Remembering God’s Goodness in 2017

Posted on December 11, 2017 by John Allen

(click here for printable copy)
(click here to see our 2017 ministry video)

REJOICING IN WHAT GOD HAS DONE

Manandi Dagoino checks a young patient.

Since we last wrote, Manandi and Chelsea have joined the Kunai Health Centre team. They have oriented well in the work, and along with the rest of our national staff (Jon Mark, Ellie, Jasper, Linda, and Jessica) they are ministering to our people in a Gospel-centered way.

Chelsea Moorman teaches a mother
how to administer medicine to her child.

Jon Mark teaches Atenapi how to
take her TB medicine.

REVELING IN WHAT GOD IS DOING

· This year Kotidanga Baptist Church voted Ben Samauyo as their pastor, and he was ordained in June. Many were saved this year, and we have seen many others grow in their walk with the Lord!

Gideon and Amon listening intently during a recent
message at Kotidanga Baptist Church

· Our radio station, Gutnius (Good News) Radio, went on the air in October with the help of Michael Wakefield from Christian Radio Missionary Fellowship. This has been a long-time project with many man-hours of back-breaking labor by our people to put the tower up on top of the mountain, and a lot of “brain work” to figure out the logistical and transmitter issues.

This is a picture from 2014 of our people at the Gutinius Radio tower
on the top of the mountain above Kotidanga Baptist Church

· The Kamea Bible Project made good advances this year. We now have several books of the New Testament completed and ready for checking. I so appreciate my coworkers on the project, Pastor Ben and Yali.

Pastor Ben is recording the Gospel of Mark in Kamea, while
Yali works on the back translation of the Gospel of Matthew.

· God has given us a great team of fellow workers. Sam & Marybeth Snyder and their children joined us earlier this year, and along with Sarah Glover and our nurses who were with us in 2017 (Tiffany, Erika, and Chelsea), they have served our people well and made a real difference in the lives of many.

Sam & Marybeth Snyder, with Leland, Tommy, & Bethany

Erika, Tiffany, Sarah, & Lena, with friends Kelesa & Caleb

Ricky Beyaba worked with Matt Allen and Andrew Schellenberger
for three years on our airstrip. Ricky was able to come back to visit us for a week
along with Daniel Jezowski from SIL Aviation (click here to read
Daniel’s newsletter to get a visitor’s perspective of the ministries at Kotidanga).

RECRUITING MISSIONARIES

I made a quick trip back to the US in October to be in the Pensacola Christian College Missions Conference. It was great to be among so many servants of our great God and to be able to talk to so many young people about serving the Lord in missions.

It was great to spend time with our former co-workers,
Andrew & Rachel Schellenberger. We are so thankful
for the four years of service they gave to our people in Kotidanga!

REVISITING FAMILY & CHURCHES

After my trip to PCC, I returned to PNG where Lena and I wrapped things up to head back to the US for our furlough. We arrive in the US just before Christmas, and we hit the road the first week of January. We covet your prayers as we travel, and even more, we long to have many wonderful Gospel conversations with believers and non-believers. Pray that we can be a blessing and that the Lord will be magnified. We will be in Kentucky, Indiana, North Carolina, Georgia, Maryland, Florida, Texas, Michigan, and Virginia…probably not in that order. 🙂 We plan to be back in PNG in April 2018.

Also, we just celebrated another milestone: Lena and I have been married 40 years! Woohoo! Glory!

We thank the Lord for your faithful love and prayers. The Lord continues to supply our needs, and we thank Him for using you all to do it. May you have a blessed Christmas, and may the Lord put His touch on your labors for Him in the coming year!

Serving Him in the Field,
John & Lena Allen
2 Thessalonians 3:1

PS: Enjoy the photos! And click here to watch our latest video from the field! Or click here to see the latest video with info about the clinic!

Lena & Anjuta teach the Saturday Ladies’ Meeting.

Sela recently had her baby at the clinic, and she came back
to say “thank you” with two fresh pineapples!

It’s a busy clinic day as Pastor Ben shares the Gospel.

No matter how busy the day is, Manandi always finds time to enjoy her patients.

Sometimes the children come to the clinic just to hang out.

Happy baby!

Pastor Tau Abary and his wife, Suzanne…long-time friends of ours in PNG!

