The last two months have been crazy (in a good way) with phone calls and messages from the village.  This is the first time we have tried to orchestrate our scholarship program from overseas.  Schools run year round in PNG and start in late January or early February.  This year we have 5 hopefully 6 students on scholarship with OIPNG.  We originally intended the scholarship program to be a sponsorship from the US where members or groups could "adopt a student" and send them encourageing nots and assist with school fees.  The schools are heavily subsidized but the travel to and from the village is always costly.  This year we are supporting:

Bill Mukok- At PNG Education Institute/Degree program: Elementary Education.  He has been a teacher in the Samban school for 3 years.

Hubert Yangum- At PNG Education Institute/Degree program:  Elementary Education.  He is married with 2 children and has been a teacher in the Samban school for 3 years.

Amina Maso- At Kar Kar Community College/Degree program:  Community Health Worker.  She is a grade 10 graduate and daughter of Maso Leko national translator.

Jeff Norman- At St. Gerards/Degree program:  Community Health Worker.  He married with 2 children and a grade 10 graduate.

Melodi Jugan-At Sogeri National Highschool/General Studies:  She is interested in Journalism, writing etc.  She was selected for national highschool by merit of her high test scores.

If you would like to help us support these students you can make a donation to OIPNG and include a short note expressing the ways you would like to  assist these students.  If you choose to identify one specific student we will send you a more detailed bio-sheet, picture, and contact information.

Returning Students

• Jeff Norman, Latan Village, starting second year of CHW (Community Health Worker) training at St. Gerard’s Nursing School, Port Moresby.  K900 – $450 Plus $600 for transport to and from school
• John Kanja, Samban Village, starting last year of Pastoral training, Gandep Bible School.  K300- $150

New Students for 2012

• Melodi Jugan, Samban Village, starting Grade ten, Angoram High School.  Emphasis on Language Arts, hopes to pursue journalism, writing, or teaching.  K975- $487
• Amina Maso, Painiten Village, starting first year of CHW training at Gaubin Hospital, Karkar Island, Madang Province.  K300- $150 plus $300 for transportation

Orphan Assistance

• Roslyn Seron, Samban Village Prep, Mentally-challenged student of a single mother, whose mother died 2 years ago.  K60- $30

The OIPNG Scholarship program was designed to assist deserving students with school fees to enable them to complete their desired programs.  The scholarship program is offered to students who have completed grade 8 and have a desire to continue, but do not have the resources.  This program is limited to those students who have achieved high academic marks, who have received acceptance into a school or course of study, who have been baptized, confirmed, or will agree to attend a discipleship course.  These students must have no history of violence or substance abuse.  Applicants are screened carefully and only about 1 in 5 is selected.  Our long-term goal with this program is to bring qualified professionals back to the local area to carry on the work of the church, school, clinic, and community development.  Those accepted agree to come back to their local area and serve their communities for the length of time for which we supported them.  After which they are under no obligation to stay.  Our second graduate of the scholarship program has returned to the village and is now serving as nurse at our clinic!  (Of course they still receive their pay, and are under no obligation to refund the scholarship money.)

Shopping PNG Style

A day of shopping in PNG can be quite an ordeal.  There are no Wal-mart’s here, no Cosco’s, or K-mart and definitely no express lanes.  Last month we went to Wewak (one of 10 largest cities in PNG) just to do some shopping for the next 3 months, (yes I know how that sounds). To start our day of shopping we get up early.   Since we don’t have a car in Wewak we have to hitch rides with friends or catch the PMV (Public Motor Vehicles).   But I will give you an idea of gas prices if we had a car there.  We sell by the liter here but the cost per gallon is roughly K26 or $13.  That is the town price, in the village it goes for K30-K35 a gallon $15-$17.50.  After getting gas you may need to stop at the “chemist” pharmacy for toothpaste (K7.50 $3.75), soap (K2.20 $1.10) and shampoo (K15 $7.50).  After that you would head to the grocery for some essentials: 1 dozen eggs (K12.00 $6.00), 1 liter of milk (K6.50 $3.25 or about $12 something a gallon),  a box of cereal (K27 $13.50), a small block of cheese (K13.00 $6.50), a bag of PNG coffee (K13 $6.50), a pound of natural PNG sugar (K3.30 $1.15), 5 pound flour (K8.00 $4.00), a small whole chicken (K22 $11.00), and 2 pounds of ground beef (K26 $13).  When you are through there, you have to find a ride home since you don’t want everything to melt and since you can’t leave anything in a car even a locked one. If you need some clothes for yourself or your kiddies, the best place to go is the second-hand shops.  The poor quality of the goods distributed here in PNG make second-hand ware from the US and Australia a much better bargain.  You can get a pair of name-brand jeans for men and women for K14 $7 or women’s shirts from K1 or ..50c.  Kids clothing is in great demand, so you must be a diligent shopper if you have kids.  I usually spend about 2 hours there every trip to town just to find the things we need.  Now I haven’t been home in quite a while so I don’t really know how these prices compare with US prices right now but I thought you die-hard shoppers might be curious.   Oh, and don’t forget, during this shopping trip, you are clutching your purse to your chest for fear of theft and watching for kids who work together in groups of 2-3 to distract and then grab your stuff.  The street venders are always up in your face and you are dodging the red buai spit all over everything.  Our car has been broken into 3 times in 3 years and once the window was smashed in a theft attempt.  So if you are out shopping enjoy your weekend at the mall and I look forward to being there with you in May!

Prayer Meeting

I think many of you received a detailed outline of our January Prayer Meeting.  I wanted to give you the points for February so that you could join with us in Prayer at our next Meeting on Thursday, March 1^st.

Milling and Construction

• Milling trip schedules from Feb 13-finished – Pray for classroom and clinic and center timber. Pray for safety of man and machine and cooperation of weather and community and health of workmen and families’ efficiency in the work.

