Fugmann in Madang, Sepik and Goroka

After a serious bout of jaundice the Church Council of the ELC-PNG sends Gernot Fugmann and his family to the costal town of Madang. For them it is a big change from the primeval setting at Ponampa to this urban environment. He works as a town missionary for Lutheran congregations there. From Madang he patrols remote areas of the River Sepik Province. He conducts inservice courses for village elders who are the backbone of church work in the congregations on the river. 1978 the Fugmanns come back to Germany. As a study secretary Gernot lays the foundation to a mission college. Then he follows a call as the director of the Melanesian Institute at Goroka in PNG. It is an ecumenical institution for pastoral services, understanding Melanesian Societies to produce Christian publications supporting church workers. The death of his mother brings him back to Germany where a routine medical check-up makes the doctors suspect of cancer.