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Written by Kelley, from all of our hearts...View this email in your browser
Sapos wanpela man i helpim narapela manlong save long as bilong tok bilong yu,orait em i kisim lait long bel bilong en.Na dispela tok i givim tingting long man i no gat planti save.Buk Song 119:130

The unfolding of your words gives light;
    it imparts understanding to the simple.
Psalm 119:130Join my Serving Christ at RVA Photocircle!

Some beautiful first fruits of the RVA vision...
Taim bilong stori!

Enjoy this beautifully written update from Bill and Kelley. 

Most of you remember that RVA was founded to meet a specific need that we saw in our NTM church plant. It was a need that we realized wasn’t just relevant to our specific church plant, but was widespread across Papua New Guinea…the gospel was not being passed on to the next generation. Bill and I cringed at the thought of completing a NT translation only to have it sit, covered with dust, untouched by the youth of our Inapang churches.

We knew it would be much better to slow our process, shepherd the next generation and equip them to understand and speak the truth of the gospel. And, what better venue to spend countless daytime hours with them than a school? This was the foundational thinking that was rolling around in Bill’s head and has come out as the reality of Ramu Valley Academy. This last month, we have seen the first fruits of this vision come to life in our villages.

Here’s the story…

Last week, it was time for our yearly selections for next year’s students. Four of us loaded up in the helicopter and raced a small weather front to be dropped off in the little village of Itutang just as the rainclouds rolled in around us. The elders had already done all their pre-requisite work and it was time for our RVA team to perform the academic testing. This is the sixth year and the process has now become a fairly familiar one. We gathered under the thatch roof of the church “sharing house” on Friday afternoon and spoke with the communities and churches as the rain fell around us. As always, we took a moment as Christian educators to encourage the church and to speak out against the cargo cults and false teachings that plague our little valley, destroying our friends from the inside out. It has been super disheartening for our students to see some who were once with us (as Paul mentions in his writings, too), but have now departed from the faith and are enemies of the cross. Many students, like our Hosea, are especially in turmoil over the involvement of very close family members.

The academic testing took place on a sunny Saturday afternoon, students were selected, we attended church on Sunday and encouraged the believers and we left again. Nothing abnormal about our visit there. But the next day… something amazing happened! We had heard that the RVA students were wanting to speak out against some false teachings going on in a new pop-up church in a neighboring village. The 11th grade curriculum actually has a research unit on “Cargo Cult” and they had just finished doing the research of how this false teaching began and how it proliferated among the uneducated people groups and why it was such a draw for the poor of our area. They have also been studying the skills of debate over the past few years AND growing in their love and knowledge of truth and God’s Word.

These three things came together in a pretty amazing way on Tuesday, July 1st. The students (about 40 of them from the Inapang area) together had contacted the elders when they arrived back in the village on break and worked with them to schedule a “debate” with the leaders of the cargo cult in our area. They worked underneath the elders and came up with a presentation. The Tuesday after we left was the day that the villages had agreed on and early Tuesday morning, the cargo cult leaders all slipped away to another village before the students arrived.

The students then turned the debate into an opportunity for an AWARENESS project.  They presented their topics in turn and allowed questions. One man stood up and said that the cult leader had been telling them that our village churches aren’t telling them the real meaning of GOD. The lead student, Jon Jon, asked what that true meaning was then. The man said they were told it meant Gold-Oil-Diamonds. Jon Jon pulled out his dictionary and read the meaning of God from the dictionary and then read God’s own words about who He is. Jon Jon handed the Bible to the man and said if he could find his definition of God in the Bible, then he would believe it because truth is proof. The man could not. 

More questions came up and more answers were given out of factual resources. The people became very excited and some of the elders and big men of the community thanked them for coming with clear talk and speaking truth so they could understand it. Then, the communities asked them to come back every break and do more truth awareness with them!  What?!!!! 

Jon Jon called and reported to us what had happened and was excited because he said that they had “used God’s Word and all our other subjects as well.”  “We used our English to speak and our science to show factual answers to some of their questions and especially we used our history.”  Their own young people working UNDER the authority of the church and its elders to bring TRUTH and LIGHT through their own study of God’s Word and their education!  These are our FIRST FRUITS of the vision of RVA! Thank you, Jesus!

The same week while this was going on in the remote Ramu Valley villages, one of our day students from town had elected to audit come courses in the government school while we were on break. In the first couple of days of classes, the Lord helped him to purposefully create an opportunity during some spare time after class to lead his new grade 11 friends into a discussion about politics, and then choices and then the gospel. Some of the students even took notes as he spoke! These RVA students are changing their worlds by being lights ready and willing to speak truth!!!!

There are so many more things to write about: our small team of amazing teachers finishing another term, an inspection that went wonderfully well, more steps toward getting that crazy registration code and how we are learning to trust Him in this very long process, personal heavies and health concerns, the daily grind of living “stuck” in a small fenced area in a third world country…but ALL OF THIS PALES in light of the amazing WEIGHT of GLORY that we all see as we watch God use our little team of us “Willing & Winsome Weirdos” for the gospel over here.

