Thank a Teacher

Jeff writes:

I am working with Matthias, who is one of my students, to help him to prepare a proposal to upgrade their local primary school. Let me tell you about this school.

It currently has 600 children in it. They are distributed into grades one through six. There are six classrooms, one for each grade. There are six teachers, one for each grade.

Even though these teachers are required to teach English starting in grade three, they face an impossible task. Most of the teachers themselves do not speak English well. Why? They are the products of the PNG education system.

For that reason, even most of the twelfth grade students we admit to the CLTC cannot write a coherent paper in English. Most have never even read an entire book in any language.

As missionary instructors it is our job to bridge this gap. Our first-year students face a formidable struggle as they move from the PNG school system to our college. During the accreditation visit one of the visiting professors lamented the same fact. The PNG education system even with all of its "reforms" is a failure.

So, as the bumper sticker says, "If you can read this, then thank a teacher."

I have included a few photos below to illustrate the PNG predicament.


This first photo shows a building which houses two of the six classrooms, a "library", and the administrative offices. This school is surprisingly well-kept, and it is fortunate to have teachers.

When I visited the Southern Highlands, I saw an abandoned school in disrepair. Because the school was so remote, teachers refused to work there. Most do not want to serve in these areas because they would rather work in the towns where there are more things to do and places to spend their paychecks.



In the foreground are the foundations for two water tanks. The tanks themselves are in the background. They were the main source of potable water on campus.



This is the current water source. It consists of a low-pressure leaky pipe connected to who knows where. Remember there are 600 students at this school.



For you teachers out there (Leanna, Rob, Nancy, and Debbie C.) can you imagine a room full of first graders and only two bathrooms or liklik haus (outhouses) as they are called here for them to share with the rest of the student body?



PNG educators have got at least one thing right!



This may be the saddest photo of them all. This is the school's "library." It represents the sum of all the books shared between the 600 pupils.

Pray for Matthias and his efforts to upgrade this school, and remember to thank the Lord that the Gospel transforms culture at all levels.

Preparations Made for CLTC Graduation

Sue says:

To prepare for the crowds of people who attend, each year the campus grounds receive extra care before graduation. This year the buildings too are getting fresh paint and polish.



We are proud that Hazel Nate Hall, one of our meeting buildings, has new paint and now a tile floor. Before it was just concrete. Students made these curtains last year, and they're cleaning the louvers to let in the sunshine.




These tables and chairs were hauled out of the hall to scrub them.




A workman (employee) is cutting the grass (You can see the mower, but the human is hidden behind a tree) while students weed a walkway.




Workmen paint the doors to the auditorium while more students weed next to a walkway.




Inside the auditorium a workman sands the steps up to the stage.




And students paint a sign which will later welcome visitors at the gate. Saturday is our big day, and what a celebration graduation always is!

Bunum Wo Sports Day

Jeff writes:

Each of our students is required to spend an entire year doing an internship. It is designed to allow them to be involved in many aspects of ministry.

One of my students by the name of Matthias is a local pastor. He is spending his internship in his own community, which is not far from the college. In addition to assisting in a local church, he came up with the idea of organizing a local sports day to help keep the youth in his area busy with constructive activities.

Our college helps by sending men to cut the grass on the sports fields. We employed some local youth to build a hauswin for us on campus. (A hauswin is a shelter used for cooking and talking that is naturally air conditioned.) The youth used the money to buy trophies for the winning teams.

Last Sunday I had the opportunity to see his ministry in action.

It was amazing to see literally hundreds of people watching volleyball, basketball, and touch rugby games. A number of the village elders came to tell me how pleased they were that their youth had something good to do instead of getting into trouble. After the churches get out, the entire community gathers for an afternoon of fun and fellowship. Community pride was evident everywhere. The teams wore uniforms. The spectators cheered. Women sold food. Children played.

The Lord is doing mighty things in this community. I hope to share more in future posts. In the meantime, please enjoy these photos.


This shot is of the grandstand. The ladies in the back along the fence are selling different food items. As you can see kids were everywhere.


These women are enjoying a game of volleyball. Men played volleyball in a court next to theirs.


These women played a spirited game of basketball.


Two teams engage in some rugged rugby action.


This is Matthias' team. They are the "Midwests." Matthias is in the back row and second from the left.


After the team photo everyone else wanted to have their picture taken.

Isn't God grand! His joy is indeed our strength.

Accreditation Team Positive

Sue says:

An accreditation team visited our campus last week. The visit resulted in a valuable interchange of ideas. The members made an effort to be approachable from our first meeting at a potluck at the campus guest house. Professors from the University of PNG and Pacific Adventist University in Port Moresby and Divine Word University in Madang and employees of the Office of Higher Education were on the team.

They sat in on classes, peeked into student houses, reviewed our finances and organization, met with departmental heads, viewed all aspects of the farm operation and held sessions with different groups on campus. In the end (pictured above) they assured us they would give a positive recommendation to the Office of Higher Education (OHE).

There are still two committees at OHE which must also endorse our application for accreditation, and it will probably be the beginning of next year before the final written recommendation comes back to us. When it comes, it will have suggestions for our improvement as well as praises for what we do well. Accreditation would mean that our diplomas and degrees are recognized by other universities within the country and outside.

In the mean time we thank those of you who prayed for this event. It was a little daunting to have folks sitting in on our classes, but we feel we all have benefited from the new relationships that have begun as a result of the visit.

Graduation is a Bittersweet Time

Sue says:

Despite all the excitement of the graduands getting ready for their sendoff, it must be admitted that graduation is also a painful process. For this current batch, we've known a few of them their entire four years. Some of them we welcomed to our house when we were just new here as well.



