Literacy and outreach

André and Aurélie Tousch and family served in the Iski tribe of Papua New Guinea. André is now the director of SIM France-Belgium. They live in France where their children are all getting along very well at their various levels in education, and along with Aurélie are very much involved in the youth group at their church in Nîmes. They are still involved with the work in PNG.

Recently, the Massa church in Iski, completed the literacy programme in a nearby village. To bring the programme to a close, a graduation ceremony was held, where community leaders shared their appreciation for the literacy programme, and for the Massa church for offering it. To date, they appreciate the cultural aspect, being able to read, write and preserve their mother tongue. Pray that, thanks to this programme, they will be able to read the Word of God in their own language and turn to Jesus, the Light of the world.

The literacy programme was in preparation of the outreach due to start this month.

Every year since 2021, churches from four different ethnic groups have come together for three days of fellowship. As each group speaks a different language, the trade language, Melanesian Pidgin, is used in these meetings. The theme this year was “things that harm our faith and fellowship.” The topics covered: animistic practices, clan spirit, jealousy, and covetousness.

The conference was very encouraging. This time, the churches organised everything without the missionaries getting involved. Around 500 people were welcomed, fed and housed!

In the summer André led a group of six people on a vision trip to West Africa visiting various ministries. This trip enabled several in the group, who are considering a longer-term commitment, to discover for themselves what it is like to live on the mission field. There is an immense need for workers; entire regions are without Christian witness. Pray that the Lord will lead workers to West Africa.

In September André was able to visit a SIM team located in the south of Africa and give input on their ministry. The local team has decided to work in the south of the country, where until recently there were no evangelical congregations at all. A house church was formed, initially bringing together Christians (expats) who lived in the area. Now the church is structuring and organising itself, with the aim of being a blessing to the local indigenous population. There are two main groups with a population of more than 300,000 people; with only a handful of believers and that have no church.

Thank you for your prayers!