I start by saying a BIG THANK YOU to you guys for your help and supporting us as we are working here in Papua New guinea! I am sharing this news with you today because there is NO WAY how we could ever do what we have done, this past year and years if it was not for you! All honor to God who continues to restore His image in this world, and on these Islands. God has been gracious, and it has been amazing to see what God is doing amongst the unreached and the churches here on our islands.
QUICK OVERVIEW OF THIS PAST YEAR
Connecting with the National Churches in other regions – Earlier this year we had to opportunity to meet with leadership teams from the Highlands and Western part of PNG.In each of these areas the national churches have been functioning and working together in some or other way, but this year we had the opportunity to meet together as a national team for the first time. We used the opportunity to get to know each other, hear from each other and encourage each other in the work each one of us are doing.
Leadership development – Our main focus is working with the national leaders from all the churches in New Britain. We are focusing on equipping, but also establishing structures and processes through which they could continue independently from the mission in the future. So, this past year we have had various meetings with all the leaders in different locations. We have been encouraged by the growth spiritually, but also in Biblical leadership function. We also are encouraged with how the structure, and process of collaborating together is starting to bear fruit.
Continual visits to language group churches – In order to disciple well, and to evaluate the work we are doing, we ourselves need to visit the different areas, and language groups where churches are established. This demonstrates accountability and the need to evaluate what we are doing. My co workers and i had the opportunity to travel to multiple areas and language groups and local churches through out this year. And again, are very much encouraged with the growth we are witnessing’s.
Developing resources – Working with the church has always involved studying God’s Word, applying it to our lives, and developing accurate teaching into some form of curriculum that they could use. We are therefore continuing to develop resources that the churches could use. This past year we completed resources that are specifically focusing on the youth and ministering with them. And we are working on resources in addressing the topic of discipleship, as well as resources to help equip the leaders into studying God Word.
Sepik national leadership meeting – In April we had the opportunity to attend a leadership conference in the Sepik region, with about 200 leaders attending.They have never brought all the Sepik Church Leaders together in one place since they started planting churches 50 years ago. Kaiko, Kewaka and I spoke at the conference, as well as two missionaries from Sepik.
Continual Equipping the church to support itself – We know that a healthy indigenous church should sustain itself in Church Development and leadership, but another aspect that plays a crucial role in the sustainability of an indigenous church is the aspect of support. It’s been a privilege to have Ineke Haaring as a coworker and someone who carries a huge load and does an amazing job of training our national coworkers in a lot of the technical aspects of support.
Evaluation of the work we are doing in New Britain – A highlight for us was to have New Tribes Mission consultants come along side us and evaluate what we have been doing over the years and give input. We had our managing director, and church development director and a missionary from New Britain come and do the evaluation together with a team of national church leaders from the churches in New Britain. This was a very encouraging time for the team, as it showed us some areas that need work, but also confirmed some of the growth that we have seen over the years.
RECENT HAPPENINGS
South Coast church visit – Since I returned from furlough, my co workers and I had the oppertunity to visit churches on the South-Eastern side of our island. We had representatives from Mouk, Maleu, Aria, Ivanga and Lamogai language groups attend. During this time, we got some feedback on how things are going within their area, and worked together on strategizing on how the churches can help each other. We also did some revision of teaching that has been presented before and that the churches have been working on amongst themselves. It was pretty amazing to see how the 5 language group churches worked together to make these meetings work, and how they assisted each other in traveling and hosting the leaders who attended. Check out this clip at – Recent trip to South Coast Churches.
Youth meetings – It’s been a while that we have been planning on getting some work started with the youth in New Britain churches. The youth aged between 13 and 23 comprises about half the number of believers in New Britain now. And they are experiencing great challenges especially in the light of a changing culture. My co workers and I had the opportunity to develop an initial resource to get some of the work and processes started amongst the youth and their leaders. We could host a meeting at our support centre to get this work launched and used this an an opportunity to evaluate the resource as well. Check out this clip at – Youth Meeting – December 2023
NEXT YEAR
We would appreciate your prayers and support as we get ready for 2024. Here are some of what we will be working on.
1 – Continual trips to churches in New Britain – The team will continue to visit each area in New Britain over the first 6 months of the year. We have about 23 language groups that are divided into three areas. And we would like to focus on the equipping of youth leaders within each of these areas. We will also continue with training equipping of elders and deacons into their role and function as leaders.
2 – Continual resource development – We will continue to work on resources that the churches could use to help equip the leaders and believers into studying God Word better and applying it to themselves and to the church. But also, to revise the resource we developed for the youth, and add additional help for youth leaders and their elders.
3 – National Church property development – Over and above the work of developing curriculum and teaching and discipleship, we also have a team of people working on developing the support structures and processes the church needs to support their own work. Over the years, we have worked on developing the property on which we host allot of our national church work right here on our support center. We have built some infrastructure which we are already using, but would need to strategize about the next phase of adding additional housing.
4 – Continual equipping in support – It has been a privilege to have Ineke as a coworker and someone who carries a huge load and does an amazing job of training our national coworkers in a lot of the technical aspects of support. She will continue to work with the Toumusi and Ki and other ladies into equipping them into many aspects of the support roles that we traditionally do for the churches.
PLEASE PRAY WITH US
1 – Pray for the various church visits that will be coming up over these next 6 months. Pray for the team being away from their families, for endurance and wisdom.
2 – Pray for the team working on developing resources. Pray for wisdom and that God will help them develop clear and accurate resources that will assist the church.
3 – Pray for Ineke and her team as she works on equipping them into many aspects of support ministry.
4 – Pray for the leaders of these churches to learn to lead as servants and to shepherd the church well.
PLEASE CONSIDER HELPING US!
Your prayers and financial support are making a tangible difference in lives and communities. These key leaders are carrying the burden of the work financially, but we are trying to support them in some ways from time to time.There are various ways you can support this ministry, so please contact us for more details, or follow this link and specify it as for “the national leadership development in PNG” – “Supporting the national leaders in PNG“
For our SA supporters:
- Lourens Laureti
- Standard Bank Savings
- Account number: 238403122
Blessings
Lourens, Kewaka, Kaiko and Toumusi
I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. (Philippians 1:3-5)