June 2024 Update

Dear Praying Friends,

When we took our 2020 furlough, the theme of my preaching was “The blisters are real, but the blessings are bigger and better!” This letter tells of both blisters and blessings; that is just the reality of the ministry.

Unfortunately, I was not correct in my assessment that all the students lived successfully for God during the Christmas break. About half way through term 1, Patrisa came to us and confessed falling into sin while in her home village. She had no support to live godly while at home. Even her pastor was out of the village for most of December and January. Her immorality made her dismissal from school necessary. It was a great grief to us; she was academically sharp, and seemed to be evidencing growth after her salvation during Year 1. Trina hoped to train her more specifically this year while working with the youth girls in Baimuru Baptist Church.

The week-long meeting with the graduates currently pastoring was a wonderful blessing! The topics mentioned in the previous newsletter were covered, but throughout the week, God seemed to develop His own theme, one that they all carried home:

Faithfulness must lead to Fruitfulness. We honoured the attending couples for faithfully serving with both verbal encouragement and gifts, but by the end of the week they were all discussing ways to make their ministry more fruitful! One of the things suggested was giving more attention and outreach to the men in their congregations and community, as in most village churches male attendance is weak. I was so blessed this past week by one of these graduates inviting me to preach later this year at a two-day men’s meeting!

Some of the students have struggled this year as the amount of time they must spend in study and preparation has increased. I think that now on their 13th outline, written to tell a Bible story, they are figuring out what I want them to do! We are not needing nearly as many “do-overs” as when we began. The students all are taking their turns in the children’s ministries too. During the next term break in July, I would like to take the students out on a few evangelistic outreaches, distributing 9000 pidgin tracts.

I am also very glad to let you know about Robert and Linda, the couple that came to Christ last week! They spent two weeks listening to a Seventh Day Adventist revival held basically right outside their yard. They were confused by this doctrine, but it did open the door for spiritual questions and they were able to be led to the Lord! Please pray for growth in their new lives with Christ.

Lastly, pray for God’s clear direction concerning the training of these students and the beginning of another class. I did not begin this current class with the training of pastors in mind, and planned to graduate them at the end of this year. However, during their time in school, several have testified of a call to preach, and further training, at least 3 months at the beginning of 2025, may be useful to them. This plan however would delay the start of a new class, and three families have already expressed an interest in attending. We don’t have the kind of curriculum that can be rotated, and honestly, I don’t have housing for two levels of students at the same time anyway. I would just like your prayers for God’s wisdom in this matter.

I cannot close this letter without reminding you all how thankful we are for your prayers and financial support. It is your prayers that keep us able to serve here, in this remote part of PNG! You are helping the gospel to go to the ends of the earth!

Presenting the Person of Christ,
Wil and Trina