Education

• Resolution of elementary enrollment issues.  Government training to be offered again as it has been canceled for 2 years now that prevents our teachers from receiving government pay.  Pray for community and parent cooperation, protection and wisdom for the teachers and their families.

Church

• Pray for a deeper understanding of God’s will for his church here in Samban, for a spirit of unity to bring fractured congregations together again, a new understanding of accountability, stewardship, and management

Translation

• Focus and single-mindedness, protection for families and translators, wisdom and understanding of God’s word and how best to communicate it to the Ap Ma people.

Transportation

• Pray for protection for man, machine and cargo on the water and over land.

Medical

• Pray for healing of evacuation cases still in Madang and Wewak, including our nurse, Mariana.  Pray for wisdom in their work, protection and faith to proclaim Christ in their ministry, and acceptance of new medical ideas by the public. (washing things with soap, etc.)

Pryor’s and home staff

• Continued protection of the Pryor family.  For the kids’ strength and knowledge in their school-work.  For continued care and provision of our helpers and their families, Toia’s family, and Junior.

The ways we are involved in ministry to the Ap Ma people are varied.  One particular way has been through medical ministry.  In November 2007, we re-established health care in Samban after a 15-year closure of the originally government-manned Aid Post.  Under the care of our Community Health Worker, Mariana Posatia, thousands have visited this remote clinic to receive care or treatment.  Currently our doors are open from 9-3 M-F and 8-10 on Saturday.  All after-hour emergencies are brought to our house as the nurse lives 2 miles away.  For her, that means a 45-minute walk to and from the clinic.  Currently we have two students studying nursing who will return to Samban to continue this vital work and expand the service we are able to provide. 

Working Together with Samaritan

OIPNG tries very hard to work together with government and non-government organizations to provide consistent service for the Ap Ma people.  In our schools, this meant that we registered them with the national government so that now they receive government subsidies to provide for some of the students’ needs.  We also registered our clinic with the national government which means that we receive part of our medicines for free.  However, there is still a gap between what the government will supply and what the people need.  Our partnership with Samaritan is helping to fill that gap.  Samaritan Aviation is a NGO (non-government organization) that specializes in medical evacuation and supply.  They assist the government in distribution of their supplies and also bring in their own supplies as well.  They have a float plane here in Wewak, our provincial capital.  With this plane, they are able to reach the large number of people (along the Sepik and Keram rivers) who have a hard time making a trip into town with their ill or injured patients.  OIPNG has received their assistance both in transporting patients and goods.  We are thankful for our partnership with them and their willingness to help the Ap Ma people. 

Two Very Different Outcomes

Two women delivered healthy baby boys in Samban.  The hours that followed their births were filled with tension.  They failed to deliver the placenta.  We arranged for both to be flown from our village to town to receive treatment in the same provincial hospital.  Both arrived at 9:30 am.  One lay in the ER until 3:30pm before receiving treatment.  She died at 4:00 pm.  The other received treatment at 10:00 am and was released 3 days later.  There was only one difference in these two cases.  When the second woman arrived in town we happened to be there to help her.  We spoke out to the doctors and nurses on her behalf pleading for assistance while waiting in line.  Hospitals here are very different than in the US.  The backwards, shy nature of the village people puts them at an immediate disadvantage.  Patient advocacy is needed to make sure they receive the treatment they need.  Could you be an advocate for the people of Samban?  Could you make their pleas known?  OIPNG asks that you consider both advocacy through prayer and in person.  We are seeking Christian men and women to help us in town.  Advocacy is just one of the tasks a town team would need to do.  If you are interested in joining OIPNG as a town team member, please email us at the address at the top.

Prayer Needs

· Pray for the children of recently deceased parents. There have been 6 babies born whose mothers have passed during or after their birth, and a father of 4 just passed away.

· Pray for the US government and the decisions they make that affect the world market and the dollar value abroad. 

· Pray for those who are thinking about missions that they would come to know God’s will in their lives.

· Pray for a time of peace and productivity in the village as we have been worn down emotionally and financially by the constant stream of medical problems.

· Praise the Lord for his faithfulness and care. 

· Pray for protection as the men continue construction on the Elementary classrooms.

· Pray for safety during the timber milling for the Elementary Classroom, Literacy Center, and Clinic.

Construction Quarter

After two months of felling trees, milling timber, and construction, the new elementary classrooms are finally under roof.  There is still a lot to be done; plank-siding and hardwood floors, new desks, and shelves must me made and installed.  Weather has been a problem, but there finally came some days without rain, which permitted the select harvesting of 12 ironwood and 2 garamut hardwood trees.  Hopefully, these 14 trees will provide enough timber to complete the classroom, (as seen on the right). The remaining timber needed for the Literacy Center addition and part of the new clinic is in process of being milled as well.

The community was heavily involved in this endeavor.  The men divided themselves into 3 groups.  One group went out to the jungle helping to roll logs and assist the crew of 4 on the sawmill.  Another group cleaned the “baret” or tributary we use to float the timber back to the village.  This consisted of cutting floating grass that was really thick, plus the large root mass that was underneath the water.  Finally, there was a group that took charge of construction of the building.  I (Jesse) was a member of the final group.   Some days there would be a large number and others days there would be just a few.

The women were not to be outdone.  They divided themselves as well, so that each group of men, was provided a noon meal.  This is great if you don’t mind grubs, sweet potatoes, sago, and whatever else was on the menu.  Of course grubs are my favorite, so I was right at home.

We are thankful for the involvement of each of the communities and as you can see, there’s quite a bit to show for everyone’s hard work.

