11,000 feet. A large portion of the area is known for its limestone cliffs. These proved to be a major
barrier for the outside world making contact with the Tifalmin people.
The dense rain forest valley is rich in flora and fauna and has a large diversity of bird life. However, the
entire limestone belt along the Fly/Sepik Rivers was an unstable area. Major earthquakes were not
uncommon. Minor shocks were frequent and so the steep, tree-lined slopes were prone to landslides.
When first discovered in the 1930s, there were between 500 – 600 people who spoke the Tifal language;
however, by the 1960s their number had grown to more than 2,800.
The Telefomin area had become more easily accessible when an emergency airstrip was first built in
1935 by gold seekers in the area. It was greatly extended and improved by Australian and American
armed forces in 1944. It was intended to be an emergency landing strip for bombers flying from
Queensland, Australia to Hollandia (Jaya Pura), but it was never actually used during the rest of the
war. It has been extended and improved several times in the years since.
In early 1950’s the Baptist New Guinea Mission, which had started from an outreach by the Baptist of
New South Wales in Australian, had begun work in the Telefolmin area and had built a small mission
station there. Since the airstrip was already built there, they set out over the next few years to build
more small bush airstrips in the area to further their mission work. That made travel into the remote
areas quite easy and also paved the way for the Steinkrauses to finally begin their Bible translation work.
33 | P a g e