Prayer Overcomes Crocodiles
In July 2011, Pastor Peter Korove had taken his Pacific Adventist University practical theology class up the Turama River in the Gulf Region of Papua New Guinea to run several evangelistic programs. About 100 kilometres upstream is the village of Koumaio. But using the canoe and the 15-horse outboard motor, they had gone a further 4 -5 hours upstream to the village of Kuri for the first week.
After running successful revival and reformation meetings, they baptised 20 people in the river that Sabbath. At this village, the river is only 15 to 20 metres wide and is considered safe from the threat of crocodiles. The next day, they travelled down to Koumaio Village.
At Koumaio, they found between 40–50 people wanting to be baptised. The district pastor was not ordained, which is why they had been waiting for Pastor Peter to arrive to conduct the baptisms. However, there was a major problem.
For the past 5 or 6 six years, the crocodiles in the area had been very aggressive and had taken several villagers. The villagers would no longer enter the water of the river at all. They did not wash in the river and any fishing was done from the safety of the riverbank or their canoes.
The deacons and elders had considered various options for their baptismal ceremony. They thought of using a small stream nearby which was where they collected their water but it was not really suitable. They even considered rerouting the river and putting in a fence to protect them from the crocodiles. Keep in mind the river is at least 100 metres wide at this point and a fair volume of water already.
Finally, they decided that baptisms are part of God’s work, so they would act in faith and simply ask God to protect them. On Wednesday morning at 9am, a group of 12 to 15 deacons, elders and PAU students simply walked into the river–holding hands in a circle around Pastor Peter and the district director—forming a protective barrier with their bodies and much prayer.
It took well over an hour to baptise 40 plus candidates as the district director offered a prayer each time, while Pastor Peter baptised. The news had gone out into the community that the baptism was going to be conducted in the river that no one had dared enter for years. There were more than 200 people from the community crowding the banks to watch how this would all play out. Many were non-Adventists who came to see if prayer and God could overcome the aggressive crocodiles.
They saw faith in action. They saw 40 plus people baptised. They saw the protective ring of 12–15 deacons, elders and PAU ministerial students enter the water holding hands in that protective ring, armed with nothing more than faith in God and prayer. What a testimony to the power of God!
Verse of the day:
“The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him and delivers them” Psalm 34:7 (ESV).
