In August of 1948, Evangelical Bible Mission’s founder, G.T.Bustin, flew to Mt. Hagen and then walked across the mountains and valleys to make contact with warring tribesmen at a place near Pabarabuk not far from the western border of the Western Highlands. God gave him favor with these new friends and he founded the Evangelical Bible Mission station, Pabarabuk. Eventually The Evangelical Bible Mission was registered in New Guinea and continued serving under this name establishing mission stations at Pabarabuk, Tambul, Kauapena, Piambel, Mele, Tongo River, Mendi, and Pulupatu, with the focus of the mission being in the Western and Southern Highlands.
Four of G.T.Bustin’s children came to New Guinea in 1958 (60 years ago this year) and carried on missionary work at Kauapena, Tambul, and eventually, Mele Stations. In 1964 G.T.Bustin’s youngest daughter, Joanna came with her husband, Winston Wehrman, and they worked first at Kauapena and then at Pabarabuk, establishing the Papua New Guinea Bible Institute boarding school that reached thousands of six standard drop outs.
As Independence for New Guinea approached, Evangelical Bible Mission missionaries and national leaders began working together to develop the formation of a national church. This process began and continued up through independence and it was not until the early 1980’s that the Papua New Guinea Bible Church was officially registered by Gerald Bustin as a “daughter church” of the Evangelical Bible Mission. It was registered as a separate legal entity.
In early 1980 Gerald Bustin was appointed in an EBM/Church conference to act as the director of City Evangelism and he and his family began planting churches under the name of the PNG Bible Church. Beginning in February of 1980 they planted churches in Lae, Goroka, and Port Moresby. He also oversaw planting of churches in Mt. Hagen, Kundiawa, Popendetta, Ok Tedi, and many other places.
In 1981, Gerald Bustin met with the then minister for Telecommunications, Wiwa Korowi, and gave him an official letter from Evangelical Bible Mission, asking for a license to be granted to begin a Christian Radio Station in Papua New Guinea.
Gerald Bustin continued directing the City Church Planting ministry until 1984 when he and his family returned to the USA for furlough. In 1985 the General Board of the Evangelical Bible Mission elected Gerald Bustin to serve as the General Director (President) of the mission.
From this position he directed all the work of Evangelical Bible Mission including the work in Papua New Guinea where Evangelical Bible Mission and it’s daughter church, Papua New Guinea Bible Church worked side by side to spread the gospel.
Under it’s registration as an official corporation in Papua New Guinea, The Evangelical Bible Mission obtained work permits and visas for a growing number of missionaries that were sent to PNG. Funds were raised in the USA by the Evangelical Bible Mission to support the work of the mission and missionaries. The fact that the mission owned the original, pre-independence properties and was giving the PNG Bible Church leaders permission to work on those properties was well understood and not contested.
In the year 2000 Gerald Bustin was notified that the PNG Government was ready to grant the radio license He had applied for almost twenty years before. After raising thousands of Dollars in the USA and making arrangements to partner with HCJB World Radio technicians, Gerald Bustin went to Port Moresby and together with Rev. Mondopa Mini representing the PNG Bible Church, and Gerald Bustin Representing Evangelical Bible Mission, received the license to operate the Radio Stations “In Trust for All the Christian Churches of Papua New Guinea.”
Gerald Bustin and Mondopa Mini, working together, set up an independent radio ministry, called, “The Papua New Guinea Christian Broadcasting Newwork.” Together they appointed the board members to serve on the board of this independent network. The Evangelical Bible Mission raised thousands of dollars and sent missionaries to help get this radio ministry launched.
It was not until 2007 that some of the PNG Bible Church leaders sent a letter to Gerald Bustin, president of Evangelical Bible Mission, stating that they were reserving the right to operate independently of the Evangelical Bible Mission and requested a meeting with him. That year, Gerald Bustin met with the church leaders in Port Moresby and they issued him with an ultimatum— two options. The first was for him to bring the Evangelical Bible Mission back under some legalistic, non-biblical standards (Wearing long sleeves, etc.) that the church had adopted under the indoctrination of some former EBM missionaries. The second option was that he turn over Evangelical Bible Mission to those former legalistic missionaries.
When Gerald Bustin refused to accept either ultimatum, he was told that the church leaders had been ordered by these former legalistic missionaries, that they must disassociate with Gerald Bustin and Evangelical Bible Mission, if they wanted continued support from these missionaries.
Then these church leaders proceeded to get an order passed at their church conference that Gerald Bustin was not allowed to preach in any PNG Bible Church.
In the early part of 2008 Gerald Bustin made a trip over to PNG to attend the PNG Bible Church conference where he was given a chance to speak to the conference. His speech, which was recorded and transcribed, warned the church that if they continued down the path of non-biblical legalistic dogma, they would eventually loose their children and grandchildren and destroy the church.
He also advised them that the property was owned by the Evangelical Bible Mission and they had no right to forbid the President of the mission to come onto the property.
Later that year, (2008) Gerald Bustin and his wife, Roana, returned to PNG to preach for a crusade in Lae, celebrating 50 years since Gerald and some of the Bustin Children had come to PNG. The PNG Bible Church ordered their members not to attend the crusade which was endorsed by almost every other church in Lae.
Then Gerald and Roana went to Kauapena and stayed in the home of his friend, Glaimi Warena, who had organized a pig feast and celebration of Lenita Bustin’s 50 year anniversary of her first coming to PNG. This feast and celebration was boycotted by the PNG Bible Church leaders, except for Mondopa Mini. Many of these leaders had gotten their start in life under Lenita and Gerald Bustin’s ministries but they chose to show extreme disrespect for the very people who had given them a chance to become leaders.
