Saturday, April 08, 2006


I wanted to write a post today, but I have not been feeling well this afternoon. As a result, I decided to post a story my son wrote for English class, back in February. He had the same assingment as Rachel did, for those who read her post.







English
Daniel McGovern

Our Life In Papua New Guinea

We came to New Guinea because we wanted to follow God’s will. We were attending a Bible believing church which taught us from, God’s Word, that God’s will should be the most important thing in our lives, and it was. Since we believed that, we were willing to go anywhere for God.

God’s calling for us was to do His work on the island of New Ireland. We were called here to witness to the people, to pray for the people, to give God’s word to the people, to plant churches, to train the Christians, and to encourage the Christians.

There are many people who we met here on New Ireland. First the believers, who were probably the most helpful people we met here. We have met many national pastors, including Pastor James Abel, who has been our biggest help here with everything from language study, to helping us build a church. There are many Christian villagers that attend church here who we have met. A couple have jobs in Namatanai, the small town where we live, but most live just off their gardens. Pastor James Abel, who was mentioned above, is the pastor of a small church in the village of Sohun, where about sixty people attend. There is also a group of Christians in a village called Kudukudu. They were all saved after we started a church there. There are also Christians who live in places with no church. We are very glad to meet these people, and are currently trying to help a group of Christians in a village called Wilo. Finally, there are many unbelievers, who we were called to reach, on this island. We have become good friends with many of these people, and we hope to reach them with God’s Word soon. Among the people we are trying to reach are the store and plantation owners, a few government workers, and, of course, many villagers.

A week on New Ireland is full of many things, including many surprises. Sunday is the most important day of the week, and it is also my favorite day. It’s the most important day because it is the day we go to church in Sohun and Kudukudu. We teach a Sunday school class in Sohun and do two services in Kudukudu. There are usually visitors that come Sunday morning in Kudukudu, so this is an important opportunity to share God’s Word with the people. We have also started a reading class, after services in Kudukudu, for the Christians who can’t read.

The rest of the week is taken up mainly by school and chores. School takes up about five hours of the day for me, and I enjoy it. The Kids’ chores include keeping the yard clean, laundry, cutting and raking the grass, and cleaning the house. The most important part of the day is our devotion time. We all have our own private devotions daily, and every few days we have a family devotion. Shopping, of course, at the market and the little stores in town, takes up part of the week. Plus, once a month we go to a larger town on the island, called Kavieng, for extra supplies. On Wednesday evenings, we go to Sohun for a prayer meeting. I also get a little guitar lesson from Pastor Abel at this time. Friday is a workday in Kudukudu, and we do discipleship on this day as well.

God has enabled us to accomplish many things here. We have helped and strengthened a church; started a church in the village of Kudukudu; and we are attempting to start a church in Wilo.

In conclusion we came here to follow God’s will, and we intend to stay here until he calls us otherwise.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Great story Daniel, I wish at your age I was raised to follow God's will.

Uncle Bobby

Anonymous said...

Daniel,
Great story! You are growing very fast in your faith! Sounds like you have made many friends as well!
Love you!
Aunt Sara, Uncle Scott, Brad and #2