The Papua New Guinean Discovery

5 years ago today...

2010-06-02T10:09:00.002-04:00

It is hard to believe that it has been 5 year since I boarded my first airplane in Rochester, NY. It was early in the morning of June 2, 2005. The flights went from Rochester -->Philadelphia--->LAX-->Auckland, NZ--->Brisbane, Australia--->Port Moresby, PNG-->Madang, PNG. We arrived in Madang at dusk on June 4th (since we missed June 3rd). It is hard to believe how fast time flies.

The Last Languages on earth

2008-11-11T21:11:00.001-05:00

A video by Wycliffe

Long overdue update for PNG Discovery blog

2008-02-23T10:24:00.002-05:00

Greetings out there in cyberspace. It has been sometime since I have posted on here...way back in December and now it is almost March. I have been working at Davis College, my Alma Mater in Computer Services since December and now I am involved on the marketing team at the college. I have been keeping busy with this full time work. Lord willing it will help pay down my school loans so I can go on Pre-Field in a few years and get back to PNG. I have been continuing with my lessons in Philippians. This coming Sunday I hope to finish chapter 2. It has been a great study for me and for the class. Well that is just a brief snap shot of what I have been doing. God Bless.

Philippains Sunday School

2007-12-02T23:54:00.001-05:00

I have been teaching the Adult Sunday School class once again at West Corners. I did a two week study on "When God Gets Mad: Understanding God's full character." It was good to look at what most people fail to realize about God's character; the He is a God of mercy and grace, but also a holy God that turns away from sin and punishes it. Now I have been doing the Book of Philippians. I have been doing it for several weeks now. We did Philippians 2.1-2 today. We only had 45 minutes for Sunday School as many people couldn't make it to church with all the snow on the ground. About 4 inches fell in the early morning of Sunday. I have learned a lot going through Philippians. Depending on the week we get 5-7 verses done at a time. I like to get into the Greek and into Commentaries and just read it over and over again to let the Holy Spirit work. Some verses that stood out to me were Philippians 1.27-30:

27 Only let your conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of your affairs, that you stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel, 28 and not in any way terrified by your adversaries, which is to them a proof of perdition, but to you of salvation, and that from God. 29 For to you it has been granted on behalf of Christ, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake, 30 having the same conflict which you saw in me and now hear is in me. (NKJV)

They stood out for several different reasons. Verse 28 shows a mark for believers. The persecution and trials from our enemies is a mark of the truth of salvation. It might not see that way in the midst of it, but Paul is writing from experience. He at the time of writing is under House arrest in Rome. The fact that God is allowing Satan to do these things is proof of hell and proof our salvation.

The second thing that stands out is in the next verse. Not only has it been granted to us (believers) to believe in Christ, but to suffer for His sake. It might not be the warm fuzzy, but the Christian life is not all about warm fuzzy feelings. If you want warm fuzzy get a blanket. The life of believer in Christ is that of a spiritual war that is going on. A war in America against apathy, false prophets, and churches that don't preach the true and only ONE Gospel: That Jesus Christ IS the ONLY WAY, the ONLY TRUTH, the ONLY LIFE!!! It is by His Blood we are made new.

Going through Philippians has opened my eyes to things I have never seen and I thank God for the Holy Spirit to guide me in the WORD.

Update...long over due

2007-10-23T19:13:00.000-04:00

Greetings everyone. I have not posted anything on here in a while so I thought it would be good to do an update. Things have been quite busy. I have been working at my Alma Mater, which I am praying will be a full time job as I pay down school loans to go back to Papua New Guinea. I have been doing a lot with the History of the College at my other blog: http://davishistory.blogspot.com

Kim arrived back on Saturday

2007-08-15T09:17:00.000-04:00

Kim arrived back in the States from her trip to PNG on Saturday. She has a posted photos and a video on her blog so far at http://godsbutterfly-kp.blogspot.com

Prayer Letter from Kim in PNG

2007-07-18T10:36:00.001-04:00

Here is a prayer letter I received from Kim this morning. Keep her in your prayers.

