Jayapura, Jubi TV – Coordinator of the Papua Peace Network (JDP) Pastor John Bunai says that reconciliation is an option for a Papuan recovery movement.
Previously, the late Pastor Neles Tebay has also called for dialogue to unravel the root causes of Papua’s problems with Indonesia. But the voice for dialogue seems to keep ricocheting, never done properly.
“The Papua Peace Network has written many books offering solutions to resolve the four root causes of Papua’s problems with dignity. But it keeps crashing against the walls. So today we talk about recovering peace on the Land of Papua,” Bunai said during the Seminar and Spiritual Awakening Service on the Peacebuilding on the Land of Papua at the Cendrawasih University auditorium on Tuesday, May 31, 2022.
John Bunai invited Papuans to avoid tribal wars at all costs. “We gotta leave it all behind, including friction in the family because of political differences. Our parents have accepted the Bible and abandoned the tribal warfare. So don’t we Papuans nowadays, because of politics, suspect and hate each other. Today we leave all those spiteful feelings behind,” he said.
He further urged all Papuans to unite in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. “Because the church will not save us mankind but Jesus will,” he said.
According to him, Papua must be a land of peace made by Papuans themselves because Papuans are the image and likeness of God. “Don’t do things that will harm Papuans with our perspective that makes us not united in God,” the pastor said.
Chairperson of the Papua Women Alliance’s Ester Group Herlina Murib said that her party held the seminar and prayer with the theme of Papuan Recovery because yesterday and today Papua had been grieving. “The land of Papua has turned into a land of blood,” she said.
“Papua will continue to hum its sorrow while we are still in the fog of darkness. Therefore, all Papuan people must be of one heart for the recovery of the land of Papua,” said Herlina Murib.
“Through this seminar and prayer, all Papuan people must unite and glorify God by praying and fasting, for the recovery of the land of Papua,” she said. (*)
