Priest caught in killer cyclone

A CYCLONE that killed 260 Papua New Guineans was witnessed by vicar Chris Garland and his wife Nancy.

Now the incumbent of Messing, Inworth, Copford and Easthorpe is raising funds to aid the stricken province of Oro where Chris was spending his three month sabbatical

Chris says: "Four days of almost non-stop heavy rain led to the destruction of every bridge in the province, making every road impassable and cutting off the Newton Theological College where we were staying from the town on one side and the airfield on the other.

"Over 260 people lost their lives and 80 per cent of the food gardens on which the people depend were destroyed, as were several villages.
"It is a symbol of the resilience of the people that at one bridge, left suspended 20 feet above the river bed, they made a ladder out of rainforest saplings and lashed by tough grass which, with a log to walk along next, became the main route into town.

"It showed the readiness of the people to lift themselves out of hardship by their local resources.

"At the next broken bridge, there was a dead python at the bottom of the bank so the journey to town became a game of snakes and ladders."

The Garlands' visit to Papua New Guinea, a tropical island, larger than the British Isles, just North of
Australia, ended a week after the cyclone and a day after the College end-of-year graduation as they were told, in default of any other means of transport, to accept spare places in the return journey to
base of a helicopter hired by the Church to bring in relief supplies.

Chris adds: "There are great needs for relief supplies in the Oro Province, not only for rice, until the subsistence gardens can yield crops again but also for basic implements to make fresh gardens and
rebuild villages"

The Garlands had served the Anglican Church there before coming to the Diocese of Chelmsford. Chris had lectured in the Anglican Theological College there, and Nancy had co-ordinated Anglican health work in the country. Last year they were invited by the Archbishop of Papua New Guinea and the Bishop of Popondota to give some input into the teaching at Newton Theological College and to
organise and lead in-service courses for long-serving clergy.

Chris worked with the local members of staff at the college to set up in-service courses. He also demonstrated Godly Play in the College and at a primary school.

As well as carrying out their teaching commitments, at a college set in a clearing in the rain forest with only four hours of generator electricity a day, they renewed friendships in surrounding villages.

● Donations should be made payable to 'Papua New Guinea Church Partnership' (Cyclone Appeal) and sent to Chris Luxton, St Mary Abbots Centre, Vicarage Gate, London W8 4HN.

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