You are here: Home -> Carver Jnr's (Richard & Andrea) -> January 2008 Newsletter

My office: I'm not a messy person... I just need about 12 more hours in each day to get the work done!

Richard & Andrea Carver

January 2008 Newsletter:

• There are more photos! View them here
• View video clips of our Lufa visit

January 27th, 2008

Well, as I write my January Newsletter, it has been three months since we first arrived in Papua New Guinea. The time has gone so quickly, and with so much to do you don't seem to notice as weeks turn into months.

I thought that January may be a slower month, since the HQ office was on holidays and things generally quieter over the Christmas period. I had planned to accomplish much during the quiet time, and I did, but not quite as much as I had envisioned!

We spent Christmas on our own, and it was a melancholy time as we felt the loneliness and isolation of being away from family. It is the first Christmas that we have been totally on our own, and it brought a sadness into the day. But it reminded me of the many years my parents experienced the same when I was young, and how all of our missionaries around the world do the same year in, year out, away from family; in the case of young missionaries, Grandchildren missing out on Grandparents; in the case of older missionaries, Grandparents missing out on watching their Grandbabies grow into adults, and by the time they see them again, years of wonderful family experiences have been given up for the Lord's sake. But our reward is in heaven, and he is not unrighteous to forget our labour of love. May God bless all our Missionaries!

Our new Gas Stove!!!

We were very blessed to have one of our supporters buy us a gas stove! They had read of the frequent power-outs, and how this made cooking difficult, and the photo of the candle-light dinners had touched their hearts. We were very suprised to receive an email stating that they had purchased a stove for us and that it would be delivered the following week! It has been such a blessing and we do appreciate it. Thank you to that family from the bottom of our hearts!

The Air Conditioner in the car had stopped working, and I had a sneaking suspicion that it was blocked. I wanted to get it fixed, because some parts of PNG are very humid, and it was because we had no air-con that our bag got stolen when we first arrived in New Guinea. We got a quote, but it was very expensive, and I don't think they realised the full extent of the problem. So Bro Koko and I attacked the car ourselves, eventually managing to expose the evaporator. Sure enough, it was totally blocked up with dust, with no air able to get through the fins. We quite by chance found out that a brother had an air compressor, with which we thoroughly cleaned the unit and put it all back together. The air conditioner now works great! And I saved about $500 in the process!

Another manual task which I accomplished was the re-wiring of the office telephones. The internet is very slow here, and bad telephone lines in the house and office contributed to slow speeds. I installed completely new wiring throughout, and this has helped our connection speed to achieve consistently high kbps throughput! Every little bit helps!

Fixing the car's Air-Conditioner. No wonder it didn't cool! It's totally blocked up with mud.

We also did some repairs around the house and office, doing a few enhancements to the AIM flat and other areas in preparation for Mum & Dad's arrival next month. During it all I also manage to accomplish some tasks on the computer, getting some new materials into the Bookstore and ready for the ministry.

It was not all menial tasks though; we had a wonderful visit to Lufa, Eastern Highlands, because of a very exciting report from there. One person had been raised from the dead, one healed of chronic illness, and a blind woman's sight restored during their New Year's services. A total of 14 people were INSTANTLY healed, 17 people filled with the Holy Spirit, and 17 baptised in Jesus' name. I encourage you to read the following reports, they are truly exciting:

• Our Visit To Lufa - by Richard J. Carver
• Miracles at Lufa - written by Pastor Abraham of Lufa church
• View Photos of our Lufa visit
• View Videos of our Lufa visit

Precious souls at Lufa during our visit there

To conclude this newsletter, I want to share a burden I felt during the Christmas period. We were enjoying a cup of coffee in town, and happened to meet a few denominational missionary families who had travelled down from the far interior of PNG for Christmas holidays. One young family, with two small children, lived in a small village, deep in the interior. They were fully committed to spend the next 25 years in that village, teaching and translating; no outside influences, no email or internet, no friends for their children, no running water or conveniences of western life, living and eating among the villagers; totally committed to their cause. These missionaries knew nothing of Pentecost, of receiving the Holy Spirit or water baptism, weren't even sure what the word "Pentecostal" meant; but yet stunned me with their desire to carry the Gospel as they knew it to a lost world. How much more, then, for Pentecostals to carry the whole Gospel and the truth of Jesus' Name to all corners of this world? Are there some Pentecostals willing to sacrifice in such a manner?

It never ceases to amaze me the number of denominational missionaries pouring in to Papua New Guinea from all over the world: USA, Canada, UK, Australia, Germany, Sweden, New Zealand, Finland, Philippines. They arrive here literally every month, mostly young families with small children, as if missions is no sacrifice at all.

We could easily use five missionary families in Papua New Guinea, one in each main centre, and still be short of manpower. Currently there is only one. Does anyone feel the "Macedonian New Guinean Call"?

Thank you again for your prayers and financial support, which is enabling us to stay here and continue the work. Please help us pray for long and short-term labourers, and for finance for the huge work in Papua New Guinea.

May God bless you,

- Richard & Andrea Carver, Laura & Timothy

• Be sure to view more of our latest photos! Click here.
• View video clips of our Lufa visit!

NOTE: You can be informed whenever a new newsletter is available by subscribing to our website and newsletter updates service.