AND…NONE of US could be here without YOU ALL at home who are praying and giving and supporting us day by day by faithful day. Please don’t grow weary. Keep walking this path with us and help us get others involved as we equip this next generation with the knowledge and passion and truth they need to be missionaries here to their own people.

He is moving!!!

By God’s Grace & For His Glory~

Bill and Kelley and the RVA team

"And you are helping us by praying for us. Then many people will give thanks because God has graciously answered so many prayers..." 2 Corinthians 1:11

A DAY TO PRAISE!! **The following letter was sent by Kelley on 4/18, and expresses the gratitude and relief felt by all of us this week.  Praise be to God for His unfailing faithfulness!!**
Dear Prayer Warriors,
I HAVE AN UNOFFICIAL OFFICIAL TEXT from the Deputy Secretary (the one that the Lord brought to mind this Sunday morning) with a follow up text from the Senior Coordinator for PNG Schools Registrations confirming the same info!!
 
 "We approved RVA for permitted status yesterday.  This means students can sit for the National exams and use the Department's curriculum as well. As soon as the secretary signs the approval, other processes will be progressed. It was approved as a Private Permitted School. I purposely attended the committee meeting to offer my support as well as provide further background information for the committee. Blessed Easter."

We happened to be in a PMV with the 8th and 9th graders when the text arrived and I couldn't keep the secret with my face. If you want to see their reactions, watch these two videos. I dare you not to smile....
| Red Sea Code Part 1 - The moment they find out...priceless!
Red Sea Code Part 1.MP4 - Google Drive
| Red Sea Code Part 2 - The moment they realize that they found out before Uncle Bill.
Red Sea Code Part 2.MP4 - Google Drive
The news keeps sinking in with fresh waves of joy and giddiness!
Thank you for joining in with us in PRAYER & FASTING!
 Jehovah Raah - He's our watcher!!!
 Jehovah Jireh - He has parted our Red Sea and said....GO!!! This really was a 4-month hiatus that has done its work. It has exposed our lack of complete trust and our doubts that we had to keep committing back to the Lord again and again. It allowed our students to really be before the Lord and wait WITH us for Him to work. It also allowed us to gather 4 months worth of supporters...YOU... who were praying and fasting to be able to lift up PRAISE with us today!!!!! Thank you for PRAISING with us today!!! By God's Grace and For His Glory~
Two Unworthy Vessels.       

"And you are helping us by praying for us. Then many people will give thanks because God has graciously answered so many prayers..."
2 Corinthians 1:11  

Dear Prayer Warriors,
 Today is the day of the scheduled meeting in POM. I still haven’t heard that it is cancelled for today so we are hopeful!!! We invite you to join us in prayer and fasting this morning through to 5pm this evening our PNG time.

Since I talked to you last, I was able to reach out to the Assistant Secretary of Education and another Deputy Secretary who have both visited the school in person back in 2022 when we started the paperwork. They started a chain of emails asking for the status on our registration. This (along with the fact that we are the FIRST FODE RSC that operates full time with full correspondence students to register into the national system) moved them apparently to ask for the provincial secondary school inspector to come and assess our point conversions for our 10th grade exam nominations. I answered the phone during class on Monday and the Inspector said that he was at our school gate!!!!! That’s the great thing about doing school properly. You don’t’ have to change anything when you get a surprise visit. He came and met with me and my Deputy Principal, Ms. Myers, and our Gov. PR rep. Mr. Toposona, and we were able to show the formula and the conversion method. He approved it and asked for some info so he could submit the report that the capital was asking for on Tuesday. I spoke with him yesterday and the report was filed on Tuesday afternoon. So, we are again at the waiting stage for both the registration CODE and for the exam nomination status for our grade 10s. 

Also, our teachers are on their well-deserved break between terms. Please pray that they would be refreshed and rejuvenated in God’s Word during their time away. Pray also that they will have all the creative juice and stamina needed to work in what we call our beloved “RVA School of the Stretchy Pants”….you never know what a day will hold and our teachers must know how to pivot on a dime. They do. They. Are. Amazing.  It's Christ in them. 

Please pray with us today!

By God's Grace and For His Glory~
Bill and Kelley

"In love, he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will,  to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved."  Eph 1.5-6 

This update is a call to important prayer needed this week and a call to praise.  It will be a little longer than usual, so I put things in bold to pray/praise for so you can skim if you’re in a hurry.  If you do nothing else, please read the first two paragraphs and pray with us between NOW and NEXT  THURSDAY. We need our prayer team on board! The praises below are AMAZING!!!! Please take time to scroll down and at least read up on the bold to know what is happening in the student body here as we all depend on Christ. 

