January 2023
Dear Friends & Fellow-Laborers,
Greetings from a very warm Papua New Guinea!
This newsletter marks some ministry milestones for Lena and me. January 1st is the 40th anniversary of the beginning of my privilege to serve in full-time ministry. I know that’s hard to believe for such a young fellow as myself, but it’s true! Those forty years have taken us through local ministries at our home church in Kentucky to preaching and teaching around the world, including the focus of the last fifteen years here in Papua New Guinea. The Lord has been good and faithful to us all along the way. Our sons and their families are serving the Lord, and we are so blessed to have it so.
By God’s grace, 2023 will give us our first graduating class from Baptist Bible Institute of Port Moresby. Seventeen students are on track to finish in May; pray with us that they will finish strong. Right now, during our holiday break, some of the students are out in various locations around PNG preaching and assisting local churches and new outreaches. It is exciting to see the Lord use them! Thank the Lord for the local pastors and their churches who shape and mold these servants into what the Lord would have them to be.
Work is continuing on the Study Bible and the Kamea New Testament. Last night we had some young men (university and tech school students) join us to continue our read-through of Proverbs. It always excites me to see people catch the vision of laboring to understand the text of God’s Word in an effort to make it plain!
As we begin the New Year, let us do it with purpose. Practice your spiritual disciplines of reading the Word and prayer, as well as sharing the Gospel and discipling others. If you miss a day or miss a chance, pick up and press on. May we be found faithful when He comes!
Pressing on by His Grace and Goodness,
John & Lena Allen
Philippians 1:27