“I am ready right now to see Jesus face to face. Are you ready?”
Gesturing at the patients assembled outside the Seigu Clinic, Pastor Rex Sombe emphatically concluded his Monday morning devotional. The same message permeated his interactions with the ill and injured throughout the day. As the final rays of sunlight faded, ABWE missionary Lori Smith administered the last IVs and medications, and patients and staff dispersed to their homes. Rex called over his shoulder as he left, “For God’s glory!”
“I never dreamed those were the last times I’d hear that voice and share that friendship this side of eternity,” Lori later reflected. That night, a massive heart attack ushered Rex into the glorious presence of his Lord.
“Rex was welcomed home with the fragrance of ministry fresh on his skin,” Lori continued. News of his passing plunged the community into chaos.
At age 53, Rex had gained respect not only for his outreach as Seigu Clinic evangelist but as a pastor and teacher. After graduating from Goroka Baptist Bible College (GBBC), an institute founded by ABWE to train Papua New Guinean pastors, church planters, and teachers, Rex assumed leadership of a GBBC campus church. Ten years later, his passion for evangelism led him to establish Praise Baptist Church to reach the growing population of drug users in the community. He also planted Bethlehem Baptist Fellowship in the home village of his wife, Dorothy, often spending Sunday afternoons walking under blazing sun or tropical downpour to preach in both locations.
“His life passion was to share Christ,” said Lori. The gospel he preached penetrated the vast spiritual darkness gripping the people groups of the remote island nation. Even as local believers grieved Rex’s death, surrounding villages plotted retribution. “If a non-elderly person dies without any apparent cause in Papua New Guinea, many people believe the death is a result of witchcraft or evil spirits,” explained missionaries Phil and Jan Smith. “They will attack the village or person they think cast a spell on the deceased in an effort to drive off the evil spirit.” Residents of three neighboring villages converged on Rex’s village in a coordinated attack. Armed with knives, they violently destroyed homes, uprooted gardens, slew livestock, looted possessions, and assaulted villagers. Within a short time, the village lay devastated. Hearing of the onslaught, ABWE and GBBC ministry partners scrambled to provide food and supplies to those left with nothing. “We were able to reach into the need after the destruction to help replace items lost,” shared Lori. “That had a huge impact on many, especially the unsaved.” From the darkness of death and destruction, the team has witnessed the fruit of Rex’s faithful legacy growing within the community, even as they continue praying for God to break through barriers. “The Christians chose to love and forgive those that destroyed their village,” Lori conveyed. “People are seeing real Christianity with love and compassion.”
Help train the next generation of Christian leaders like Pastor Rex in Papua New Guinea through the Goroka Project. Learn more or give at abwe.ca/goroka-project-update
By: Katelyn Hawkins | Originally Posted at: https://abwe.org/blog/goroka-update/