Prayers Needed:
I spent quite a bit of my Saturday this morning in tears before the Lord, feeling my not-enough-ness once again. I have confessed my doubts and lack of trust and fears and have laid it bare before Him. It seems IMPOSSIBLE, but I know he just wants Bill and I and our staff and our students to just watch Him work. I know that there are times when he answers before we ask and sometimes he wants to bring us into the "prayer and fasting" mode and remind us that we need Him and that He wants us to verbalize and ask with perseverance for the things that we need. There are SO MANY things on the line here that I don’t have time to write out, but wanted to put the major issues before you and call on you all to pray.

The National Dept. of Education meeting that was supposed to happen this week got delayed again until next week. Our advocate there called me and let me know that it was delayed and then relayed some things that have to get “approved” to allow our kids to take national exams. Apparently, what we are doing has never been done before, so, as usual, the Lord is showing his power (and our sinful doubts) by making us break up a new road again and be on a lonely, small path with just Himself as a guide.  We have two issues going on that we need you to pray for:

First, we are trying to get our school registered and then officially circulated as a nationally permitted school. This allows the national Teaching Service Committee in the capital to create teaching positions for us with remuneration from the government. This is important for the ongoing sustainability of a school long-term in the country and in this system.  It seems that there is nothing holding us back on this level except one Deputy Secretary of Education who needs to be on board and say yes. PLEASE PRAY for this man’s heart to be softened this week towards us. From here, I can’t see anything else standing between us and our registration code. We need a "RED SEA CODE"!!!!

Secondly, we have been approved to take the national exams by everyone from the lower level up, but when it came to the attention of the highest exam committee in PNG (MSD), they flagged us and said that they have never done anything like this before. PLEASE PRAY for the national Measurement Services Department in charge of exams to approve the points correlation and grant permission to take exams!
 

For those of you who want to understand more: FODE used to be (and still today) is USUALLY for upgraders. Upgrading refers to students who have failed out and are re-taking classes to upgrade their marks. For many years now, FODE has offered something called FULL CORRESPONDANCE, which is what our school does.  Our students are not upgraders and have not failed any subjects yet.  
 
Here are some other differences for those who have been asking to understand our dilemma in more detail:

Praises Going Up:
This week has been another week full of reminders that God has a plan for these students and that HE IS WORKING in their hearts as he teaches us to keep trusting Him to get their academic path cleared. 

A Visit from Promise:
We got to host Promise for an evening here on campus and she was able to visit the school and encourage the students from the Ramu. Please continue to pray for her and she works in the Tangguat language and serve the Itutang church. She continues to be such a blessing there!

Anton and Translation:
Bill and Anton are busy again in the translation office for another couple of weeks. We are so thankful that he made time to come out and we are also thankful that his daughter (Gr10 RVA student) is also very interested in moving this project forward. She has been working on her own doing some checking and then also sat in their work sessions this Saturday morning. They've been able to check through one book and are half way through the second one. 

An 11th grade young lady:
She came by to talk with Bill about something he had mentioned in Bible Class. As we all sat at the table, she recounted a worry that she had and then added, “But, ya know what? I just took that worry and I thought,  ‘Jehovah Raah is with me and he is watching and will shepherd me. He won’t leave me alone and I can trust him.’” A few days later she came by again and was over the top excited about how the Lord had used her to encourage the girls in her dorm. She spoke with them about the responsibility of talking to friends about Jesus and then some of them had! She was just overwhelmed at how the Lord was using her devotional time with her younger girls to bring others to Christ.

An 11th grade young man:
He is the overseer of the dorm RA program and came by to tell us that he has been struggling with the responsibility of having to hold his peers accountable on certain issues. The Lord used three other students to come and randomly encourage him to keep doing the things that he is doing and to trust the Lord and depend on Him for strength.

A Visit from the Provincial Guidance Counselor: (Picture at top of page)
Our Saturday night movie this week was called “Overcomer” a beautiful movie about finding your identity in Christ. One of the key moments was when one of the characters was asked, “Who are you?” Later, in the movie after figuring out "who" she was, this beautiful teen did a study through Ephesians 1-2 and wrote down the things that Christ had done for her and listed those things as her identity. I am chosen. I am redeemed. I am loved, etc. In one of our favorite moments, this young girl who had been stripped of her mother and father said, “Ask me who I am.” And when the question was posed again, she replied a beautiful monologue of the identity she had found in the pages of Ephesians.  It all first and foremost began with “I am a child of God” now. Not about who she was or what she had done or not done….she was a child of God.

Welllll….as the Lord always amazingly does, even this movie choice was prep for what was going to come next. Four days later, the provincial guidance counselor for the Momase region made a visit to our school this week. He introduced himself and his job and then he said,
“I want to begin with a question.  Who are you?”   
 
OH. MY.  !!!!! The students’ eyes became wide and they started whispering under their breath, “I’m a Christian.”  Then, one of them said in a loud steady voice, “I am a child of God. I am a sinner in need of help.”  A dozen little “yes” voices followed. We looked at the guidance counselor. He was quiet and then said, “Wow……….” I doubt he had EVER gotten that response before.  I honestly had to leave the room for a minute and wipe my eyes and whisper a thank you to the Lord who is able to give the answer before the question. Because of the movie and the weekend discussions around it, this question carried a weight of meaning for each of them. Tears streaming and heart thanking, I got myself back together and joined his talk again. Later, he told us that his dad was a minister and had assisted some of the work that SIL does, but that he and his family haven’t been to church in a while. 

