Jonathan and Susan Kopf minister among the Hewa people of Papua New Guinea. “A team of two carpenters and their three teenage sons were set to fly to Hewa on June 10 to construct the new Christian school classroom building, but once again our plans have fallen apart because of shortages of pilots available to deliver the lumber from the supply centre for the Sepik region. The reason we had originally planned to have the lumber cut in the city and flown to the village was [that there was a] lack of available volunteers during the COVID restrictions, but now as things have settled down, we are praying for some rugged men who can endure the hardship of milling lumber from our local trees.

“In the meantime, I have been able to turn my attention to preparing lessons to teach the book of Hebrews for the first time. I am excited by the themes of the book and pray it encourages and energizes the Hewa believers to deeper faith and perseverance as they seek to grow and thrive in the jungle. Please pray especially for the elders/pastors (Yanis, Faimpat, Kifeson, Maikol and Ken) as they are definitely experiencing setbacks and unexpected trials as they try to shepherd the flock the Lord has given them. And please also pray that the Lord will bring us more faithful [school] teachers who not only will teach academics but will have a passion to disciple the children in a God-honouring way.”

Photo caption: One of the cedar logs just waiting for an eager man to come turn it into lumber.