During the second world war, Navoko was the mission carpenter on the Adventist mission station in Kukudu, Solomon Islands. A fine Adventist boy lived in the village of Boboi and Navoko wanted his daughter to marry him. So the arrangements were made. But then as the wedding came close, Navoko heard that a boy from another village, Merusu, had decided he wanted to marry his daughter, and had plans to slip across the water to Kukudu, steal and marry her! What could the carpenter do?
Filled with anger, he sharpened his knife like a razor and waited to kill the boy who planned to steal his daughter. Soon after, Navoko met Pastor Kato Ragoso, the mission president, and shared the whole story. One moment the poor carpenter seemed filled with fear for his daughter but the next, he was filled with anger. Pastor Ragoso tried to calm him down.
“You must pray first,” he told Navoko. “Prayers are more powerful than carpenter’s knives, you know.”
Navoko didn’t seem to quite believe that. He blurted out to Pastor Ragoso, “I think I will do the work of Satan first and kill the boy, and then I will do the work of God.”
“No,” insisted Pastor Ragoso. “That is not God’s way. You must pray first and leave it in God’s hands.”
A few minutes later a lad named Lilopio walked out of the mission hospital and met a worried-looking Ragoso. “What is the trouble, Pastor Ragoso?” he asked.
The president usually wore the largest smile across his handsome face. But not this morning. Pastor Ragoso told him the story of Navoko and the boy from Merusu who planned to come and steal the carpenter’s daughter.
When he heard the story, Lilopio told the president, “You leave it to me”, and walked away.
Knowing from many experiences what a fine peacemaker Lilopio was, Pastor Ragoso believed that somehow this unhappy story would have a happy ending. The same night that the boy from Merusu and his friends planned their raid, Lilopio got into his canoe and paddled to where he expected the raiding party would walk to their canoes. The moon could not be seen behind the clouds. Inky darkness covered every part of the island. Not even the sharp eyes of Lilopio could see a thing, so he thought maybe he could smell something!
He began to pick his way around the paths of the island. He knew the trails well. As he walked, he smelled this way and that for boys. Finally, he picked up a scent. Following his nose, he came to a group armed with sharp knives and axes, ready to attack. The first hint these boys had that someone else was around came from Lilopio’s voice. Lilopio, who blended into the night, could not be seen, but they heard his voice.
Calmly Lilopio asked, “Where do you think you are going?”
“We are going to Kukudu to fight.”
“Then,” replied Lilopio bravely, “I think you’d better change your mind. The people of Kukudu know you are coming. They are armed to the teeth with knives and axes. You don’t have a chance of taking the carpenter’s daughter. Besides, she is already promised to a boy from the village of Boboi. If you go, someone will get hurt and I can tell you it won’t be anyone from Kukudu; it will be the boys from Merusu.”
With that, he vanished. The boys just stood for a while, wondering, who was the stranger? They had not seen him, but they had heard him. Should they believe him? Maybe if the raid was expected and men were ready to fight, they should not go. So, they forgot the raid and went home to bed.
Jesus once said, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the sons of God.” Lilopio should certainly be called God’s son, don’t you agree? And what better work can any of us do than to make peace when others are angry?
This story has been adapted and derived from the Australasian Record, February 27, 1967.
