We are so grateful to work with such a wonderful team at Kotidanga Baptist Mission at Kunai. Enjoy the photos!
[Photo credit: Marie Bell, Mary Beth Snyder]
Here are some memorable friends and patients:
We are so grateful to work with such a wonderful team at Kotidanga Baptist Mission at Kunai. Enjoy the photos!
[Photo credit: Marie Bell, Mary Beth Snyder]
Here are some memorable friends and patients:
This is a photo blog of our last week at Kunai. Enjoy the photos!
May 2018 update
Great Opportunities
We have shared the Gospel and stories of God’s goodness with so many in the last five months. While passing through the Middle East, I had the blessing of sharing the Gospel for a good while with a Hindu man while we rode in a small bus filled with Afghanis, Pakistanis, and other nationalities. When in the US we had many chances to preach the Word and to testify of God’s mercy and grace in His work in PNG. Since arriving back in PNG, we’ve already had opportunities to share the Gospel with people great and small. As we get settled back in at Kunai, we look forward to resuming our duties in the clinic and in Bible translation and teaching, all of it with a view of making Christ known even more among our people.
Great Provision
We are thankful for the new interns the Lord gave us as we recruited for missionaries around the US during the last four months. The Lord also touched many to give supplies for Kunai Health Centre, and when it was done, we shipped over half a ton of items for the clinic, plus another 150 pounds of vitamins and medicine we carried back in our suitcases. To God be the glory!
Great Co-workers
While we’ve been away, the Kunai team has held a great youth camp with many saved, and brought Good News FM Radio (our new radio station) online. Would you pray for our team as we continue to work together to fulfill the Great Commission among the Kamea?
Co-workers: Sam & Marybeth Snyder, and Sarah Glover;
Clinic staff: Chelsea Moorman, Manandi Dagoino, Ellie Polmek, Jon Mark, Judas Gidion, Linda, and my wife Lena;
Kamea New Testament Translation team: Pastor Ben Samauyo, Yali Tapaqueo, and me;
Our new interns: Emma Stout and Laura Lee Alford, who will join the team over the next couple of months.
Great God
We enjoyed seeing how the Lord is blessing in our son’s work, Capital City Baptist Church in Port Moresby, as we transitioned back through there and did our supply buying. We were able to visit with our dear friends, Pastor Tau & Suzanne Abary, at Shalom Baptist Church. Pastor Tau suffered a severe stroke earlier this year, but by God’s grace he is recovering. Pray that God will heal him completely, and that He will strengthen his family during the long recovery process.
Great Thanks
While we were gone to the US, our son Matt and our friends at Capital City Baptist in Port Moresby took care of our friend from Kunai, Jon Mark. Jon is a worker in our clinic and a faithful member of Kotidanga Baptist Church. He is also completely blind! He has lived in constant pain for the last several years, and earlier this year Matt flew Jon to Port Moresby for his third eye surgery. This time his pain is finally gone! Praise the Lord, and thank you to everyone who has prayed for Jon Mark!
We appreciate all of you for your faithful support of the work here. We were blessed to visit many while we were home, and we thank each of you for being a blessing to us. Special thanks go to our home church, Landmark, for being faithful in preaching of the Word of God and for their God-glorifying music program. It was so refreshing!
All glory to Christ,
John & Lena Allen
2 Thessalonians 3:1
PS…enjoy some extra pictures!
Home for the Holidays
Lena and I made it to the US just before Christmas. It was great to be with family and friends for the holidays before we hit the road during the first week of January. We do have to admit that leaving temperate PNG for the frigid Midwest was an adjustment!
Open Doors
The Lord opened a door for Lena and me to visit the Middle East on our way to the US for our furlough. I had the wonderful opportunity to teach for a couple of weeks in a seminary in Jordan. There were both Jordanians and Egyptians in the class, and it was a blessing and joy to work with them.
I’m grateful for Dr. Ghassan Haddad and the work of Biblical Theological Seminary as they train laborers for the Arab-speaking world. We passed through Dubai on the way to Jordan, and were also blessed to see the work being done there in the United Arab Emirates. The Word of God is not bound!
Recruiting and Replenishing
The Lord has given us great meetings in January and February. We have seen the Lord move in hearts as we’ve shared what God is doing in PNG. We’ve seen many long-time friends and met many new ones. God has been truly good to us!
One of our major goals this trip is to recruit nurses for Kunai Health Centre and to recruit teachers to start a school for our Kamea children at Kotidanga. We have met some fine people and have had appointments at Christian colleges to speak to prospects. Praise the Lord, He gave us two new workers for the clinic: Emma Stout, from Franklin Road Baptist Church; and Laura Lee Alford, from our home church. Amen! Pray with us that the Lord will raise up even more missionaries, nurses, and teachers!
Finally, we are looking to ship these specific medical-related supplies (and only these items):
If you wish to help by donating these items, please send them before March 31, 2018 to:
John Allen c/o David Allen
1077 Weavers Run
West Point, KY 40177
We plan to pack and ship them in early April, just before we head back to PNG on April 19th. We are thankful for the donations received already. May God richly bless all of you who have given to this cause!
Back Home in PNG
Kotidanga Baptist Church held its first Youth Camp in January. Our good friend Phil Parry was the main speaker, and he, along with Pastor Ben, Matt Allen, Sam Snyder, and a host of others put on a camp like our villages had never seen. 17 young people came to faith in Christ, and many more made life-changing decisions. We thank the Lord for all the work that everyone did to make this happen. So many stories to be told! (Click here to see the video of the camp.)
Thank you all for your faithful prayers and support. We are only able to do what we do because of your faithful prayers and support. May the Lord put credit on your account for your part in His work in PNG!
Serving Him in the Field,
John & Lena
PS: Enjoy some more camp photos!
Here are some of the people who made the camp happen:
GOD IS STILL GOD! click here for printable copy
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.
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.
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!
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.
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.
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
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.
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!
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!
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!
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…
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 39th 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
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!
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!
FAITHFUL MEN
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.
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
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 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!
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 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.
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.
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
Thank the Lord for family!
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 and family are planting Capital City Baptist Church and South Pacific International Academy in Port Moresby, PNG.
This gallery contains 3 photos.