Real Time Update: I just got a text a few minutes ago while I was writing this saying that he wants to come and fellowship with the student body tomorrow Sunday! Praise the Lord! Some of the students were praying for this, too!
 
There are a dozen more things that have happened this week, but this email is already way past the acceptable limit for readers in this day and age, so I’ll close it up here. 

 

Please be praying for us. 
We’ll probably plan to fast again this coming Thursday the 17th as that is the day of the meeting and it seems “this kind can only be driven out by prayer and fasting.”  :)

 

By God's Grace and For His Glory~
Two Little Broken Jars Who Still Think He Is Worth It All 
AKA Your Hands & Feet

"You faithfully answer our prayers with awesome deeds, O God my Savior.  
 You are the hope of everyone on the earth, even those who sail on distant seas."
 Psalm 65:5 

We've been talking to our students this term about the different names for God. This week we have learned (and sung) about Jehovah Jireh - the Lord as our Provider. When you stop and comtemplate the air in your lungs and the nutrients in the soil and the water in your body....how much we take for granted every day! We encouraged the students to do a small daily activity. Before they get out of bed in the morning...put a finger on their pulse and hold it while they thank God for another day on planet earth. Then, we encouraged them to ask him how he wants them to spend their time this day. A practical reminder of his daily provisions.

Jehovah Jireh also provides for big things. He provided this month for our trip home to be with family after my mom passed away. I'm thankful for my dad and the hope that he has in this time of deep loss and grief. I'm thankful for my two girls, Maddie and Sabes, and their sweet families who are being guided by two amazing godly men. I'm thankful for little snuggles and kisses with the grand babies and walks in the woods together. I'm thankful for sisters who love and care for our father well with their different gifts and personalities. I'm thankful for all the friends and family who we were able to see as we said goodbye to my mom,  who influenced many. I'm thankful for Bill and his health as he took a turn after we returned to PNG and had to be treated with IV fluids, antibiotics and other interventions. I'm thankful for our team here on the ground, who works together like a functional family and bears one another burdens with deep love. For all these things, there was a Provider. 

I'm also thankful that the Lord has provided good contacts for us throughout the Department of Education here in Papua New Guinea and locally here in Madang. He has been so good, opening one door after another. The opportunities he has literally had us walk into have been many now. We see his hand guiding us and we can point the students to His Faithfulness as we continue to wait for our Registration Code. 

We do not have our code yet, but both the Provincial Level and the National Level Education staff have made clear that they will make space for our students to sit for their national exams with/without the registration code. This was the main concern of the March deadline this week.

So our praise is: our students will be allowed to take the PNG national exams under the national arm instead of the FODE arm of the Education Dept. this year.

And our ongoing prayer request is: the meeting with the national School Registration and Compliance Committee for our Registration has now been moved to April 10th. Please be in prayer for that as there is one individual who seems to be holding up the process for us.
 
The Lord gives and the Lord taketh away....
As you have been following the Trump administration, you have no doubt hear how DOGE has closed down USAid across the globe. We assume there are different regional supervisors because we have been doing countless paperwork and have been working with contracts that have been well done and haven't had any of the attachments to things that were brought to light in the recent news stories highlighting the diverted USAid funds. In any case OUR USAID FUNDS FOR THE BUILDING OF OUR SCIENCE CENTRE, COMPUTER LAB AND LIBRARY HAVE ALSO BEEN TERMINATED. We feel especially for Destin, our grant writer, who has worked tirelessly and pro bono for the RVA projects. Please pray as we put these projects back into the "hold -on box" and wait on Him once again to lead and PROVIDE.
 
 Thank you for continuing in prayer for us and for the chapters that are unfolding here. We are being stretched in new ways every day and are often exhausted and yet, when we sit together and hear the testimonies of our students and watch them raise their voices in song, we are refreshed and reminded that HE IS WORTH IT. The longer we live, the more we long to see His Face and to be made complete by Him in glory. What a day that will be.
 
Greetings from all of the students here. They were able to watch the Memorial service for my mom live and were once again amazed at the team at home who is supporting them in prayer and giving. We love you all and are thankful to Jehovah Jireh for each of you today.

By God's Grace and For His Glory~
 Bill and Kelley

  "Return to your rest, my soul, for the Lord has been good to you...
 Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his faithful servants." Psalm 116:7,15

Dear Praying Friends,

Most of you have heard by now that my mother has Graduated to Glory this week. She now has relief after several years of battling Parkinson’s Disease and the pain that goes with it. We are thankful that although we grieve and the tears flow that we do not grieve without hope. We have great joy thinking of the life that she now has, and we are thankful that we will join her one day in the future to see that same glorious hope with our own eyes. 

