hours teaching and discipling them, but they were a church.
     One of the newest churches which has been organized has quite an interesting history behind it. The people were involved in the Islamic faith of Muslim. The man who was acting as their leader attended a Bible Conference which we held, and through the course of time one of our pastors began to visit with this man. Through the course of time, the LORD saved this man and some of the folks there. I was invited to go there, which I did. We held some preaching services and I was asked by this man if they could be baptized and organized into a NT Baptist church. I gave it some time, went back and preached some more, talked with the folks and was led to set a date for baptism and church organization. This transpired in due time, and the pastor there has shown great interest in our work and the truth which we hold. He has offered himself to attend the Bible School, and wants us to further the Gospel in his area, which is also about six hours from the house.

     The LORD has been gracious and long-suffering to me in many ways. My cup runneth over and my blessings are more than I can count. God is always and forever true and faithful to His word and promises, though many times we are not. My desire and prayer is that I shall be found faithful to the end, that I might be able to say at the end of the day, “I have fought the good fight, I have kept the faith, I have finished my course”. I believe this to be one of the greatest attainments in the believer’s life.
     During the month of September I went to British Airways office in Blantyre and tried to get a booking for my onward journe) to Papua, New Guinea, PNG, and finally back to the States. I had acquired the ticket before hand and as it was open dated, I needed to get the date set. I tried for three months to get a seat booked. I was told the route from Johannesburg, S.A. to Sydney was one of the most traveled routes in the world and most folk booked their seats well in advance of three months, and some up to a year in advance. They had a seat for me open on the 11th of Nçvember, but I could not turn loose of the work that soon due to previous engagements. I was then given the next available date of the fifteenth of January. I told them this was a bit later than I wanted to depart, more about this later.
     I went down twice a week to the office and one day in December they told me that a seat had opened upon the 27th of December, this was two weeks in advance. In America that may seem like enough time to get things in order, and it may be when offices and people work to the same end. However in Africa where no one gets in a rush, no one hardly cares, and no one is concerned outside of you, it sometimes makes things a bit hectic when you are trying to meet a deadline. I had to try and organize the mission work to carry on. In doing this I met with all the pastors, had a conference with them, and we discussed some of the issues. For the most part they will simply carry on without me, each pastoring their own churches, and the churches close by each other could early on in fellowship until I return. The School commences on the first of May, so if I am not there and it is obvious at the time of this writing I am not, then they will simply have to wait until I return.
     I prepared the business side of the mission trying to pay up in advance until May 2002 most of the bills. I also have three workers that are staying on the compound (Mission property) where they can look after the house and property.      I was ready to depart Malawi on the 27th of December for South Africa. My departure went all right. I arrived late in the day in Johannesburg and spent the night there. The next day I was due to depart for Sydney, which went according to schedule. For the next ten hours I was in the air, the night passed and the following morning I arrived in Sydney, where I was met by one of the members of the church there in Sherwood Hills, just outside Sydney about forty minutes. I had communicated with a mate of mine, Gordie Weigold. Since he was going on holiday at the time I was to be there, it was organized that I stay with Frank Evans who is a deacon in the church. The drive took us about forty minutes. I enjoyed the fellowship and we got on together quite well. I had the privilege of staying with the Evans’ for four days; I also had the honour to preach at the Sherwood Hills Baptist Church on Wednesday of that week. I enjoyed my fellowship with the folks there, but the time came for my departure to PNG. The flight was about five hours from Sydney to Port Moresby. After clearing Inunigrations and Customs, I was met by some of the folks I have known for years, and some with whom I grew up there in the Southern Highlands of PNG.
     I spent the next two days in Port Moresby. I preached for the church there on Sunday. On Monday I was scheduled to depart for Mt. Hagen, which is in the Western Highlands about forty minutes flight. I arrived in the afternoon in the height of the monsoon season (by the way PNG has two monsoon seasons). Someone asked me what does that mean, I replied, “It simply means that you get more rain in one than in the other”. When I got off the plane I heard a crowd of people all shouting and whistling, clapping hands and jumping as though they were excited. I soon realized that these were Baptist people who had come to greet my arrival. I want you, the reader, to understand that I am not trying be someone I am not, nor is this report about me, I am not trying to make myself to appear in the spotlight, because I am not. I do know this though, there is a great difference between folks who really and genuinely love and care for a person, and those who put on a form and pretense.
     There were at least thirty people, men, women with children and old men. We got two mini buses to take us to Bro. Ekere’s place where he has started a Mission work in Mt. Hagen. It was still raining hard but we hardly noticed it for the joy of being together and rejoicing in our fellowship. I asked Bro. Ekere about some of the men who were there. I knew they were from the Southern Highlands and! thought they had come there to assist Bro. Ekere in the work, but he told me, “No, they bad come to greet me when they heard that I was coming”. I asked how they had gotten there. (Roughly it is just under 200 miles by vehicle, which takes about twenty to thirty hours depending on the vehicle and driver. By air it takes about ninety dollars US. This is a lot of money to a PNG native who also lives off the land.
