Oh my, I thought, the nightmare would be having to attend them all. Minn. Volz spent six months in Papua New Guinea on sabbatical in 1989. During that time, the people of Papua New Guinea were preparing for their church convention. There are few roads because of the mountainous terrain. There is no road from the capital city, Port Moresby, to the rest of the island.
All travel is either by small airplane or around the shoreline by sea or on foot through jungles.
A convention site was located along the seacoast, which was more easily accessible than inland. This was a convention of the PNG Lutheran Church, which is the dominant religion. The date was set a year ahead in order to have ample time for preparations. In addition to this, another large piece of land was cleared to plant kai-kais, or sweet potatoes, to feed the assembly. The building materials came from the jungle itself.