A Cowboy When I Grow Up

Well being a cowboy is one thing I (Karie) never dreamed of, but it looks like that might be just what will happen.  This fall I applied to the graduate school of OSU, that is Oklahoma for all you Indiana people, not Ohio. (Ha Ha)  Most of you know that for the past four years I have been working on developing the curriculum and training the teachers of the local elementary schools.  While I do have a 4-year degree in Christian Education, I have often felt unqualified to make tough decisions when writing lessons, especially in literacy and language arts.  So I started researching graduate school programs in IN, TN, and OK trying to stay near family and friends.  OSU seemed to be the best fit.  I applied and have been accepted into the summer semester in 2012.  So it seems the family will be residing in Stillwater, OK for our year of furlough.  I will be trying to get the program done as efficiently as possible. Our kids will be in school, also.  Jesse has already begun the job hunt.  We look forward to spending lots of time with you OK folks and for those of you in IN, TN, NC, and  NM and elsewhere, we promise to do our best to get out your way on every holiday and long weekend.  We appreciate your prayers for this busy time of furlough.

Special Points of Prayer

• Pray for God to provide us a home and vehicles at the right price range.
• Pray for the kids as they enter school for the first time.  Up to this point they have been home-schooled.
• Pray for a good job for Jesse and an employer who is sensitive to our needs to visit our supporting churches.
• Pray for focus and direction as I try to keep up duties of wife, mom, missionary, and student. 

Special points of interest:

• Milling Continues

• Scholarship recipients graduate.
• Construction of Classroom, Clinic, Literacy Center
• Furlough May 2012

Doubling Our Nursing Staff

A big thanks to all of you who have donated to our scholarship students over the past three years.  In January our first scholarship student joined the teaching staff at the Samban Primary School.  This December our second student, Alex Kamba, will be graduating with a two-year nursing degree from Raihu CHW Training School. 

   He plans to return to the village to work along side our nurse on staff, Mariana.  This will help to alleviate some of the stress put upon Mariana, who up to this point has born the burden of every medical crisis, 24 hours a day - on call.  While we are in the village, we usually take the night shift. It is generally known that if there is an emergency, they are to come call for us under our window and we will come and help them.  But when we are in town, Mariana carries that load, as well as the normal office hours.  Now with two staff members, one can maintain our office hours and the other can take the standby night shift and house calls.

   Please continue to pray and support our other two scholarship students as they continue their education in hopes to one day join us in serving the Ap Ma people.

Jon Kanja– To begin his final year at Gadep Bible School, Pastoral training in January.

Jeff Norman– To begin his final year at Berina CHW training school in January.

The Exchange

For the past two months I have watched and listened as the women in our community get ready for a Christmas basket exchange.  The local leaders heard of this program from another nearby village.  It is almost like a secret Santa only with a PNG twist.  You see the land of PNG is very diverse and the flora and fauna change even within 10-20 miles.  Our area is known for rich black stone-less soil.  We have great crops: cocoa, beetlenut, and sago all grow well. The area of Yar, about 15 miles away, has clay ground - much sought after for the pots it can make and a type of reed that can be woven into floor mats.  The women of our village plan to buy store goods and exchange their goods for village goods that we can’t make in our area.  Then at Easter the favor will be returned with our women bringing garden foods and woven bags in exchange for town goods.  I usually help the women doing their town buying as it saves them time and money trying to get into town. Over and over the women said  “Take this money and just get as much as you can for this.”  Thinking toward Christmas and the gift given to us, I am so glad God doesn’t buy into modern economics.  The perfect small investment, with high yielding returns at low risk, isn’t that what we are all looking for? But God in his wisdom invested His Son in this high risk world expecting a return of billions.  We have been given this COD, his spilt blood, for our lives and while we grow and mature he is watching over his investment.  Do we dare to follow in his footsteps this Christmas? Will we invest in something or someone that might be high risk?   Will we share something that is precious to us; our time, our home, our family, and our faith?

Schedule of Events

Nov 28 – Dec 9             Creative Phonics Course

                                 Karie, and 3 Samban Teacher attending

Dec 13                        Travel back to Samban

Jan-April                      Milling and Construction

Jan                             Ap Ma Writers Weekend

Feb                             Illustrator's Workshop

April 17                        Leave Samban for Madang

May 2-16                      Travel to Thailand

May 16                         Arrive in Chicago

2011 Annual Report

January- Beginnings are sometimes scary and difficult, but this year’s beginning was a little less so for us.  Since we are on the tail ending of the cholera epidemic, it seemed like the worst was behind us.  Unfortunately, I suffered from a bout with cholera myself [Jesse].  However, thanks to antibiotics and a couple of weeks in town, I was up and around shortly thereafter.  Another blessing was that since Karie had a scheduled teacher training course, I didn’t have to work as much outside.  I became the teacher for the kids, and held things down on the home front while Karie dealt with the teacher training.  That was exciting.  Not only are we helping to facilitate the elementary in Samban, we also now have teachers teaching in several other villages.  We had teachers from the villages of Yamen, Simbri, Kambuku, and Pamban.  Since we have worked on standardizing the curriculum, all of the elementaries will be competing over the same elements, and we will be able to see which teachers are doing the best job.  This was encouraging to these new villages as well, since we are donating all of the teacher materials, and some of the student books.  Pray that these new teachers will remain devoted in their tasks.  Depending on each village, some of the community involvement is lower than others, which makes it harder for the teacher. 

February- This was another month jammed with whole variety of different tasks to be completed and things to be done.  One thing you can say about life in PNG, you never do the same things twice.  This month could be classified as the month of medical evacuations or as the month where Jesse learned about jungle road construction.  Yet that’s not all it was either.  We hate to see bad things happen to good or innocent people.  This month we had several snakebite evacuations. Fortunately, all of these evacuations were successful, and did not result in any loss of life.  In all of the instances we are sure that if we had not been here, due to all of your support, all of those that were bitten would not have lived.  Thanks in allowing us to offer this ministry.

