Our Pastor Training program in Papua New Guinea, where I teach, was recognized in one of the national newspapers!  https://www.thenational.com.pg/pastors-train-in-unique-programme/ Inside the article are glimpses of "what" we are doing, and while it is an honor to have our Bachelor's Program recognized nationally, it is a greater honor to teach and work alongside these godly students, who give their lives to help their people and share the good news of Jesus Christ. They are the reason, they are the "why" we do what we do.  There are many unreached in Papua New Guinea (PNG), an area the size of California with over...

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I waited for pigs to cross the road before turning into Hosana’s driveway.  Waving children lined the fence, most smiling and laughing, a few distracted by others I couldn’t see.  Hosana Baptist Church is nestled along a ridge in the Asaro valley, about fifty minutes from the Bible College, if it wasn’t raining.  The last 10-15 minutes snake and climb over dirt and clay, with two creeks and wooden bridges.  It was dry so I did not have to use 4-wheel drive.     I could see Pastor Abol standing and talking with a group of people in the distance.  He...

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I was glad the policeman pulled me over.  It was 11:30 p.m., nearing the end of June 8th, which by my reckoning was 54 hours long.  We have been moving, so after church in the morning we drove the 40 minutes back to the old house, running up and down the stairs, moving furniture, vacuuming, packing boxes, cleaning and scrubbing followed by scrubbing and cleaning, packing boxes, vacuuming, stairs, loading the van, driving 30 minutes to the new place, unloading the van by about 10:00 p.m., but by then, who cares?  I was returning to our new place after a...

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Thanks to my brothers in the boy's dorm at GBBC, who sang these words of encouragement last night. They were having dorm devotions, and their voices carried these words of truth, beautiful words and melody to my hurting heart. (It also happens to be one of my favorite Pidgin songs based on the English "I don't know about tomorrow.") There is something powerful in Christian voices singing about the hope we have in Christ! Mi no save long tumora; mi wokabaut long tude. Mi no wari long ol traim; Jisas helpim mi long prea. Bihain mi ken go long heven,...

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In the preaching class I taught the other day, we were discussing the need for organization in the sermon, how it was important to have structure, variety, order and even short breaks in your message.  The Scriptures themselves have order and structure, the authors followed conventional rules of language and writing; thoughts were written in sentences, extended into paragraphs, organized in minor and major headings, bound together in individual books.  Not to mention the obvious "The mind can only absorb what the seat can endure."  The sermon has parts, I explained, so that its thoughts, one at a time, can be understood and absorbed.  No one...

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Pray still, a village meeting is scheduled for December 6th, but it probably will not be the final one. The sorcery accusations against our Christian brother Kure are still ongoing, "that he killed another Christian young man Lalo by working poison (sorcery) on him by looking at him in the mirror while they were together in our clinic ambulance."  Let me get this straight, you're thinking, they are claiming one Christian killed another Christian using sorcery while they both were engaged in a clinic ministry helping sick people get to the hospital?  That's correct, and "No, it doesn't make sense to a Christian."...

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Was there a rap on the house?   Maybe, sometimes people or children are shy and do not want to make much noise, as though somehow they are bothering you.  But still some will come, it does not hurt to ask, the worst that can happen is I may say "No."  There was someone there, it was Lindsey, a girl of about 10 from the village.  "Uncle Pat I regularly go and come to school and I have no shoes and the stones hurt my feet and I came to ask you if you had some thongs you could give me...

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WHAT do you do when you have been mistreated?  If it is by someone who is an enemy, it is not much of a surprise.  Christ tells us to love our enemies, they do not know what they are doing, they are blinded, we can show them the light, even love them into the family of God.  But what if it is by someone who knows you and the integrity of your character?  What if they are close to you, a trusted friend, a fellow Christian, what if they lied to you or maybe even stole from you?  What do you...

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(Printed in our Mission's "Message" Magazine, Summer 1996)   Every missionary–especially those going overseas for the first time–faces the dilemma: should I take the household goods I already have or purchase what I need when I get there? On the one hand the toys, the linens, the furniture is familiar and paid for. On the other hand it is expensive to ship and bothersome to clear through customs, as Patrick and Kellis Melson found out. Bbbbvvvt! Bbbbvvvt! One eye opens in the dark, then another. Bbbbvvvt! Where is it? Listening. Waiting. Bbbbvvvt! WHACK! Bbbbvvvt! Missed again, but how easy is it...

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"Pat, where's Lydia?" asked my wife Kellis, after I'd been home for a little bit. "I thought she was with you," I replied. "I thought she was with you," she said. "So she's not with you, then where is she?" "Oh, she's in the house." "Where in the house?" "I don't know, probably in the bedroom," I replied, starting that direction wondering why we didn't hear her. "She's probably on her bed, asleep." She wasn't. She wasn't on her bed, she wasn't on one of her sisters' beds, she wasn't in the closets or the bathroom. She was not inside...

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