Journey to Papua New Guinea
July 18, 2007

Greeting to all from PNG,

So much has happened in the last 16 days. It feels like
I've been here much longer than that. On Monday July 2nd I
made it to Los Angelos with no problems. There I met
almost all of my teammates. Tuesday the 3rd we had
orientation and then went to the beach. Afterwards we
started our nearly two day journey to PNG. We flew out at
1 am on the 4th and arrived in Goroka at 10:35 am on the
6th. Overall we had a good flight. We had a long layover
in Singapore and were able to take a tour of the city. It
was a good time.

Finally we arrived in PNG. We had a 45 minute drive to the
interface campus. I was so tired I don't remember much of
that day. Saturday the 7th we started classes. So far in
classes we have studied phonetics, culture and language
accquisition and the chronological approach to evangelism.
We've been reading a book called A Stranger on the Road to
Emmaus. It's been a good study. In order to simulate
learning language in a tribal setting, we are learning Tok
Pisin from language helpers. I'm struggling a little bit
in this area, though my Tok Pisin is improving. These past
two or three days I've learned a lot of Tok Pisin.

In the afternoons, I've had opportunity to either visit
with the Bena people in the villages or here on campus.
One village is next door. Two others are within a ten
minute walk. I cannot communicate well with the people
because I know little pidgin (Tok Pisin), but the more
time I spend with them the more I connect.

The Bena people are a lost group. Syncretism has seeped
into all the churches here. New Tribes has missionaries
working with this group but they are all on furlough. One
family, the Fosters, are waiting to return to the Bena.
They are currently waiting in Austrailia for their visas
to go through.

Please pray that;
    1. The Fosters visas come through so they can     
        resume teaching with the Bena people
    2. I am able to learn the language so that I can talk
       with the people
    3. I stay healthy and the rest of my team stays
       healthy. Last week we had a flu go through the
       campus. This week our director has strep throat
    4. I and my team are able to adjust to this new
culture

Thank you all for your prayers and support.
In Christ,
Kimberly Phillips

Kim is in PNG

2007-07-09T10:21:00.000-04:00

I received an email today from Kim saying that she was there and that all is going well. She has met the Bena people that are around the New Tribes Campus. Keep her in prayer.

Kim arrived in Sinagpore safely

2007-07-05T07:49:00.000-04:00

I received an email from Kim this morning. The flight from LAX to Singapore went well. Here is what she said,

Hey Everyone

I made it to singapore. I had a really good flight over. I don't have much time to write. Just wanted to let you know I made it safe. Pass the good news on

-Kim

I will keep you updated with anything else I hear.

Kim leaves tomorrow 7 AM

2007-07-01T21:12:00.000-04:00

Tomorrow (July 2nd) Kim leaves from Rochester airport to Cleavland, Ohio (for a brief layover) before heading to LAX. After a day in LA her team leaves for Singapore (a 19 1/2 hour trip) mine was only 12 1/2 hours from LAX to Auckland, New Zealand. They will have a 5 hour layover in Singapore before leaving for PNG. She will arrive in Goroka at around 8:30 PM (our time EST) on Thursday, July 5, 2007...it will be 10:30 in the morning in PNG on Friday, July 6, 2007. Note the clock on the side of my blog. Keep her in prayer as this is the first time flying overseas. Pray for her ministry in the country of PNG and that God would use her and keep her safe and free of Malaria...:) It is not a fun disease as I know. Bon Voyage Kim and God speed

Kim's June Prayer Letter: Passport is here

2007-06-26T13:19:00.000-04:00

Journey to Papua New Guinea

June 19, 2007

Greeting to my Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Thank you all for your prayers. It has been a while since I have updated most of you and I apologize for my lack of communication. This past two months has been a trial of my patience, but God is good and saw me through it.

