Soon after our last update, we finished packing and sent our household goods (and somebody’s small library) from the Highlands down to Port Moresby. The Lord provided a good place for us to rent, just five minutes’ drive from Capital City Baptist Church.
We are renting in Edai Town, about 25 minutes from downtown Port Moresby, and 5 minutes from Capital City Baptist Church.
Already we’ve met many new people and are adapting to ministry in the city. The contacts we have made thus far regarding government and clinic work have been providential, and we thank the Lord for how He is sovereignly putting things together to advance the work at Kunai, even as we now live in Port Moresby.
MOVING WORD
Last week I
was privileged to speak at the Pastors’ Workshop at Calvary Baptist Church in
Lae. Pastor Ben and Pastor Kevin were able to fly out from the village to attend,
and it was good to spend some personal time with them. The meeting was in
conjunction with Calvary’s World Missions Conference, and it was exciting to
see the strides our national churches are making in looking outward to the
fields beyond.
All the pastors attending the Workshop at Calvary Baptist in Lae
An even
bigger blessing was watching the Lord work in all of our hearts through the
teaching of His Word. How precious it was when a holy hush fell on the room, followed
by an altar filled with praying pastors who were moved by the exposition of the
Word of God. Pray with us for God to move in a great way in our nation,
advancing the Gospel here and abroad!
MOVING FORWARD
Another new
nurse, Jennifer Thompson, is scheduled to arrive within a month. When she flies
in to Kunai, Pastor Ben and Bro. Yali will fly out to be with us for two weeks
of translation work here in Moresby. We also hope to do some New Testament
recordings while the men are here.
Lena and I
are visiting the city churches to get to know the pastors, their people, and
the city. There are some wonderful saints here, and we trust that number will
increase as we all labor together for the cause of Christ.
Because He Is, John & Lena Allen 2 Thessalonians 3:1
Enjoy the photos from the last few weeks:
Calvary Baptist Church choirPastor Phillip Sorulen of Calvary Baptist Church, LaeJustin McGann, general manager for Curtain Brothers Construction in Port Moresby; Justin volunteered his time to do the road survey for us. He’s manager of the biggest construction firm in Port Moresby–it was an honor to have him do this for us!Patrick, our pilot, and the trusty steed that took us from Port Moresby to Kotidanga and back. Low, and slow, and oh–what a view!Sarah Glover and Kyle Murphy took Justin, me, and Pastor Ben to the top of the mountain to begin our damage assessment of the Kotidanga road.Real friends walk with you in the mud and the rain.Part of the gang who walked with us to survey the road damage. So grateful for dedicated friends up there at Kunai! Flying back to Port Moresby: View from inside the R44 helicopter–and what a view it was!PNG dry season is here!Beautiful Central Province coastline
In May we visited the YWAM medical ship when it was docked in Lae. Here are Sarah Glover, April Harper, and Lena together on the deck of the ship. April came to visit Kunai last year and taught our Kunai clinic team how to prep and read tuberculosis slides.The YWAM medical ship team does eye surgery and dental work as they travel around our island.Young children at Runway Baptist Church in Port Moresby, reciting their memory verses.We got to be part of a BIMI Bible distribution in some nearby schools. Amazing response by the youth and the teachers!And meet the newest member of the Moresby squad–King Cat (KC).
James & Toree Overton oversee these students in the Master of Arts in Bible Translation course at WorldView India.
Lena and I had a wonderful trip to minister again at WorldView India in January. James and Toree Overton do a wonderful job leading and teaching the Bible translation students at the college. It was a joy to share how to use Chronological Bible Storying as a tool in church planting simultaneously with translating the Scriptures. These students come from around India and Myanmar, and are a delight to work with. We praise the Lord for all the opportunities to speak in church, chapel, small groups, and one-to-one. Pray with us that the Lord will continue to raise up faithful ministers of the Gospel in this needy area of the world!
NEW NURSES
The clinic
at Kunai Health Centre has been extremely busy the last several months. The
nurses and our national staff are doing a great job ministering to the physical
and spiritual needs of our Kamea people. Next week we will be in Lae city for
our medicine and supply buy, and there we will be meeting two incoming nurses:
Chelsea Moorman and Danya Counts. Chels was with us for 2017-2018, and this is
Danya’s first time.
On cool mornings, patients prefer to sit out in the sun on the grass.
Pray for
them and the team on the ground as they continue to treat patients, and as they
labor in discipleship and evangelism.
NEW SCRIPTURE USES
Since we
began translating the New Testament into Kamea almost five years ago, we have
labored to find ways to make it accessible to our people. Pastor Ben has taught
the church directly from the newly translated text, and Sarah and Laura-Lee
have used it in literacy classes. We have produced videos of the Life of Christ
using the Kamea New Testament, and these are shown daily at the clinic as well
as distributed on mobile phones. Now the nurses have begun using the Kamea New
Testament portions to do discipleship with the young ladies in the church. They
said that the girls are really excited to hear and to read the Word in their
own heart language!
NEW VISION
Lena and I believe our next step is to move to Port Moresby and to partner with our son Matt, his family, and the ministry of Capital City Baptist Church. We have always felt welcome there, and the Lord has given us sweet friendships among those believers. We can continue the Bible translation project and keep giving logistical support to Kunai Health Centre, as well as orienting new missionaries as they arrive, plus all of the many ministry opportunities in that growing city.
Capital City Baptist Church Campus, 9 February 2019
The move
will involve building a place to live and obtaining a vehicle, and we are sure our
great God will take care of those details in His way and in His time. As you
remember us and these ministries (Kunai and Port Moresby) in prayer, could you
also pray for Lena? It looks as though she may need surgery on her neck again, perhaps
later this year.
How blessed
we are to be such privileged children of the King! He lets us work for Him
among His people in many places, He lets us see His power in transformed lives,
and He blesses us with His presence, His Word, His grace, and His love. And
then He gently reminds us, “Freely ye have received—freely give.” May we all be
busy about giving that same good news of the Gospel that He so freely gave to
us. The world, near and far, is waiting…
All glory to Christ,
John & Lena Allen
2 Thessalonians 3:1
Enjoy a few photos of our visit to India. The Gospel is being preached in that great land, but there is so much more to do!
Enjoying a visit with our good friends, Dr. Babu Varghese and his family.Neena, Lena,and Jessie; we are blessed to know such faithful believers.Several thousand attended the five-day preaching convention while we were there. Over 200 made professions of faith.Feeding the multitude at convention is no easy task!