After the celebration at Kauapena, Gerald and Roana Bustin went to Pabarabuk to give the church leaders there a letter, written by a lawyer, asking them to turn the mission station back over to Evangelical Bible Mission, since they had broken away from the Mission. The church leaders were very disrespectful and even basically told Pastor Kandulopi to, “Shut up old man” when he tried to speak up in defense of the mission and the Bustins.
Earlier, in 2002 when the church leaders at Pabarabuk wanted to get the PNG Government to place a Government High School on the property, they were told by the government that since they did not own the property, they would have to get permission from Evangelical Bible Mission. Wane Ninjipa wrote Gerald Bustin asking for permission, which was granted on the basis that the church was cooperating with the Evangelical Bible Mission at that time. This established the fact that they understood the Mission had ownership of the property and only granted them provisional rights to occupy it with the understanding of their continued friendly and cooperating relationship with the mission.
Since the church leaders had already officially acknowledged that ownership by Evangelical Bible Mission fo the property, they should have worked to come to agreement with the mission and turned the station back over to the mission without fighting.
Instead, The Church Leaders Filed a Law Suit Against The Evangelical Bible Mission, but lied and claimed that the mission had filed a law suit against them. The truth is that the Evangelical Bible Mission has NEVER filed a law suit against the church. The mission was the defendant in a lawsuit filed against the mission by the church leaders. The law suit was an effort to legalizing the stealing of the properties owned by the Evangelical Bible Mission.
Furthermore, the church leaders filed for an “exparte” (one-sided ruling) by a judge to forbid Gerald Bustin from entering any property currently occupied by the PNG Bible Church— even though the Evangelical Bible Mission owned and had title to those properties. This injunction was served on Gerald Bustin in 2009 when he exited the Port Moresby Air Terminal upon his arrival in Papua New Guinea that year.
The church leaders then had Gerald Bustin followed by people with mobile phones and cameras to catch him in the act of breaking the injunction so they could have him arrested and locked up in prison as a criminal and lose the right to ever return to PNG. He did not go against the injunction but they did hound him with threats of arrest.
According to this injunction, based upon lies told to the judge, Gerald Bustin was not even allowed to visit the mission station where his sister, Lenita Bustin, is buried. It is clear that the reason for this injunction was to keep Gerald Bustin from having contact with his many friends whom he had held dear across many years, because many of those friends were loyal to him and would have stood against the church leaders.
The church leaders then proceeded to commit serious fraud by having Evangelical Bible Mission de-registered which was unlawfully done according to the laws of PNG that forbid the de-registration of a corporation while it is under litigation.
According to the authorities who de-registered the Evangelical Bible Mission, they were told by the church leaders that Evangelical Bible Mission and PNG Bible Church were one and the same organization and did not need double registration so they ordered the mission to be taking off the registration of companies in Papua New Guinea to basically kill the mission.
The law suit by the church against it’s “Mother” organization, the Evangelical Bible Mission was heard by an Australian Judge who brought up the question of fraud on the part of the church. However the verdict was never publically handed down and it seems that there is possible bribery on the part of some to bury the case without it being resolved while the church leaders continue to illegally occupy the properties owned by the Evangelical Bible Mission.
Now it appears that these corrupt leaders want to continue to perpetrate fraud by planning to celebrate 70 years of the church’s existence! That is totally false. The church was not officially registered until the early 1980’s and that was done by Gerald Bustin with the Registrar in Port Moresby which was located near Ella Beach at the time.
This year is the 70th anniversary of the mission that became known as the Evangelical Bible Mission being planted in Papua New Guinea. At the most, the church is only 38 years old based on its “birth certificate” (official registration as a separate legal organization in PNG.)
To claim this to be the PNG Bible Church’s 70 year anniversary would be like a daughter assuming her mother’s age and celebrating her mother’s birthday as her own.. Another example will show how false it is for the PNG Bible Church to claim 70 years existence in PNG. Gerald Bustin’s father, G.T.Bustin, the founder of Evangelical Bible Mission, was born July 26, 1903. Gerald Bustin was born 40 years later in 1943. Would anyone think it would be right for Gerald Bustin to claim to be 115 years old and celebrate his 115th birthday in July of 2018? Of course not! But this, it seems, is exactly what some PNG Bible Church leaders are planning on doing.
This seems to be an effort to further legitimize the fraud and lies that have been perpetrated by some of the leadership of the PNG Bible Church.
Because many people have been deceived and misled, this document is being presented to make the truth known. This can be backed up by many legal documents that support the truth stated here.
Even with all the lies and attacks against the Evangelical Bible Mission, it is alive and active in Papua New Guinea. In many areas of the country, loyal Evangelical Bible Mission pastors and Christian leaders are carrying on successful ministries under the name of the Evangelical Bible Mission. Many of the “little people” in the PNG Bible Church are still loyal and friendly towards Evangelical Bible Mission but are under the control and manipulation of some rogue leaders.
Plans are underway for celebrations to take place across Papua New Guinea celebrating the 70th year anniversary of the Evangelical Bible Mission. More about these plans will be shared at a later date as they unfold.
In the mean time, let it be known by All that the PNG Bible Church is not one and the same thing as the Evangelical Bible Mission any more than a daughter is her mother and her mother is the daughter. It is total fraud for the PNG Bible Church to try to celebrate 70 years of existence. People who know the truth should resist being drawn into this fraud.
With all the above stated facts, Gerald Bustin and the Evangelical Bible Mission are open to the consideration of reconciliation with the Papua New Guinea Bible Church, provided the rogue leaders are willing to show real repentance for the ungodly actions they have taken and the lies they have told to try to destroy this mission. This is the prayer of the mission and all friends of the mission are invited to join in praying for true repentance on the part of these corrupt leaders.
