“Once a week?! House to house?! Is this message important or not? You will teach us all together and every day!”

That was the response of the Bisorio people when missionaries Bob Kennell and George Walker began teaching God’s word among them. I first heard the beginning of the Bisorio story shortly after Bob and George told it to NTM missionaries at a workers’ conference. It encouraged me, and I passed the recordings on to other people who also pursued serving in missionary aviation. Years later, it was my privilege to serve the Bisorio people and the missionaries who served them.

The greatest benefit to me has been hearing how the Gospel was presented to the Bisorio people. The foundational Bible teaching method of presenting God’s word to the Bisorio transformed my own understanding of God and His purpose in the world. Through the recordings below, you can hear what I heard as you follow the Bisorio story.

Haribaio’s questions

After months of foundational Bible teaching, the missionaries presented the Good News about Jesus. The next day, Haribaio and three others demanded some answers: “How long have the people in your country known this message? How long has this message been in the country of Papua New Guinea? How long has your mission group been in this Sepik Region? Why is it that you are just coming now to bring this message to us?“

Listen to the Bisorio story

  1. 01

    The Bisorio Story (audio, four parts)

    Bob Kennell and George Walker tell the story in their own words. Part 1 · Part 2 · Part 3 · Part 4 · Update · The Bisorio church’s farewell to their missionaries

  2. 02

    Each Stick Had a Name

    Gilimase brought a bundle of sticks — one for each person in his village — asking for missionaries. Watch → The man who brought the sticks later perished after hardening his heart and setting up boundaries against the message. But the Gospel eventually reached his village: of a group of 25 people, 19 made a solid profession of faith in Jesus Christ. Read the account →

  3. 03

    Bisorioland & the Old Testament dedication

    Bisorio church leaders address North American Christians (watch), and George Walker gives testimony of the Bisorio Old Testament Bible dedication (watch).

The legacy

The Bisorio people heard the Gospel from missionaries in the late 1970s. They reached every village of their own people with the Gospel, and their testimonies of transformed lives resulted in other people groups asking for missionaries. Since then, churches have been planted among the Mugumute, Waxe, Inaru (Bahinemo) (1994), Saniyo (1998), Malaumanda (1998), Hewa (2005), Yembiyembi (2008), and Maliyali (2022) peoples. One thriving church became a sending church — exactly the goal of missions.

Jack Housley was instrumental in much of the physical work of the ministry among the Bisorio. In August 2025, Jack was told that cancer had taken over much of his body and he had only weeks remaining. Here is the response from Bisorio — a church loving its co-laborer to the end.

Go deeper