We got to spend time with wonderful our family in Port Moresby, PNG:
Matt, Becky, Ariel, & Hannah

Here’s the rest of our wonderful family in the USA:
Sarah, Dave, Nate, & Amber
Abe, Abi, Emerson, Graham, Beth, baby Autumn, Cece, & Ben

God is still God!

Posted on August 25, 2017 by John Allen

GOD IS STILL GOD! click here for printable copy

Hello from Kotidanga Baptist Church in Gulf Province, Papua New Guinea!

BEN’S ORDINATION

We had a packed house at Kotidanga Baptist for Pastor Ben’s ordination.

In January 2017, Kotidanga Baptist Church voted to make Ben Samauyo their pastor. During our recent Pastors’ Workshop, we held Ben’s ordination.

Ben presents his doctrinal statement before his ordination.

It was a great to have Pastor Philip Sorulen from Calvary Baptist in Lae, Matt Allen from Port Moresby, and my co-worker Sam Snyder take part in the ordination service. Pastor Philip preached several times while he was with us, and he was a great blessing to our people and to Pastor Ben.

TTMK director and founder of Capital City Baptist in Port Moresby, Matt Allen, and his Kamea translator, Pastor Kevin Samawe

BAPTIZING NEW BELIEVERS

At the end of the special meetings, Ben baptized 11 who had been saved in recent months. Thank the Lord for these young converts!

Jon Mark, one of our most faithful church members, is blind. He works at Kunai Health Centre and he doesn’t let much slow him down! He was one of those who followed the Lord in believer’s baptism in June.

BRING ON THE VISITORS

We also had ten visitors from Pensacola Christian College who came to observe the clinic ministry. Nine were nurses or nursing students, and they got to experience a lot while they were here.

PCC visitors pose with the staff of Kunai Health Centre.

During their visit we had a school health check day, with over 600 students coming from villages as far as three hours’ walk away. It certainly was busy! While they proceeded through various stations (vision, hearing, etc.) they also heard the Gospel in groups and in personal witness.

Youth who came for health check day

In addition, June was a record month at the clinic with 2,100 regular patients PLUS the 600 who came for health checks. That’s a lot of patients, and a lot of patience 🙂 Thank the Lord for all the opportunities we had to share the Gospel during those busy clinic days.

BETHEL BAPTIST IN LAE

Bethel Baptist Choir

Lena and I recently returned from Lae where I had the privilege to speak for a few days at Bethel Baptist Church. Many responded openly to the preaching of the Word of God, including some who put their faith in Christ.

Singing men from Liberty Baptist in Lae

Visitors came from several different churches around the city, including some students from Lae University of Technology. Special thanks to Pastor Timothy Sogori, his wife Ruth, and his people for putting the meeting together!

BUSY DAYS AHEAD

We had two new nurses join us this week. Chelsea Moorman (from the US) and Manandi Dagoino (from our neighboring village) are now part of the Kunai Health Centre staff. Pray that they orient well and that the Lord will bless their labors for Him.

Thank you for your continued prayers for our people. Several responded to our last post, and we covet your continued fervent prayers for our country, Papua New Guinea. God is still God, and as a friend wrote recently, “our enemy has an expiration date.” Amen!

Serving Him in the Field,

John & Lena Allen
2 Thessalonians 3:1

Enjoy the extra photos!

Ben & Anjuta flew out with us to attend a pastors’ conference.

Many patients are still captivated watching the “Jesus Film” whether in Pidgin or in Kamea.

Ben came to the clinic and shared the Gospel with this young church member whose life was ending. The young man affirmed his faith in Christ alone, and in a short time he passed into eternity. Are you ready if your time were to come today?

Effectual Door, Multiple Adversaries

Posted on June 11, 2017 by John Allen

A GREAT DOOR AND EFFECTUAL IS OPENED . . .
AND THERE ARE MANY ADVERSARIES
(1 Corinthians 16:9)

We seldom mention in our prayer letters about the kinds of opposition we encounter here in PNG. All those who serve the Lord Jesus soon enough find opposition to the advance of the Gospel, and here it is no different.

What is different for us is the type of opposition. Papua New Guinea is one of the last frontiers in the world. In the scope of world history, and even though PNG has its own rich history through its over 800 different tribes, there has been little influence from the outside world until the last 150 years, and even today, there are many PNG people who have no clear idea what the western world is like.

