“I’m not afraid of evil spirits anymore,” said a middle-aged tribal man after we hiked together into a river valley the villagers previously avoided, “but whenever I think of the huge rock up in the Faile Creek I get the jitters. Did you know it has a spirit plant...
The axe murderer, Kalafu, and a few other men ducked in through the low doorway entering the smoke darkened hut, his air of command immediately silenced the discussion I was having with my friends Fato, Kifeson, Ken, Yanis, and Faimpat. There was nothing inviting...
Ten minutes. That’s all I would have. Rain was beating the windshield of the small airplane and black storm clouds restricted visibility in every direction so the pilot told me that after landing in Fiy we would have to quickly take off again to head to the town of...
In August of last year I wrote about a man I called Mr. Despicable. Below is another short story about how God is working in his life.I took the shovel to give him a chance to catch his breath. The ground was rocky, and a stubborn root was slowing his progress as he...
Ten minutes. That’s all I would have. Rain was beating the windshield of the small airplane and black storm clouds restricted visibility in every direction so the pilot told me that after landing in Fiy we would have to quickly take off again to head to the town of...
Since my return to Hewa I have been eager to hear if the two judges, who arrived to the Hewa village of Fiy on May 22, made decisions that will help protect the many Hewa women and children who are accused of being possessed by evil spirits that cause sickness and...
My friend, Kaifas, had a solemn expression as he told me the few things one-eyed Wetiyaf said just before he died. ‘“I can’t see where I’m going,” Wetiyaf said during the night. “The trail is dark. I’m afraid of His court.”’ Kaifas paused from telling me what he had...
Sunday Morning of November 2015, Jonathan Kopf 2016 Jelemaiya called the Hewa people of the Pasife village together for a Sunday morning service, but as the women and children gathered at the little leaf roofed dirt floored building and began singing, Efoko stayed in...
Mr. Despicable Jonathan Kopf, August 28, 2012 I looked at him, but I couldn’t force myself to look directly into his eyes. He was despicable. The scum of the earth. Murderer. Wife beater. Child abuser. He was sitting on the log next to me under my wife’s bark roofed...
Fato-June 2012 (Fato is a local leader and his house/hut is next to my house here) 01:06 Long ago at the time when my grandparents and father lived they used to say, “Evil spirits are alive and living all around us.” That’s what they said and because of that at that...
By Jonathan Kopf December 2012 I followed my newly-married friend Feyo up a steep moss covered bank in the Central range of PNG, sweat dripping from my chin to my drenched shirt. I was so weary from the 10 hour hike from the Hewa village I had moved to, that I could...
Ereke died October, 2013 When we first saw Ereke he was painfully shy, peeking out from behind his father’s knee. At that time he was four years old, maybe five. His mother had died when he was an infant leaving him to be cared for by his grieving father and one older...
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