Dear Fellow Supporters of the work of the PNG Church Partnership,
May I, first of all, wish you a very Happy Easter, preceded, as it has been, by a particularly harrowing lent and passion tide for so many around the world. Easter joy and a personal involvement in the reality of suffering entwine together for so many and for so much of the time.
The dawn of new life and hope will emerge, and we must surely all be praying for that to happen swiftly. The reality is that the Risen Lord also remains the Crucified Jesus. The pain, anguish and bitter suffering will remain for so many long after the fighting stops. May that happen soon.
May I also welcome you to this edition of our regular *** Newsletter ***, with continued thanks to those who make it happen. Principally, though (as he would be quick to point out) not exclusively, we have the indefatigable energies and persistence in soliciting material of John Rea to thank for ensuring we have a Newsletter to read. Thanks seem to me to one of the themes underlying many of this collection of stories and news. Thanks, and an emphasis on what can be achieved through community effort.
The community-wide involvement is particularly evident in Simon’s summary of the regular reports sent in by Morrison Wiam. They tell a good story of a determination to engage with a real issue around the response to Covid in the remote Highlands, and the range of people involved in helping to address it. Many people have cause to be thankful for that. I hope we might be saying something similar about the success of Bishop Lindsley’s Clergy Wives’ Ministry. The Newton College Update reminds us of the need to thank Bishop Jeffrey Driver, Fr Giles Motisi and his colleagues for all their commitment to the Newton work. It is so good to know that clergy training is still being delivered, and that more and more becomes possible. Our thanks, too, that so many people here and elsewhere continue to support this work. We hope and pray that the Norwich Lent Appeal for SagSag’s Health Centre has gone well, and I am sure you will find your hearts warmed as much as mine was by Lynn Fry’s telling of “Stella’s Story” – in the one of the places where Bishop Nathan’s Community Project for Covid Awareness and Treatment has been active.
I want to express our thanks, too, to Margaret Poynton, whose ministry of support in Dogura Diocese has now ended. Margaret has done such an important job there (and before that in Lae), often enabling key parts of the communications link between ACPNG and us. Get well soon, Margaret, and Thank You. We also need to pray, please, for one of our Committee members, David Robin, who has recently suffered two strokes. He is making progress, we understand, from his faithful friend, Antonietta. Thank you, David, too, and Get Well soon.
Finally, may I ask if any of you would be interested in joining us on the PNGCP Committee, specifically to “represent our wider supporters”? Please contact us, if so.
May God Bless us All, and especially, his people in Ukraine,
+Jonathan Meyrick
PNGCP Chairman
Easter 2022