Yes we have started building a road through the jungle.  The reason for this is one due part to the need for good timber for construction.  The others are it will link us to other villages that we are or will support in the aspects of elementary education, and the medical support like we offer here in Samban. Due to the diligence of the teachers and elementary board members our little elementary school is running well.  We see room for improvement, but overall are happy with our results.  Since we have completed all our requirements of registering with the PNG government, the school is now able to be supported financially (occasionally)
 by the government.  This means that this year the elementary will be receiving funding, which the board and teachers want to put towards erecting a permanent classroom.  Since the seasonal changes that normally have happened, we have not been able to get the sawmill out to mill timber via the waterways, as we have in the past years.  Therefore, the community proposed hacking a jungle road towards a stand of timber some 9 kilometers away.  Also the arrival of the beat up old truck may have instigated this as well.  Once this started and another village was about the same distance away from the stand, they started slashing towards the timber as well.  All of this has been done by bush knives, axes, and occasionally the chainsaw and tractor.  Where the ground is too swampy, we have put logs crossways and dug ditches by hand throwing the dirt on top of the logs.  Right now we have about 8 kilometers of usable road.  There has also been the construction of 7 bridges as well.

March- Work is still continuing on the road.  This has been an exercise in patience and endurance.  The wet season decided to show up for awhile during this process, enough to make it really muddy and the mosquitoes came out in full force.  At one point during driving the tractor, I could not swat them away fast enough and still operate the gears and levers.  Slowly, but surely, we are edging closer to the timber.

We did receive the first check from the PNG government for our elementary.  This month we went into town to pick it up and make our first purchases for the classroom construction.  So that was very exciting to return to the village with rebar, concrete, nails, and roofing iron in preparation for the construction of the new classroom.

We also spent some time in Madang printing up the curriculum and material for all the elementaries we are now supporting.  This time in town also allowed us to print up the new school uniforms for the elementary in Samban.  It was not much of a break in town, but good to see progress being made in this area.  The students will be so excited to get their new uniforms.

Due to the odd weather patterns and stagnant water, there is a lot more sickness in our area as well.  With the onset of more mosquitoes, malaria is big problem.  It doesn’t help that there are no anti-malarial medication available in Wewak.  Pray that these medicinal supplies become available again, because it would really help with the onset of so many malaria cases.

April- Once again things did not go as we carefully planned.  Our weather patterns here in PNG have been bizarre.  Even the oldest men in the village cannot recall when it has been this random in the rainy season.  It used to be that this was still wet season; however, this has not been the case.  We do get heavy rains, but then we have had some dry spells during the times of rain.  Sections of the road that we considered done, got rained on heavily, and were completely un-usable.  This caused us to go back to work on the roads.  In some cases, we just had to abandon the work altogether.  Then once the dry spell came, we could fix it back up.

We also had a couple of weeks in town during this month.  While we had a few days of rest, we also stayed busy screen printing the shirts for the Samban Central Elementary School.  While it was time consuming and involved a lot of late nights it was worth it.

The local church has been making a push in getting our youth involved in the services at the church.  We are thankful that we have some good kids coming up.  Hopefully, there are some future church leaders in this bunch.

May- We are still working on the road this month.  We are very close, but have a few stumps to remove.  I (Jesse) welded together a new trailer to haul timber back from the sawmill site.  It is wider than the vehicles used to pull it, so this has meant that we needed to go back and take out some tree stumps that previously were not in the way.  While it is not that much wider, when you add the width, but especially the length (with the tongue it’s 14 feet long) most of the stumps that needed to be removed were around turns.  We have been able to start milling on one tree.  It was in the way of the road construction process, and was a very good hardwood for construction purposes.  We have milled it up as the posts, bearers, and some other smaller sections of timber.  Karie and the elementary teachers are still working hard on developing the Grade 1 curriculum.  They meet every Thursday after school to write the lessons.  It has been a lot easier for Karie, since she is not coming up with the ideas, but helping polish up the lessons.  There is still quite of bit of workload typing it all up.  The hope is that once we have the Grade 1 done, they will be able to move on to Grade 2.  Once the curriculum is complete, we will be able to have it standardized for all of our schools.  This means that training the teachers will be easier, other teachers who have already been trained and are teaching will be able to help with the training process.  That way, Karie won’t be the sole trainer.  I (Jesse) have helped where I can, but this is not my forte.

June-In June we all went to town to welcome John and Bonita.  We stayed busy in town printing school materials and I had some help from a few of PBT’s visitors in updating our digital library of our Ap Ma books.  When John and Bonita arrived we left the kids schooling in their capable hands and Jesse and I returned to the village to see what we could accomplish.  I walked to two of our satellite schools and boated to a third to assess their progress.  Jesse took time to service all the equipment around the house.  This included the generator, tractor, outboard motors, and sawmill. 

July- July started with the bang of Kite Day.  Four Elementaries attended and competed in a traditional sing sing competition and fundraising competition.  There were carnival games for all and prizes for the winners.  John and Bonita were able to be in the village catching up with old friends and finishing some work with Maso.  As we said our goodbyes to the Pryor’s, we welcomed Bob Noble, a guest, now friend from SIL who stayed with us for a week seeing how Sepik life differs from his Highland home.  He helped do a bit of training with our Elementary teachers who were in for a week of in-service in Math and Ap Ma. Jesse kept work on the road and river ways going and the first logs were pulled back to the village. 

August-   Upon receipt of our government subsidy check for the elementary school, materials were purchased for the construction of a new classroom.  Footers were poured and posts for the new elementary classroom were set this month.  We also did basic preparation for the site, prepping for construction.  Timber will have to be brought in from our bush areas for the building and we are still short cash for the rest of the roofing iron needed but the government officials assure us that another check is coming in September.  We head to town for the kids standardized testing in the highlands but the tests get postponed and we do more work printing for the school and printing uniforms for Simbri Elementary.  We also had 4 medical patients who had be evacuated to Madang for treatment many hours were spent in Dr. visits and hospital queues.  

