HoveyServinGod

Have you ever thought about what is church…...most would instinctively say it’s a building, maybe a place of worship?  Undoubtably your definition of what church is has been changed or restricted over the last few months.  The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines the church as a building for public and Christian Worship. So, what happens what we can’t meet in this building…or in our case what if we don’t have a building…. does this mean the church stops or doesn’t exist? I (Brian) heard an interesting thought the other day about early Biblical leaders…..Do you think Paul asked Timothy, “Did you go to church this week?”....or Peter ask John, “What church have you been attending?”  I personally don’t think so, because their definition was different than what is common today.  So, what was their definition and what was the early church?  To start I looked up and found the word church is used 108 times in the Bible (New Testament only).  The first time th...

I reread a story in my Bible tonight that really got my attention in light of the current state of the world and the pandemic, COVID-19.   It reads as follows: Jonathan, the son of Saul, had a son who was crippled in his feet.   He was five years old when the news about Saul and Jonathan came from Jezreel, and his nurse took him up and fled, and as she fled in her haste, he fell and became lame.   And his name was Mephibosheth. 2 Samuel 4:4 Our Gunner will turn five in just a couple weeks.   He can’t wait!   Hahaha….isn’t that how it’s supposed to be?   Children should be celebrated as they are a gift from God. :0) Mephibosheth’s dad, Jonathan, died when Mephibosheth was only five years old .   That hits a little close to home!   Given the recent pandemic prognosis, it would be easy to become anxious at this possibility living here in PNG.   Weighty stuff to consider on a Sunday evening. Still, this story so captures the effects of ...

I have heard it said that your instrument of choice reflects something about your character.   I chose the cello.   I tried the piano, and I play limited guitar.   I have often wished I had stuck with piano lessons rather than cello because the piano seems more available and can be accompaniment, not just for solos or ensembles.   However, as I have thought on it as of late, I never would have made it as a pianist….I can’t multi-task for ANYTHING!!!   Hahahaha!   However, I DO see me in the cello. I do better supporting the melody rather than carrying it by myself, as a violin would.   As a mom I’m doing dishes, laundry, meal prep, etc. and while those tasks seem routine a lot of the time, they also hold the ensemble together! The song that comes to mind, when I think of me and my cello part is Pachelbel’s, Canon in D for a string quartet.   I had the privilege of playing that in an ensemble in Jr. High.   While I was tempted to cal...

🎶 I have decided to follow Jesus/I have decided to follow Jesus/I have decided to follow Jesus /no turning back/ NO turning back! 🎶 -?-  (emphasis added ) We have been trying to write a blog for several days here, but it is difficult to know what to say.  Is there risk?  Absolutely.  Are we going to stay? Until God directs us otherwise, YES. WHY, you may wonder?   Because Jesus Christ gave ALL to save us, and we love Him!   Papua New Guinea has caught up to the rest of the world and is in shut down mode.  All schools have shut down, flights grounded, and any ground travel not recommended.  We have been locking down the Bible College, however much of the country continues to do what they want as there is little to no enforcement.  There is a general sense that something is going on and a brew of panic as we go into any store.  Technology is not very prevalent here and most of what people hear is through word of mouth...and if yo...

Undoubtedly your last week has looked far different than you expected with the panic that is spreading across the world due to the corona virus.  We have been told there are no confirmed cases in PNG yet, but in reality there has not been testing for it either.  So as we see the news stories and information spreading it seems to be a bit of a title wave encroaching at our doorstep.  We can’t control what is coming, but we can decide what we are going to do with it....  Sometimes when it rains, it pours...literally.   You might be surprised to know that our little fellowship at Makia didn’t meet this Sunday.   It wasn’t because of the feared virus.   It wasn’t government mandated.   It wasn’t because our numbers necessitated it.   It was due to rain. There were no livestream options available to our believers.  There wasn’t another Bible believing church they could reasonably walk to.  We did try to gather, but our pop up canopy and...

The new front gate at Goroka Baptist Bible College 🎶 At the cross/at the cross/where I first saw the light/and the burdens of my heart rolled away/it was there by faith I received my sight/and now I am happy all the day!🎶 -Isaac Watts Sometimes we look at the cross and see it as precious.  Sometimes it looks like an instrument of torture.  Sometimes it reminds us of our sinfulness and our need for forgiveness.  Sometimes it reminds us of dark days preceding new life for us all.   Today?  For me?  I look and see a cross (literally) and it makes me smile.  Many hands have made their mark on our campus and it’s physical structures and layout.  Many have been involved in training nationals to equip them to reach the country of PNG with the Gospel.  And the cross?  It is central to us ALL!!!   While the cross was intended to divide Jesus' followers and eradicate His teachings from the temple, it brought unity and the vis...

We have been struggling the last month to get a post out as much has been going on.  Each day has been filled with lots of challenges and victories.  We have had the privilege of having some friends from home come and work with us for a couple months.  They have been a tremendous blessing and have assisted in getting much accomplished here at GBBC. One project that we have been working on for some time is defining the front entry way to the college.  The goal was to make a circlular style entry way that gives a nice apperiance. Dirt was hauled in and the large scale  sculpting began. Once it was mostly defined cement was poured around the perimeter  We wanted to make is low maintenance so we decided to try to cover it with stone and cement It was quite a process of searching for stones and placing them one by one. As usual Gunner needed to be on site to inspect the work and see how he could get dirty! The completed project has turned out very well!  T...