October 2021 Update

Dear Praying Friends,

We started off September with a trip to Port Moresby for supplies. It was a little more adventurous than expected as the plane we went to catch in Kikori on a Tuesday didn’t worry about coming until Thursday! The time in Kikori was well used though: the lady who cooked for us at the lodge we stayed had come to the Lord through the ministry of Ted Mullins years before, and needed to be restored to fellowship with the current pastor of the Baptist Church there. Also, while we were sitting at the airport waiting on the non-arriving plane, the couple that I had to expel from the Bible Institute in 2017 came to seek forgiveness from Trina and me for their former actions! God gave me a good conversation with Enok and Elisa. I encouraged them to make a plan to return to BBBI in the future!

Our time in town was blessed with some sweet fellowship and preaching opportunities. Our shopping was generally successful (there is always some “hunting” to find what you need), and Trina was thrilled to find decaf coffee for the first time ever. I got to spend some time learning to use a piece of equipment that is going to be a HUGE blessing to me in maintaining these grounds. Three of our supporting churches have given a gift for the purchase and barge delivery of a small commercial grade tractor with attachments for cutting grass and bush. I was given an excellent discount, and consequently can have the tractor come with the back hoe and front bucket attached! I will have a trailer for hauling drums of fuel and other cargo from the barge to our property! Hopefully, it will be delivered by the end of the month. I can’t wait as we are currently keeping this 15 acres clean with bush knives and push mowers. What a wonderful God to answer a long-time personal prayer while we were on furlough!

A terrific thing happened on our return trip to Baimuru: WE FLEW! Thank you to all of you who have prayed for the re-opening of our airstrip here! Before I left for the supply trip the school staff and I had spent hours out there with push mowers assisting in readying the airstrip for an inspection. Pray that those appointed by the RAA will do their work well, and that their equipment keeps running so the airstrip can remain open.

Although all of the above is great news, this is the best: On October 4th we started up classes at Baimuru Baptist Bible Institute with 9 students! We usually run a three year school for pastor/wife training and as you know, had a group of graduates in 2016 and 2019. In this group we have 5 people interested from churches of our graduates that just wanted to be more used in their own church – and two couples where the man had ministry/Bible training, but the wife had none. So, this time, we are holding a class of 5 10-week terms. We have two single men and one single woman in this class, and are doing some building to better accommodate them. Also, we needed a new Sunday School room not so close to the main building – both buildings are very open and the noise from each competes with the other! This will be especially important for the separate sessions that will be held during the December Teen Bung.

Pray for the students – the accountability of school is a big adjustment for them.

Pray for the safe and timely delivery of the tractor. Just getting components from Australia to Port Moresby has been a challenge for the Kubota dealership!

Pray for safety, wisdom, and financial supply in building projects.

Pray for the December Teen Camp and special speaker, Missionary John Allen.