Touching lives in PNG

Today, I want to share two stories with you...

I first met Robert a couple of weeks ago.  He is a 3rd year student at Melanesian Nazarene Bible College which is located just down the road from Kudjip.  He became a Christian several years ago and is now following God's call to ministry.  During a clinic visit, I noticed that there was something wrong with Robert's eyes.  I learned that he is completely blind in his right eye, and almost blind in the left due to an abnormal pupil and cataract.  He tries to read by holding a small magnifying glass very close between his face and the book.  Another student sits with him in class to take notes and his wife also helps him with the reading.  This week we were able to refer him to an eye specialist in the district capital.  Someone from the US. has made a donation to purchase a Pidgin audio Bible so that Robert can listen to and study the Word even if he can't read it.  I'm not sure if anything can be done to improve his sight, but I am excited to explore every possibility for helping this young pastor!

Meti is one of my dearest PNGian friends.  She is our “haus meri,” helping to keep Becky and I in order by cleaning our home and working in the garden.  She is also teaching me Pidgin and other such things about PNG.  Meti has an amazing testimony.  As a young woman, she was forced to marry a man she did not know.  Her husband later abandoned her for another wife.  She is now a single mother, supporting and raising three children on her own.  She feels that God has called to minister missionaries, widows, and orphans... and what a ministry she has!  Meti has been elected as a delegate to General Assembly for Church of the Nazarene.  It is her prayer to travel to the US and represent PNG at General Assembly this coming summer, and she has incredible faith that God will answer.  She has been working and saving for two years now, and has almost enough for 1/2 of a plane ticket... but so much farther to go!

These are two people who have so touched my heart.  Travel, doctors visits, and glasses are expensive and can be a strain on a student budget.  What if I could help this young pastor to read and study the Bible?  For a single mother from a small village in PNG, the dream of attending General Assembly is a big one.  Would God use me to help answer her prayers?  Can God use you?

I recently learned that I have fund which is processed through Church of the Nazarene but held in PNG.  I can use donations to this account to help people like Meti and Robert.  Funds can also be applied toward other needs such as building, equipment/supply, and medicines at the hospital.  If you would like to give a gift toward this fund, send your contribution to:  General Treasurer Church of the Nazarene, 17001 Prairie Star Parkway, Lenexa, KS, 66220.  Please mark in the memo line of your check:  “work of Stephanie Doenges” (this part is very important to make sure it gets to the correct account).  Any donations through the church are tax deductible, as with gifts toward my deputation account.  Drop me an email if you send in a donation, and I will forward updates on how this money is being used to help the people in PNG.

Thank you to those who have already given to my deputation fund, which helps to support my existence here!  And thanks for all of your ongoing support through correspondence and prayers.  I could not do this job without you.