Their European-style wedding was a first in the local thatched roof church with about 200 goggle-eyed locals and 22 fellow missionary guests.

“We were married on Orokana, a bush mission station in the then remote Southern Highlands Province, only accessible by a five-passenger single engine Cessna,” Helen explains; hence the small guest list.

Their courtship was also a departure from the norm. “It was conducted via a two-way radio network, accessible by many others.  We decided not to be too inhibited as there was little opportunity to get to know each other.

Our romance had begun at our annual one-week Highlands Missionary conference followed three weeks later by Ken being flown in for three days, during which our engagement was announced over the same radio network.”

This in spite of Helen vowing she would never marry an Aussie.

Her borrowed wedding dress was brought up from NZ. They honeymooned at Ukarumpa in the Eastern Highlands, a much larger mission station with all mod-cons. “We wanted to go where there were more expats, who spoke our language,” Helen says.

“I went into the marriage with high expectations that a husband would meet all my needs (I came from a broken home, so that may have had some bearing on it),” Helen confides.   “However, I learnt that no human person is capable of fully meeting another person's needs, especially emotional needs - only God can do that. 

“Being one expat couple among a thousand or two Papua New Guineans meant we relied on each other a lot. Our faith and our passion for missions kept us together. 

“With no TV, computers or telephones, letter writing was a major occupation.  I was also on duty as a nurse 24/7.  We visited local folk in their homes, and occasionally we were invited to local pig feasts.”

Helen and Ken, who have three children, are retiring near the sea and looking forward to being closer to some of their 11 grandchildren.