Family of Mark and Delilah Kau, with Luke Paina (Whitcomb’s
interpreter) on the left - group photo from first Umboi-ropen
expedition of 2004, N.E. of the mainland of Papua New Guinea
Villagers of Gomlongon and Opai, on Umboi Island,
have asked for Western help for a needed well, so
they can have easier access to water. It’s a hard walk
uphill with full water containers on your head.
Gomlongon Village is near Mount Bel where the
ropen light is often seen. But don’t try hiking up
this mountain before getting permission from the
tribal leader who claims he owns the land: He
reported that he had planted “man traps” on the
mountain. (Yet the original reason for the traps
was to thwart local thieves who stole a large battery
from the radio tower.)
From the fourth edition of Searching for Ropens
and Finding God (nonfiction book by Whitcomb):
“I was surprised when Mark led us through
Gomlongon without stopping. He lives just west
of the village, and his family had set aside, for
Luke and me, the better of their two houses. Mark
and his wife, Delilah, would sleep in their smaller
kitchen-house for the two weeks we would be there.
What hospitality!”
Mount Bel, where the glowing ropen sometimes appears to fly to
or from a reef or another mountain. Two ropen expeditions took
place in 2004, the first one led by Jonathan Whitcomb, with his
interpreter, Luke. The second ropen expedition of 2004, led by
Woetzel and Guessman, soon followed.
Copyright 2005-2015 Jonathan David Whitcomb