September- We went to Wewak in September to mentor our head Ap Ma teacher in an SIL sponsored in-service for their STEP course participants.  Luk Mukok who attending the STEP course in ’91 attended the in-service and Karie acted as his mentor.  It was an opportunity to share with others the wonderful progress being made in the schools and to get some great ideas of how to improve our lessons and interactions with the local people.  We received our final government check for the year and were able to get needed books, roofing iron, and nails for the new classroom.  When we returned to the village we started milling timber.  Then the timber was floated back to the village in canoes and carried to the building site.

October-The construction began in earnest and the entire building was dried in.  Milling continues for the flooring and walling materials as well as for the needed timber for the literacy center add-on and the future clinic construction.  We were glad to have Peter Brook of SIL come to Samban for 10 days.  He spent time with the local artisans finding out about their art work and the history and development of the arts in the area as well as their local folklore.  He also logged several thousand photographs of various art works.  After Peter’s visit we were happy to host the PBT director Mike Herchenroeder.  He came to spend some time encouraging the translation teams in Samban and Painiten. 

November- In November we flew back to Madang en route to the SIL base at Ukarumpa for the kids testing (that previously had been postponed).  The two oldest each sat in on their grades tests while Mom and Dad caught up on administration paperwork, newsletters and reports.  The recently corrected Ap Ma kids books have to have all the corrections entered into the computer and we worked at that as well as attending a local craft sale to help sell our Sepik carvings.  In late November and early December three of our elementary teachers will travel up to the highlands to meet us and attend a two week course in Creative Phonics they will also tour the international school on base and the local schools to get an idea of the different ways teachers set up their classrooms. 

December- We will finish up the course here in UKA then head back down to Madang to catch a flight to Samban.  There is a big school closing program scheduled for the third week in December and a Christmas program for the end of December.  With the high water rains we are in hopes to bring all the milled timber by canoe back to the building sites.  We hope to finish classroom construction in January and begin site prep for the clinic later that month or early Feb.   

As more and more teachers from different villages come to receive training and materials in the courses we offer our mid term field day (Kite Day) has grown to include all Ap Ma elementary schools.  This year we were pleased to host Kambuku Elementary, Simbri, Elementary, Yamen Elementary as well as our own Samban Central Elementary Schools.  The mid year event included a display of traditional Sing sings (dances), carnival games and prizes a kite flying contest and village market fundraising for the schools.  Though rain fell heavy the night before the festivities the children were so excited as they danced and sang, ate and played.  We ask that you would keep these first year schools and their teachers in your prayers as they struggle to bring education to this remote area.

OIPNG Scholarship Opportunities

For the past 3 years OIPNG has offered a scholarship for Christian students who have completed grade 8 studies or higher and are in need of financial assistance.  The first recipient of this scholarship has returned to the village to teach in the primary school and is doing well.  There are 3 others scholarship recipients currently enrolled in schools across PNG.  In addition to these students we are also planning to extend our scholarship funds to cover certification courses for our elementary teachers.  Below is the personal information for our 3 scholarship applicants and teachers seeking assistance.  If you would like to support them in their efforts please include their names with your donation and a return address so that we can let them know who to thank. 

Former Recipient                  Current Position

Clementine Sau                         Grade 3 Teacher Samban

Current Recipients                                Degree Program

Alex Kamba                              Raihu Training School– Community Health Worker

Jeff Norman                              St. Gerard School-  Community Health Worker

Jon Kanja                                  Gandep Bible School-  Pastor

Teachers Preparing for Certification Course

Jeffery Brimbi– Samban Central Elementary Grade 2

Hubert Yangum– Samban Central Elementary  Kindergarten

Bill Mukok-  Samban Central Elementary Kindergarten

Pryor Plans

Half way through the year and already we are thinking toward 2012 and our trip home.  We plan to leave PNG in the month of May for our furlough in the US.  This term began back in 2008 and we still have much to do before we leave, but already we are looking forward to seeing friends and family and meeting new nieces, nephews and cousins born in our absence.  We look forward to visiting with all our supporting churches and sharing with them all God is doing here in PNG.  We ask that you keep our family in your prayers as we prepare to transition back into western culture. 

Naleh– Will be celebrating her 11th birthday this Aug.  She is a good student and shrewd business woman.  Her marketing skills have enabled her to purchase her own small computer.  She is looking forward to visiting with her new cousins. 

Elijah-- Will be celebrating his 9th birthday this Sept.  He is quickly catching up to Naleh with a small business venture of his own.  Elijah can’t wait to get to America where it is cold.

Judah-  Will be 6 in December.  He is just starting Kindergarten and he doesn’t remember America but according to big brother and sister there are slushies and ice cream everyday and stores that have Dr. Pepper and apples all the time so he is pretty excited to go and see this sight. 

We are so thankful for each of you who continues to read our stories and pray for our specific needs.  Know that we are well and blessed!

Written by Jesse Pryor, Missionary in Papua New Guinea 

     It has been an exhausting week.  Dealing with the logistics and technical aspects of the Optometrist 

Surgeon’s visit has been a borderline nightmare.  Not only is getting to Samban rough, but once here you 

have the knowledge, that whatever you do not have with you means it is going to be impossible to get it in 

time.  So we had been planning for two or three months, but it just didn't seem like enough time.  All the 

traveling was worked out, all the technical issues were discussed and planned for, so everything should 

be alright, or should be manageable. 

     It ended up that the traveling was the easy part.  Picking up the Doctor and his two nurses, traveling 

over road, and then by canoe went off without a hitch.  The first morning here the Doctor realized that our 

facilities lacked two things that he needed.  One was an operating  table (the right length and width) plus 

the right heighth.  He also needed a table that would serve as a microscope stand.  With a few pieces of 

timber and some odds and ends of plywood, by 1pm he was ready for his first patient. 