In the month of May, God brought all but $400 of my support in. During this month He also taught me how to wait and trust in Him. For a few weeks preparation for my trip seemed to be at a stand still. No funds were coming in and my passport was not even close to being on its way. My tickets to LA were bought in April, but no other progress seemed to be made. I finished up the semester and headed home, where I continued to wait.

Then May turned into June and I still had no passport. I was however able to speak at a two churches, Harvest Field Baptist in Fayette, NY and Grace Baptist in Marion, NY. Thank you to both churches for having me.

Many of you have been praying for my passport to come. I am happy to report that it is finally here. God is in control and He works in His time, not ours. I still lack $300 for my trip, but I am confident that God will supply. After all He has brought in $4100 so far. I am starting to get excited for my trip now that everything is falling into place.

Please continue to pray for me as I continue to get ready for my trip. I leave for L.A. on July 2nd and for PNG July 4th. I am a little nervous about flying for so long, but I know God will keep me safe.

A few prayer requests are

1. That I will continue to trust God

2. That the rest of my funds come in soon

3. For my teammates as they continue to prepare for their trips.

Once again thank you for all your prayers and support. For those with access to the Internet I have created an online journal which I will update from PNG.

The address is www.godsbutterfly-kp.blogspot.com

In Christ,

Kimberly Phillips

Kim has a blog

2007-06-04T15:11:00.000-04:00

Kim has created a blog for her trip to PNG: http://godsbutterfly-kp.blogspot.com/ Check it out. :) She has a done a good job. Keep her in prayer for her remaining funds- $430 left to be raised and for her passport. The Passport is very important and she needs to have this to get a VISA to PNG. She has a couple of speaking arrangements (one for Wednesday and one for Sunday) coming up. Keep her prayer.

Graduation 2007

2007-05-14T13:33:00.000-04:00

I'm graduated! Saturday I graduated from Davis College. Four years have gone by fast! Now it is the prep time before I go back to PNG. Keep me in prayer as I look for a job and an apartment for the time being.

Kim's second Prayer Letter ( a little late)

2007-05-03T20:37:00.000-04:00

Here is Kim's prayer letter from April. When she puts out her May issue I will do that too. Here is April's issue.

To My Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

"Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen." Ephesians 3:20-21. I echo Paul's praise as I look back to the events of the past month.

March has been an exciting leg on my journey to Papua New Guinea. God provided the $2,220 for the first due date of April 1st. Not only did he provide he did it within two days. Thank you to all who have supported me in prayer and through gifts.

God also allowed me to speak at three churches this past month. On March 18, I spoke at West Corners Baptist Church in Endicott NY. On April 1st, I spoke at Scipio Baptist Church in the afternoon, and at Faith Baptist Church of Farmington in the evening.

It was good to share how God is working in my life, and what my trip will be like.

I look forward to what God will do in this upcoming month. I am confident that He will continue to provide for all my needs.

Some of my prayer request for this month are:

1. That God will cut red tape and allow my passport application to be processed soon and quickly. It is currently taking up to ten weeks. I need mine sooner so that New Tribes can apply for my visa.

2. That I will continue to trust God to provide all my needs and keep my focus on Him

3. That God will give me strength to finish up this semester at school

4. For my teammates as they prepare for their trip

Once again thank you for supporting me through prayer. May God bless you all.

In Christ,

Kimberly Phillips

P.S. If God has lead you to give to my trip checks payable to New Tribes Mission with a separate not stating the funds are for Kimberly Phillips, can be sent to New Tribes Mission, 1000 E. First St, Sanford, FL 32771. If you would prefer to give on-line you can go to www.ntm.org/give and look up my name Kimberly Phillips and the country will be Destination.

===============================================================

Kim is still raising funds. Please pray that all will be in before the deadlines. The main thing now is the Passport and then the Visa. Keep her in prayer.

Lots of new NEWS

2007-04-09T22:20:00.000-04:00

Greetings in the wonderful name of the resurrected Christ. It has been a while since I have updated this blog. I have been quite busy since the last time. Kim spoke at my home church on Palm Sunday sharing about what she will be doing in PNG. I was home for Spring Break and had a good Easter. Now I am back at College getting ready to finish up...hopefully. Today (Monday April 16) is a snow day on Davis College campus with over a foot of snow. Very weird for April. Keep me in your prayers that I will finish strong.

