Back to main magazine page now!!

In May 2016 a team of Baptist International Missions, Inc. (BIMI), representatives
traveled to Papua New Guinea (PNG) at the invitation of national leaders to
meet with the Honorable Nick Kuman, Minister of Education, Dr. Uke Kumbra,
Secretary of Education, and Dr. Walipi Wingi, Deputy Secretary of Education. These
government leaders invited BIMI to “Please help us put God and the Bible in our
schools!” We were asked to hold assemblies to share with the students the reason
why the Bible is such a special book. What an open door to impact an entire country!
From that point, BIMI began to raise the funds
to make the project possible. It was determined
that three phases would be necessary to
distribute 2.16 million Bibles. Phase 1 targets
270,000 secondary school students (grades
9–12). Phase 2 will put Bibles into the hands
of almost 910,000 primary school students
(grades 4–8). The third phase will distribute
one million Bibles to elementary schools
(grades 1–3). The cost per Bible to print, ship,
and distribute was determined to be $3 each.

We decided to complete as many phases as
possible as the finances are provided.

Enough funds were in hand to complete Phase 1
within the year. Missionaries and PNG national
pastors and laymen and helpers from Canada,
New Zealand, Australia, and the United States
volunteered to help in the actual distribution.

God gave us a key man for each of the country’s
22 provinces to coordinate with an independent
Baptist church near each school.

14



Distribution of the Bibles officially
began on June 19, 2017, at 10:00 a.m.

at Gerehu Secondary School in Port
Moresby. Dr. Kumbra, Dr. Wingi,
and many principals and pastors
were in attendance for that first Bible
distribution. It was broadcast live on
two nationwide radio channels. The
Gospel was preached and a Bible was
given to each of the approximately
2,300 students and teachers who
were in attendance.

By June 23, approximately 14,700
Bibles had been distributed to
students and teachers in the capital
city of Port Moresby. With the
national elections starting and
schools out for a three-week holiday,
the Bible distribution activities were
suspended. During this break, many churches
got together to hold youth camps
and youth meetings in order to
minister to the students who had just
received their Bibles. God worked
in hearts as 75 young people trusted
Christ as Savior and five young men
surrendered to preach during the
services at Morota Baptist Church in
Port Moresby. On the closing Sunday,
I had the privilege of baptizing 47
young people. To God be the glory!
Distribution resumed in Morobe
Province at the Lae Secondary School
in July. Over 1,800 students listened
well and joyfully received their
Bibles. The newspaper reporters and
TV cameras were there to cover the
event. Afterwards, teams continued
to spread out across multiple
provinces and visited schools. As was
done earlier in other cities, a youth
rally was hosted by the Haven of
Rest Baptist Church in Lae, which
is pastored by BIMI missionary
Jim Stackhouse. Hundreds of teens
attended the services. For the vast
majority of attendees, it was their
first time visiting the church. Steven
Maldoff, BIMI Southeast Asia
Director, was the guest speaker and challenged the young
people about their need for a Savior. Forty teens trusted
Christ in that three-day meeting!
Three more containers with a total of 165,000 Bibles arrived
in the country and were released from the shipping port.

Two of those containers were scheduled to be sent up the
mountains to the key cities of Goroka and Mt. Hagen. The
third container was divided up and transported by boats
to the outer islands.

A variety of issues have hindered the transport of the
containers from heading up into the mountains and have
kept them from reaching their destination. The highway
was closed due to local strife within villages concerning
the elections. This has slowed progress tremendously. It
was very important to get these Bibles to Mt. Hagen, a key
location that enables us to branch out to the surrounding
provinces. After much prayer and weeks of waiting, the
containers were delivered so distribution may begin in
six western provinces of Jiwaka, Enga, Hela, Western
Highlands, Central Highlands, and Southern Highlands.

We ask for your continued prayers for the Bibles to reach
their destination points so the work can continue.

Getting the Bibles to some of the destinations is not
without its share of adventure. Many of the roads are
extremely difficult to travel and require 4-wheel drive
vehicles. There are times when small boats must be used
to travel and transport Bibles to outer islands across the
15