This is a photo blog of our last week at Kunai. Enjoy the photos!
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!
BABY MILK UPDATE as of January 2018
We thank the Lord for His provision each year for baby milk for our clinic ministry. In 2017 we purchased 420 cans of formula, serving dozens of infants and young children who are malnourished.
In some cases, the mother has died in childbirth, or shortly thereafter. In other cases, the parents have given the child away as they are unable to feed another mouth…and yet others of our “baby milk babies” have mothers who are unable to produce sufficient milk to feed them.
This little one was a recent case toward the end of 2017. The mother rejected the baby soon after birth due to a mental illness, and the family was struggling to provide proper nourishment.
After just a few short weeks on the SMA formula, she is doing much better, and thriving!
The baby milk program began in 2009, and it has served almost 300 children since then. Some of these children are school-aged now, and by God’s grace, they are doing quite well.
Thank you to everyone who joins with us in prayer and financial support of this vital program. We are grateful for those who give monthly, and we are also grateful for the special offering we received at the end of the year that really helped out with our annual expenses. And our children thank you too!
2017
Income: $4,180.41
Expenses: $5,341.75
Total cans purchased: 420
Cost per 2 lb. can: $12.72 (price decrease due to exchange rate)
Babies served: 45
2016
Income: $5,715.00
Expenses: $5,638.34
Total cans purchased: 400
Cost per 2 lb. can: $14.10 (price decrease due to exchange rate)
Babies served: 50
2015
Income: $6,875.00
Expenses: $8,280.37
Total cans purchased: 558
Cost per 2 lb. can: $14.83 (price decrease due to exchange rate)
Babies served: 29
2014
Income: $1,320.00
Expenses: $6,468.40
Total cans purchased: 400
Cost per 2 lb. can: $16.17
Babies served: 44
2013
Income: $6,414.16
Expenses: $8,396.37
Total cans purchased: 471
Cost per 2 lb. can: $17.82
Babies served: 58
2012
Income: $627.51
Expenses: $10,446.22
Total cans purchased: 547
Cost per 2 lb. can: $19.10
Babies served: 58
2011
Income: $1,415
Expenses: $5,325
Total cans purchased: 300
Cost per 2 lb. can: $17.75
Babies served: 42
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!
BABY MILK UPDATE as of January 2017
We thank the Lord for His provision each year for baby milk for our clinic ministry. 2016 was the first year that income exceeded expenses…amen! The dedicated staff of Kunai Health Centre continues to provide service to infants and small children in need of nutritional supplements.
In some cases, the mother has died in childbirth, or shortly thereafter. In other cases, the parents have given the child away as they are unable to feed another mouth…and yet others of our “baby milk babies” have mothers who are unable to produce sufficient milk to feed them.
The program began in 2009, and it has served over 250 children since then. Some of these children are school age now, and seem to be doing quite well.
Thank you to everyone who joins with us in prayer and financial support of this vital program. Our children thank you too!
2016
Income: $5,715.00
Expenses: $5,638.34
Total cans purchased: 400
Cost per 2 lb. can: $14.10 (price decrease due to exchange rate)
Babies served: 50
2015
Income: $6,875.00
Expenses: $8,280.37
Total cans purchased: 558
Cost per 2 lb. can: $14.83 (price decrease due to exchange rate)
Babies served: 29
2014
Income: $1,320.00
Expenses: $6,468.40
Total cans purchased: 400
Cost per 2 lb. can: $16.17
Babies served: 44
2013
Income: $6,414.16
Expenses: $8,396.37
Total cans purchased: 471
Cost per 2 lb. can: $17.82
Babies served: 58
2012
Income: $627.51
Expenses: $10,446.22
Total cans purchased: 547
Cost per 2 lb. can: $19.10
Babies served: 58
2011
Income: $1,415
Expenses: $5,325
Total cans purchased: 300
Cost per 2 lb. can: $17.75
Babies served: 42