I CAN HELP HIM by Caine

She extends her hands to the spinning staff, and her hands hold the spindle. Proverbs 31:19

Alice receiving her certificate from Bryan

 “I am thankful for this training because now I can help my husband in his administrative role as Eastern Highlands Provincial Overseer for Christian Life Center” (CLC). Ps.Alice Luma

Pastor Alice Luma was one of the participants that completed the one week Basic Computer Training (BCT) that Learning Technologies PNG team conducted for the Easter Highlands Pastors. She sat alongside her husband to successfully complete the one week course.

Pastor Nave Luma is also the Senior Pastor for Faniufa Church, where the BCT course was conducted. The above statement by Alice Luma reminds us of the perfect wife that Proverbs 31: 10 – 31 describes. Verse 19 describes the use of hands to bring blessings to the household just as Pastor Alice described during the graduation ceremony that she will assist her husband to type letters and draw up Church programs when her husband is busy in his overseer duties.

This are exciting times for us to witness Scriptures like Proverbs 31:19 become a reality to roles of women involved in ministry in today’s rapid changing world.

Women leaders attentively listening to Lina

She added that she is really grateful to the Church leadership for allowing women to take this needed computer course. I thought BCT was for men only and to be in one is a a special opportunity.

There were five other women leaders who took this computer course with Alice. She appreciated the LTPNG team for the training given as it will also help her in her role as Eastern Highlands Provincial Women’s Leader.

The majority of the pastors that attended the BCT were from Bena district and this is what the Bena District Overseer had to say about the training. Pastor Simon Suya said; “As a district we had secured some funding to purchase computers for ministry, however we did not realize that BCT needs to be done before the purchasing of computers; so this training is perfect timing for me and my pastors”.

Ps. Simon receiving his certificate from Bryan

As a team we are happy for Pastor Simon and his men because we did discover from other pastors in our previous BCT training, that a pastor had a computer but did not know how to operate it and ended up selling the computer. When BCT started he attended the training but regretted that he sold the computer.

We praise God for this opportunity to assist CLC with BCT because LT’s ministry relationship started back in 2011 with Audio bibles and FCBH Proclaimers. It was CLC that the Lord used to partner with LTPNG to do awareness for audio bibles and their impact for oral communities.

CLC BCT Graduates

 Pastor Matthew (blind) is from CLC and it was his request in 2011 for solar powered bibles that give us the confirmation to go big into audio bibles.

Senior Pastor Nave with the BCT class

 We continue to thank the Lord for the opportunities to minister to churches here in Eastern Highlands as our immediate supporters and prayer partners to build up our confidence to reach out to other provinces.

We thank the Lord for allowing us to impart basic computer skills to the leadership of CLC here in Eastern Highlands.

Thank you so much for your financial support and prayers as we assist the pastors and Christians in ministry to be equipped  in today’s world.

Every time you kneel down to pray a certificate is being printed and signed to be given to a ministry person, God bless you!

 

Story Pot by Caine Ruruk

The clay pot has changed its function

The clay pot for the Ubir tribe living in the Northern Province of Papua New Guinea is the key utensil in any kitchen. Its function ranges from cooking pot, water container, food safe, and can be given as a present. It is also a highly valued item to exchange in a barter system economy. For example a good size out triggered canoe can be purchased for 20 clay pots.

In this time and age the metal cooking pots have replaced most of the clay pot’s function but they cannot replace its value in a barter system. The reason is that anybody can buy a metal pot but only a few skilled women can make a clay pot; thus its value in the barter system and its significance as a gift.

Telling stories is part of the life style in Wanigela, Northern Province; and would be same for any oral community in the world. LTPNG’s objective to conduct the Oral Strategy Workshop (OSW) was to train a team of people who can be skilled in telling Bible stories. Just like the clay pot is only made by skilled women, only an OSW participant can correctly tell Bible stories.

The Wanigela Oral Story Telling workshop is the second to be conducted by the LTPNG staff since receiving training from the MAF US Learning Technologies team. This training is a major step toward establishing one of the main training that the LT team desires to deliver to churches in PNG. During this facilitation in Wanigela for the four denominations, they discovered that the OSW is the strategy to reach the majority of non- church goers in their communities and in their congregations.

LTPNG in charge of OSW training

Following are expressions by the invited leaders of each denomination of the impact of the OSW after hearing the testimonies from the participants.

“As a preacher dealing with the word of God so many years, I feel empty of ides to present the gospel because the world is still stubborn. Every time I sit down to prepare a sermon I struggle because I have used everything I know and see no change in the lives of the people. I cry to God to give me an insight or a new way to present the word; and now hearing the feedback from the participants I see OSW as an ideal strategy to present the gospel in a new way” Fr. Walston Paniara, Anglican Church.

Dramatising the story

 

“As denominations we have our difference in doctrines and that becomes a barrier to share what we have with others. I am so excited with the OSW approach to reach people and disappointed too that I did not attend. Do a second one and I will be your first participant” Pastor Wallace Bawasu – CMI

“As a teacher by profession I see the uniqueness of this approach and so I strongly appeal for a second training so that all my teachers will receive this training. I see that the Word of God is totally missing in the classrooms and this OSW can be the way to bring the word of God back to the classroom” Anastasia Borok – Teacher In Charge, Naukor Elementary School.