The Andersons are back in the States

2007-03-21T19:38:00.000-04:00

Dear Friends and Family,

We have arrived back in Spokane after a long trip from Papua New Guinea. Here is a summary of our stops the last few weeks.

February 9: Said goodbye to Fukutao village. Lots of tears but happy that the Folopa New Testament is in the hands of the people at last!

February 28: Said goodbye to friends at Ukarumpa, SIL's main center in Papua New Guinea and home to the Andersons for almost 35 years to the day. (We arrived in PNG on March 5, 1972)

March 1: We were presented with the Logohu National Medal by the Governor-General of Papua New Guinea in a ceremony at Government House in Port Moresby. A great way to end our 35 years in PNG!

March 4: Said goodbye to over one hundred Folopas gathered in the capital city, Port Moresby, to again dedicate the New Testament to their use. Almost half the crowd was from the second largest village in the language area and many New Testaments were bought by them.

March 7: Said goodbye to Papua New Guinea and flew to Brisbane, Australia.

March 8: Said goodbye to friends David and Nancy Earley and left for Japan

March 11: Presented the Folopa New Testament dedication video to a crowd gathered to celebrate the translation of "In Search of the Source" into the Japanese language. Neil spoke and was interpreted by the Japanese Pacific Area Director for Wycliffe, Takashi Fukuda. Had a great time eating real Japanese food and visiting the museum of history for the Tokyo area.

March 12: Said goodbye to Japan and arrived in Vancouver, B.C. Canada. We were greeted by Wendy and Stu Talene who now live in Lyndon, WA again. Stayed overnight before driving to Spokane on March 13.

Now that we are in Spokane we are making plans for the next step of our move to the area close to the Canada Institute of Linguistics in Langley, B.C. Canada. Neil has hernia surgery scheduled for March 27 (Wendy's birthday as well) so we are planning to go back to Langley and begin house hunting and be back in Spokane before the surgery.

If you would like a copy of the video about the Folopa New Testament let me know. Ron Hauenstein of Spokane has put together a short video with the highlights of the ceremony and is willing to make more copies for us. Write to us for details.

Kim is going to PNG this summer with New Tribes

2007-03-13T21:21:00.000-04:00

My friend Kim (who is below in the NYC picture and also in the picture above that will be on her prayer card). Kim is also going into Bible Translation and this will be her first time overseas as my trip to PNG in 2005 was my first time. The following below is her first prayer letter

To Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

My name is Kimberly Phillips. In the year 2000, God called me to missions, specifically into the field of Bible translation. These past seven years have been a journey in which God has leads me to finish high school, go into the workforce, attend a year at the Word of Life Bible Institute, and eventually continue my studies at Davis College (formerly Practical Bible College). I am currently a junior at Davis, where God has taught me a lot about following and trusting Him.
As I continue to follow, God continues to lead me. Now I believe He is leading me this summer to go on a short term missions trip to Papua New Guinea, with New Tribes Missions. New Tribes Missions is a tribal church planting mission organization working in countries all over the world. When I go from July 2 - August 10, I will be part of a team that will learn vital mission skills, such as cross-cultural communications and evangelism, all while interacting with the surrounding tribes. Though this trip is not focused on Bible translation, I am confident that God has much to teach me while I'm there and as I prepare to go. I know that as I continue on this journey that I must trust God for all my spiritual, physical and financial needs.
Papua New Guinea is literally on the other side of the world. It is an island country just north of Australia. Consequently, this trip is more on the expensive side with a cost of $ 4440. This does not include my flight to Los Angeles and back. I know that as God leads, He provides. I am asking you to prayerfully consider being a partner in my journey through prayer, and if God leads you, through gifts.

