Dear Friend,

Sitting in church on Sunday, I was struck by a sobering reality. Our pastor stood at the pulpit, faithfully proclaiming the Word of God—while the elders of several other congregations I had driven past that morning did the same. Yet I remembered an update from faraway Papua New Guinea, where entire communities and people groups have no pastor and no gospel presence—and I wanted to share it with you.  

You may already know about the powerful ministry of Goroka Baptist Bible College (GBBC), training pastors and church leaders to reach their remote Pacific island nation. Rex and Dorothy Sombe graduated from GBBC as a vibrant young married couple and began leading a church in Goroka, where they discipled GBBC students in ministry. Both gifted communicators and compassionate shepherds, they later planted a church to reach drug addicts and other struggling individuals, plus a church in Dorothy’s village—while also serving as evangelists at the Seigu Clinic.  

But in late 2024, God suddenly called Rex home. Rex’s last words as he left the clinic that day were to praise God for the souls saved and lives touched with the gospel. In time, Dorothy, now raising their children alone, returned to ministry with even greater vigor, exhorting the women she counsels that her husband was ready for death, and they can be also. 

But today, Pastor Rex’s pulpit stands empty. Who will shepherd his flock?  

Each year, GBBC’s solid theological training and leadership development equips pastors to start and lead churches around the nation. Yet the need overwhelms their current capacity. 

“We are praying for more Rex Sombes to be prepared and sent out to fill the huge void,” said missionary Lori Smith. 

As we see the countless villages and people groups across Papua New Guinea that have no pastor—and no church—we feel a renewed sense of urgency to complete the GBBC expansion and renovation so that we can prepare more indigenous believers to reach their nation. 

Your faithful partnership has already made it possible to complete the new Seigu Clinic. This summer, we invite you to join us again in funding the vital additions to the GBBC campus. The next phase of construction will provide two desperately needed two-story classroom buildings (with furnishings) and faculty housing for Bible College professors. 

Generous donors like you have already contributed $1.6 million towards the project. But completing the GBBC expansion will require $5.1 million. That’s a God-sized goal—but so too is our task of reaching the unreached of Papua New Guinea, and we’re trusting him with his mission. A gift of any amount helps provide space for future pastors. 

By expanding the GBBC campus, we are not merely funding a building project. We are helping to equip national pastors who can preach the gospel across Papua New Guinea.  

Will you partner with us again this summer?