Aug-Sept 1996

Dear Brethren and Friends;

Greetings in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

MELANESIAN BIBLE COLLEGE
Due to problems with the school board, the principal and the students, MBC was forced to shut down for re-organization. When the school changed from The Christian School of Life in the early 90's it was envisioned that the new school (MBC) would have a higher level of education to meet the needs of the PNG church. Unfortunately the scholastic standard of the local staff did not rise with the scholastic expectations (except for Jab Mesa who attended the South Pacific Bible College.) I was asked to come and assist in the establishment of management principals which would stabilize MBC for the future. The local board which was in place did not understand that Highland St (the supporting congregation) felt that same way. The board would not listen to suggestions and it became more and more difficult for me to function in the role that I felt I had been sent to serve. It came to a head at the start of the fifth block of school (we have 6 blocks of 5 weeks each). The board met and said that I was no longer needed at MBC. (They were going to send a letter of this intent even though we live next to the school.) When I was told by a board member the next day of this intention I said okay and didn't go teach my class on Major Discourses and Parables. The students asked why I wasn't teaching and then boycotted classes until the board gave them a reasonable explanation. When that wasn't given, Joe Cannon (who was here for the 25th Anniversary of the PNG church) tried to sort out the problem before he left and was not able to do so. So the school was closed and the students sent home until Larry McKenzie could come from the Highland St Mission's ministry to work out something. Without going into much detail, suffice it to say re-organization was a necessity. Jab Mesa has been appointed the new principal by Highland St, the local board dissolved and they appointed me to serve as the Coordinator of Curriculum Development. My role will be to work closely with the Principal. The coordinator’s objective would be to ensure the quality of student curriculum.

My responsibilities will be
1. Perform analysis of current curriculum.
2. Develop learning objectives for each course.
3. Execute design of overall curriculum.
4. Perform evaluation and quality control of lesson materials.
5. Analyze tests and other student performances data to determine adequacy of curriculum.
6. Provide standards for teacher presentation and provide instruc- tional assistance as needed.
7. Assist in the preparation of teaching aids, student work books and lesson guides.
8. Develop/Coordinate a plan for student's course work outside of classroom.
9. Evaluation of blocks of instruction and the adjustment of school calender to accommodate any changes deemed as needed. This is in consultation with Principal.

As coordinator I will be required to conduct a written evaluation of each teacher once each year. I will also supervise and conduct written evaluation of the teacher by the students.

Jab has been given opportunity to re-organize and a new local board will be put in place next year. We have scheduled the missed last two blocks of instruction to be taken Jan- Feb 1997. We will have a graduation service for the forth year students on March 1st. The 1997 school year will begin March 3rd.

We are changing the format of the school as well. The format was over a four year period. The basic class was for the first two years which covered a study of Genesis to Revelation and other courses of doctrinal importance. The third year was a year of practical training where the students worked with congregations and put into practice the principles they had learned the first two years. The fourth year was spent back in residence in Lae. This year was spent in further Biblical study as well as more practical studies in the dealing with people, such as counseling and leadership development.

The mission statement of MBC is "The Melanesian Bible Collegee was organized for the purpose of providing a Christian education for the people of Papua New Guinea. The school operates with the aim of furthering the cause of Christ by spreading His Gospel in Papua New Guinea. A major problem, that kept surfacing was that too many people saw MBC only as a school for training evangelists for the local PNG churches. To overcome this thinking a re-organization was necessary. We are now stressing that MBC is for all Christians, men & women, those who want to serve in full-time work and/or those who just want to know more of the Bible. Another concern which kept coming up is that four years was felt to be too long away from their villages (their houses rotted and their gardens were overgrown). With this new direction the school will go to a new format: We will be running a basic course of study which is open to everyone who has finished at least an eight grade education. (Have to be able to read and write Pidgin English.) This will be two years of Biblical studies of 8 blocks of 5 weeks each. A certificate will be presented upon successful completion of this course of study. A third year will be offered as Advanced Studies for those who are recommended by the MBC staff and their home congregations. It will consist of four blocks of classroom studies (five week each) and twenty weeks of practical work in the villages. This course is designed for those persons who intend to take up full time work in the churches. They will receive a certificate for this course as well.

Introducing the Dowara Family
Sombo (37 years old) and Gane (33) have been married 16 years. They are Papua New Guinea citizens. They have three children Sarah (12), Rebecca (10) and Bobby (6). Sombo and Gane have both been Christians over 16 years. Sombo and Gane began full time work with the church in Papua New Guinea in January 1981 in a small country town called Wau. They worked with Tom & Rens Bunt (an Australian missionary couple). The Bunts left back to Australia due to health reasons in 1984 but Sombo and Gane continued to work with the local church.

In 1987 the Wau congregation was sufficiently grounded to run themselves and the Dowaras moved to Lae to assist the work of the church there. During their six years in Wau, Sombo was part of the establishment of 6 churches: Wau, Winima, Kakoro, Bulolo, Kuembu and Kapini. The Dowara family has been sponsored and supported by the City Beach church of Christ in Perth Australia since 1981. Sombo has a command of the English language as well as Pidgin English. He is a proven leader, Evangelist and solid in the Faith.

We have been trying to send the Dowara family to Vanuatu to assist the brethren. We have had them booked several times but immigration did not clear certain items and we had to delay their travel. The congregation had a going away party one Wednesday before they were to leave. They didn't leave then and we are still tying up loose ends and pray they will be going October 6th. We are now having to come up with $2800 as an immigration bond before they can leave PNG. We are having to borrow this and if you can provide help in this area it would be very much appreciated (please, please). Please send funds to us directly or to our sponsoring congregation marked "Dowara immigration bond". They are needed very much there.

OTHER HAPPENINGS
We had several earthquakes in August/September. We have had over 57 inches of rain, lightening hit a major phone line and we were without phones for several days, we have the normal power outages every day or so (sometimes just a flicker and sometimes for several hours). The Lifsey family returned from leave and have moved to Madang to ground the work there. Rose Cobb a single worker, went back to USA on leave, until early next year. Tom Bunt and Colwyn Parker from Australia visited the Lord's work around PNG. The ladies of the congregation had a cake on Father's Day (Sept 1st here) for all the fathers of the congregation. (It was really neat.) The annual church 'kibung' (gathering) was held in Mt Hagen. Over 1850 attended, 15 baptisms.
Kathy (47) and I (48) had birthday anniversaries this month.

In Christian service, your co-workers for the cause of Christ in the South Pacific,

Tobey & Kathy Huff

Prayer needs: 1. Re-orgaization of MBC.; 2. Funds for Dowara move to Vanuatu.3. Biblical leadership for PNG churches.