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Rachel & Native Boy

Papua New Guinea

It was while attending Bible School that Richard Carver first felt the call to missions. Viewing a slide of a New Guinea native, the Lord revealed to him just how lost this people were. Papua New Guinea is a remote island nation with a population of 4 million people. Cannibalism was practised there as recently as 1972, just one year before the Carvers arrived there. To this day tribal fighting with bow, arrow and spear is a common event.

It was to such a place that the Carvers, with their six week old daughter, Rachel, departed for on the 5th of April 1973. They were appointed as pioneer missionaries from the Australian church. This was the first missionary endeavour for the Australian United Pentecostal Church.

Our Village House

The next four and a half years were spent in a remote Highland village among primitive people, where Brother Carver built a bush material house in the native village, learnt the language and gathered a small number of converts.

Isolated from the nearest town by a dangerous and frightening road, the Carvers experienced life in PNG at its most interesting. Rats and fleas on one hand, tribal fighting on the other, it was rough to say the least. After three years of labour, the first person received the Holy Spirit. Slowly more people began to attend, and they built a permanent building which still stands today.

However, his heart's desire was to locate the church in a town and a door was opened in 1976 when they were able to move to the Highland town of Goroka . Here a church was established and a Bible College begun. By 1980 numerous churches were established throughout the Highlands, and 200 people attended the first National Conference in 1982. By 1985 the church had grown rapidly to over 7000. Revival was quickly spreading!

At the request of the Australian church the UPCI of North America assumed responsibility for the work in PNG and the Carvers became UPCI missionaries under this banner. Leaving Papua New Guinea due to unforseen circumstances in 1987, the Carvers then moved to New Zealand to continue on their missionary work. However, the church in PNG continued to grow, to a stated constituency of 55,000.

The Carvers returned to Papua New Guinea in 2001 for a reunion conference, organised by then missionaries Brian & Esther Henry. Many faces from the early 1970s were still there... a visual testimony that our labours are not in vain in the Lord!

A Large Baptismal Service	Early Sunday School classes	One of many trials - a bogged car

- 12 July 2010

• Carver's 2nd Qtr PIM Newsletter [more]
• Richard & Andrea's May Newsletter [more]
• Carver's 1st Qtr PIM Newsletter [more]
• Inspirational Story: A Handful of Grain [more]

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June-July 2010 - Pray for Fiji Bible Teacher and Evangelist Rev Paitradra as he ministers and travels the country

June-July 2010 - Strength and wisdom to all those doing the construction on the building complex at the Bible School

Ongoing request - Uphold our National Leaders, missionaries and Aimers

Ongoing request - Pray for churches in outlying islands and areas of the country.

Need 1 - School fees are needed for the two children of our AIMER Richard and Andrea Carver.
Can you assist with this in any way? Please send your offerings to AIM account # 707

Assist us with our needs

November 2009 - The Peter Gration family have completed their fundraising in the USA and are on their return journey to PNG. We thank the Lord and those that have supported them. It will be wonderful for PNG to have another missionary family again.

October 2009 - The Richard Carver jnr. family have also returned to PNG after the birth of our grandaughter, Hannah born in July 2009.