   It has been a cyclone of a week…quite literally. As we heard the news of decline and began making travel plans to come home, we bought a cheap ticket through Brisbane, Australia. The morning of our flight, we got news that it was cancelled because of  the “Alfred” cyclone (same as a hurricane but in the opposite hemisphere), which is battering the Australian coast at the moment. They re-routed us for a small charge through Sydney and as I write, we are skirting the edge of the cyclone and bumping our way down a descent towards the city of the Opera House.  Please pray for safe passage across the Pacific and home to Maryville, where we will meet up with our family.
 
    The flight cancellation in Port Moresby was a gift we didn’t realize we needed.  After many days without hearing back about our registration code number (making us eligible for national exams under the new Permitted School status), I had written several emails asking for an update, but hadn’t heard back. So, we took the extra time in the capital to visit the national education building and meet the two who have been working on our case.
 
    To make a long story short, Bill and I both feel that if we hadn’t followed up in person as the Lord provided, we wouldn’t not have our code in time. WE STILL DON’T HAVE IT, but our chances of getting it in the next two weeks before the deadline we are up against is much better than it was. We didn’t even realize how much a face-to-face visit was needed.  After the visit, we were able to meet Sir Arnold and Lady Amet for lunch and since he is an RVA Board member, he offered to go and follow up this week and try to add momentum to the process for us.
 
    So the funeral arrangement, the last minute travel plans, cyclones and codes have kept us on our knees and reminded us in a severe way this week that we are nothing and we have no power to move or change things. It has been a good and humbling week of dependence and acknowledging that He is God, and we are not. It has been a week riddled with verses about trusting in the Lord, waiting on the Lord, and asking him for what we need minute by minute. It has been one of the most heart-wrenching, tear-jerking weeks I have experienced in a long time and it has been sweet. It is good for us to remember our place and our time and our purpose as feeble human beings.
 
    So, as we travel and pray and reflect, we acknowledge that there is a time for everything under the sun…a time to live and a time to die, a time to work and a time to rest, a time to do and a time to wait, a time to plead and a time to give thanks.
 
    Today we give thanks. We give thanks for a life well-lived and well-celebrated when she was able to enjoy the gathering. We give thanks to all of you who helped them remember so much of the good ministry that they had been given to do. We thank the Lord for our family who embraces death in a proper manner and supports each other through the process. We give thanks for a team on the ground here in PNG who are strong in mind and soul and can carry on the work as we minister at home this next week. We give thanks for life and we celebrate once again being made in the image of God with purpose today.

This is how mom would have wanted it. 
Because He lives…..so does she.
 Thankful for the Cross,
 Bill and Kelley

"So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask him."
Matthew 7:11

NEVER GIVE UP....KEEP ASKING!
He hears our prayers and answers…

2/17/2025
Dear Praying Warriors,
 
We have great praises and a great big prayer request! Over the last 2 ½ months, we have watched the Lord do some pretty amazing things with our schools accreditations. He keeps bringing people to our gate who have all the right answers (and the power to follow through) at just the right time.
 
We are now one small number away from being able to step into a brand-new bracket that will link us more closely with the educational system that can be the most beneficial to our student body. Now, we are all holding our breath and praying with anticipation – waiting to see WHEN the Lord will provide. Today, a student had a question and started with, “If we receive the registration code….” and the rest of the class exploded with… “When, WHEN He provides the code!” I love watching them learn to trust him, too. It’s their educational pathway and their academic future side of things…and they are trusting. We also got a nice official letter from the Secretary of Education for Papua New Guinea stating that our school is "a well-established school with excellent facilities" and that he "looks forward to working closely with us" .....as soon as we get THAT CODE!!! :)
 
There’s a scene in The Forge where Isaiah is looking to the upper level of a manufacturing plant.  He’s against a deadline, but the upper level of the plant that has the robots, which could save him the needed time, is locked.  He looks up to the upper level and prays, “God, I need those.” About 5 seconds later he is blown away as the upper level comes alive with robots and lights (because someone else has remotely joined the team to help meet the deadline). Our prayer for the last two days with the staff and students has been,

“God, we need that.”
 
We do NEED that code. Would you pray with us and watch with us and trust with us as we WAIT for him to provide the code in time for our yearly submissions and exam request paperwork? 

By God’s Grace and For His Glory Alone~
Bill and Kelley and the RVA Team

Feb 2025

"This Sunday, we woke up to a soft drizzle of rain and a gray sky of clouds. But, there was nothing but sunshine in our little Body of Christ here in Madang this morning.

Two weeks ago, the student body asked for some topical teaching time on baptism. Last Sunday, Bill delivered a message about baptism, including what the Greek word means, what the NT examples are, who got baptized, who didn’t get baptized and what the act of baptism actually means.

The young men and women here were buzzing afterward, discussing the topic and the new insights about baptism that the study brought to us. Throughout the week, we had thirteen students come individually and talk about their belief and testimonies. Some of their conversions were as recent as this past week. Some had been a while ago, but they had never quite understood baptism and hadn’t followed up with it. Some had been baptized because their parents told them to be in the village, but now they wanted to know if it was okay to be baptized again with full understanding and with their own testimony of God’s work in their lives.

