SOVEREIGN GRACE BAPTIST MISSION
International – Papua New Guinea / Malawi Africa
P.O. Box 60150 Ndirande Bt. 6 Blantyre Malawi /
P.O. Box 233 – Mt Hagen (WHP) Papua New Guinea
Tanggi Mission Station – North Koroba, Hela Province, PNG
Missionary / Evangelist: Peter A. Halliman
Email: panagioite04@gmail.com
Website: sgbm-malawi-africa.com
Date: 1st September 2024
Dear Pastor, Church, & All Supporters:
John 8:32 And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
John 8:36 If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.
I reflect on the above verses in relation to that past weeks of teaching here in the Bible Academy of PNG. We have thirty-four students, some who have no academic background or training at all, some very little, and a few middle grade, and two with High School (grade 12) education. This being said, in light of much confusion regarding even the very basics of (exegesis), this generation of preachers/ pastors were not taught anything, except they carried the name Baptist, yet not knowing what it meant to be one.
I want to establish a thought…It is NOT acceptable when someone tries to build a doctrine on one verse, the Bible is its own commentary, God will define His own Word and the same principle, precept, law, teaching, doctrine will appear in other places throughout the Word of God. (Deut.19:15; Mt.18:16; 2Cor.13:1). Learning how to study the Bible, the proper way, there are some questions that must be answered relative to the context, or narrative. Some questions which, may be asked are as per the following:
To what class of people is the context talking to (saved or unsaved or all?); Is the narrative restricted to (local church context)? Does the context speak to the Nation of Israel, or the Gentiles, or all of mankind? What does the grammar tell you, is it masculine, feminine, or neuter? What tense is on the grammar, (past, present, or future)? Is it a verb, adverb, adjective, noun, participle etc…. what does the word actually mean in the original tongue. I do translation work, have for many years, you cannot just make up words, and you are not at liberty to put your own meaning on words within a language. What did the word mean in its origin, how did the word change (if it did) and what does it mean today? All these questions MUST be answered, IF one is going to teach, & preach God’s Word in which, they MUST be acceptable to GOD, not man.
Each week, I invest thirty-five hours into teaching, this does not count the studying, translating, typing, and so on. There isn’t a library that I go to in order to ‘check out’ the lessons (prepared), no material provided by except what is in the Bible. Teaching is not something helter-skelter, its systematic, there is an order. Material has to be outlined and it must make sense. Every two weeks on their Friday, becomes examination day, again, the examination papers I have to prepare (based upon the material taught) within the past two weeks. Questions are not just (yes, or no) a few multiple-choice, but mostly, the examinations are structured in order for the student to (think) before writing the answer. Some questions are formatted asking the reader to confirm or deny if such and such a statement is true. Though these people are simple in their applications to life, and many have not had academic training, however this does not mean they are stupid or incapable of learning. When it comes to God’s Word, as Paul said, we can have (Ten Thousand Instructors, yet we only have One Teacher the H.S.)
As a general rule, why are there multitudes of Christians (as they are called) yet know very little about the Word of God? Well, there are several reasons… (1). They don’t have ‘spiritual leaders’ who are serious about the Word of God and entertain people rather than teach them. (2). These same shallow Christians are not hungry for the Word of God, rather their appetite is for worldly things, they don’t come to church regularly. (3) The church they are members of do not have (bible study classes) apart from the regular worship services. (4) These Christians do not search the Scriptures to see whether or not ‘these things are so’.
I want to encourage each of you who have an interest in the mission work that I am involved in, Firstly, there is a good spirit in the school, the student (pastors) have settled down and realize that they have much to learn (so do I), I feel many times, it is I who should be the student, not the teacher, but there isn’t anyone else here so I simply ask our LORD for wisdom and understanding. The pastors see the opportunity that the LORD has given them, to turn this mission work around, they can be used to change PNG as a Nation if they will themselves to be ‘used by our LORD’ forsaking all to ‘follow Jesus’.
I have seen fruits in the lives of these men, several have grown (spiritually) in great strides, their presentation of the Word is now with boldness, whereas before they were unsure (mostly because of lack of teaching). Let me say this, all labours (from whomever) to whomever, is an act of (mercy). The time invested in preparation, study, prayer, going, delivery, and son on all these steps are acts of mercy, this great fruit is towards our fellowmen.
These people don’t have much, yet they complain very little, many of them own one set of clothes, some no shoes yet will eat their sweet-potatoes and pumpkin leaves day in, day out and never complain. I was sent some special offerings from my home church to help in the school here, and I bought rice bags, tin fish, some cooking oil, salt, instant coffee, and sugar and to take note, one would have thought these students were dining with the King, (spiritually speaking they were). Where does this leave you?
I want to thank each of you for your great offerings, sacrifices and prayers for this work, and myself. I want to encourage you that God is doing great things here in this work.
In His Name,
Missionary Peter Halliman