Peeps at Chiefs and People

 •  5 min. read  •  grade level: 11
 
Among the various tribes of New Guinea there are now many petty chiefs, but in earlier times there was only one, whose power was supreme, and whose word was final for peace or war, for life or death, Boi Nagi was the great chief of the Motus, and his ancestors had been chiefs for generations. His headquarters were at Port Moresby. He was known and feared all along the coast, often making raids on the peaceful villages and robbing the people of all they possessed. When the first messengers of the Gospel arrived in Port Moresby, contrary to all expectation, Boi Nagi became their friend, and listened attentively to their teaching. Although a man of blood, ferocious as a savage, and unscrupulous as a robber, the wondrous story of the Cross began to take effect on his dark and sin-bound soul. Witchcraft, which had been his chief guide, lost its hold, as the light of the “Gospel of the glory of the blessed God” (1 Tim. 1:22Unto Timothy, my own son in the faith: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. (1 Timothy 1:2) R.V.) entered and took possession of his heart and mind. Boi confessed Jesus. Christ as his Saviour, and at an advanced age died in faith in 1886. His son Aruako succeeded him. He was a wild-looking man, tall and powerful, with the largest and longest head of fuzzy hair on the whole coast of New Guinea. He was no friend of the missionaries, but watched their movements in a sulky manner, fearing they might spoil his people as robbers and raiders, which, in so far as they were brought under the Gospel’s saving power, they undoubtedly were. He attempted more than once to force the Lord’s servants from his country, and on one occasion ordered their house to be burned down. But after years of opposition and indifference, this wild chief was brought under the power of the truth, and awakened by the Spirit to a sense of his sin and guilt in the sight of God. A wonderful change was manifested in his life, and the savage look which for years so frightened all his subjects into submission, was exchanged for a calm and peaceful countenance. On one occasion he accompanied Chalmers on a journey along the Gulf. They reached Maipua, a very large village with good houses and several large temples. The inhabitants were semi-savages, cannibals in practice, but more intelligent than most of their neighbors. The men were engaged in a man hunt. The women were busy making sago, until the return of the raiders; then they went out singing and dancing to welcome the men with their spoil of human flesh, which was cooked and eaten. In the temple or dubu the men presented their gifts to the god, and then joined in the feast. It was in one of these large dark temples, lit by a few flickering firelights, to a crowd of savages, real cannibals, who had just returned from a man hunt, that Aruako, the newly converted chief, stood forth in the midst of the weird scene and boldly preached Christ as the Saviour of sinners. It was a sight never to be forgotten by those who witnessed it. The man who, only a few years before, had been the terror of his tribe and an enemy of the Gospel, now saved by grace and standing as Christ’s witness in the midst of an idol temple, telling forth the story of God’s love to men worse than he had been in his darkest days. The congregation sat listening in wonder to the Gospel, which for the first time they were then hearing, and at the close of Aruako’s testimony, they gathered around asking all sorts of strange questions. After Chalmers and those with him had become so tired that they had to go off to sleep, the earnest chief, full of his message, and yearning to communicate it to his fellows, continued speaking and answering questions all through the night. When the sun rose the following morning, Chalmers got up and going into the dubu found Aruako still speaking in a hoarse voice, to a crowd of wondering hearers. “Have you been here all night, Aruako?” asked Chalmers, to which the happy man replied, “When I lay down they came around asking all sorts of questions, so I had to get up and begin again. So I told them of Jesus and His love, and they all said, That is good news. There must be no more fighting, let us live in peace.” Thus, slowly but surely, the Gospel of salvation, through the blood of the Lamb, found its way and wrought its wonders among the savages and cannibals of the Papuan coast: No doubt there has been much to discourage and a great deal to test faith and patience, but this is not to be wondered at; indeed it could not be otherwise. Where Satan holds his prey in chains of darkness, when his kingdom is invaded by the ambassadors of the Son of God, who once for all has triumphed over him, and whose conquering Gospel is the power which looses the chains of his captives and sets them free, it need not be a matter of astonishment that he seeks by every possible means to oppose and hinder the path of those who bear the message of deliverance from his power. But the work will go on, and the ultimate triumph is sure.