Many areas of PNG have been strongholds of Satan for millennia. Unhindered by the Gospel, the adversary has had free reign among these precious people groups. With the arrival of the Gospel in the last century, varied forms of opposition have arisen and continue to this day. I wanted to share just one of them, in order that you could join us in praying against the hindrances to Gospel advance here in PNG.

Traditional Culture and God’s Word

Any people group’s individual culture is their identity. In a biblical context, anything in a culture that is not unbiblical, immoral, or unethical is not a problem. However, those things that are contrary to Scripture, or that severely misinterpret Scripture, are things that must change. (I know that sounds dogmatic in our present age of relative truth, but the Word of God is not relative truth. Either the Word is our standard of life as believers in Jesus Christ, or it isn’t.)

Our Kamea people have their own cultural practices and beliefs, yet many of these are related to evil spirits; either appeasing the spirits, or controlling the spirits. This is a hidden practice, and it took years to learn how wide spread it is even among professing Christians.

Further, at the present time there is a group here who are calling for a reviving of their culture and a forsaking of Christian ideals in order to return to the “old ways.” (Interestingly, they still want to use modern clothes, solar power, transportation, etc., so I guess the “old ways” weren’t all that good…) Some are taking portions of Scripture and re-interpreting them as being directly about our people. Places and events in the Bible are being “discovered” here in our region, and thus they say that the stories of the Bible are really about the Kamea people. Promises of blessing to Israel in the Old Testament are being claimed for our people. Another group took a King James Bible (a give-away copy) and built a sacred house for it, saying, “now that the Bible has come back to where it started from, the blessings of God will be poured out on us.” Such things are not unique to our place; these things are believed all over PNG, with each group putting its own twist on the stories.

Naturally, our preaching is not popular, because we insist that the Word does not teach that this place where we live is Israel, nor does it teach a mixture of ancestor worship and worship of the Lord.

The god of this world, Satan, has “blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.” (2 Cor. 4:4) Would you pray with us:

That our believers would walk humbly with God, trusting Him rather than the spirits?
That they would believe God in spite of incredible pressures from their unbelieving family and friends?
That Jesus Christ would be exalted among our dear Kamea people?
That the power of the Gospel would break the chains of sin and Satan here?

We covet such prayer!

May God strengthen you as you join with us in prayer on behalf of our people!

Serving Him in the Field,
John & Lena Allen
2 Thessalonians 3:1

Fruit from the Word

Posted on March 31, 2017 by John Allen

FRUIT FROM THE WORD

Ladies’ Meeting
For over a year, Lena and Anjuta have been meeting with our church ladies on Saturday afternoons. They bring lost friends for the three consecutive teaching sessions (What is the Gospel, How to Mature Spiritually, and Principles of a Christian Family). The number of ladies continues to grow, and the ladies themselves are growing in grace. God is using the preaching at church, personal discipleship, and this ladies’ meeting to mature them to His glory. They have tea, sweet baked goods, and honest fellowship around the Word.

Women are neglected in this society in the jungle, and this is a special time just for them. Husbands have commented to me about the good changes they have seen in their wives since they have been attending the ladies’ meeting. Amen!

The ladies singing for a church service

Youth Men’s Meeting
I get the opportunity to meet with our single young men on Fridays to share in their struggles, pray, and to seek biblical answers for the issues they face. They too are maturing and growing. God is doing a work in their midst!

Kotidanga Votes for Their Pastor

Kotidanga Baptist Church voted unanimously for my co-worker, Benjamin Samauyo, to become their pastor. Ben has done the work of a pastor in their midst for over two years, and the church was quite vocal that they wanted Ben because he and his family exemplify the qualifications of a pastor in 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1. We plan to ordain Ben the first week of June. These are exciting days!

Ben & Anjuta, with their children Selestin, Nhosa, Becky, and Ishmael

Thank you for the part you have in enabling us to minister here. May God bless you abundantly for your sacrifice!

Serving Him in the Field,
John & Lena Allen
2 Thessalonians 3:1

Enjoy some photos from the last couple of months…

Our home church’s Christian school ministry put together children’s vitamins for us, and they finally arrived!

First time we ever had medicine and supplies delivered to our front door. We could get used to this!

