MISSION STATEMENT: TOGETHER WE SERVE GOD IN PREPARING PEOPLE FOR HIS KINGDOM

The LMS in Boera (1874-2024)

The London Missionary Society (LMS) team arrived in Boera on 13 March 1874, and left pioneer LMS pastor Piri and his wife, Maki, to plant the seed of Christianity. Both were from present-day Cook Islands. Piri came from Avarua, and Maki from Mangaia.

Piri and Maki had pre-dated their Boera landing by arriving as part of the LMS party earlier in 1872 at present-day Manumanu, Hiri-Koiari District, Central Province, Papua New Guinea. This group was removed from Manumanu due to death and illness. However, true to their calling, surviving members returned and setup at Metoreia, Poreporena, National Capital District, Papua New Guinea in November 1873. Piri and Maki were then accompanied from Poreporena to Boera the following year where they landed on March 13, 1874.

For 16 years, they did good service, and their work was blessed. Sadly, this pioneering husband-and-wife team both died in the same year in 1888; Piri in January, and Maki in May. They lie side-by-side in undisclosed graves at Boera.

Piri also pioneered the building of the first permanent church building at Boera, which was opened in circa 1890.

Members of the Boera Hisiubada Local Church (BHLC) marked the 150th anniversary of Piri and Maki's historical landing at Boera in a small but significant ceremony at the Women's Fellowship Hall, Boera, on 13 March 2024.

Invited dignitaries were welcomed in a similar fashion by locals to mark this occasion with present-day Boera women holding up grass skirts in the face of 'armed' Boera men to stop them from attacking and maiming dignitaries in a historical re-enactment. According to anecdotal evidence, this is what Boera women did then to protect the LMS party that landed on Boera on 13 March 1874. The Motuan society and culture has taboos surrounding a woman's skirt (grass skirt back in the day).

At the Women's Fellowship Hall, Boera, on 13 March 2024, a soft launch of this website was witnessed on the day by the WCPR Bishop, WCPR Secretary, ERC Superintendent Minister, BHLC Local Minister, retired and serving local UCPNG Ministers and Deacons from Boera, UCPNG Human Resources Manager, UCPNG ICT Manager, the Deputy Secretary for Digital Government and Information Dissemination at the PNG Department of Information & Communications Technology, former and current BHLC church executives, and local church members and Boera villagers.

The website is a 150th anniversary gift to UCPNG members in PNG and especially at Boera. Website development and hosting was made possible with non-financial support from the UCPNG Assembly, and the PNG Department of Information & Communications Technology. BHLC invested PGK1,000 in cash which went to the payment of online tools for website development and lunch for the website development team.

The website domain is a subdomain within the main UCPNG website domain. It acts as a digital museum to collect, store and curate LMS and UCPNG content related to Boera, and as an information dissemination platform for the BHLC members. The UCPNG ICT Manager is responsible for website administration.

An internet payment gateway and recorded or live-streamed programs are slated for development. This is meant to cater for BHLC Ekalesia living outside Boera and Papua New Guinea. God-willing!