Some prayer requests for this month are:
1. That I will continue to trust God to meet my needs
2. That my passport application goes through without problems
3. That I will be able to raise half my support by April 1st
4. That I keep my focus on God

Thank you for your prayers and support. If you have any questions about my trip, or if God has lead you to give, you can e-mail me at kp679@juno.com or you can call me at (607) 729-1581 ext 5204. I know that God is going to do amazing things as He continues to lead me on this journey.

In Christ,

Kimberly Phillips
PO Box 106
Bible School Park NY 13737

---------------------------
If you would like to support Kim either through prayer or financial means contact her at the address above or contact me through my email address button on the side of the main page.

23rd Birthday in NYC

2007-03-10T23:00:00.000-05:00

Today for my 23rd Birthday I went down to NYC with the school. It was cool that the school had a trip for the same day as my birthday. I was born on my mom's 27th birthday so we share the same b-day. Last night her siblings threw her a surprise party and Kim and I came up and made it a real surprise. After coming back from home it was a brief sleep before leaving for New York a little after 7 AM. The day went well. We were dropped off at Radio City Music Hall then we (Kim, Lexie, and myself) went to Central Park and then to the New York Historical Society. There was a lot of neat pieces of history in that museum, and you know I love History. We had a picnic in Central Park (and the sun was out!) very cool. We spent a great amount of time in the park. We went through Time Square and to the M&M World and the Hershey store. We also went to Bryant Park, Grand Central Station and past the Chrystal building. We went to Rockefeller Plaza where NBC is. We learned that their building has an observation deck on the top (70th floor) and we had some time so we bought tickets and went to the top. The picture above is of Kim and I on the top with the Empire State Building in the back. It was a great day. Wonderful Birthday!

Email from Neil and Carol as they leave PNG

2007-02-27T16:35:00.000-05:00

I received this email from Neil and Carol today tell the good news and the bad news from the field. I found out that Pastor Paul's Father passed away after the dedication of the Folopa NT. So keep Pastor Paul in your prayers. I praise God that he was able to see the NT completed and dedicated. It has been 35 years since Neil and Carol went to PNG and now they are heading back to the States. Neil has some health problems as you will read below. So keep them in your prayers.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dear Friends and Family,

Today we are leaving Ukarumpa and it is a sad day in many ways. We have been in and out of this place for just a few days short of 35 years. We left Spokane on March 1,1972 and arrive at Ukarumpa on March 10. A lot has happened in 35 years and we praise the Lord for his faithfulness and goodness to us in all those years.

As most of you know we dedicated the New Testament on January 16. It was a wonderful time of celebration despite rain that we were hoping would not come. But that didn't seem to dampen the spirits at all and we think everyone enjoyed the time. We had a lot of visitors come from Ukarumpa and beyond which made it even more special. God was good and all the flights made it in and out despite rain and clouds at various times.

After the dedication Pastor Paul Hon's father passed away suddenly and we were very grateful he didn't die before or during the dedication as everything stopped for weeks because of the death. He was old and sick but he did come to the dedication and my last memory of him was his shaking hands with all the visitors and smiling.

Pastor Paul was a dutiful son and mourned for several weeks. This meant that there was not much could happen in our last weeks there. We had hoped to have a course on using the scripture but that did not happen. And then to make matters worse our printer died the day after the dedication. That would have meant that if we had the course we couldn't have printed the materials for it.

Our leaving the village was painful but good. The leadership all knew it was time for them to take over and be the ones to encourage the use of the New Testament now. Neil hopes to make a trip to PNG next year some time to see how they are doing and hopefully have some kind of course. They really like to have courses out there as it provides a time of sharing and fellowship as well as just learning new things.

This morning we will be saying good bye to our SIL friends that we have known for many years and there will be tears shed. We may or may not be back here and many of these people we will never see again this side of heaven. The SIL members here have a huge challenge ahead of them as life in PNG gets more and more difficult.

Tomorrow, 1 March, we will be receiving the Logohu National Medal of Honor in Port Moresby and that will be a very special way to end our time in PNG. We also hope to sell some New Testaments to Folopas who live in there.

