Maximum Impact

When Joyce and I stepped away from our local church ministry of evangelism & discipleship to pursue training & equipping to serve in missions, we hoped to eventually minister among indigenous tribes in Bolivia, South America.  That door closed and another opened… in Papua New Guinea.  We had no intentions of ever going to Papua New Guinea; I mean, who in their right mind would want to go live among a former headhunting tribe?  Little did we realize how uneducated we were about the country, its people, and the great need for laborers there.  They are lost people who need Jesus.

During those years of training God began to turn our hearts towards such ones.  Fortunately, we were recipients of a little publication called ‘The Challenge of Papua New Guinea,’ published by New Tribes Mission.  As we read stories about tribesmen with tender hearts toward the gospel, God began to soften our hearts about serving there.  Among those stories we read were ones written by a phenomenal couple named Bob & Noby Kennell.

Bob & Noby are very gifted individuals.  Trained and equipped with a deep Bible knowledge, Bob & Noby enrolled in the New Tribes misssionary training program in the early seventies where they excelled in grasping the tools necessary for pioneer missionary work.  They began ministering among the Bisorio tribe in Papua New Guinea around 1978.

Their church planting & discipleship efforts were very successful.  Today, there are 12 ordained elders serving five churches established by the Kennells and their partners George and Harriet Walker.  After completing the translation of the New Testament (7,957 verses), they went to another tribe and helped them complete their New Testament.  Following that, they ministered in Thailand for 5 years, helping with consulting in the areas of evangelism and church planting.

Bob & Noby are now returning to Bisorio to complete the Old Testament.  The people love God’s Word.  There are 23,145 verses in the Old Testament; they presently have 12,900 verses left to translate.  They will live among the Bisorio for short periods of time so that they can continue translation and encourage the churches.  This is no easy task… they need a house and they need a boat. 

All building materials will need to be purchased in country, then transported by air and then by boat to the village to build their house.  We believe God will provide.  The Kennells’ greatest need is to increase their PRAYER SUPPORT TEAM.  They need people who will make a commitment to PRAY and HOLD the ROPES for them.  Will you?