Tiffany Heafner’s mom Linda and brother Niko came to visit. Her mom is a nurse too, and we put her right to work!

We had two emergencies one night while Tiffany’s family was there. We sure were glad for the extra hands!

We had to shorten up a chain on the sawmill. The factory said we couldn’t do it with just a file. Haha! The factory has never seen a determined Kamea man before. He did it!

Road repairs are a fact of life here. If we don’t fix it, no one will. (Of course, we’re the only ones driving on it…)

Need to repair a broken bridge? First, get permission and cut down the trees, and then pull them through the mountainous jungle to the “road.”

Then tie the 25 ft log to your little truck, and drag it 3 miles to the bridge.

Tear up the bad parts of the bridge, put in the new logs, and you’re done!

Flights around our place certainly reveal the majesty and handiwork of our great God.

By God’s Grace

Posted on January 15, 2017 by John Allen

COUNTING THE BLESSINGS

Pastors’ School
Since our last newsletter, we held our semi-annual Pastors’ School. This time we opened it up to many in our local church who are growing in the Lord, and it was a huge success. Missionary Sam Snyder and his wife Mary Beth helped Lena and me with the teaching, and our people were blessed from the time in the Word.

Kamea New Testament
Ben, Yali, and I were pleasantly surprised when we totaled up the chapters completed thus far on the Kamea New Testament. We have finished a rough draft of one-third of the project! Then, just a few days ago, we finished the back translation of the book of Acts. There remains some checking to do on what we have done, but we rejoice that God has blessed this work in the way that He has. We have big plans for 2017, so pray with us for God’s wisdom, direction, and strength as we move forward in the months ahead.

Clinic Visitors

Kunai Health Centre was blessed by the recent visits of two medical professionals. Becky Pope, RN, works with Medical Missions Outreach, and she was an encouragement and blessing to our staff.

Dr. Beth Lewis and Lena enjoy a laugh as we transit through Aiyura airstrip

We also enjoyed a visit from Dr. Beth Lewis, a fellow missionary who works full-time at Kikori Hospital here in our own Gulf Province. Dr. Beth’s enthusiasm and experience in PNG medical issues taught our staff much about doing medical work out here in the bush. Thank the Lord for those gifted in medicine who give their lives to serve the Lord!

Late afternoon is quiet after Kunai Health Centre closes for the day.

Youth Saved

In our last letter we mentioned about our young people being blessed at a conference they visited in September. One of those same youth was saved here the last Sunday of 2016, and then another trusted Christ the first Sunday of 2017. God is still working in their hearts!
Speaking of youth camp, in December the Lord allowed Lena and me to fly out to Port Moresby to be with Matt, Becky and their girls during their first youth camp at Capital City Baptist Church. Our son Nate was the guest speaker, and we all had an awesome time! 16 youth were saved, and all of us were blessed by the sound biblical preaching and teaching.

Even the youngest boys at Kotidanga Baptist Church take part in Scripture memorization!

Thank You!

Your faithful prayers and support have enabled us to continue as your co-laborers here in PNG. Please accept our heartfelt “thank you” to those of you who stand with us!

Serving Him in the Field,
John & Lena Allen
2 Thessalonians 3:1

Photos from the month…

Some days you wonder if there is a more beautiful place here on earth!

Christmas dinner with the team! Lena, visitors Brent & Brian Doss, plus our own Sarah Glover, Erika Sharpeta, and Tiffany Hefner.

Brian & Brent Doss found out the bush missions means a lot of maintenance. Here they help our church crew (in the background) repair a landslide that bit out a large chunk of the “road” to the airstrip.

Ben built a new kitchen for his house. Here are the roofers tying on the bamboo leaf roof.

The next photo is not for the faint of heart…

…..

Dr. Beth was here for such a time as this! This young boy fell out of a tree and broke his arm in several places, plus dislocating his elbow.

After using the ultrasound to ascertain the break points, Dr. Beth worked with the nurses to reset the arm.

Amazingly they got it straightened out, casted him, and sent him on to the regional hospital in Kerema for follow-up.

God is at Work!

