After almost 20 years of preparing birthing kits for women in rural areas of Papua New Guinea (PNG), Joan Kluge and her sewing machine are retiring. This article is a tribute to the wonderful contribution which Joan has made over the years, to the church and to our sisters in Christ in PNG. Joan became […]
In December 2022, I had an opportunity to do some teaching in Jakarta, Indonesia with groups of Lutheran young people and pastors. I had previously taught Lutheran pastors from South-East Asia online, but this was my first experience teaching face to face in Indonesia, and through an interpreter. The Lutheran church in Indonesia is very […]
The Greek word agape describes a love that is pure, unselfish and unconditional. With the aspiration of reflecting this sacrificial love, the Basel Christian Church of Malaysia’s (BCCM) day care centre for children living with a disability bears this word in its name. Ms Yap Pak Shun, a member of the BCCM Central Education Board, […]
Due to COVID-19 and its various restrictions, the usual distribution of birthing kits to the Highlands, Momase, and Morobe regions by ELC-PNG Lutheran Health Services (LHS) has been halted over the past two years. Upon the eventual arrival of our personal belongings to Logaweng (via Port Moresby and Lae) the number of packing boxes landing […]
After such a long time living life in isolation in Thailand, we are pleased that many people have now been, or are planning to get vaccinated and that the number of COVID-19 infected people is decreasing. The evening curfew which lasted for many months, now no longer applies. The schools have started to reopen, we […]
My husband Michael and I were very surprised to read an email from Abdi Sabda Seminary in Indonesia, requesting that ‘Michael and Debbie Borgas help us with our English Program online’. We had no idea how our names were chosen, aside from the fact that prior to COVID-19, we had been in some discussion to […]
Be careful of barbecue conversations, because you never know where they might lead! Especially if you are newly retired and have an open mind about where God might be leading you. This was certainly true for retired Openbook Publishers (formerly Lutheran Publishing House) General Manager Warren Schirmer, 73, and his wife Marianne, 69, when they […]
Papua New Guinea (PNG) Christians have marked 135 years since the gospel of Jesus Christ first landed on the PNG mainland, introduced by Lutheran Pastor Johannes Flierl at Simbang Finschhafen, Morobe Province, on 12 July 1886. The written and oral histories of how the gospel spread are beyond imagination: crossing high mountains, fast-flowing rivers and […]
Stamps and missions have a lot in common. While one person or one activity may not be able to make much of a difference on their own, so it is with stamps. One stamp and one person may not be significant but many people collecting many stamps can make a great difference, in the support […]
Most Friday mornings I hear a wonderful sound: the Skype ringtone. It announces that Pastor Hans Giegere is calling me for our weekly supervised reading session. From my office in Walla Walla, situated in the rural farming district of the Riverina New South Wales, I hear how Hans is going and we discuss an article […]