Then we fly to Brisbane for an overnight, then to Japan for a speaking engagement. The book 'In Search of the Source' has been published in Japanese and Neil will speak at the dedication service for it in Tokyo.

We arrive back in Vancouver, B.C. late on March 12 and then plans get a little fuzzy. Neil will have to have surgery for a hernia that has been slowly getting worse over the last months and we don't know the date for that yet. We will be in Spokane to see the doctor on March 14 staying at our house on Howard St.

Thank you to the many of you who have prayed for us during this stay in PNG and over the years. It was been wonderful to be involved with the Folopa people and to see that they now have the New Testament in their language.

Blessings in Christ,

Neil and Carol Anderson

An Amazing Film does not begin to describe it

2007-02-23T23:10:00.000-05:00

Tonight Kim and I went and saw "AMAZING GRACE" and boy amazing does not begin to describe how wonderful the film was done. It is the true story about William Wilburforce who worked to get slavery abolished in the British Empire. His mentor was John Newton who wrote the song Amazing Grace that we know and love. I won't spoil the film, but it is a MUST SEE. John Newton was talking to William and he is talking about his days of slave trading he tells him, "Although my memory is fading, I remember two things very clearly: I'm a great sinner, and Christ is a great Savior." There were Amens throughout the theater. Go see it! You will learn some history and be challenged by the message.

Winter Break and Sermon at the Auburn Nursing Home

2007-02-20T22:31:00.000-05:00

Well I went home for a short winter break. During that time I was able to "relax." I was also able to speak at the Auburn Nursing home and deliver God's word. I spoke about being used of God at any age. I used Abraham and Sarah and how they were 75 and 65 when God called them out of their comfort zone. I also used Daniel and the fact he was taken away from Israel at around 15 years of age and when he was 85 was about the time he was thrown in the den of Lions. I changed them with Timothy's family and the fact that they could as Christians pray for the children and teens today and be a Lois for the next Timothy. It went well I know God spoke. Now it is back to school work tomorrow. Well have a good night.

Great blog on PNG from a pilot in Ukarumpa

2007-02-14T19:48:00.000-05:00

I found yesterday a blog from a pilot that lives in Ukarumpa. He was at the Folopa NT dedication and so there are pictures on his blog.
Here is a picture of Pastor Paul in the rain! Great blog to look at: http://png2007.blogspot.com/

200th post on The Papua New Guinean Discovery!

2007-02-12T11:40:00.000-05:00

This is the 200th post of this blog. This blog has come along way since February of 2005. I have been through a lot since that first post (my newsletter for January 2005), it was my first newsletter for my trip to PNG in Summer 2005. Through this blog I have posted news about preparing for the trip and how God provided for my trip. Through this blog I have posted news from PNG. The years have gone by fast and now I am in my Senior Year at Davis College. It has been along way from preparing for PNG during my Sophomore year in college. I am still preparing to go to PNG and home to be back by 2012 or 2013 after paying off school loans and doing pre-field. Also I will be going to Language school in the near future to acquire more linguist skills. It has been a long road since 2005 and now it is 2 years later. Thanks be to God who always leads us in Triumph in Christ! Here is to the next 200 posts Lord willing as I prepare to go back to PNG full time!

My Favorite Photo of Folopa Again

2007-02-09T13:23:00.000-05:00

My Favorite Picture of the Folopa village. I posted much earlier, but I love seeing it over and over again. It shows the simple yet wonderful life of the Folopa people in the village on a ledge. Note: you can see this part of the village in the Folopa Video.

Another Photo from Folopa Dedication

2007-02-07T15:06:00.000-05:00

Bruce Smith from Wycliffe Associates has posted some photos on the Wycliffe Associates blog from the Folopa NT dedication. Here is one with Neil Anderson speaking. View the rest of the photos here. The words on the stage read: Welcome to Folopa New Testament Dedication. I think I can see Pastor Paul and Boaz on stage with Neil in this picture but it is hard to tell. I imagine they would close by.