Posted on November 27, 2016 by John Allen

GOD AT WORK IN OUR YOUTH

Recently fourteen of our youth attended a conference at Wau Baptist Church, a four-day hike from here. Even with the hardships they encountered in travel, they returned full of joy, and it is evident that the Lord did a work among them. Our youth here have the same struggles as youth do anywhere; please pray for these first-generation believers that God will use their lives to impact their people with lives lived for His glory and the gospel!

GOD AT WORK IN OUR LADIES

Each Saturday, Lena has had the privilege of working with Ben’s wife, Anjuta, in teaching the ladies of Kotidanga Baptist Church about godly Christian living. Here is a picture of them singing as a group in our worship service. From ages 14 to 60, these ladies are trophies of grace!

GOD AT WORK IN OUR COMMUNITY

Among the benefits of working here are the opportunities we get to speak publicly. Preaching in the open air market is done every week, and dozens of people listen attentively. Recently our member of parliament came for a visit to our electorate, and I was tasked with speaking on the current healthcare situation in our area. We have lived here almost nine years and are well known among our people; and God’s testimony among the Kamea continues to grow.

Where else could you speak in such a venue that one-third of your speech addresses the peoples’ need to repent and turn to Christ? Try that in your next political rally back home 🙂

GOD AT WORK IN US

Thank you for your prayers and assistance in continuing here in PNG serving the Lord. As we celebrate our 39^th wedding anniversary this month, I am joyfully amazed at how much the Lord keeps growing the two of us. Do remember us and our people in prayer, that we will labor to know Him better and to make Him better known!

Serving Him in the Field,
John & Lena Allen
2 Thessalonians 3:1

Our last supply buy took us down a flooded highway. Next time we’ll use a canoe…

Kanabea airstrip clings to the side of Sawe Mountain. Thank the Lord for skilled (and brave) pilots who take us in and out.

Kanabea airstrip clings to the side of Sawe Mountain (the green patch just left of center). Thank the Lord for skilled (and brave) pilots who take us in and out.

PNG Tribal Foundation & GE donated a V-Scan ultrasound for Kunai Health Centre to use. Works for ante-natal moms and broken bones too!

Faithful Words from Our Faithful God

Posted on August 14, 2016 by John Allen

FAITHFUL GOD

How can we ever fully comprehend our awesome God? In trying to grasp Him for myself, and in order to communicate Him to our people, I find I delight most when HE reveals Himself through His work and His Word.

Ben is continuing his exposition of 1 John in the Kamea language, and our people enjoy the sweet sound of the Scriptures in their mother tongue. Imagine hearing about God’s love in your heart language for the first time!

Ben doing an exposition of 1 John in Kamea

We are also teaching a series on the church, with a goal to more firmly establish a mature church. Presently I am teaching on symbols in the church, including the cross, baptism, and the Lord’s Supper, showing the meaning of each for us as believers.

Simultaneously, I get the privilege to lead us through Ephesians, and our focus for the last two months has been on the family.

Would you pray with me as we move into Ephesians chapter 6 soon, and deal with the topic of spiritual warfare? Never in my life has this topic been so intensely real as it is here and now. Pray with us that God will do a work in saving sinners and nominal believers, and that He will reveal Himself as mighty over the works of the adversary and the forces of darkness. More than just hearing simple platitudes about having victory through Christ, we want the Word of God to fill their minds and to free them from the fear of evil spirits that they live with every single day!

Liven Yali patiently waiting for the boys’ turn to say their memory verse

FAITHFUL MEN

Pastors attending the Pastors’ Workshop at Calvary Baptist

Ben traveled with us to Calvary Baptist Church in Lae City last month. Pastor Phillip Sorulen hosted a pastors’ workshop and missions conference, and we were blessed and encouraged by the teaching and preaching. Pastors attended from many places around PNG. I enjoyed my sessions with the pastors and people, and count it a privilege to be invited to take part.

Calvary Baptist Choir singing to a packed church house!

FAITHFUL WORD

At present I have completed the front translation of Acts. Ben is well past the half-way point with the Kamea translation, and Yali is close behind doing the back translation for our review. Sarah Glover is continuing with Kamea literacy, and more and more of our people are beginning to read the Word in their own language.

Pray for the ministry here,
that Christ would be magnified,
that the Holy Spirit would have liberty,
that the adversary would be defeated,
that the believers would be strengthened,
that souls would be saved, and above everything else,
that God would get all the glory!

