About Us

The Papua New Guinea Mission Society was officially organized in 2001 to provide opportunities for its members to share in building up and extending the Lutheran church in Papua New Guinea. The society is made up of Lutheran missionaries who helped share the gospel of Jesus Christ to the Enga people of the highlands of Papua New Guinea (PNG) beginning in 1948 and continuing to the present. The society exists today to continue to partner with the Gutnius Lutheran Church of Papua New Guinea (GLCPNG) as the young church ministers to the Enga people and reaches out to other areas of PNG with the gospel.

The primary efforts of PNGMS in recent years have focused on theological education, the renewal of physical plant infrastructure at Timothy Lutheran Seminary at Birip, facilitating medical services to the Enga people and encouraging the Lutheran schools of the Gutnius Lutheran Church (GLC) in their Christian Religious Education with books and resources.

The banner photo above pictures the celebration of Holy Communion at Pandapus Lutheran Congregation of the GLC. Below are the PNGMS Mission Statement and a document listing the missionaries who served among the Enga from 1948 to the present arranged chronologically. The continuing segments in this portion of the website include a page on the history of PNGMS and pages of memories written by individual missionaries..

PNGMS Mission Statement: Revised in January 2023

The Papua New Guinea Mission Society (PNGMS) partners with the Gutnius Lutheran Church of Papua New Guinea (GLCPNG) to build up and extend the Kingdom of God in Papua New Guinea; specifically, to:

  1. Facilitate new mission efforts by the GLCPNG, including church planting,
  2. Facilitate kingdom projects in theological education,
  3. Provide resources for Christian Religious Education at all levels, 
  4. Sponsor travel to and from PNG for select mission personnel, and
  5. Provide information and opportunity for continued connection between former missionaries and the GLCPNG.

PNGMS Mission Statement: Written when PNGMS was originally established

1.  The purpose of the Papua New Guinea Mission Society (PNGMS) is to provide opportunities for its members to share in building up and extending the Lutheran church in Papua New Guinea.

2.  PNGMS aims to be a faithful instrument of the Kingdom of Christ and of God, in which, through the Gospel, God opposes and defeats the insurgency of sin, death, and the devil, extending salvation to the lost everywhere by the forgiveness of sins through faith in Jesus Christ, his crucified and risen Son, our Lord.

3.  The Gospel is the message of the cross, that God was in Christ, reconciling the World to himself (2 Corinthians 5:19).  There is no other Good News for the world.

4.  The Holy Scriptures are the pure and clear fountain of Israel from which alone all true Christian doctrine is drawn.  PNGMS pledges to teach according to the confessions in the Book of Concord of 1580 because they are drawn from and based upon the Holy Scriptures.

5.  Toward achievement of its purpose PNGMS gladly and thankfully works together with others, individuals, church and synodical agencies, congregations, districts, auxiliaries, societies, etc.  This explicitly and especially includes the Lutheran community in Papua New Guinea.

6.  In obedience to the cross PNGMS is totally and joyfully dependent upon the Holy Spirit for every need and resource.

7.  PNGMS pledges bold, judicious, accountable, and transparent management and deployment of all resources entrusted to it.

Missionary Chart

Chronological Chart of Missionaries to the Enga