Looking Back

Here are some highlights of our 2020:

• Our 40 ft container of clinic, school, Bible college, and construction materials was shipped from the US and received here, and God provided for the clinic and school supplies to be forwarded on to Kunai.
• We completed our draft of John in the Kamea language and began the draft of Revelation in Kamea.
• God provided new nursing staff for Kunai Health Centre as other nurses rotated back to the US. Thank you to Kyle, Lauren, Chelsea, and Danya for serving! Thank you to Stacie and Becca for coming when it didn’t look possible, and for Mary Beth being there through it all!
• We began renovation of our new home & office space in August and moved into the house in November (with just a few things left to be finished out).
• Baptist Bible Institute of Port Moresby (BBIPOM) completed its 1st year with 20 students, covering six courses in spite of lock-downs and power blackouts.
• Dear brethren in Australia provided school materials for the new Christian school at Kunai begun by Sarah Glover this year.

Looking Around

We’ve been thinking much about our ministry options for the present. Churches here have been able to continue their services and outreaches, with the only real limitation of not being able to hold conferences. Relatively few people in PNG have access to hear or watch a conference online, especially those pastors and churches located in more remote areas. Our national pastors around the nation need the fellowship. The Lord has provided us with much material for pastors and teachers, and we want to get those into their hands as well as have gifted, godly speakers teaching the sessions. Pray with us about the door opening back up for us (and other good churches) to resume hosting conferences.

Looking Ahead

These are the things we have mapped out, Lord willing, for 2021:

• We have applied for a visa for a new nurse coming from Australia—
  Pray the Lord will make a way for her.
• We plan to begin our new term for BBIPOM (2nd year) on 25 January—
  Pray the Lord keeps the doors open, and pray for our returning students
  plus new students who plan to join us.
• We want to continue our New Testament translation in the Kamea language, doing checks and reviews along the way—
  Pray the Lord provides for our village translation team to be able to fly
  out here to town and to return in a timely manner.
• We desire to do more outreach and work with our believers—
  Pray the Lord helps us to see and to seize the opportunities.

Most of our 1st Year Students at BBIPOM

All in all, we want to “follow on to know the Lord” (Hosea 6:3a), and to make Him known among the nations!

None of us knew what 2020 would bring, so when it comes to 2021—or even tomorrow—we say with the Apostle James, “If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that.” (James 4:15b)

Thank you for your prayers for us, for our people, and for the Lord’s work, and thank you for making it possible that we can do it. Thank you again for allowing us to represent you. Please take time to look through this blog to see photos from this year and enjoy what God has done through you as you have stood with us!

Because He Is,
John & Lena Allen
2 Thessalonians 3:1

A special thank you to Pastor Tau Abary and Mary Beth Snyder for taking some of these photos!

A gift from our students as they finished their first year at BBIPOM.

Students listening attentively during chapel.

Missionary John Gray came to challenge our student body.

It was a privilege to have my son Matt come teach a class on sermon preparation for our Exegesis & Exposition course.

My son Matt Allen with Pastor Tau Abary of Shalom Baptist Church

It was our privilege to join several local pastors for the graduation and awards ceremonies at Shalom Baptist Christian Academy.
Here, Mrs. Suzanne Abary, wife of Pastor Tau and headmistress of the school, is being honored for 10 years of service at the school.

Thankful for our friends laboring out at Kunai: Becca Wyatt, Sarah Glover,
and Stacie McCary. (PC: Mary Beth Snyder)

Below are some photos of the set-up and conversion of our new house and offices. Special thank you to Curtain Brothers Construction for donating, delivering, and setting up the “donga” (formerly a bunkhouse at the Exxon plant near here). Thanks also to the staff men at Capital City Baptist Church and South Pacific International Academy for their tireless work on the project. Thanks to the contractors, Altra Builders and MZ Electrical for their expertise and long hours.

Here’s a sunrise view from our front veranda.

Baptist Bible Institute of Port Moresby Mission Statement