Serving Him in the Field,
John & Lena Allen
2 Thessalonians 3:1

Ben and Nathaniel painting the trim on the Kotidanga Baptist Church building

The PNG National Health Department surprised us with a plane load of medicine–flown up here at their expense!

A God Worth Serving

Posted on June 4, 2016 by John Allen

Pastors’ Conference speakers & attendees, May 2016

CONFERENCE TIME

We just completed our Pastors’ Conference a couple of days ago. We hosted several of our graduates and their wives for a time of teaching, of ministering to one another, and of refreshing.

Matt speaking to the preachers

Matt Allen and Jason Ottosen were able to share the teaching with me, along with my wife and Cherith Ottosen teaching the ladies’ sessions. Our prayer, as always, is that there will be lasting fruit from our time together. Everyone enjoyed being here!

Kotidanga Baptist Church hosts the ordination of Jack Naudi.

Kotidanga Baptist Church hosted the ordination of Jack Naudi

An added blessing was the ordination of Jack Naudi, 2007 graduate of our Bible school. He has been working with Jason Ottosen planting Komako Baptist Church. Our church here has supported Jack as the first missionary they sent out, and they were proud to host his ordination.

Matt, John, John Gray, & Jason Ottosen with Pastor Jack Naudi

Matt flew John Gray up from Kerema to be the guest speaker for the meeting. He preached a great message for us all.

CHURCH GROWTH

We have seen some people saved in the last several weeks. Ben has been preaching from our newly translated book of 1 John, while Sarah Glover is teaching Kamea literacy to help our people learn to follow along in their printed copies of the book as Ben preaches.

Arriving for church, barefoot in the rain

Pray with us that our people will put the effort into learning to read Kamea so that they can read the Word for themselves. Ben, Yali, and I are still working on the first draft of our translation of Acts. Continue to pray with us for the Gospel to go forward among the Kamea.

CLINIC BLESSINGS

Our clinic staff, both PNG nationals and US nurses, has been steadily busy. Even as I write this, two ladies have been at the clinic for over 12 hours to deliver their babies. Day in and day out, the nurses handle all sorts of cases, some quite serious.

Hannah & Renisa with a patient

Tiffany with another newborn

One of these was a lady named Deni, who was very short of breath and unable to get to the clinic. In the dark, our nursing staff went downriver to see her and administer breathing treatments. For many years we had tried to reach Deni with the Gospel, but she had always been resistant. But just a couple of weeks ago, after she had recovered, she came to the clinic wanting to get saved. Ben’s wife Anjuta shared the Word with Deni, and she put her faith in Jesus. Amen!

Check out our blog post about the ultrasound we are using in our clinic for our unborn babies.

PERSONAL NEWS

Lena and I are enjoying good health at the present, and we count that possible because of your faithful prayers on our behalf. Please keep it up! We are also extremely thankful for your friendship and fellowship in the Gospel. Thank you for staying faithful there and enabling us to stay faithful here!

Serving Him in the Field,
John & Lena
2 Thessalonians 3:1

Mom, Dad, & Matt

Thank the Lord for family!

Here’s Pa & Grandma with Dave & Sarah, Nate & Amber, and our seven grandkids in the USA

Dave is up for promotion to Lieutenant with Louisville Metro Police Department; Nate was ordained to the ministry in April. We love these guys and their families!

Matt & Becky and our two granddaughters in PNG

Matt and family are planting Capital City Baptist Church and South Pacific International Academy in Port Moresby, PNG.

By the Word of His Power

Posted on March 27, 2016 by John Allen

TRANSLATING THE WORD

The daily work of translating God’s words into Kamea is pressing forward, even when different kinds of delays pop up throughout the week:

There’s something broken that must be fixed.

There’s an emergency and a patient needs transport.

There’s a flight coming with supplies and we have to go over the mountain to meet it.

Someone from the community has come and wants to share a story.

But it is all the sweeter when we can read something like this in Kamea:

Nai Ä’oi mtinga tawata upmäta nonqo ti,
ma pi’a’ma Ä’o qana nai mtinga tawata qanupmäta ti.

We love him, because he first loved us.
(1 John 4:19)

We just completed our final check of 1 John and printed copies of it. This is our second New Testament book! Right now Ben, Yali, and I are in various stages of translating the book of Acts. Pray for this amazing work!

