Pryor Ap Ma Project – April 2016 – New equipment, new funds, new classes

Since 2005 we have been milling timber for all of our building projects here in Samban and the surrounding areas. Our LT15 Woodmizer sawmill has been a vital part of our work here. The timber that it produces allows us to keep costs to a minimum for the different construction projects that we have undertaken. It has also provided help for several communities where we have milled. 

There are a lot of trees in the jungle surrounding us; however, none of them belong to us. We have always tried to come up with ways to support and encourage surrounding communities to provide for themselves the means to earn income or improve living standards. We have a timber agreement form that allows communities, groups, or individual tree owners access to timber by completing the form and allowing us to mill timber in their area. In exchange for giving a tree to us (to mill timber for our purposes), we will mill a tree for the owners as well. So while we provide timber for our projects, we have milled timber for the owners as well. In this way, not only have we milled timber for our clinic, two classrooms, a literacy center, teacher houses, and other projects; we have also provided timber in other communities. The timber that we have milled for others has gone to build a missionary’s home, a Bible Translation office, cocoa dryers, classrooms, and many various projects. 

Our sawmill has been dependable and crucial to the milestones we have reached in our ministry here. Yet the countless logs that were milled have taken their toll. We needed parts and upgrades to keep it operating at maximum capacity. In our search of the needed new parts and upgrades, something unforeseen happened.  An anynomous donor donated a new sawmill, with a bigger engine and capacity to speed up timber production! We were completely surprised and shocked at such generosity!  The Lord has surely blessed us with many people who care about our ministry here in PNG. 

Just 2 weeks ago, our new mill arrived in Wewak, Papua New Guinea. I (Jesse) traveled there to dismantle and arrange everything for shipping. Another mission organization (Friends in Action PNG) helped with storage, forklifts, expertise, and a big truck to facilitate getting our mill to Angoram and the Sepik River. Some of our guys and I put together a pontoon out of old fuel drums and loaded all of the parts, sawmill, and supplies into the boat and pontoon and traveled slowly on the river back to Samban. 

We are so excited to have this new piece of equipment. While it’s just a machine, the resources it provides allow us to further medical treatment, educational capabilities, and Biblical training. To say that it will have a major impact on our work here in Samban is an understatement.  We would like to offer a special thank you to all of you who provide finances to carry out His will here in Samban, the East Sepik Province of Papua New Guinea! 

Sir Michael T. Somare Supports OIPNG 

On June 18, 2015 the Governor for the East Sepik Province (the province in which we are located) visited us in our village of Samban. He was visiting us for a special reason. He was here to officially open the classroom for the Samban Primary School that we had built. Many of our employees had worked hard milling timber and constructing this building that housed 4 classrooms for our local primary. We had spent months on this project, and it was a major local event to have the governor visit us in such a remote location. 

He spent some time with us in our home while we waited for the festivities to begin. During the ceremony, he made a verbal commitment to financially support our ministry here. We are pleased to announce that he has honored his promise. Just two weeks ago, we received a check from the East Sepik Provincial Government for K50,000. To our knowledge, no other Non-Profit Organization in our area has ever received such a generous gift from the provincial government. These funds will be used to send one of our medical employees for further training, to help in the construction of a new staff house for our clinic workers, and to provide improvements on the clinic building. 

Ap Ma FODE Center 

After a short trip to the PNG capital of Port Moresby, the FODE Center here in Samban is finally registered. FODE stands for Flexible Open Distant Education; it provides materials for grades 7-12. FODE was PNG’s response to the nation’s thousands of students who graduated from grade 6 (community school) and had no grade 7 to attend. In PNG there are very few schools which offer grades 7-12; in fact, in our district, there is only 1 high school grades 9-10 and no schools offering grades 11-12, until now. The FODE program is virtually a correspondence school. I (Karie) have been working with the materials now for 2 years and see a lot of room for improvement. The materials themselves contain good information, but most students lack the ability to read in English the instructions and do the work and learn something new. The Ap Ma FODE Center is going to put a new twist on the current system. Each grade will meet in class for 2 hours each week and study two subjects a semester. This class time is designed for direct instruction and hands-on activities to make lessons clear and homework manageable. I do not believe that 2 hours a week is enough.

This is why I am putting out the call to teachers. If you would like to teach overseas for a semester or two, we could use your help. In the years to come, I am confident that through the FODE program, I will find candidates for our scholarship program that will send students to teacher-training colleges, in hopes they return to work at the Center. But for the first 5 years, we will need some help getting enough students through the program in order to develop the future leaders.

I am very excited about working with these eager young men and women and ask your prayers for this new school. In PNG, schools are encouraged to include prayer and scriptures in their daily lessons and we have recently received new Bible Study materials for high school students from another mission called Pacific Island Ministries. Pray that these students will come to know their Creator better through the study of his creations. 

Prayer Requests 

• March 14-17 Samban Clinic Health Fair – Pray for safety for those traveling to work at the Fair; pray for a peaceful time in the village and that those most in need of care would receive it. 

• March-October Milling and Transport – These are the dry season months in which Jesse and his crews will be milling timber and bringing in the necessary timber, sand, and gravel for all the building projects this year. 

• Government Donation to the clinic – We are so thankful and praise the Lord that the government is recognizing the work being done here and is willing to donate money to further the work with the clinic. 

• Pray that the FODE students would take advantage of this second chance and study hard. 

• Pray for the Pryor kids that they would be diligent in their studies and not fall behind during this hectic time. 

• Pray that the Lord would provide us with helpers to carry on and grow the work here in PNG. We are praying specifically for teachers, a town team, and someone who could either build or run milling crews to assist Jesse.