So, this morning underneath a beautiful layer of clouds, these students walked into the Pacific Ocean and were baptized as a sign of obedience to their Savior Jesus Christ. The students came from the local community here in Madang as well as from Itutang, Bogan, Ingawiaya and Iski in the Ramu Valley. We all gathered and watched them follow their Savior’s command to be a witness and give a public testimony and be baptized in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
 
As I watched from the shore, my heart reflected back to how God worked in the remote villages with many of their parents in the same way. I thought about all the heavies that lay before these young souls and the road of surrender and cross-carrying that they’ve committed to. And, I thanked Jesus that He would be with them through it all and guide them like the Good Shepherd that He is.
 
As the last student emerged from the water and our shore rejoiced with a song called “I Belong to God,” my voiced disappeared at the chorus line that states, I’ll say to the Darkness, “You do not own me anymore!”  I thought about the angels in heaven and how they must be rejoicing as the power of Darkness was broken once again. We gave thanks for his love to human beings to bring us back from the Darkness and reunite us with the Father.

Yes, this is why we are still here. There is still work to be done – beautiful Kingdom work and He is still WORTH it. To see more of the day's events, click on the link below to access a video created by Kylie Harless, one of our teachers here at RVA."

Click on the following link to watch RVA's first baptisms: https://drive.google.com/file/d/163HEbbRUYpSOUf8aE1GQEPxcIpTcjz_Z/view

"You are helping us by praying for us. Then, many people will give thanks because God has graciously answered so many of our prayers..." 2 Corinthians 1:11

God has been working…..Where to begin? 


The past two weeks have been some kind of strange goodness that has brought much praise and honor to Jesus Christ through this small RVA team. Paul writes persuasively asking the believers in the churches to pray so that when God answers, and his wondrous deeds are reported, that many would give thanks (2 Cor.1:11). I could fill a complete book with the stories and happenings of the past two weeks, but this is an email update and most of you live in America and might not have time to read a whole book today. :) So, in an attempt to get as many of you on board praising (which means you have to read this whole email), I’m going to put some of the highlights in bullet points for you here.
 
Please join the celebration of our RVA team and the angels in heaven as we rejoice over those who have been set free by the TRUTH of the GOSPEL of Jesus Christ here in Papua New Guinea.


  We began meeting as staff on Thursdays to pray for our students specifically for spiritual growth & awareness and to praise for the fruit that we have been seeing.

We began our year with an emphasis on the God’s Holiness and man’s response to that holiness as sinful people. We began speaking a lot about the humility of repentance. Many started writing little notes reflecting their understanding and reflections on these truths.

We began Saturday night movies for ESL and inspirational purposes to widen the views of the students towards biblical character as they see it in others’ biographies and life stories and inspirational fiction.

The father of one of our teachers was visiting and told his testimony and told the students not to go through the salvation process alone. He exhorted them to talk about their faith and announce it so they could be encouraged by other believers in their sanctification journeys.

The Lord used the movie, The Forge in an unexpected way. We felt like someone had been spying on RVA and wrote a movie just for us. The kids immediately connected with the themes and the characters as they were able to “see” someone else’s spiritual process, especially through the sanctification stage of growth. One of our community boys was overcome with a desire to talk to his family the next Sunday morning. He spoke with his siblings and a neighboring student about their state of being lost.

That Sunday morning, Bill taught a beautiful lesson from Galatians 3 about the law and grace. He told a parable about a man in a pit. There was a rope, but the man is paralyzed and can’t use the rope to get himself up. This picture hit a heart string with many of those listening.

The testimony, the movie, the sermon all piled up on a foundation of understanding God’s holiness and man’s sinfulness ignited a spark and we had several students give testimony in our student worship or later in church the next Sunday about Christ’s work in their lives! New believers!!!

Some of our older students, who we knew from our conversations and journal writing had been converted, but had never given testimony about it, actually began to speak up and ask to be baptized. The unprompted requests for baptism were a matter of prayer as some of these students have already been baptized into a certain denomination, which their families are very committed to. We, as a non-denominational school, have pledged with the parents of our students to only teach what is in the Bible. This allows us to be able to minister to many different denominations here in our area. When these requests came up, we had concerns about the students and their families reactions, but GOD!!! These students had ALREADY talked with their parents and had long discussions about wanting to publicly profess their faith and had RECEIVED PERMISSION!!!!


There are a dozen other little stories we could tell, but hopefully this is enough to remind you that CHRIST IS STILL BUILDING HIS CHURCH and that YOU AND YOUR PRAYERS ARE PART OF THAT!!!!!! Please don’t forget to pray for this second generation. They are amazing young men and women who are growing up so beautifully strong in the gospel and we CANNOT wait to see what God will do with them for His Kingdom’s sake!
 
