BY BRONWYN G. MISON

E STANDS ONLY FIVE FEET TALL WITH a broad nose and deep, soft eyes. His tight, curly beard and silver-streaked hair frame a gentle face and a big white smile. But Seventh-day Adventist minister Pastor Daniel Teta has braved cannibals and crocodiles to share Jesus with the people of Papua New Guinea. To sit and story with Pastor Teta is fascinating. He mixes English, pidgin, and hand gestures to piece together a summary of his ministry and the remarkable work of the Adventist Church in the Eastern Highlands of Papua New Guinea. This is a small part of his story.

Pastor Teta is from Tari, in the Southern Highlands. He is currently ministering in two districts in the Koroba area. He is caring for four established Adventist churches and 26 so-called "hand" churches, while serving as an evangelist at the same time. He originally worked for the government and can recall the day when his cousin invited him to listen to a White missionary who visited his village telling the people about the God in heaven and about not eating pigs. After discovering this God, Pastor Teta began his ministry as a church volunteer in 1964. He became a full-time evangelist in 1969 and developed a strong desire to minister to cannibals in the hill tribes. He believed that God would make it possible.

An opportunity came while he was ministering on the coastal area of the Western province in 1972. Pastor Teta recognized a group of passing visitors as cannibals after supplying them with salt, matches, soap, and razors. The chief invited Pastor Teta to visit the cannibals' village on the Nomad River, and promised protection. The two agreed that Pastor Teta would visit in a week's time, but Pastor Teta decided he would delay the visit a few more days to ensure his safety--he didn't want to be ambushed. Despite attempts from the local police to persuade Pastor Teta not to go into this dangerous area, he secretly began his full-day journey on foot.

Pastor Teta arrived at the village to a warm reception by the chief. Pastor Teta decided to cool down at the river, where he watched three men trying to catch a 12-foot (3.7-meter) crocodile. Using their skill and instinct, the men worked for some time to lure the animal into their handmade trap, but with no success. Finally, they decided to leave the water. Pastor Teta then thought he would take a look.

Crunch! Before Pastor Teta knew what had happened, the crocodile had attacked and clamped its teeth across both Pastor Teta's arms and dragged him to the deepest, darkest part of the river. Pastor Teta can remember looking into the animal's big eyes wondering how he would free himself. When you talk with Pastor Teta, he describes the bottom of the river in detail. "I could see the turtles swimming by and the fish swimming about in a frenzy as they tasted my blood," he says. For a moment Pastor Teta wondered if he would die, but the biblical story of Jonah came to mind. "I began to feel peace," he says. "I knew that God had saved Jonah in the belly of a fish, and that He would save me. I knew that God had sent me to these people--the Lord has a thousand ways to protect those who are in His work."

Eventually getting one arm out of the jaws of the crocodile, Pastor Teta reached for a small stick on the bottom of the river and tried to hit the crocodile in the eye. This caused the crocodile to thrash its body from side to side in a death roll, which almost severed Pastor Teta's arm. "I didn't think about breathing," says Pastor Teta. "Instead, I began to pull the crocodile to shallow water." He would later discover that he had been under the water for a long time.

Finally breaking free of the crocodile, Pastor Teta dragged himself to the bank of the river, where the chief, the three men, and village boys who had been searching for him stood. The fire that had been burning had long since died out. The chief killed the crocodile with his axe and helped Pastor Teta stem the rapid loss of blood. Pastor Teta's arm was stripped of skin and full of crushed bone.

That afternoon, as it started to get dark, Pastor Teta was impressed to leave the village because the sight of blood may have encouraged the cannibals to eat him. Pastor Teta's new friend, the chief, held and supported him as they began an 18.6-mile (30-kilometer) journey to a main road. Pastor Teta doesn't remember much of the journey because he repeatedly blacked out and regained consciousness as the hours passed. But the chief later told him that despite his injuries and unconsciousness, he had walked the whole way.

At Death's Door
Once at the main road, Pastor Teta opened his eyes to see two young men approaching. He described them as clean and in white sago leaves and traditional dress. "They were so clean and very tall. The chief with me was frightened. I asked them to go for help by contacting the nearest police station." Pastor Teta watched the men walk off into the distance side by side, rather than one behind the other, as is the custom in Papua New Guinea. He then blacked out again. He knew he had seen angels. Pastor Teta woke to muffled voices, with the chief still by his side and cradling his head. Help had arrived.

At this point Pastor Teta--completely yellow because of the loss of blood--asked the chief to bury him in the chief's village if he should die. Pastor Teta could tell that those around him thought he wouldn't survive. "On the inside I still believed God had work for me to do, and that if He wanted to, He was able to save me."

The next three months would see Pastor Teta undergo operations and an amazing recovery in the Balimo Hospital in the Western province. With determination he managed to keep his arm, not allowing the doctors to amputate because, he argued, "I need it for evangelism." Pastor Teta told the doctors, "I don't need to worry about infection, because the Lord has brought me this far--just do your part in repairing the arm, and God will do the rest." Further operations at Sopas Adventist Hospital helped Pastor Teta to regain full use of his arm and his fingers.

Finally, Pastor Teta was on his way home. He recalls arriving back on a Monday in his village and on the Wednesday setting out again on the long journey to find the Nomad River and the cannibal chief. When he arrived at the village, the chief led Pastor Teta to an abandoned hut where his picture scroll, Bible, and bags lay. Thinking he had died, the villagers had not touched his belongings.

The villagers realized that a miraculous power had saved Pastor Teta. He began to work with the cannibals who, in time, became Adventists, along with many other inhabitants of the highlands.

Today, Pastor Teta smiles as he tells of God's love for the cannibals of Papua New Guinea and how God used him to minister. He is married to Esther and has six children, who have supported him as he has evangelized.

This year alone Pastor Teta will baptize more than 100 people. When you ask him about his technique, he says, "I have a team of 10 who help carry my amplifier and generator to the top of a valley. We set it up, and I preach for a week. My message is broadcast all through the valley. Gradually, people come out of their homes to listen, and as they do, they invite me into their villages to share more and conduct Bible studies." Recently Pastor Teta has been working with 36 people. He tailors his message to the specific needs of the people he is working with.

The Lord keeps opening up villages to this enthusiastic evangelist who, despite the odds, continues to share a message of hope.

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Bronwyn G. Mison is the communication director for the South Pacific Division, located in Wahroonga, New South Wales, Australia.