A group of 12 students at the Lake Kutubu Secondary School in the Southern Highlands province of Papupa New Guinea (PNG) have requested baptism but are disappointed they cannot take part in the PNG for Christ programs. The state boarding school will not allow the students to have mobile phones during school term, so they cannot watch the live stream, and there is no site nearby.

Julie Pind, deputy principal and an Adventist church member, started the Discovery Bible Reading program with the students last year. Her family have built a church in the area at their own cost.

Volunteers in Action (VIA) have sent a sponsored volunteer to work with the church.

The area has very few Adventist church members and has been a very hard place to share the Adventist message, but these students represent a new generation that is open to hearing more, according to Jim Wagi, coordinator for Voice of Prophecy and VIA for the Western Highlands Mission. "One of the reasons I want us to focus on the students is that they are the future of this country and it is best we provide them with a good foundation for their lives,” said Wagi. “Especially places like Kutubu where the adults are stubborn.”

Pind says the students need their own Bibles and copies of The Great Controversy so they can study for themselves.

The original article was published on the South Pacific Division website, Adventist Record.