Thank you so much for your love, prayers and gifts! We are deeply grateful for your part in reaching the Hewa people with the love of Jesus. Thank you!

“We have been asking God for many years to provide a school for our children,” said my tribal friend, Yanis, as he represented the large group of Hewa gathered on the lawn in front of my house. “God has seen our tears and has brought these two men to become our teachers. All of us gathered here today have now made the unified decision that we will do whatever hard work is necessary to help them come and live with us so they can help our children learn and grow.”

Susan and I are very pleased that God is opening doors to start a small Christian school here in Hewa. At first the idea of opening a private school seemed impossible so a few years ago we assisted our village leaders as they requested our provincial administrators to begin a school in our village. Though the officials showed interest, the funding was not available. Then, in more recent years, our village leaders established contact with a religious denomination in a nearby town to request help. During that process we found a couple Christian teachers who seemed willing to come live in this remote location, but again, funding through the organization seemed to present a closed door. Then in October of last year a Pastor named Joel, from a church near Goroka, flew here to Hewa with our previous co-workers to help teach a short class on marriage and family relationships. During that time Pastor Joel developed a burden for our village friends. “My heart broke when I saw their need,” he said. “I will go back to my church and ask them to pray, and I will try to locate a Godly teacher who will not only be willing to start a little school here, but who will also have a passion to teach them to walk with Jesus.”

When Joel and Keith and Angie returned to Goroka they often met to pray together and discuss options as Pastor Joel started his search for teachers who would be willing to endure the hardships of living in this remote location. Joel asked us to figure out the finances, and told us he would soon locate teachers. The idea seemed daunting and we certainly didn’t have the means to hire a teacher but we mentioned the idea of starting a Christian school in a few letters and were extremely happy that friends from a church in Arizona committed to contribute monthly toward this need.

Now only a few months later, on February 17, Pastor Joel brought two candidates to our village that he had extensively interviewed. As soon as Joel introduced the two certified teachers, Dickson and Gabriel, we started a series of meetings with our church elders, the newly formed school committee and the entire village, going through the steps of seeking the Lord’s perfect will for the educational needs of our village children. The meetings culminated in a unified decision between us missionaries, Pastor Joel, the church elders and the larger community. We invited the two men to come back to our village next month to spend the rest of the year teaching classes as they go through the process of opening a new school.

Then just before the airplane arrived to carry the teachers back to town, Joel and village land-owners walked around a plot of land that the village donated for the future school (pictured above). At first the teachers will be able to teach classes in our little church building, with the plan to build more formal classrooms on this land, complete with desks and chairs as the Lord confirms His leading.

Susan and I are very pleased that the Lord has already supplied the first $500 per month toward the proposed $2000 monthly budget. Please pray with us for the Lord’s provision in every area of this new ministry. Thank you!!!

Jonathan, Susan & Mikenna

If you are interested in donating for the new school you can contact Ethnos360 312 W 1st St Sanford, FL 32771, or visit their web site at Ethnos360.org but please include a note to send to PNG account #416228 for the benefit of the Christian School.