Jonathan and Susan Kopf with daughter Mikenna serve among the Hewa people of Papua New Guinea.
Six teachers arrived in Hewa to start the new school year! They are very excited to finally have teachers for each grade at the little Christian school. The Hewa villagers warmly welcomed them, working hard to feed and care for them, as they begin the new school year.
The lead teacher, married a teacher during the school break, and brought her back as the new kindergarten teacher. This will be the first husband-wife teaching team. Over the Christmas break, while constructing the second double-classroom school building, a tiny house was built in anticipation of their marriage. It is not quite as finished as they had hoped but it is liveable so they have already moved in and made it their home.
Many sacrificial donations have made it possible to purchase construction materials to put up the first two classroom buildings and to build adequate housing for all six teachers. They are also extremely grateful for gifts to cover ongoing expenses like paying teacher wages and purchasing curriculum. Jonathan says, “It is truly amazing to see believers from around the world investing in the hearts of our village children.”
On top of all that, Jonathan and Susan were very thankful for volunteers from the Hewa church, who taught a daily Hewa literacy class during the school break. Mothers and other Hewans, who cannot attend formal school, got the opportunity to learn to read and write with the purpose of reading the Hewa language New Testament. They were very happy to see that more than 50 people faithfully attended the morning Hewa literacy classes each day.
While Susan and Mikenna were in the tribe over the Christmas break, they held classes for the students who had an extra desire to study the English language. Attendance was good and these classes will give the students an extra boost toward excelling in their studies.
It has been an amazing experience for Jonathan and Susan living with the Hewa people since the year 2000, and they are deeply grateful for prayer and support for the purpose of translating and communicating the important truths of the Bible. There have been many difficulties on this journey, but over the last four years, as they have been developing the new Christian school, they are once again amazed and re-energized by how the Lord is already using it to impact the lives of the village children in beautiful ways. Thank you for being part of this exciting adventure as it continues to unfold.