This is a super short video of Paul and the national youth pastors praying over the village crowd that came forward to receive Jesus and the Holy Spirit.

 

 

Chimbu Welcoming Ceremony in one word: Awesome

 

Traditional Chimbu Warrior Welcome at the opening of Youth Pastors Conference

 

Tribal Chimbu dress for ceremonies

 

 

 

 

This month I travelled up to Chimbu Province (deep in the  highlands) for a national youth leaders conference.  I had been really licking my chops to get some time with the 500 +  youth leaders that came from all over the country.  A great need in PNG is training and equipping the national leadership, so I was very excited to have a week of training time with these gifted youth pastors.   The hosting village had a beautiful opening ceremony – with traditional tribal dress and dance, and performance.  It is customary here to have a large opening ceremony for conferences and events- it is always remarkable to see how each province and tribe is so diverse.   As you can see in the photos the people from the Chimbu province get really into the event and put on a big show!

Chimbu girl in traditional tribal dress. What an elaborate head peice!

Chimbu papas playing bambu flutes for opening ceremony

For my first session with the youth pastors,  God really put on my heart to train them on how to lead others in the Baptism of the Holy Spirit.  In Foursquare PNG we believe in the Baptism of the Holy Spirit and spiritual gifts but many of the leaders are not confident in releasing it properly.  There are many false doctrines that circulate the country and some leaders fear those things in their church.  However, God did not call us to operate out of fear or confusion.  God’s word is clear on the promises and operation of the Holy Spirit in the lives of believers.  That morning I had the youth leaders and senior pastors lead each other into the baptism of the Holy Spirit (if they had already received it, they prayed for a refreshing).  Many leaders were baptized in the Holy Spirit for the first time.  I even got to pray with members of the worship team to receive the Holy Spirit for the first time!   Since this conference was an open air event, a large crowd from the nearby villages sat in the back observing us. The presence of the Lord was so strong and I really felt that He wanted to move in the lives of the people watching.  I ask for those who are saved in the crowd if they wanted to be filled with the Holy Spirit to come down  or if anyone wanted to receive Christ to come forward  and then receive the Holy Spirit.  The crowd from the back came forward and I called upon the youth leaders that just practiced on each other to come lead them in the ministry time.  It was a marvellous first day as we saw the Spirit of God  move and change the lives of the leaders and then change the lives of the crowd that had gathered to watch.  I had a great week with the leaders and we are continuing to pray and believe the training they received will go back and ignite a fire in the Foursquare churches and youth groups across the country.

 

Paul instructing youth pastors how to pray for the Holy Spirit

Paul and youth pastors praying for village crowd to recieve Jesus and the Holy Spirit

 

 

 

As we mentioned before Carina has been taking on a larger role in the Faith Club Ministries and Nutrition Program every Tuesday and Thursday.  Our church has been doing several outreaches in the surrounding settlements and more and more children are coming to Faith Club and being fed spiritually and physically.  Coco Cola PNG contacted Carina and told her they wanted to donate canned fruit that is imported in from Australia.  Canned fruit is very expensive here so the donation has been a huge blessing to the Nutrition Program at Faith Club.  Many had never had pears or peaches in their life.  Carina sent them a thank you  and some pictures of the feeding and Coco Cola put one of the pictures in the newspaper with an article about their donation to Faith Club.

 

Faith Club Kids enjoying the canned fruit donated by Coco Cola. This picture was in the PNG newspaper!

 

Faith Club boy excited about his first taste of peaches.

 

 

 

Carina has also started a special program inside of Faith Club Ministries called “Life Teens” from Prov. 12:28 “In the way of the righteous there is LIFE.”  With the increase of teenagers coming to Faith Club the need quickly became evident that the teenage boys and girls need a separate teaching time together.  We are now seeing 60-70 teenagers coming from the settlements , to find a new life in Jesus!

 

Carina and some of the LIFE Teen girls at Faith Club

 

 

We are heading into a very busy season with the Bible College graduation and school year ending here.   I’ve been busy grading papers, and finalizing things for graduation and   I’m thrilled that the Living Light Bible College will graduate 34 students this year.  Please pray for us this next month Carina and I are the main speakers the National Pastors kids conference.

 

Danny, Yolanda and Carina's dad and mom with some new friends at a cultural show

God has been so faithful to provide times for our parents to come and minister along side of us.  Its is so fulfilling to have our families come and fall in love with Papua New Guinea and its people.

In Papua New Guinea the tok-pisin word for “in-laws” is “tambu”.  Carina’s parents (my tambu’s)  Ps Grady and Ps Christina Williams  arrived this month with a small team from their Foursquare church “The Waterbrook”.  The team  stayed for a week  and then Carina’ parents stayed on for a few weeks after ministering with us.  Carina and I kept them busy ministering in almost every ministry that happens at our church of Living Light.  The Bible College students (myself included) loved having time to hear from two faithful, fruitful, pastors. They spoke at area fellowships (mini churches) , taught at Living Light Academy, and  spoke at the school’s chapel to children and high school students.  The team also ministered at the OPS medical clinics morning devotion and led several people to Jesus for the first time. The list goes on and on, but we’ll just share  some of the highlights and stories.

Ps Grady at Kwikila Mobile Medical clinic - ministering to the patients

The team started out their trip ministering at a Mobile Medical outreach at the newly planted Foursquare church in Kwikila.  Ps Grady and Ps Christina and their team prayed for men, woman and children  who were waiting to be treated by the medical team from Living Light Foursquare Church.  Ps Grady got out his guitar and  started  singing worship songs to the children and after he sang he offered to pray for any children that wanted prayer.  Immediately a long line of kids formed and one by one, he prayed and ministered to each of them.

Ps Christina preaching to the Faith Club mothers and teen girls

Ps Grady helping at the feeding/nutrition time at Faith Club

Faith Club  ministry is such a deep passion for Carina and she loved having her mom and dad minister with  experience for her in worship and teaching at Faith Club and serving food at the nutrition program.   One of the amazing times for Carina and her mom was when they ministered to the Faith Club teenage girls and  mother’s (abandoned and widowed woman of all ages) and pray over them and see God genuinely touch and change many of their lives.  Ps Christina also spoke to the children and over the weeks we saw many, many children come to know Jesus.