There were no crowds to greet our distinguished guests that day. In fact, almost the whole village had gone to Balimo to see the PNG prime minister, the governor and other dignitaries who were attending the annual Gogodala cultural festival. If the Kewa villagers had known that the same VIPs they were seeking a glimpse of would be coming to their own village, many would have stayed home to greet them. But only a small group of school children and their parents gathered in our yard to give audience to the country’s leaders who came by boat to see what the AFM missionaries were doing. “You children are the future of our nation. Be good students. Do not drop out of school,” the Prime Minister said to the children. He smiled and crouched down beside them to snap a selfie. Then the governor of our province stepped forward to speak. He pulled a wad of bills from his pocket and handed them to me saying, “Here, I want you to do something to help these children.” I nodded and assured him we would. Our new short-term missionaries, Charles and Lara Cabral, came from Brazil to help us start up Pathfinder clubs among the Gogodala. The 4,400 kina (about $1,300 USD) gift from the governor is being used to purchase supplies for our young Pathfinders.

God cares for His children of all ages in all parts of the world. He commissions us as He did Peter to “feed” His lambs. Jesus asked a probing question during His discourse on the end times: “Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household to give them meat in due season?” (Matt. 24:45). Please pray for the Cabrals and us that we may give these children the wholesome food of God’s word.

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