Good News Times Two

Josh Verdonck greeting the Kuyu men in 2022.

Kuyu

“For years now we have carried letters to the neighboring people group, and now you guys have finally heard our cries and pleas!” exclaimed a Kuyu village leader years ago in a meeting to announce the intentions of a church planting team.

April 19, 2022, pilot Josh Verdonck, flying the first-ever R66 helicopter in Papua New Guinea on its first day of ministry flying, landed in Kuyu to check out their helipad location. By December, three families had built houses in the village and moved in.
In August, the last two guys on the team passed their final language and culture evaluations. As well, one of the women on the team tested closer to being done, despite her role as a homeschooling mom. 

Jonathan Ames working on literacy materials with the Kuyu men. 

Then, just a couple of weeks ago, Jonathan and Devon Ames, members of the Kuyu team, posted: “It has been an exciting and busy week in Kuyu! Two of our consultants flew in this week to help us construct the first literacy materials in the Kuyu language. These materials will be used to teach literacy in the upcoming months, possibly starting in January.

“These are the first-written-down and soon-to-be-printed stories in the Kuyu language. Each lesson adds one new sound, accompanied by a couple stories that help illustrate that sound. Our Kuyu friends have been eager to help!”

Lembena

“I have been in there many times, but this time was different,” said Language and Culture Consultant Eric Hedeen, after a trip to the Lembena people group, among whom church planting work started in August of 2020.

One facet of Ethnos360 Aviation’s service is to fly consultants like Eric to the remote villages where church planters work. In this case, Lembena has an airstrip, so Eric flew in the Kodiak airplane to evaluate the progress that the team is making in the language. He would spend hours meticulously testing the ability of Jason Hughes, Adam Ferguson, and Micah Meyers to navigate in the Lembena language.

Eric (red shirt) evaluates a team member’s ability to communicate with Lembena speakers. 

Why was this time different? “All three men were able to complete their culture and language acquisition,” wrote Eric. “This is a huge accomplishment for them personally, but what excites me the most is that the people in that village are now just months away from the beginning of literacy with evangelistic teaching to start soon after that.”

When you donate to the Flight Sponsorship Fund you make it possible for consultants to provide needed help to church planting teams. And, of course, affordable flights allow for families in remote locations to “stick it out” for the long haul of establishing thriving churches, knowing they will be able to get the supplies they need. You can join with consultant Eric Hedeen in saying, “I'm excited about what the Lord is going to do to build His church there.”