The honour bestowed by the Papua New Guinea (PNG) Government on expatriate New Zealander Kay Liddle, as reported on page 9, is well-deserved.

Kay and his wife Gwen were part of a team of Brethren missionaries working in the Sepik and Southern Highland areas of PNG.

In the 1960s, upward of 70 enthusiastic folk from Brethren Assemblies in New Zealand were part of a team of pioneer missionaries establishing mission stations, roads, sawmills, airstrips, schools, radio communication and medical facilities in rugged terrain among remote, primitive, stone-age communities.

Trekking in, they reached communities that knew nothing of the love and Gospel of Christ. Their tenacity, passion, love and vision to reach out and touch the lives and hearts of warring, cannibalistic, tribal people with the love of Christ required unbelievable patience and persistence. The dangers were real, yet somehow there was a sense of mission that drove them on.

Why would any man leave the prospect of a successful career, a strong Christian family, a good church and a community with all its modern embellishments to end up in a hostile environment? For Kay Liddle the answer is clear — a call from God to serve him wherever he was needed. For Kay it was Papua New Guinea. For his brother Max a call to serve in India. What higher calling can anyone have than a call to serve the King of Kings?

As I read Kay’s testimony my mind flashed back to words we used to sing with great gusto around the old treadle organ after Sunday night high tea:

‘It may not be on the mountain’s height,

or over the stormy sea;

It may not be at the battle’s front,

my Lord will have need of me;

But if by a still, small voice he calls,

to paths that I do not know,

I’ll answer, dear Lord, with my hand in thine,

I’ll go where you want me to go.’

In 1952 when Kay arrived in PNG he could never have dreamed that 60 years later, from the seeds planted in the lives of primitive tribal people, today there would be 470 Brethren Assemblies operating. Add to this the work of other missionary groups, the ministry of literature, the establishment of the Christian Leaders’ Training College and the impact of Christian leaders across the nation.

It is not great plans and grandiose schemes that God is looking for. Rather he wants us to respond to the clear call he places on each of us, as Christians. Our response: be willing to obey, whatever the cost, faithful to the end leaving the results in God’s hand.