They lost everything—but found a legacy that would outlast them.
Henk Lit grew up in colonial Java, an atheist hardened by loss and survival. He endured the Japanese occupation of Java, the terror of war, and the upheaval of revolution that forced his family to abandon their successful business and flee to Papua. Alongside his wife Johanna, he arrived in Manokwari with nothing but hardship behind and uncertainty ahead.
It was there, in the midst of sickness and struggle, that everything changed. Baptized in the sea and healed of malaria he had carried since his youth, Henk’s life took a turn he never imagined. Together, he and Johanna began walking with the Hatam people—teaching, baptizing, discipling, and sharing the God who had changed them.
Their story was not without pain: poverty, rejection, and the heavy cost of starting over. Yet in the cracks of hardship came miracles—healings of mute and deaf, faith rising—and the birth of a Hatam church that would one day send out its own missionaries and receive God’s Word in their own language.
Miracles in Papua is the complete edition of the true story of Henk and Johanna Lit, told by their grandson Tim Lit from family manuscripts and missionary archives. It is both a testimony of ordinary believers transformed by grace, and a glimpse of how God weaves many lives together to shape a people for Himself: from Java childhood through WWII survival, the Manokwari (Papua) decade, and continued ministry in the Netherlands. Features 60+ historical photographs from different archives.
TOPICS & HISTORICAL CONTEXT INCLUDED IN THIS BOOK:
- World War II in the Dutch East Indies: First-hand accounts of the Japanese Occupation, the Kempeitai, the Junyo Maru disaster, Camp Kapasari, and the Pemoeda/Bersiap attacks during the Indonesian struggle for independence.
- Papua & The Hatam Tribe: An anthropological look at life in Manokwari and the Arfak Mountains. Covers the cultural transformation of the Hatam people, indigenous customs, the "Soewangi" (spirit beliefs), and tribal reconciliation.
- Missionary History: Includes historical details regarding Moesje Alt, the martyrdom of Walter Erikson and Edward Tritt (1952), and the ministry of Harold Lovestrand and the Griffiths family.
Spiritual Journey: A comprehensive testimony of an atheist’s conversion to Christianity, featuring accounts of divine healing, spiritual warfare in the jungle, and the growth of the indigenous church in West Papua.
