First Ministry Sunday at Kindeng Four-Square Church

 Sue says: Our cell group met Pastor Alfred of the Kindeng Four-Square at his building this morning. The pastor is in the middle with his child and his Bible. These outreaches to community congregations allow our students to have experience relating to believers outside their denomination and using what they are being taught.

 Two of the gals helped lead singing. Our whole group introduced ourselves and sang a special number together. Then the group did a contextualized skit about the Good Samaritan. The man who was beaten by robbers became a poor man in the village that no one helped. The self-righteous ones were two church women who wouldn't share what they had. An unbelieving man took the poor man to his own home and gave him food and drink.

Our student preacher is himself a Four-Square pastor. He could therefore preach a very convicting message  and have it be accepted. He hit us all right between the eyes with a challenge not  just to keep religious laws, but also to develop our relationship with God to such an extent that His concerns for all people become our concerns. He challenged us not to be amassing wealth for ourselves, but instead to look out for the needy who live right around us. The congregation opened their hearts to us and the student preacher's message.

In the time of testimony that was part of the service, the elder got up to praise the Lord for helping the community get tough on marijuana. The community put pressure on marijuana growers among them, and a couple large vehicles full of the drug were removed from the area last night. Local police and the media were on hand, and the story will hit the news tomorrow.

This congregation is a healthy mixture of men, women and children of all ages. We look forward to working with this active group this year.

Half-way Through Term One

Sue says:

With Jeff standing in as acting dean, the first four weeks of this term have sped by. This week he held a faculty meeting to get us moving on documents the Academic Advisory Board will want to see in a couple weeks. But the good news is--the dean should be arriving back next week!

Tomorrow our cell group will go out to a village Four-Square Church for the first of our ministry Sundays this year. This cell group seems to be full of ideas. We're planning a group song and drama besides one of us preaching.

The longer we are here, the more connections we have with the students. Our cell group last year was praying for a student on internship, and the guy we were praying for is the leader of the new cell group this year. Another guy was in our group two years ago, a gal was last year, and a third attended the student hospitality night held at our house the first year we were here. It's pleasant to have these growing connections. We can see the students maturing.

Redeeming the Fiery Furnance

Jeff writes:

The Baiyer River area of the Western Highlands is a beautiful place crisscrossed by flowing streams, beautiful waterfalls and surrounded by high lush green mountains. It is also the place where one of the longest, most brutal and deadliest tribal fights in PNG is going on.

To graduate from the CLTC our students must complete a one-year internship. Shadrack and his family went back to their home in Baiyer to bring God's truth to bear on this desperate situation. Once home to one of the first Baptist missionary works in the Highlands, Baiyer has since degenerated into the chaos of at present 13 warring clans where life is cheap. At one point Shadrick told me snipers used to hide under the old mission hospital building to pick off their enemies as they traveled down the highway. (The mission station now stands abandoned and dilapidated.)

Shadrick is himself a victim of the fighting. He has a bullet hole in his back and in the picture is pointing to a scar on his forearm. Underneath the scar is a piece of lead that is still lodged in his arm. He cannot get too close to a fire because the projectile still causes him pain.

However, back he went to this crucible of suffering. Shadrack spent his internship year teaching pastors using distance theological educational materials developed and distributed by the CLTC. When he visited me in my office he told me that he rounded up the materials to teach 50 pastors key discipleship principles. At the end of the course, they held a grand graduation with a K1,000 pig as the main course.

His wife spent a year in a unique ministry. She reached out to the second wives in polygamous marriages. She encouraged them that God cared about their situation and that they should grow in their relationship with Him.

One of the great blessings of being here is a story like Shadrack's.  He like many of our students are able to go and do ministries we are not able to do. Teaching men like him reminds of what Paul said in 2 Timothy 2:2. where he says we are to teach faithful men (and women) who will be able to teach others also.

Thanks to all of you, whom we consider our fellow-laborers in the gospel, we have been given this remarkable privilege. Praise the Lord!

Bachelors Students Begin Their Theses

Sue says:
The fourteen bachelor five (fifth year) students were eager to get started on their theses. Jeff met with them this week and introduced them to their mentors. Three students working on their masters' degrees and one faculty member will coach them through the process of writing a major paper that will be useful to their home church.

Often the students choose a theological topic on which there is some confusion in their denomination. They describe the thinking and customs of their clan on the topic before the Gospel was introduced, give a biblical explanation, then make recommendations about how to correct the wrong thinking or actions. Easier said than done, of course.

The theses will be 8,000-10,000 word in length. We aim for these works to be Melanesians counseling other Melanesians about who God is and how to live for Him.

Jeff Stands in as Dean of Studies

 

Sue says:

The first two weeks of this new academic year have flown by as Jeff has answered many trivial and important

questions having to do with matters at the Bible college. Above, he advises a student about an assignment for his Christian Ethics class. He also chaired the recent faculty meeting, leading us in discussions ranging from, "Should student fees be raised next year?" to "Should we readmit a student who was suspended last year?"

In other news, the Christian counseling class I teach is progressing well. We had our first role plays yesterday, and it was fascinating to observe the same scenario being enacted four different ways. Life is like that!

An Evening Out

Sue says:
Where does a missionary couple go for dinner when someone "deserves a break today"? We live an hour's drive from any restaurant. But we are pleased to have discovered that the guest house manager on campus will cook a meal for a college employee for a reasonable fee. On the first day of  new classes Jeff took me to the guest house for the attractive spread shown above. In fact, we'll enjoy the leftovers too--for days to come. I think I'll freeze some of the Sweet and Sour Beef and cake for Valentine's Day.

In other news...


Jeff is Acting Dean of Studies while our current dean is at home in Australia attending to matters there. It's surprising the number of both trivial and serious issues that will come before him in this two-week period. Please pray for him to have wisdom and patience with his added responsibility.