John, Ben, and Yali

PREACHING THE WORD

Just this week someone came to Ben, asking him to explain the Gospel further. She said that she had heard Ben preach on Tuesdays at the clinic, and she is under such conviction that she can’t stop thinking about it. Pray that she will soon come to faith in Jesus Christ!

SEEING THE WORD COME ALIVE

I have been preaching expositionally through Ephesians for many months now. At the same time, Ben has been expounding his way through Romans. By the time you read this, Ben will be teaching through 1 John, directly from our new Kamea translation. This will be another milestone for us!

1 John in English, Pidgin, and Kamea

The affect of God’s Word on our people is visible. Change is slow but solid, and it is wonderful to watch the power of the Word as it does the work of God in hearts and lives!

Serving Him in the Field,
John & Lena Allen
2 Thessalonians 3:1

Click here for PDF version

Random Postscripts…

Ever wonder where we live?

View of Kanabea airstrip (4,100 feet elevation) that connects us with the outside world. We live “just” over the mountain from Kanabea.

Hopefully this part of the road is fixed well enough to last a while!

Tiffany Heafner enjoys a laugh with her patient.

Erin Canterbury works with a wee one.

Sarah Glover and Snowi go through a patient’s symptoms.

Hannah Bogard and Lena receive medical supplies from Michelle Hau'ofa from PNG Tribal Foundation.

Hannah Bogard and Lena receive medical supplies from Michelle Hau’ofa of the PNG Tribal Foundation.

Click to visit the PNG Tribal Foundation website.

The Kamea “Jesus” videos continue to receive lots of attention as they spread the Gospel in the Kamea language.

January 2016

Posted on January 24, 2016 by John Allen

REBUILDING

The New Year’s arrival brought with it the reality that things on earth don’t last forever. Our national pastor’s house support posts had rotted prematurely, which made it necessary to dismantle the entire structure and rebuild it again with new posts.

The same thing happened with the bridge leading through Kotidanga village. The supports rotted out causing the bridge to be unable to bear the burden of our bush vehicle. It took many men and large, strong logs to replace this vital link.

How careful we need to be as we walk along in our Christian life, examining that upon which we stand—or think we stand. Christ alone must be our solid Rock and our only foundation. Men’s programs, policies, and plans may often be nothing more than shifting sand. Christian, check your posts!

RENEWING

We held our Pastors’ Leadership Conference in December. Missionary Jason Ottosen hiked 12 hours over the mountain to teach with me. Our men enjoyed the sessions and we all enjoyed the fellowship and news from the ministries across the Kamea region.

Our TTMK team was blessed to have Pastor Matt Anders and Monte and Angie Ashworth (all from our home church) come to minister to us last week. We held our first-ever field conference in Port Moresby at Capital City Baptist Church, and the first time we’ve all been together in one place. Thank you to our wonderful home church, and to those who support the members of the TTMK team here in PNG.

REJOICING

Kunai Health Centre has been a catalyst for many visitors at Kotidanga Baptist Church recently. Some who have been resistant to the Gospel for years have had their hearts opened through the clinic ministry to receive the preached Word.

We held our annual Christmas preaching meeting, and we saw many decisions made, including entire families joining together in prayer to work to build stronger homes.

At the same time, more and more unsaved visitors have been coming to hear the preaching, and this resulted in a harvest of no less than 20 souls in the regular preaching services during the month of December! Also, in spite of public opposition to the market preaching, Ben has continued to preach, and the Lord has blessed that as well.

We started the New Year with a baptismal service, where Ben conducted his first baptism—and baptized 32 people! Among them were his mother Mary and his daughter Nosa!

Thank you for enabling us to minister in PNG in your stead. We ask that you remember Lena’s health as you pray. May we all be found faithfully walking with the Lord this year!

Serving Him in the Field,
John & Lena Allen
2 Thessalonians 3:1

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Because He Is

Knowing Christ…Making Him Known… John & Lena Allen in PNG

Category Archives: Updates

Remembering God’s Goodness in 2017

God is still God!

Effectual Door, Multiple Adversaries

Fruit from the Word

By God’s Grace

God is at Work!

Faithful Words from Our Faithful God

A God Worth Serving

By the Word of His Power

January 2016

REBUILDING

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REBUILDING

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