This female student came into my office this week to invite Jeff and I to her graduation party. It was very difficult to say that though we would love to attend, we had already accepted another student's invitation.

So I asked her to sit down, and we thought together about the things people would comment on at her party. She was unsure of her English at the beginning of her studies, but she worked on that subject. She was in my counseling class and Jeff's church history.

In her intensive year, she needed to help her ailing mother. Since she must stay close to home for that, she wasn't able to raise the fees she needed for her last year. We happened to be home at that time, and a female physician who attended one of the meetings at which we spoke was concerned for women students in PNG having a more difficult time with their fees. The supporter made a contribution that helped this student and several other females for this current year. What a blessing to be able to return with that good news.

When this student arrived back on campus, she was surprised to be asked to be one of two senior students who look after the single women. It had previously been arranged that two other women would be the seniors, but neither of those women was able to come back. Would she do it?

Being a senior student takes a lot of time and effort above the usual class assignments. Knowing the difficult position the single women's faculty supervisor was in, she said yes. It has been a stretching year. One single woman had to be expelled. Though it was a wrenching process, it was gratifying to hear that the counseling training had been a help in the senior student role.

Yes, we came to train students to be Christian leaders, and part of the process involves trusting God in difficult situations. This student and others have seen God prove Himself strong in their years of training here. We rejoice with them! And we shed a few tears together too as we prepare to part.

Graduands’ Retreat

Jeff writes:

Last weekend was one of the highlights of my year. It was our annual graduands’ retreat. I have taken part in the last three retreats, and each one has been a special blessing.

The retreats focus on the students. Each year they give a personal testimony of what God has done in their lives over the years here at the CLTC. We were privileged to hear how the Lord has miraculously met financial needs, gently overcome fears of failure here at the college, faithfully walked with students in their studies, and kindly introduced them to new lifelong friends.


This year’s retreat was the first one held off campus since I have been at the CLTC. We made a short journey to the village of Domil in the Western Highlands. Domil is a model Highlands community. Their red, black and gold community flag bears the motto “Jesus is Lord”. (I hope to share more about Domil in a future blog post.)

The retreat started on a Friday evening at our campus with an inspiring movie of the life of Billy Graham.

On Saturday morning we loaded into two vehicles for the trip to Domil. They gave us a nice morning tea, which was followed by a tour of the village and a special meeting with the village elders. After that session we heard a short message from Doug, who is our Dean of Studies. That was followed by ten student testimonies.



On Saturday afternoon we took a hike up to a special prayer house, which the people of Domil had built on top of a mountain ridge overlooking their village. After the hike we took “showers”, which consisted of a bucket of water, some soap, and a bowl to ladle the water over one’s tired dirty body. They were most refreshing.



One of the key ingredients to a good retreat is lots of food. Our hosts provided a prodigious amount of tasty treats. I especially liked the sweet bananas cooked in cabbage leaves. Yum!



That evening I shared on John 14 and focused on the need for humility in service. After my talk the three faculty members washed the student’s feet in remembrance of what Christ did for His disciples. After the foot-washing ceremony, the students got to share their testimonies.



Sunday dawned with a hearty breakfast. The final group of students gave their testimonies. The weekend concluded with a communion service led by Graham, who is a member of our faculty.

The weekend was full of good memories. I returned emotionally and physically exhausted, but at the same time I was grateful for all that had happened. God had indeed really blessed each one of us with a wonderful mountaintop experience.



Thanks to all of you for praying and giving to allow me to enjoy this special privilege to serve in this place.

Security Company Sacked

Sue says:

You may remember that I mentioned earlier that I wasn't feeling secure on our campus (Saturday, October 3). Other women in our neighborhood had experienced beggars coming to their doors in the middle of the day when our husbands weren't home. One guy even came right into the faculty building using veiled threats to get people donate to his "medical" fund. We had had things stolen right off our porch too.

To the credit of our management team, when these things were reported to them, such activity stopped. Probably a guard was posted at our back gate so people couldn't just get onto campus unnoticed.

About a week ago, a story circulated that some of the security guards themselves were involved in the stealing of our chickens. Large numbers of chickens with a possible value of tens of thousands of US dollars. There must have been some truth to the allegations because the police were seen on campus right after that.

Last Friday the old security guards all were fired and a new company's guards are here. We know some of the old guards were faithful and honest. It is a shame they had to be released too. We hope they will soon be assigned somewhere else. This is, we think, the third guard company since we have been here. The others were dismissed for the same reasons.

It's sad that the work of the Lord is impeded in this fashion, but the atmosphere is the same all over the country. We will start fresh now with high hopes for a more secure environment.

Jesus Is Stronger than Sorcery!

Sue says:

Thanks to those who have been praying for my learning curve as I have studied Scriptures about sorcery. Sorcery, witchcraft, love potions, charms, curses and related things are great concerns to people in PNG. Even pastors here often are not aware that they can be free from fear of powers which would harm them.

A great resource in Pidgin has come to my notice. It's called Jisas i Winim Sanguma na ol Kain Kain Pawa (Jesus is stronger than sorcery and all sorts of powers). This booklet by Neville Bartle, a Nazarene missionary, is written in a style that appeals to Pidgin-speakers. There are lots of stories about people who had different fears in this regard, and the scriptural answers that helped free them from the fears.

Jeff is finding the booklet helpful in his ethics class too because this kind of power struggle is actively going on here. My missions students are interested in it too.

We appreciate your continued prayers as we use this scriptural resource to explain to people that Jesus is stronger than all other powers.