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Richard & Andrea Carver

January-May 2010 Newsletter:

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Hannah & Laura all smiles

May 27th, 2010

Dear Friends and Supporters,

A very long overdue “hello” to all of you! It has turned out to be quite a long time since we sent out our last newsletter; so long that some people wrote to see if we were still alive. Yes, we are alive and well in Papua New Guinea. The reason why we haven’t sent out a newsletter is not because we have no news to report, but because we haven’t had time to write the news! It has been an extremely busy start to the year, and there is no sign of the work letting up either.

It is impossible to put everything down in a newsletter, but some of the major events in the last six months have been:

The Family:

On the family front, the biggest news is that Hannah is now 10 months old, and starting to cause havoc around the house! Just in the last week she is starting to crawl, shuffling slowly along the floor to an object of desire she has spotted and inevitably putting it in her mouth (if it can fit). This means we have had to invest in a lockable cupboard to keep both her and our possessions safe! She is a real darling; we are totally smitten with her. She has an infectious laugh; she has a tuft of hair that refuses to sit down flat; it sticks straight up into the air make that in itself makes her look terribly cute and cuddly. Her hair is not red like the other two children, but a light blonde-brown colour.

Timothy and Laura are also doing well; in a week they will be on school holidays, so Timothy’s planning to come help me build at the Bible School – if he can do that without being a humbug… They have had a good year at school. They are growing up so quickly that it’s a bit scary!

Me and Nathaniel Gration stacking paper - eventually this pile grew to over 7 foot high!

Return of the Grations:

The Gration family returned to PNG in November 2009, having completed their deputation travels. It was a busy time getting ready for their return, and helping them get settled in again. They had sent a shipment with goods mainly for the Bible School, and this required some intensive unloading effort to get it out of the container and up the mountains to Goroka. It was worth the effort, though because there was a lot of things that will bless the church. This included a mountain of paper, which is going to produce multi-thousands of tracts and Bible School notes! If we were to cut it sown into letter sized sheets, it would stack almost 50 foot high!

General Conference:

General Conference this year was another busy time. We were privileged to have the Kevin Vacca family as our Guest Speakers, as well as Pacific Director Richard Denny. Also, Dad & Mum were here for the Conference, and it was the first Conference for the Grations to attend since their return, so really they were considered special guests also.

Trucks lining the highway - when you see this, you know there's no way out of town... the road's been washed out.

The lead up to the conference was a difficult one for the people. There had been so much rain during the Jan-Mar period that the soil was literally saturated with water. Many parts along the only highway which connects the nation were experiencing landslides and flooding, and the lack of funding for road maintenance meant that the roads were not getting fixed. Eventually the mining companies stepped in to reopen the roads, but no sooner had they fixed a section then another part was washed away. Our town of Goroka was cut off from road access for over a week, and diesel and supplies were beginning to run low. Fortunately we didn’t experience too much hardship during this time.

Just a few days before the conference, another section of the highway washed out, and many people coming to the conference had to walk over the damaged section of road, paying the landowners a fee to cross over and carry their bags.

The Conference and National Ministers Seminar were a great blessing to the people who came, and we were touched and blessed by the preaching and teaching of both Bro Vacca and Bro Denny. The rain continued through the conference, but still the people came. The Conference was held in an open grass field, but by the end of the first night it was field of mud. In spite of this, the people sat in the heavy rain, sitting on leaves and branches, or stones they brought in from the road outside, and when the altar service was given, poured to the front give their lives to the Lord.

The crowd at the National Conference

Thanksgiving Day:

National Thanksgiving Day is coming for Papua New Guinea on June 27. This is an offering day, where each member is meant to give K10 (about $4) to help the work of the church. Last year we had a very successful result, with a total of over K76,000 raised (about US$30,000). The majority of this money has gone straight toward the Bible School development, and we have used it to purchase land, water tanks, and building supplies. It has also helped our three Missions Directors to travel to new areas of PNG and begin new works in these unreached areas.

Bible School Development:

Things have become very exciting on the Bible School scene. The Bible School in PNG is at a transitory stage, and we have some very big developmental plans coming to fruition. I have called 2010 “The Year of Development”, and the whole church is looking forward to great things happening at the Bible School. There is much to do, because we are starting from scratch – there is no power, no water, no sewerage, just empty land waiting for something to happen. We recently installed water tanks, as we need water for the cement work. Me and Bros Gration, Koko & Philip all worked on installing them. We needed to bolt the lids on from the inside, so because I was the tallest and thinnest, I was lowered down into the tanks to do the work. They pulled me out again with a rope, and I felt like Jeremiah being pulled out of the well. It took all my strength to get out the hole again, and I was sore for days afterward. Talk about unfit!

We have ordered the kit to begin the first phase of development, and any day now should take delivery of the materials to begin work. We are eagerly anticipating the arrival of my Dad and Brother-in-law Rick VanSant to help us with the groundwork and plumbing/electrical work that’s needed.

We ask for your prayers during this busy time. We know what it feels to be “stretched”! Pray that God will open all doors and allow things to progress quickly and smoothly in the development at the Bible School. It is a major undertaking, and will require much effort to complete. We also ask that you would pray for PNG’s “Thanksgiving Day”, because this will be providing a new round of funding to enable us to go on to the second stages of development at the Bible School.

May God bless you all richly. Thank you for your prayers and support. Thank you for being faithful. Thank you for being co-labourers together with us and God as we work together for his kingdom.

- Richard & Andrea Carver, Laura, Timothy & Hannah

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