Memorizing the story; Maclaine a shy person but OSW was a break though for him!

“I love this approach because it makes the Bible come alive” Martin Manimat – SDA Trumpet Ministries.

Our travel to Wanigela did not go as scheduled with a delayed flight from Nazab to Jacksons airport which resulted with an overnight stop in Port Moresby. By the time (9:00 am) we arrived in Popondetta the next day we were already late for an eight hour dinghy trip to Wanigela. By this time we lost one day for training and so we rescheduled to have night sessions to make up for lost time.

We had only two full days to effectively conduct the workshop and I was concerned that we might not do justice to the workshop itself considering the expenses it took for Johnson and me to make the trip. However, the Lord in his faithfulness took care of that and by the end of the first day (Thursday) the participants had picked up the steps and had the translated the steps into the Ubir language.

All the 15 participants had a testimony to share of how they used the five steps of story tell and the questions that followed. One of the participants tried it with her elderly father and she was really impressed how her dad responded when she did the questions. Another tried it with her husband in which the husband said that this is a very easy method to learn deep truths about the bible. An SDA ministry leader tried it on Saturday morning before the graduation and his eight year old son told him that reading the Bible in this approach (OSW) is much, much, better than formal reading.

Debrief time with Graham Weiyan

When we had a staff debriefing at the end of the first day we came to the conclusion that all have successfully grasped the five steps of storytelling and questions. So the second day was repeating the cycle until each one told a story and led in doing the questions. The highlight for them as I observed was the sending of two participants to “minister” to another group. This to them indicated that an OSW is not just theory but practical intergraded into the process of learning it and doing it in single stride.

As trainers in this new and exciting training we came away from Wanigela with the knowledge that the Lord used this delayed flights and long dinghy trips to give us only two days to deliver an effective method to prepare “skilled” story tellers which the Lord can use to build up the Body of Christ (Ephesians 4:12).

Wanigela OSW Participants

Mastering the Mouse by Caine

The biggest challenge for our BCT first timers.

The Basic Computer Training (BCT) by Learning Technologies has become the most requested training since its inception in 2012. Besides the Oral Story Telling training, BCT has made a bigger impact in a short time. These request that continue to come in reflects the escalating need to change the traditional environment in an office in PNG. The need for technologies in work places, ministry fields and educational institutions has caught the attention of the leadership who know that the wisest things to do is to engage their workers in basic computer training.

This need for BCT paints a picture that the country has changed rapidly but the training to be computer literate has not amalgamated well in mission and Church workplaces. We continue to thank God for his wisdom and direction for CRMF management and Board to establish a ministry like LTPNG to equip the church in this changing phase of technology.

Pastors and Ministry leaders are our focused clients but we have noticed that Government education and health officers in rural areas are in dire need for basic computing skills. We desire to be seen as the bridge for remote mission and church workers via technologies and so it is such a blessing to see the satisfaction on the faces of our participants who have never seen or touched a computer!

We have fun with our students who have a hard time mastering a mouse and the biggest achievement I have observed is when a person can control a mouse on a tiny mouse pad after 16 hours (2 days class time) of laborious attempts to master that silly thing! That silly thing actually holds the key to finding your way around your computer. Yes for those of us who have not seen or touched a computer before, it is indeed a great achievement; to master a mouse! We have noticed that some of our participants run out of desk space as the mouse is not tamed yet!

The biggest batch of BCT participants so far – all women.

Lina is our trainer and this is what she had to say for all the trainings she conducted in the last two years. “Helping others to learn something new is a great experience. I don’t get paid for conducting basic computer training but the satisfaction and blessings of this experience is more than what money can give.

I thank the Lord that he has given me strength and confidence to stand in front of these great man and women of God, knowing that the training given will make an impact in the lives and ministry of these servants. I get nervous because every training is different in its venue and participants. We have different denominations and have a wide range of educational levels. In this situation the Lord has been my help to overcome these fears as I see the excitement and joy on the faces of the participants, knowing that the Lord is helping me to train these participants.

I discovered that the key attitude for learning computer skills is humbleness; being humble to put aside the prestige a pastor has or being humble to put away educational and age barriers to learn something new has being the breakthrough for many. Philippians 4:13 will always be the key scripture to help me do this wonderful training because Christ gives me strength.

Thank God for saving all on this vehicle that had all 6 bolts come out at the same time. Our trainers assisting Lina were on this vehicle.

A typical BCT training requires hours of communicating and organisaing logistics so that the course is delivered smoothly. Major part of this requires all the computers to be checked and packed for transportation to the next training venue.

The recent one was conducted for all the Vocational teachers that teach at EBC schools in the country. The 29 successful participants were all smiles at the end of a week’s training help at Orobiga, just outside Goroka town.

This was the biggest number so far in any one batch of training and all were women! We praise God for the leadership of EBC to have the wisdom to equip their teachers with basic computing skills. As a team we are blessed again for helping to train workers to be equipped in ministry.

29 Happy graduates with certificates

We reflect on Apostle Paul’s statement “to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ” Ephesians 4:12

I believe equipping covers mastering the mouse in order to use computer skills to teach and preach the Good News of Christ.