     The generator of ours was running fine.  The fan to cool the microscope was going fine.  Two patients 

into the day the generator started having power surges.  What's going on?   Fortunately we had a UPS for 

the microscope so it wasn't damaged.  I cleaned the air filter and then the fuel filter.  The fuel filter had so 

much water in it that it was shutting down the operation of the generator.  The bad thing is that we only 

had the one drum of fuel, so however bad the fuel is, it is all we have.  So this meant that basically every 

hour (with the generator still running) I would quickly take the fuel filter cup off, empty the water out, clean 

it and get it back on before the motor shut off because of no fuel.  There was a little pressure involved, but 

fortunately the UPS also had battery back up so if the generator shut down I still had five minutes of 

power before the microscope shut down.  I forgot to mention that he had patients on the operating table 

while all of this is going on.(literally under the knife.) 

     The Doctor operated on 16 people over the course of 3 days.  Seven of these people had one eye 

done the first and second day, and then the second eye on the third day.  Of these 16 people, 5 or 6 of 

them have basically been blind for the last 3 or 4 years or so.  All of the patients, were having cataracts 

removed.  There’s something about the UV rays here in the tropics makes cataract problems an is- 

sue.  The second morning before operations started the Doctor would remove the eye patch and check 

the eye he had operated on the previous day.  Those that had no vision would stare in shock, and then be 

in utter elation when they could "see" again.   

     One old man literally sang all the way home.  He had been led from his house to the clinic.  That day 

he led the pack as he left the clinic.  On the day of the operation on his second eye, he didn't even wait 

for those to escort him.  He was walking as soon as first light hit, so he could be first in line for the opera-

tions.  Saturday he had his patch removed and he had the use of both eyes.  To paraphrase what he 

said, "That's it.  I'll never be found sitting again.  My children and grandchildren are going to have a full 

time job trying to find me.  No more sitting in the house for me." 

     I have other stories about comments and reactions of these patients.  All of them are priceless.  Yes 

I'm exhausted, but I'm absolutely thrilled for these 16 people who have had sight restored.  During all 

these operations, besides fuel problems, the fan that was to cool the microscope burned up.  Fortunately 

we had a second fan.  If the Doctor doesn't have the microscope, he can't operate.  If the fan doesn't cool 

the microscope, it will not run.  So we were glad that we had the two fans.  The second fan burned up as 

well, but only halfway through the operation on the last eye.  For some reason the UPS caused the gen- 

erator to have power spikes, that have not stopped even after we are no longer using the UPS.  The gen- 

erator is what we use to power the electronics (like this computer) in our house and other equipment to do 

our work here in PNG.  All this is fixable. 

     I don't know about you, but in our family the countdown for Christmas has begun (especially for the 3 

kids).  For some reason I've always found it really easy to have the Scrooge mentality around Christ- 

mas.  So here I sit writing this email with no fan, so I'm sweating just typing.  The washing machine won't 

pump out water on its own, so every few minutes I'm having to get up to pump out the water for it.  We've 

also got a lot to do because the plane is coming tomorrow and we are headed into town for some shop- 

ping for supplies and to get some literacy material printed.  It would be really easy to focus on the 

bad.  When things break down out here, it is a waiting period before we can either get parts, or replace 

it.  Sometimes replacing things has to wait until funds are available. 

     However, if you gave us (Karie and me) the choice between two fans, a washing machine that worked 

properly, or 16 people with restored sight, I think you know what the choice would be.  Those 16 people 

have been dealing with poor sight for years, and it’s hard to feel sorry for yourself because you can't turn 

on a fan.  We can replace fans, we can get a new washing machine, maybe not when we want to, but 

those types of things are replaceable.  To have the ability to change someone’s life through restored vi- 

sion, that is irreplaceable.     

     All these things I’ve mentioned remind me of the fact that over 2000 years ago an event took place in 

history that changed the course of human history.  Yet so many people are blind to the fact of what a 

magnificent change took place.  How simple it is to restore physical sight for a Doctor who is skilled and 

has the right tools.  How hard it is to change the attitudes of those who don't care to see what God did so 

many years ago, and does every day. It's easy to focus on what is not right in the world.  It is easy to see 

the defeats close at hand.  Yet the victory that is in our future, because of what was done so many years 

ago, is so much greater than what we have to deal with right now. 

     Our little world here in Samban can now see a little clearer because of what one Doctor did.  Hope- 

fully, we can see the greater vision, of what Christmas means through the gift of God's Son. 

Well there is never a dull moment here. 

The recent buzz of excitement over the coming tournament has everyone working in overdrive. 
(Side note:  The soccer tournament Jesse & Karie planned for area villages, is a fund-raiser for the medical clinic in Samban - the first annual Samban Clinic Benefit Soccer Tournament.  They will host up to 40 teams from the Ap Ma area.)

I tried to hit the drums to signal the women for our weekly Bible study time on Wednesday, but no one came. Finally two young women came and explained that because everyone is expecting friends and family to come in the next week, they are all in their gardens working or getting the sak sak (sago, starch from a tree) ready for the guests. I didn’t realize how much work for the village this tournament was creating. The men are getting trees cut for extra posts to strengthen old houses so they won’t fall under the weight of added guests. Some are patching leaky roofs.  Jesse has been preparing fields and marking lines and getting market areas ready as well as cutting timber to do repairs to our first grade classroom.  While we have been busy at home, our old truck has finally made it around the coast to Wewak.  Jesse left this morning to pick up the officials for the games and police security as well as items for the clinic, school, and house.  He is expected back on Saturday at the latest on Sunday. 

During a recent visit from PBT representative Martha Wade, we set up a new curriculum for next year’s preschool here.  We need to train a few extra teachers to cater to the massive numbers coming to enroll here.  It will take us until January to get all the materials translated and in useable form.  PBT representative, Jill Reipe here in Samban, will help with much of this as well as a few other short-term PBT helpers.  And I plan on taking 2 weeks in January to train the new teachers to use this step by step curriculum.  The nice thing about it is that it has full daily plans that spell out every action the teacher takes so there is less room for error.

