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Our Stories

Investing Knowledge for Ministry

by | Sep 11, 2019 | Basic Computer Training, What MAF Technologies (formerly CRMF) Does

Sadly, not many pastors and ministry leaders in Papua New Guinea have the basic computer knowledge on how to use a computer in their ministry, both in rural and urban centres. We have travelled around the country and have realized that most pastors and ministry leaders desire to have the basic knowledge on computers and how to use them to create church programs, write letters and reports and even share the Word of God using a projector. Those who were fortunate to attend our training have already planned to purchase a laptop for themselves and for their Churches. Many already have and are applying what they have learned from the Basic Computer Training (BCT).

“Wise men store up knowledge, but the mouth of a fool invites ruin” Proverbs 10:14. “My people are destroyed because of lack of knowledge” – Hosea 4:6. Pastor Agnes Tikili, AOG Women’s leader in WHP, quoted these two Bible verses during her speech on the BCT graduation day.

We are old, but that does not mean we cannot learn. It is important to seek and store up knowledge, like the Basic Computer Knowledge we received, so that we can cope up with the changes in technology. This will help us deliver God’s Word by using equipment such as laptop, printer and projector. We also need to be aware of what negative effects that comes with the technological changes and we must be prepared to fight it and help those who suffer from it. We will be destroyed or greatly affected if we do not know anything about that.

Ps Agnes Tikili

AOG Women's Leader, Western Highlands Province

Since last year (2018), this has been the second BCT that we’ve held at Rondon Mt. Hagen, Western Highlands Province and we are grateful that we could help equip and invest in the basics of computer knowledge and skills to pastors, youths and first year Bible school students at Rondon.

Basic Computer Training participants with their certificates after graduating from the two weeks workshop.

There were a lot of issues leading up to the training and during the training. We had issues with electricity. The school’s power supply was out for a month before we got there. Moreover, the generator we used could not supply enough power to cater for all the training laptops plus the projector. There were times we had to stop class and charge the laptops before we could continue. The issue with power got worse, the generator wasn’t working well and as a result; on Wednesday during the first week of the training we had no classes. Despite the ongoing power issues this did not stop the participants from praying and looking for ways to continue the training as they were really eager to learn. One of the participants, Pastor Alfred Paul, asked his friend from a nearby church and borrowed their generator. We were truly blessed as the generator worked well and we were able to continue our training successfully.

Ps Steven Tuman printing his church’s Sunday program.

The highlight for the first week was the printing session. The participants had to transfer their documents (such as church programs, letters or reports) to a USB flash drive and print them out from another computer with a printer. The smiles and the excitement on the participants’ faces upon looking at their printed documents showed how satisfied they were with their own work.

Grace Emmanuel working on her PowerPoint presentation.

The highlights during the second week were the presentation sessions. This time, the participants had to transfer their PowerPoint presentations into a USB drive, then connect to a computer with a projector and present their work. Most of them created sermons as their presentation, and the session got even better, with lovely, powerful, and encouraging sermons from the participants.

All the participants were blessed and really enjoyed the two weeks of training and fellowship. We thank God for the relationship we have with the AOG Highlands Regional Bible College and other Bible schools, churches and mission organizations that we work with. We will continue to invest our time and our resources to help bridge the gap between technology and the Churches in Papua New Guinea.