Welcome to the Archive Section: Old Articles Below

Blow off the dust and don't sneeze... this is where all our ancient materials reside in case you wanted to get back to some of our recorded family history.  For instance, the photo to the left is our son when we were young and spry and kicking around Papua New Guinea for the very first time.  That little guy is all grown up now!  (see home page)

Good Feet

We have served now in PNG about 25 years!  There were certainly times of difficulty and discouragement, but the Lord saw us through those times. We can agree with Isaiah and the Psalmist that God is ever Faithful and has blessed us greatly as we recall the works He has done among us in the past.  If you are feeling discouraged in your Christian walk with God, then pause now and remember the great things He has done for you in the past.

How lovely on the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who announces peace and brings good news of happiness, who announces salvation, and says to Zion, "Your God reigns!"
— Isaiah 52:7 

Our God is an ever faithful God.

Our Work in the Past

Thirty Years in PNG!   Celebrating 30 years of service overseas! A brief overview of our ministries and activities. Helen teaching medicine at our clinic; Brian with International travel as a language technology consultant and teaching basic solar-system principles. Many years of serving the local-level church we attend in the Aiyura Valley. A younger us as a family.

A Trip Down Memory Lane   It's April 2016, and we just finished a fabulous furlough with friends and family in Jericho Vermont, and with our home sending church. This newsletter remembers the "good ol' days" of our first years in PNG, and the great times we had (and still have) with our first friends in Buff Village, on the Rai Coast and elsewhere.  Helen and our son, were as gorgeous as ever! (says Husband Brian).

The Word Comes to Arop-Lokep   June 2014 history was made out on Long Island in Astrolab Bay, Madang Province.  Come see the Arop-Lokep New Testament as it arrived in book and audio format. There was much celebration as the people eagerly received God's Word in their own language.  I (Brian) had the privilege of flying over to Long island from the Highlands and to witness this amazing event and the response of the people.  While there some of us hiked over the central island crater and down into a wonderful volcanic lake.

Bearing the Light   Friend Andy Seviofa (who often paints my house) receives hand-me-down solar equipment and collects well-used car batteries, to create a serviceable village-house solar lighting system.  Read about the impact of having the only house in Nafimpa village with lights on at night, and how the people of that village attracted to this light, receive God's Word in an impromptu Bible Study.  Over the years, Andy has learned to be a good expositor of the Scriptures.

National Training at the Clinic   PNG like many third-world nations struggles with providing adequate health care services to its citizens.  Helen (and others) spend considerable time training national medical staff personnel in PALS (Paediatric Advanced Life Support) and also helps certify the clinic staff in CPR every year.  

Discovering Your Language   Few of us really realize the tremendous work that goes into making a dictionary in your language, and yet this is the very first step that communities in PNG have embarked upon, in an effort to document their own language. We recently hosted a workshop and visitors from all over the country came to learn the latest software tools to help do this very task. In this fast-paced world the term "Globalization" has come to mean "decimation of indigenous cultures". See how appropriate technology can help preserve languages and cultures.

New Friends from Strangers   Isn't it amazing to see the Lord's hand move on your behalf? We need to be sensitive in our busy schedules to look up and see those many “natural miracles” that surround us each day.  I had a fantastic adventure on the way to a village "birthday party", and saw God's Hand so miraculously along the way.

A New Village Church   What do you do when a new hamlet formed by the village "outcasts" asks for you to come over and start up a new church?!  The leaders at Kwina, approached our village church pastor and wanted to start a worship service in a common ground area.  A new church is born.

A Trip to Aitape West Translation Project   Translation consultant, John  Nystrom, invited Brian to visit the Aitape West Translation teams, now working at their center for translation half-way between Vanimo and Aitape Town on the North Coast. This group of men came from 11 language groups and worked together in parallel while translating various books of the New Testament. They wanted advice on power distribution systems and solar power, plus some generator work on the side.

A Village Church Commissioning   Recently the small village church has pooled all their resources and entered an exciting time in their history by commissioning Davi d Bina to be their special missionary to Operation Mobilization's "Logos Hope" ship. 

Flying Doctors and Too Many Medevacs   It was an incredible month for medevacs, plus a van-full of missionaries got into a head-on collision on the Highlands Highway.  What do you do when there is no suitable ambulance service available?

Callers and Visitors   From time to time visitors come from far away and nearby places.  Young and old alike, these are great opportunities to extend friendships, meet felt needs, and even engage a bit in discipleship activities.  Read about "Andy the Painter" who comes for coffee and we always share Scriptures together.

Back In PNG   Our return from furlough.  Remember the Tsunami near Aitape back in 1998?  One Third of the Villagers wiped out. The national translation teams there have been rebuilding their lives and working hard on various New Testaments in teams. Learn about "Just Swinging Hands."

Trip to Kenya   Helen went off to the Forum of Bible Agencies, International and attended a Conference in Nairobi on HIV / AIDS awareness representing our work in the Pacific.  Brian got to tag along and then we went on Safari.

