THE “WEEKEND BOYS”
We have a group of young men in the church who call themselves the “Weekend Boys.” These young men (ranging in age from 18 through 30) come for youth ministry on Friday night, stay overnight for Saturday morning outreach at Hanuabada Village, and a few of them meet with me for Bible college classes on Saturday afternoon. Then all of them join Lena and me for dinner and translation checks on Saturday evening, and on Sunday morning, they all serve in various ministries in the church. Most of them stay on through Sunday afternoon for our Goilala Camp outreach…and they do this every weekend! It is a good place for them to mature spiritually, and it helps them learn to focus on serving the Lord in various ministries with their varied abilities.
This has been going on now (and growing) for almost three years. The last few weeks have seen fruit in the lives of two of them who express a desire to be involved in full-time ministry, and two others beginning to take turns preaching in public ministry. Praise the Lord for His working in these young men’s lives!
GOILALA CAMP OUTREACH
It’s been nearly a year since our campus was attacked by 21 armed men—and since we began a weekly outreach to their village. A few months after we began holding weekly gospel meetings with them, the police came in and moved them out to a displaced persons’ camp on the edge of the city. Their village at the city dump, called “Swimming Pool,” was then completely destroyed by excavators and bulldozers.
In spite of this, the village leaders asked us to continue preaching every week. Over the last eight months at the camp, we have continued preaching and teaching the Word, taking them from Creation to Christ. Our ministry team has had the privilege of leading several to Christ, and when I was able to give a public invitation at the end of September, several more raised their hands that they had already put their faith in Christ. The village leader told me that the old men of the group want us to continue, because as they said, “these people preach the Word of God clearly, and we can understand it.” The Word of God preached in the power of the Spirit of God will always do the work of God!
TRANSLATION
My current project is preparing a John & Romans in Kamea and Tok Pisin, with the goal of distributing them next year among our people. One of our young men (who is Kamea) was back in the Kamea villages recently, and he took a printed copy of John’s Gospel with him to read and to share. He tells me he got a great response from those who heard it. I can only imagine—hearing the Word of God in your own heart language for the first time ever!
TEACHING
Last Monday I finished teaching my Bible school course on Practical Ministry. Other local pastors and church members attended some of the classes to learn about accountability and integrity in church ministry and leadership. At the end of the course, we had a testimony time for our graduates and present students. It was so good to hear of what the Lord has been doing through them—so much more is happening than we knew. I wish you could have heard their stories of the Lord’s working in places from the coast to the highlands. I never dreamed we could have such a great partnership with the local churches in Port Moresby. Thank you for the part you have in investing in the training of these preachers and teachers!
MEDICAL FURLOUGH
After counseling with our home church pastoral staff, our co-workers, and our family, we decided to return to the USA for Lena to get much-needed medical testing and treatment. We tried pressing on when we returned to the field in August, but things did not get better. The plan is for us to be here through January, when I will need to return for our next Bible college term. Please pray we can get answers and help that will enable us to stay on the field where God put us nearly 18 years ago. God knows!
Praising God for His Grace and Goodness,
John & Lena Allen
Psalm 71:18