     To cut a long story short, these two men had walked through the bush to get there; they spent a week walking, and for what? So they might be there to meet me. This made me feel so worthless and so unworthy, but at the same time honoured because the LORD allowed me to come and minister to a people who care very little about earthly provisions, but hunger for the truth.
     I spent the next nine days in Mt. Hagen, preaching several times while there, and also trying to organize a way to get to the mission station. Due to tribal fighting, most folks were traveling by air, so the planes that travel out that way are booked at least three weeks in advance. There is an airline, MAF, that operates there; have been for years. Allow me to explain a bit. MAF is Missionary Aviation Flight - it is a Registered Organization with the government of PNG, and they cater to the missions who are registered in PNG. As long as you register with them and join their association, you may fly at reduced rates. This is great if you don’t have a problem with joining an association. If you have a problem with this, and I do, then you pay regular rates like everyone else.
     Just a bit of history to let you know where this is all going. In the early sixties when my father went to PNG and organized the mission work, he was also approached by the MAF. They told him the same thing I am saying now. He refused to join simply because “True NT Landmark Baptists” do not join in any type of association, even more so when it is a conglomeration of any and all denominations. For years the work carried on with the LORD’S help. After I went there in the early eighties to the early nineties, 1 was faced with the same thing. I also refused to join, taking a stand for what Baptist have stood for for years. I said all that to say this, I tried to get a reduced fare being a missionary, however they told me III wanted to join and pay my annual fees then I could get the discount rate, otherwise I would have to pay full fare.
     I have a mate there in Mt. Hagen who has a Landrover he was willing to let me use for the time I was there, if! could get it going. I worked on it for five days and got it going. We needed to have the windscreen fitted. We took it to a workshop, and were told that it was the wrong windscreen. To get a new one from Australia would take two months. Well, I had to abandon that exercise. We planned either to try and get a vehicle, which we had been trying since day one, z~r else hike through the bush back to the Southern Highlands. The LORD opened a door and there was an old Toyota Landcruiser which was available, though some work needed to be done. I spent some time repairing the alternator, then bought a new battery, and had the old one recharged. The voltage regulator needed to be replaced so I purchased a new one and put it on. The engine seemed strong so we made plans to depart Mt. Hagen on day number nine at six PM. We packed the vehicle, I had nine other men with me, filled up with fuel, carried two x twenty liters (five gal) extra fuel and departed Mt. Hagen. I chose to drive since we were hiring the vehicle and the driver only had one good eye. Being that it was in the rainy season and most of the driving time would be during night hours I thought it a wise decision to make. It was not long after we were on our way and going up a mountain following a loaded down lorry. I had to either overtake the vehicle or inhale diesel smoke for the next twenty miles. As I was overtaking, the engine cut off with no warning. I pulled completely off the road, tried to start the engine but it would not. For the next hour I worked on the vehicle trying to figure what cut off the engine. I discovered the fuel cut off switch on the fuel solenoid (diesel engine) had come unplugged. 1 repaired this and the vehicle started. By this stage it was dark and starting to rain. Being in the mountains and high in altitude it is not a warm rain, at least at night. Two things you learn to always keep with you in PNG, a good torch (flashlight) and a good raincoat. For the next hour the vehicle went all right, but then I noticed that the lights were growing dimmer, then the wipers went out. I continued to drive with the window down and half the time would look out the driver’s window to see the road. The condition of the roads, which are all gravel, mandate that you hardly ever get into fourth gear, at least during the rainy season. Soon the battery went flat and then we had to stop and change over the battery. This gave us lights again but the wipers, horn, indicators and everything electrical did not work, except the head lamps. This went on all night till two in the morning. We arrived at a large river and just crossed the bridge when the last bit of power went out from the batter. We sat there discussing what we should do, we prayed about the matter, seeing that we were sitting in an area where many vehicles had been held at gun point and robbed, and several people had been shot and killed by road thieves. This area was also a hot spot between the tribes of the Southern Highlands in this tribal fight. We decided to cariy on using our flashlights.
     Between the ten of us we had four, two were used at one time and when they started going flat we changed to the other two. I am not sure how many of you have tried to drive at night by flash light with it pouring down rain in the mountains, and your wipers don’t work either, but I can assure you of this, it was a real challenge. We saw daylight breaking when we stopped by a mountain stream to refresh ourselves and wash our faces. The LORD had brought us through a real trial and challenge, I drove the rest of the way into the Southern Highlands to Tan it is now nearly lunch time. At a certain bridge there was a vehicle broken down and stuck I turned off the engine and waited till the vehicle was repaired and removed from the bridge. About two hours had elapsed and! told the natives that I would try to start the vehicle. This was one of the problems we had when we left Mt. Hagen; the vehicle had to be push started. I tried to start it, and it started, I tried the head lamps, they worked, the wipers worked, the indicators worked, the gauges worked. Everything that had stopped working, now started working. You may try and figure out that one, but we drew our own conclusions.
     The next two hours were spent getting to the Mission Station. It was now in the evening, and the rains had started again. I had been driving for about twenty four hours. It was good to get out and actually walk again. This will conclude our report for now. We will follow with the report of the rest of our time spent in PNG.
     May the LORD bless each of you and keep you in the center of his will.

By his Mercy,

Peter A. Halliman