Wonderful Vermont   We spent approximately one month with our friends and supporters from Jericho Vermont.  It was quite uplifting to return to New England after so many years away, and hard to believe that over 20 years ago, Vermont gave us our start in missions.

A New Church Building   Just before our furlough started in May 2007, the Ukarumpa church elders decided to honor us by moving the new building dedication forward.  All this so that we would still be present for the dedication.

Helping at Ukarumpa Village   More information about us and our long standing involvement with the local village church across the Ba'e river where we live and work.

HIV AIDS Awareness   The inevitable has come to Papua New Guinea.  It is now estimated that 2% of the population of 5 million has HIV AIDS. This is not an unexpected result given the lifestyles that we can see in the villages, towns and cities of PNG.  Helen and a "task force" has been charged raising HIV AID awareness in our country.

Jubilee Year in PNG   It has been over 50 years now that our multi-national group has worked in partnership with the Wycliffe Bible Translators administered in this country.  Come celebrate with us!

Third World Laptops   One of the dreams of Wycliffe is that national coworkers in the field could take on the task of language development and Bible Translation for themselves. One major technical hurdle has been the inappropriateness of modern laptop computers in very remote settings where there is no power. Even if laptops can be deployed, they are
typically way beyond the financial means of villagers to acquire and worse, there is often no power available in the village, including batteries or fuel for generators.  Brian has been tracking the news wires and promoting the One Laptop per Child (OLPC) project to our International field coordinators.

Key Terms Workshop   Our friends from Saep, on the Rai Coast – friends from a long time long ago when we lived on the Rai Coast -  came by for a two week course on determining "key terminology" in their Saep language.  This is important work if the future translation is to accurately convey Biblical meaning. (pictures at bottom)

Daga NT Dedication  Helen, Hannah and I had the wonderful opportunity to fly to Milne Bay Province and witness a part of the Daga people’s week-long celebration upon receiving the Word of God in their language. Nestled in a gorgeous valley, we landed at the Agaun airstrip and stayed over a long weekend. Since the Singapore Church was very involved in this project, many friends and relatives of Daniel and Wei Lei Jesudason also came for a visit.  Come and celebrate again!  (pictures at bottom)

Teaching at the STEP Course  (Strengthening Tokples Education in Papua New Guinea). A group of men and women from different regions and different languages, all convening together with a purpose: To learn practical skills to teach and train literacy teachers in their unique vernacular language. This small army of teacher/ trainers promotes one of our major goals: Vernacular Literacy. It does little good to produce the Scriptures in another language, if people are unable to read or write their language. People need to be prepared in advance to receive God’s life-giving message to mankind.  Brian taught an evening Bible Study class in Melanesian Pidgin. (pictures at bottom)

Ukarumpa Village Church   An older report about the Ukarumpa village church and things happening as they just began their journey to build a new church building.  Features beloved pastor Bafi.  (pictures at bottom)

Teaching in Asaro  One Sunday in the Aiyura valley I “just happened” to meet a student from the Aiyura National High School (ANHS), named Jerry Aviro.  Jerry turned out to be from Asaro country, northwest of Goroka, and was the president of the Tertiary Students Christian Fellowship (TSCF), a student led ministry in this country and associated with IVCF.  A friendship developed over time and eventually Helen and I journeyed to his home village in Asaro to preach "the Good News".

Bwanabwana Thanksgiving   Journey to Tubetube island around 50 miles southeast of Alotau. That’s where Alan and Faye Cannavan have been living and working for over 17 years, helping the people receive the Word of God in their language for the first time. This is a report of that dedication (on three separate islands) where hearts rejoiced to God at this great historic event. (pictures at bottom)

Bible Translation Association of PNG   BTA is a partner organization to Wycliffe that resides in PNG.  It is composed of Papua New Guineans who are committed to seeing the Bible translated into their own languages. We work closely with BTA as together we desire to see God’s Word completed in the 850 languages of PNG.  This is a report from then Director, Steven Thomas.

Who We Are in Wycliffe   A bit dated but this report from last furlough may give extra insights into the nature of our many ministries while working in PNG.

Travels to Kuot   A fantastic time visiting the Kuot People mid-way on the East Coast of the very long New Ireland island province.  The celebrations were wonderful and I had the opportunity to hike around and ask the question:  "What is the true worship of God?"  I received a telling and varied response. (pictures at bottom)

Writing Systems in PNG   "OK, so what do you really do again, Brian?"  People just assume that modern computers can handle the extreme complexities of rendering the world's minority languages on a screen.  Brian is actually part of a world-wide technical team that creates new language software to help decode and render languages.  Part of the task is defining the world's scripts and characters in a world-wide standard, called UNICODE.  This is not just your run-of-the-mill ministry and they didn't teach us how to do this in seminary!  Geeks can be missionaries too!