Prayer Requests:
1. Bill will be teaching this week on baptism from the Bible so that the students have clarity and understanding of the topic (especially the day students from the local school area) before they take this step of baptism.
2. For our students, pray for their hearts, minds and souls. They need prayer for both academics and spiritual growth so that they can be the most useful here in PNG. We have students in the science stream now taking Physics, Advanced Math and Chemistry. These are difficult classes for them.
3. Pray specifically for their English skills to increase over the next two terms as we have a team of extra ESL help from America, including our friend Susan Bell and two interns from Liberty University.
4. Pray for our teachers as they give their hearts and souls to the Great Commission. It is not an easy task they do every day. Sometimes I look at these people and just stand amazed at their love for Jesus and their desire to be single or raise a family right here, right now for the love of Christ as they continuously show it to others.
5. Pray for ENGLISH teachers for next year. We have help until August of this year and then we will be down to myself and Ms. Kerrigan again. The administration/PR responsibilities/RVA team care as one job and teaching ENGLISH for grades 7-11 are both very much full times jobs. Next year, we add grade 12. The Lord has been ever so faithful to allow me the strength and sanity to do both (although not as well as my Type A self would like to do them) up to this point, but I am in serious prayer for ENGLISH help. Please pray for the right person/people. This team is not for everyone. It is a job that proves true of what Jesus said in the book of Matthew…it claims your whole life and every right and privilege at times. We need people who are looking for their rest and reward in heaven and will be satisfied with the reward of this earth being a front row seat, watching God roll souls over into His Kingdom.
6. Pray for continued spiritual vision for our student body. So many of our students are now verbalizing a desire to use their gifts and skills for God’s glory and the Great Commission. Some of them are very burdened for their Ramu Valley home villages. Please pray for OPPORTUNITIES to open up for them (for teacher training and tertiary or vocational training) that will give them pathways back to the villages or here in town where they can use their gifts for the gospel.

Only By God’s Grace, 
Bill and Kelley and the RVA Team

Please do not forward or share on social media. Thank you!! 

We have been blessed by one of our supporting families in such a big way! The parents have supported us from the very beginning of the RVA and have encouraged us in the vision of equipping the second generation of our tribal church with academics, spiritual discipleship and mentoring. Later, their children, took notice and began helping us in a different capacity. We were offered an opportunity for a USAid grant. Kelley started it in 2019 and got to the first level, but was in over her head. Then, our friend stepped in to help. She was an experienced and retired grant writer. Well, she THOUGHT she was retired. But, this woman, armed with prayer and a specific skill set, took on our project and has worked full time on it for the last three years! It has been awarded and now there is a site visit and we are asking you for prayer. We can't share all the details in the newsletter and we probably don't even know everything that we should be praying for. But, HE KNOWS. So, our grant writer made this sweet prayer Prompt card and we are asking that you join in with us and pray that if this is something that is good for RVA, that we will pass the site visit! 

2 Corinthians 1:11 says, "And you are helping us by praying for us. Then many people will give thanks because God has graciously answered so many prayers..."

This is our prayer that many will pray....so that many will give THANKS and lift up his name and honor him because of the good things He has done! 

Only By God’s Grace,
Bill and Kelley and the RVA Team 

The site check went well. I'm sure we will hear back in the near future the actual and official report, but the time on the ground went well. Our visitors, a diplomat and two colleagues, spent time looking at the school area, the surrounding environment, the soil and many other factors. They got to spend time with the students, hear some testimonies, visit their boarding home and connect in a real way as people. This was such an answered prayer! Now what happens...? Well, we just wait and see what the Lord will be pleased to do with it all. We'll let you know when we hear some firm feedback! Thank you for praying and for giving THANKS with us this week!
 
 Also, in two weeks time, we will be traveling to our home in the Itutang village in the Ramu Valley to do the testing for next year's enrollment! Please be in prayer for that as well. He is always good and always helps us make these choices, but we don't ever want to take that for granted. Please pray for the new enrollments and pray that we will find a supportive and encouraging sponsor for each one of them! If you are interested in being a sponsor and making a difference in a very real and practical way, please let us know!
 It takes a team!

 By God's Grace & For His Glory,
 Bill and Kelley
 

Pics with the Wright Family

The Hedricks...Family of Three

Near the cross! O lamb of God, Bring its scenes before me;
 Help me walk from day to day, With its shadow o'er me.
 Near the cross! I'll watch and wait, Hoping, trusting ever;
 Till I reach the golden strand, Just beyond the river. 
 ~Fanny Crosby 

Hello from Papua New Guinea again!

