A yawning gap in fighting COVID in PNG: where are the churches?

I have long argued that the Christian churches are the most under-utilised and under-valued "resource" in Papua New Guinea. It wasn't until Julie Bishop became Australia's Foreign Minister in 2013 that the churches were given even a minor and tentative role in the delivery of Australia's generous aid program in Papua New Guinea.

When I last checked even the modest amount of financial support the churches get from the PNG Government for health services had been delayed. That is just not good enough.

There is no comparison between how influential and effective in the community the churches are in Australia with how they are in Papua New Guinea. Australia has a Christian "adherence" of less than 70 per cent whereas in PNG it is upwards of 90 per cent – and growing!

The churches of PNG have a proud record when it comes to serving the people – health care, family life support, education and vocational training.

They have a capacity not to be found in the government sector of delivering vital services honestly and efficiently……utterly without corruption, theft or abuse. Much of the church services are delivered by volunteers or religious and lay personnel on very low incomes.

The "missionary" zeal of the churches may have changed, but it is far from dead.

The historic links of the PNG churches date back to the early missionaries who went to the then separate entities of Papua and New Guinea in the 19^th century. If you visit areas where the early missionaries landed and served so diligently what stands out is the quality of the services provided to whole communities, and not just direct Christian followers.

Some of the missionaries had their origins in France, Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, the UK and Australia. More recently missionaries have come from the United States, Canada, and the South Pacific.

My point is that they are a really valuable resource, one that Australia needs to be encouraging the PNG Government to utilise more and now.

Most Australian Christian churches have links with their PNG counterparts. The federal government could be convening a summit of Australian churches with PNG links to determine how the Australian churches can do more to assist not just in addressing the challenges Covid is creating, but also the impact of the pandemic on communities right across Papua New Guinea.

If we do that we will be setting an example the Papua New Guinea Government can follow.

And can you imagine how utterly apoplectic the PRC Government, and Embassy in PNG, would be if Christian churches and agencies were more directly and genuinely involved in working with Australian and PNG agencies to meet a challenge PNG is really struggling with.