Something in Store for Mibu

Part of our job is to see the church here in Mibu mature to a point where they are self-sustaining and reproducing themselves in others. There are several things that need to be in place for this to happen. One of those is a strong literacy program. If people can't confidently read and comprehend God's word, then how will they possibly carry the teaching from one generation to the next.

Currently one of the hurdles in the race to keep literacy moving forward is the lack of finances to cover costs of much needed new literacy materials for course itself. Every so often these materials get worn out and have to be replaced. After working with the Mibu folks for more than a year to try to put together the funds for these materials (as a side note, they've come up with about 75% of the funds!... almost there!... Praise God!) it's become clear that they need something in place that will help generate funds to aid the literacy program in the future.

You may remember a couple months ago, we reported the startup of a literacy store, where almost all the profits generated would go toward the literacy program. We're thanking God that though Keteng (who is being trained to manage the store... and to train others to help) struggles with the math, he's been doing very well at tracking all sales and inventory. He's also enlisted his oldest daughter at home to help, and is considering who else might be brought on board. The store has even grown beyond just selling supplies specific to literacy, such as pencils, pens, rulers, chalk and paper. It's become more of a full fledged general store with many of the things that people generally have a hard time getting their hands on in this off-the-beaten-path kind of place; Bush knives, ramen noodles, rice, salt, sugar, batteries, second hand clothes, sewing supplies... The list is extensive and we wouldn't want to bore you. But suffice it to say that as well as beginning to generate funds for the literacy effort here, it's also providing the benefit of putting a sustainable system in place that brings many of the hard to get goods closer to home for people to purchase. These are things that folks typically go all the way to town to buy. So far, Keteng has managed the sale of almost 700 Kina (about $270) worth of inventory, which is a lot here.

Once the store is able to repay it's debt (we put up the initial capital) the hope is that enough funds would be generated to fund costs of literacy here in Mibu primarily, but also to be able to bless some of the outreach areas by subsidizing some of their literacy supply costs.

While things are going well with the literacy store, there are still many things that still need to be in place before we can say with confidence that it has become something truly sustainable to keep the doors open to God's word for subsequent generations.

We would appreciate your prayers for all the work that is still needed for the literacy program here in Mibu;
- for people to be convinced of it's importance and for interest to be high
- for people to actively work to improve their reading/comprehension skills
- for faithfulness to keep teaching and training in literacy skills
- for faithful management of the store to generate funds for future literacy efforts