Thank you for all the traveling prayers! We made it back to this side of the world again! Most of you know, we took a speed spin back to the States. We were anxious to catch up with our parents there and our kids and our siblings…and their amazing kids.  We were also excited to welcome a new family face into our world! They were very packed and exciting days! For those of you who know our family, Madison and her family are doing well. Her husband, Jonathan, is such a hard worker and is still able to work from the house which is excellent for them. Their three cuties, Ansley, William, and Darcie are growing so much and have such unique and fun personalities…and smiles. Just love it. Sabra and her husband, Austin, have been getting ready to welcome their first into their family and Elliot Seay made his appearance finally on August 16th in record time. So thankful for friends and family who came alongside them during their first few weeks. Pray for them as they settle into the new routine of parenthood. We are thankful and as John says, there truly is no greater joy than to see your children walking in truth. Pray for all of us to stay near that old rugged cross. Also, you can continue to pray for each of our parents as they fight the battle of growing older. They are truly our heroes and have fought the battle of faith so well. We honor them for following Christ even through some very hard and difficult places and for lighting the path that we continue to follow today. So thankful for them and amazed at God’s goodness in each one of our lives. 

Great Grandparents with the newest member of the family tree

Back on this side of the world…we are excited to be back with some of our team. We are thankful for the Peacheys, the Watters and the Williamsons who we get to serve with through the e2 and NTM ministries here in Madang. We couldn’t ask for better friends to serve alongside of.  The rest of our amazing RVA team is also arriving this coming week and we are PUMPED to get back into the swing of the “RVA Way” with them and lead them into the new 2023-4 school year! We are all going to be VERY busy, but the load is doable, and the faces of these eager students spurs us on. We have a lot of orientation set up and scheduling and prep work to do in the next two weeks and then….we will welcome 15 new students into the RVA family – for a total of 60 this year! Can you believe it? Can you just take a minute and praise the Lord with us at the work HE has accomplished? Sometimes we can’t even explain how it all happened except a whirlwind of grace. And the best part is that he is using many of YOU! People who give, pray, support, teach, visit, build and encourage…all for the sake of the gospel getting into more hearts. 

Student Reunions

There’s no better way to say thanks than with a real-life story. This story is about one of our students that we will call “TJ.” TJ is from the local community. He was a “bad kid” who never went showed up for classes at his old school and didn’t have a good reputation in the community. But, because of social status, he was being groomed to have a prominent place in the local religious community. We were warned by some that he would be a bad influence on our remote Ramu kids. But, these are the kinds of kids that Jesus would work with, right? I like to call them my good group of bad boys. TJ did come to RVA. TJ listened in class – especially in Uncle Bill’s Bible class. In fact, he loved it. He asked me to show him how I read through the Bible every year. He kept my One Year Bible. He started telling me verses that he read every day from that reading program. He began coming and talking about things in his life and home and community - things that brought this young man of 16 to tears because it doesn’t line up with what he reads in God’s Word. TJ has a kind and thankful heart. His peers say he is the kindest student in class. He’s the first one to see a need and the first one to meet it. He runs back sometimes after leaving school to tell us thank you for being there to teach every day. He writes in his journal clearly about the gospel and its work in his life. 
  

TJ has been around a lot the last few days since we’ve returned to PNG. He loves to lift weights and comes regularly to hang out at the house. The other day, he came by and we had just finished dinner so we invited him in and filled him a plate. He storied about his day and something that had happened in the night that had made his family very afraid. We asked if he was also afraid and he said no. I asked him, “Why are you not afraid when everyone else is?” His simple answer made me want to cry…. “Because Jesus saved me. When I die, I will go to him.” 

THIS.  THIS.  THIS is what your prayer and giving and sponsorships and encouragement are doing on this side of the world…building faith and trust in Jesus Christ and his saving work on the cross that gives us confidence that we will indeed live again with him eternally in his home on high. Two of the boys here had re-read through Pilgrims Progress and so later that night they all watched it together. They said their favorite parts were the burden falling off Pilgrim’s back at the foot of the cross and then when he crossed the river of death, fought his last fight and woke up in the celestial city.  Amen. What more is there to say except pray. Pray that each student’s heart would be touched in the same way and that the Lord would begin giving these older students ideas of how he would have them serve here in their country of PNG as they move into adulthood. We are so thankful that he still allows us the privilege of watching him work his eternal work, both here and around the world. He has not forgotten his own last words “Go” and his own promise to be with us even until the end of the age.  He is still about that one job and invites all of us as individuals and families to take part and live "near the cross" as we make our journey home. 

His light is also spreading, as many of you have prayed for, across the Ramu Valley here in Madang Province. In 2007, our family sat and watched as a small village first heard the teaching from Creation to Christ. Now, this week, 16 years later, more than 500 people from four language groups representing 11 churches across the Ramu met together for the annual Ramu Valley Bible Conference! We weren’t able to attend, but we just got a report from those who “stood in our place.” What a precious time! We heard so many stories about how the unity of believing the gospel brought everyone together. We’ll forward out the update from some of our fellow missionaries who attended when they send them out! Thank you for praying for the RAMU VALLEY…It is lighting up for Jesus!!!! 
 
May you live near the cross today and may you find time and space in your schedule to tell your kids, your coworker, your spouse or a stranger the simple truth of Christ’s amazing gift to mankind. The old, old story that never grows old, keeps making dirty hearts new and gives us JOY as we speak it! We LOVE Jesus Christ...and because of Him, we love this job! He is worth it.
 

By His Grace and For His Glory Alone~  
 Bill and Kelley