Last autumn Jim and Judy Burdett made a trip back to the Dom in Papua New Guinea where they previously served for many years.
First Jim made a foray to Dom by himself to check out everything. It was a long one day round trip (approx. six hours of tedious driving). They stayed in their former co-workers’ house – who had given it to the church for an office on leaving the ministry in the Dom. Jim and Judy had some challenges upon arrival. Power was a huge issue. The solar panels, controller and inverter worked but the battery array was old and didn’t hold a charge overnight, they ran their generator on the front porch in the evening. The ceiling was home to many rats and mice which were hard to remove. They heard them all night long scurrying and fighting each other, disturbing their sleep.
There are three churches in three different clans (the Dom people are divided into clans). One is where Jim and Judy had been since 1994, another is in a village an hour and half away from there. The third is the original local church where there are just one or two men who are qualified to teach and they are spread thinly. However, a wonderful and encouraging piece of news is that there is an outreach in a related language and it is going very well. They have 15 new believers. The only issue is how far away the location is from the church. It’s too far to walk (12 hours) and vehicular travel is expensive for locals. One couple are now staying in the outreach area as missionaries and to teach.
The reprinted Dom New Testaments arrived in country while they were there. The people were excited about it and copies were given to any and all who wanted one. On one of their last Sundays in the Dom, they and the small group of believers, all read portions of Ephesians together out of the Dom New Testament.
Jim and Judy returned to the USA in early December. They will be facing many challenges and changes in the next months and would appreciate prayer. Please continue to pray for the Dom churches.