Naleh and Eli are making up ground fast in school as we had fallen behind in our time in town and the back and forth picking up and dropping off family and friends.  We are still behind a bit, but we hope to be back on track by the end of the year. 

Eli just learned to ride his bike really well and hasn’t been daunted by various minor crashes. 
Judah rides with his training wheels even out to the airstrip and back - more than a mile total.  Naleh enjoys carrying her friends on the bike all over.  This month the three of them are doing an experiment in business.  They have been given a box of gum to sell and account for the money, reimburse the money for the gum and total the profits. They are enjoying that. 

For you fishermen and women, yesterday I went to the garden and Naleh and Eli and two friends caught three fish.  We have a different species of cat fish here called the eel-tailed catfish.  They aren’t very big, but they can walk across the land or burrow through mud to find new pools or ponds. They are stocked well in my little hand-dug well at the garden.  They have poisonous barbs.  So when you fish them out you must put them on land without touching any one and club them to death before removing them from the hook.  It takes a bit of skill, but even the children here are accustomed to handling them. 

Work pouring the concrete pads for the posts on the Worship & Education Center is scheduled to be completed early next week before the tournament. 
Please continue to pray for the materials to arrive before the personnel get here to do the work at the end of September.  Also pray that the villagers would continue to help with joyful spirits as the work will be long hours in a very hot dry season.  Also pray that travels go smoothly for the team coming as we have only 2 hours between the last flight’s arrival in Madang and the Cesna flight to Samban.   
All in all we are blessed with work and blessed to be called to do in it such a beautiful place.  Thank you so much for your prayers and support.

Jesse, Karie, Naleh (age 9), Elijah (age 7 on Wed), and Judah (age 3)

Naleh celebrated her 9th birthday on Aug 10 with a few of her friends and a large cheesecake.  Hard to believe she was only 3 1/2 when we first came here.  Sept will bring Eli’s 7th birthday.  They are growing so fast.

Things are shaping up fast for our construction team that is due to arrive the last week in Sept.  Alus is bringing in the rest of the concrete as I write this as well as the tube steel for Jesse to make the soccer goals for the upcoming soccer tournament to benefit the clinic.  So if we can make it back to Samban early next week we will have plenty to do.  I will try to include here a few pictures of the recent dedication of the book of Acts.

Thanks for all your prayers during my recent illness and so many notes of encouragement.  We really appreciate your thoughtfulness.  Karie, Jesse, Naleh, Eli, and Judah

Lea and Charlie Roth have been here in Samban with us for 2 weeks doing all kinds of different things.  We now have a new full-size basketball court and the sports equipment their church provided for the school here is in constant use.  Lea has gotten to know many of the kids, personally interacting with them daily in school - creating books about the alphabet with the kindergarden and books about the months of the year with the first grade.  And both Lea and Charlie have undertaken the task of teaching the finer points of basketball to our second graders, as well as many other games and sports.  Charlie has learned to sharpen sawmill blades and set teeth on them.  He got to run the mill a bit here before going to Yar with Jesse. 

We have had a good time getting to know Jill, our newest resident and PBT member.  She is doing well being totally smothered in tok ples every day - better her, than me.  Actually she is sharing what she learns with me so that I am not so clueless.  While I can speak the trade language, I can’t yet form full sentences in the tribal language. 

People are gearing up for the dedication and we are getting ready to paint some more here at home so that the house is more presentable for guests. 

Jesse and Charlie are in Yar milling and say that it was going good as of Tuesday.  They are massing timber for the literacy center and clinic.  They are also milling some for the Yar community for a classroom I believe.  I am to speak with him today on the radio and confirm his return date which we are thinking will be Friday or Saturday. 

On a different note, God has really been merciful.  There have been 2 premature births in the last week;  neither of the babies appears in distress and mothers are well after some initial complications.  Also Euin Jon (Kanja) fell from his ladder onto a shade tree and got a branch 3/8 inch in diameter lodged in his side under his arm.  We thank the Lord that it stayed outside the ribcage.  It was 2 inches embedded.  We sent him to Kambot and they were able to cut the skin and remove the stick and he is doing much better, after some initial infection.  So even without our nurse (who is with a brother in Wewak, near death) we have been able to take care of the little things here at home. 

We have two more weeks out here until we take Lea and Charlie back to town.  Please pray that things will stay calm and productive. 

Karie, Jesse, Naleh, Elijah, and Judah.

Lea, and Charlie Roth

The New Canoe-  Well Jesse has finally gotten his wish and we now have a new canoe, made especially for the work we have to do.  The good people of Tamo gave us the tree for the canoe in exchange for help from our chainsaws to work on a canoe of theirs.  And for the price of a piglet we were able to get an expert carver to make us a good canoe.  It is 48ft long and 38in across at it’s widest point.  It will hold between 2 1/2- 3 tons of supplies at a time.  This is vital since we bring our fuel in by river as well as construction supplies.

Registered School-  On Jesse’s latest trip to Wewak to pick up cement bags, he took the board members of our small Elementary school to open a back account.  This was the last step needed to finish our application for registering our school with the provincial government.  We are waiting for our official number which should be issued in September.

Pouring the footers-  Tomorrow, May 18, Jesse is planning to pour the four corner pads for the new sanctuary/literacy center (and yes I know we need a new name for this building).  This is a big step and lots of people are planning to be there for the foundation laying.  We will take pictures and try to attach before sending this.

In the meantime- During all of this our pig has had piglets (most of which died in the night) since we didn’t know she was laboring.  The four surviving piglets are 2 weeks old and doing well.  I have planted one rice field and harvested another.  After my first milling I got nearly 20kg or 40lbs of rice.  This is great since we are going to be having guests shortly.

