Unevangelized Fields Mission (Australia)

When the Unevangelised Fields Mission (UFM) was formed in England in 1931, Australian missionary work in Papua New Guinea conducted by the Melbourne Bible Institute under the auspices of the Worldwide Evangelization Crusade was transferred to the UFM. In the 1930s, three UFM missionaries, Albert Drysdale of the Melbourne Bible Institute, Theo Berger and Gordon Rodgers, undertook pioneering work in the Western Province. By 1935 there were four UFM missionaries at the head station of Madiri, three at Balimo, and two at Awaba on the Aramia River. Another station at Wasau on the Fly River was under preparation. The Mission gained in stability and direction when, in 1939, J.T. Storey was appointed general secretary of the Home Council in Melbourne, Len E. Buck was appointed chairman of the Council and George Sexton became field leader. These three men retained their positions for 30 years. In 1940, the Mission expanded into Gogodala territory and shifted its headquarters to Wasau.

In December 1941, the Australian missionaries were evacuated, leaving the mission stations in charge of evangelistic converts who consolidated Christianity among the Gogodala people. After the war, the UFM established a Bible school and an indigenous pastorate, and a Gogodala district church council was constituted in 1954. Mission work spread into the Southern Highlands. In 1966, the UFM churches officially constituted a national church, the Evangelical Church of Papua New Guinea. In 1969, the UFM Australia and New Zealand Branch became independently known as the Asia Pacific Christian Mission (APCM), and extended its activities in the Asia-Pacific region. It went on to establish missions in Irian Jaya, Indonesia and the Philippines. In 1998, APCM and Pioneers USA formally merged, to form Pioneers International. APCM's former director, Doug McConnell became the Pioneers International director.