April began with the festive opening of a preschool in the village of Asas, at the Promise Land Church. As we’ve mentioned before, our vision for the near future is for every one of our daughter churches to have both an adult school and a preschool. In 2025, thanks to your support, we were able to open preschools in the villages of Asas, Obura, and Mamarai. In the photo, you can see our preschoolers in Asas and their classroom — inside and out.
The Lord used a team from the First Ukrainian Baptist Church of Seattle and the Korean Community in Texas to fully fund the construction of the church building and preschool in the village of Obura. For the village of Asas, no sponsors could be found, but the local residents got involved and did their best to build classrooms using available materials — bamboo and a thatched roof. They are currently working on constructing an additional classroom because the existing ones can’t accommodate all the children.
If the Lord is stirring your heart to help with this project, please let us know. The preschool is a tremendous blessing for the village!
Four hours in a motorboat under the 40-degree sun — not a cloud in the sky, and my skin is instantly frying despite an absurd amount of sunscreen. For the hundredth time, I adjust the cap on Miroslava, while Matvey quietly munches on an octopus. And where’s Zhenya? Where else — of course, he’s preaching to the boat’s helmsman.
Our life is a whirlwind! And the ability not only to survive the mission field but to enjoy it — that’s one of the key skills in a missionary’s life. Because “ministry” doesn’t end on Sunday afternoon, nor is it limited to “three points” and a call to repentance.
This month, we decided to take a (so-called) vacation — since the kids had a two-week Easter break. But the “vacation” unexpectedly turned into a full-scale evangelistic outreach, with many salvations and the revival of a traditional Lutheran community in the island town of Finschhafen.
“You will be My witnesses” goes far beyond a carefully crafted sermon. Worship is more than just a song, and evangelism is the willingness to preach at any moment!
At the beginning of February, we held a training session for kindergarten teachers! It was a great joy for me to teach on the topic “A Community Built on Love”, while our team of teachers from Promise Land eagerly joined in, leading seminars on “The Heart of a Teacher,” “The Value of a Child,” “Lesson Planning,” “Teamwork,” and many other topics.
As a result, two weeks flew by like a single day! On graduation day, many, with tears in their eyes, thanked the Lord and us for this incredible opportunity to gain so many practical skills.
Our big vision is for every Promise Land church (and there are six of them, as a reminder) to have its own kindergarten—not only to teach children literacy but also to reach their parents with the Gospel! This year, we plan to open three such kindergartens in the villages of Obura, Mamarai, and Asas.
Just a week after the training, the first-ever Christian kindergarten in the district was launched in Obura and Mamarai! Please pray for the children and the newly trained teachers, that they may successfully apply the knowledge they have gained.
This year, we plan to open two more schools at our sister churches in Asas and Mamarai. Please pray that God will call dedicated, born-again believers to carry out this ministry.
Next week, we will be holding a teacher training session, gathering brothers and sisters from our sister churches. Although the training lasts only two weeks, we hope that during this time, the teachers will gain a solid foundation to build upon in their future work with children. Please pray that the Lord opens their hearts and minds to receive the material.
Meanwhile, our kindergarten in Yonki will reopen next week. We are eagerly awaiting the return of our 5- and 6-year-olds, as well as welcoming a new group of little Papuan children who have just turned four. Please pray for an engaging and fruitful school year.
God is also opening another church, Promise Land, in the village of Himarata. If you thought Obura was remote, it takes another two hours of hiking through the mountains to reach Himarata—there’s no road for cars. As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news”, not the wheels of their cars!
We were able to visit the prison several times again and share the Gospel. It is amazing how hungry people are for God’s Word, especially when they are in confinement.
As seen in the photo, the conditions in which people are held while awaiting trial are simply inhumane. We help them with food, Bibles, and basic necessities like soap and personal hygiene items. However, this is just a small drop in the ocean, as the need is overwhelming. Thank you for continuing to preach the Gospel to these prisoners through your financial support!
Unexpected situations also happen frequently, with people knocking on our door day and night seeking medical help. Often, on the mission field, you are the 911 – an ambulance, police officer, and priest all in one. I cannot express how grateful I am to the Lord and to those who funded my Medical Missionary Intensive training several years ago.
Thanks to the skills I gained from that program, I can help people like the one in this photo. While I was stitching up a man’s eyebrow, Eugene was preaching the Gospel to him. Please pray for his repentance!
I’m writing this message under the steady rumble of the generator – there has been no electricity for three days, and although I try not to think about it, hearing the old machine barely drumming away, I sometimes wonder what will burn out first – the freezer, the computer, or the pump. I remember when we lived in a hut, these problems didn’t exist at all – electricity was simply absent by default, and we couldn’t afford a generator (even one as weak as the one we have now). God is good! And I will not take electricity for granted. It is a huge blessing, even if it works intermittently. But I really hope that I will be able to use the oven today: after all, it’s the men’s birthday today! Matthew turned 16 yesterday, and today Eugene is celebrating his birthday. I must note that he’s celebrating it in a hardware store, three hours away from us, buying nails, boards, roofing material, and other supplies for the school we hope to build deep in the jungle, God willing!
We thank the Lord for His protection and mercy towards us, congratulate Eugene and Matthew on their birthdays, and eagerly look forward to many more years together here on earth and in eternity.
