The Occupation of the South Slope of the Saruwaged and Finisterre Mountain

The Quembung congregation had the task of evangelizing the south slopes of the Saruwaged.  The original station Simbang had been moved three times.  First it was moved to a near-by hill.  Then it was located on Masang hill.  And later it was moved by Schanbel to Quembung Mountain.  In the process it moved from the Jabem to the Kate area.

At first Quembung began three evangelist stations further inland.  These later became schools.  In 1913 Quembung had also sent three evangelists to Wareo.  In 1916 Quembung started a station among the Kosolong, south of the Hube’s.  Bazakie was placed in charge of the work and the station was called Ebabang.  The station was two days walk inland from Quembung.  After Schnabel had settled the land question, the twenty congregational representatives with him immediately began clearing the bush.  (p.215.GNM)  When the Kosolong people saw what was happening, they came forward, took the axes, and finished the work.  They also sent ten young men to go to school and later to help out as evangelists.  The work was influenced by the Hube work.  But the area of work was limited.  So Quembung looked for a new task.

A decision was made to begin work in the headwaters of the Busu (called Adler of ‘eagle’ by the Germans) river.  This area had been explored in 1912 by Keysser, L. Flierl, and Pilhofer.  The Sattelberg people wanted to work there but were encouraged by their missionary to let the Quembung people take over the task.

So the Quembung people had a big job.  The area was three times as big as the Hube area, from the inland of Hopoi (Cape Arkona) to the upper Erap river.  There was no possibility of a good land connection to Quembung.  It took a two days walk from Quembung to Ebabang.  Then another two and one-half days’ walk were required to the nearest villages.  But the evangelists, their families and their belongings went the hard way.  Some traveled via coastal road. (p.216.GNM)  This required two days walk to Bukawa and then one day inland to the first village.

At first a station was established on the headwater of the Buso.  It was call Mumelili.  Only seven hundred people lived in that area.  When L. Flierl visited the area in 1924 he saw that the people had been won for the Gospel. 

Then the work spread to the Busu.  The first station was called Samanzing, one day inland from the coast.  Then two more stations were established, one in Ogao and another in Nimba valley.  But the evangelists made little progress.  L. Flierl blamed it on the lack of missionary visits.  The evangelists were too long on their own without contact.  Zurenare, an evangelist, reported that they were without Holy Communion for five years.  (Shnabel-1925) (p.217.GNM)  It must be remembered that Quembung area was without a missionary for five years during the war.

Later through L. Flierl’s activity, the work got going again and began to bloom.  Five stations with eighteen workers were established and preparations were made to start two new stations.  (L. Flierl, August, 1925)  In January, 1926 Schnabel reported that there was a population of eight thousand in the Rawlinson mountain areas.  Of these only seventy-four were baptized.  Seventeen evangelists were at work on six stations but still there were many areas without any stations.