Guests- Please be in prayer in for the great number of guests and events coming up.  Here is a brief coming and going schedule for the next 2 months.

June 1-  Pryors leave Samban for Madang town
June 4-  Jesse goes to Port Moresby to pick up Lea and Charlie Roth, guests for 5 weeks
June 9-  Pryors and Roths leave Madag for Samban
June 16-  Jill Riepe (new PBT personnel) will arrive in Samban
June 17- June 30 Timber milling trip to Yar for Jesse and boys
July 9-  Pryors and Roths to Madang to send off the Roths
July 16-  John and Bonita Pryor and 2 guests arrive
July 25-  Dedicaiton of the book Luke and Acts in Ap Ma
July 29-  John and Bonita Pryor return to USA

Fertile or Futile
“You are anemic, and if something would happen during delivery we just wouldn’t be able to help you.  You need to have your baby in the hospital,”  our nurse told one mother.  A month later she was back at the clinic after a risky home birth.  The nurse came to me and explained, we referred her to the hospital but the nurses there sent her back home. They said her chances were better delivering at home than allowing the doctors there to operate on her.  “What do you want me to do about that?” she asked me.  I didn’t have the answers she was looking for.  There isn’t anything we can do, we can change things here in the village; we can have the best equipped and best staffed clinic, but after we refer the patients out, they are out of our hands and we can’t do much to help them.  It is the same with our school I told her.  We just got the elementary school registered and we are getting ready to send our first group of 2nd graders out to the local primary school next year but here we are in the 15th week of school and the primary teachers haven’t started up school yet after the first term break.  We can prepare them, but we can’t ensure their success since we don’t have control over the upper grades.  In some ways this feels like a lesson in futility.  But then again we see the opportunity to plant new seeds in this fertile ground that is ready for change.  Like the building project, the foundations must be laid.  And the small things we begin here may not be enough to satisfy us yet, but they are a vision of what could be.  We hope to prove faithful in the small things so that one day we may see our efforts grow.

BIG THANK YOU
First, thank you so much for the overwhelming response to our last newsletter your notes and emails and prayers were wonderful.  It is so good to know people care and take the time to read and pray for our specific needs.

Scholarship Applicant
Secondly, many have asked about Clementine, our student who applied for the OIPNG Scholarship.  We are waiting for her response now.  We have met with her and her family and extended the offer of assistance.  Realizing that it is a contract and that she will agree to work in the village for the number of years she is assisted is a big decision and not one to be made quickly.  Most kids dream of the chance to get out of the village and very few (once they have reached the point in their education where they will have that opportunity) would give it up for the sake of their people.  It will take a special person with a humble heart to serve and to take us up on our offer.  We know we are asking alot, but we want God-directed individuals on our team here not just anyone who can pass a standardized test.  Keep praying that she will have the courage to serve.  There are two more applicants waiting on school acceptance letters. Please pray that those letters come quickly as they are eager to go.

Samban School Request
Thirdly, some have asked about our needs especially where the school is concerned.  Well, I will lay before you a dream and see if anyone shares my vision.  Most schools here would be similar to school in the US 1800’s.  We are in hopes to take a portion of those students in grade 2 and up, who have high marks, and keep them for an extra hour three days a weeks to review their lessons on computer.  We have all the programs we have purchased with our children. We even have an old computer (that has so many glitches it isn’t worth much) but will run the games and typing tutor.  What we would like to see is 4 more laptops donated.  They do not need to have anything but the capability to run CD-ROM computer games.  The ones we would like to have them work on are math, typing, reading, and geography.  The current statistic for our school system is 1 in 200 make it to grade 12.  We want to increase that to 5%, but the outside communities that they will compete with, especially the town districts, are getting so advanced that most of our bush kids can’t keep up.  We feel this may be one way to level the playing field and make use of the old solar panels on the classroom since all laptops can run on 12v.  If you have an old laptop that still runs but you have no further need of it, would you consider donating to the children of the Samban Elementary school?  We have teams coming this summer who can carry them in hand to assure that they will not be damaged.  We hope to start this computer lab second semester which starts in late July I believe.  Thank you for considering this request, obviously the more computers we have the more children we will be able to involve in this program.

Problems in Madang
Fourth, a matter of prayer.  Madang (the town we do most of our shopping in) has recently been flooded with Chinese here to do a mining project and while this has generally helped businesses many Papua New Guineans are disgruntled at the number of Chinese taking PNG jobs.  They have begun to riot and protest often getting very violent in public places and wrecking stores owned by foreigners.  Please pray that these acts of violence would cease, that police would attend to the matter swiftly, and that those affected may find a way to be gracious under fire.

Tomorrow we head back out to Samban. Please pray that items fall in line for the commencment of construction on the literacy center.  So much to do.  Thank you for taking time to catch up with us.

Jesse Karie Naleh Elijah and Judah.

(Pictured below a pic of a typical highlands house from our recent trip to deal with the crate)

For a year now we have put out the word that OIPNG (Outreach International Papua New Guinea) would be happy to provide a school scholarship to successful applicants who wish to pursue the ministry, medical work, or teaching. Our one request is that the applicant agree to work for OIPNG when finished for the same number of years they received support. 

We have had our first successful applicant be accepted into Kaindi teachers college.  She will attend the college for at least 2 years before she will be registered to teach here.  We are so excited as we are always short of qualified teachers.  We are hoping that one of you will be willing to help us assist her in her school fees.  She will need approximately 800-1000 US dollars a year from us.  If you would like to adopt Clementine Sau in prayer or financially as she seeks to get her teaching certificate, please let us know as soon as possible so that we can inform her of the assistance she will be receiving.  We do have a bio sheet on her for those interested.

On a side note thanks so much for all the beautiful Christmas cards and kind words.  We just picked up our Christmas packages in town and it was a wonderful surprise.

Thanks you for your prayers and help.
Jesse and Karie Pryor