Missionaries in Papua New Guinea
Stan Rowe is visiting Alpha Aviation to receive pilot training. Over the next few months his goals are to have his private pilot rating so that he can use his skills with a Cessna 182 aircraft used in his ministry to travel around the island.
About Papua New Guinea
Papua Niugini, officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is a country in Oceania, occupying the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and numerous offshore islands (the western portion of the island is occupied by the Indonesian provinces of Papua and West Papua). It is located in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, in a region defined since the early 19th century as Melanesia. Its capital, and one of its few major cities, is Port Moresby. It is one of the most diverse countries on Earth, with over 850 indigenous languages and at least as many traditional societies, out of a population of just under 6 million. It is also one of the most rural, with only 18 per cent of its people living in urban centers. The country is also one of the world’s least explored, culturally and geographically, and many undiscovered species of plants and animals are thought to exist in the interior of Papua New Guinea.
Testimonial
Hi, my name is Stan Rowe. My wife, Tresa, our family and I are missionaries to the field of Papua New Guinea. Learn more about the country of Papua New Guinea, and discover our vision to reach souls there.
Our sending church is Eastland Baptist Church in Tulsa, OK, Pastor Troy Dorrell. We have been serving Christ in Papua New Guinea since 1998.
Read a brief history of how the Rowe’s became missionaries to Papua New Guinea, written by Stan Rowe.
Salvation
I was born in 1967 at the old Burge hospital while my parents were in Baptist Bible College, Springfield, MO. In the year 1972, I was saved at the age of 5 somewhere around the time of June. My mom led me to the Lord and my dad, who was the pastor, baptized me there at Calvary Baptist Church, Junction City, KS.
Call to Preach
Somewhere around 1978, I went forward to make public in church my surrender to preach. My dad prayed with me and my grandfather, Harold C. Jayne, (one of Dr. Art Wilson’s preacher boys and song leaders) was the pastor then in Salina, KS. Grandpa had me stand up in front of the congregation and I answered yes that I’d surrendered to preach. That was Grace Baptist Temple in Salina, KS.
In 1985 I left Scott City, KS where my dad pastored and went to Bible College in Springfield, MO. And, like some kids away from home for the first time, I had a few years of wilderness wanderings, but eventually graduated in 1991 & from Grad School in 1995.
Surrender to the Field
In 1988 at BBC I began considering the mission field. I thought about countries in South America but never had any peace or clear direction. By 1989, through Tresa and other MK’s from PNG and missions classes, God had begun dealing with me about Papua New Guinea by first just showing me the country. It seemed like it was everywhere, and I eventually made a choice. I surrendered to the Lord to go to PNG during Christmas break of 1989/90. I made that public in a Missions Conference in 1990 at High St Baptist Church in Springfield.
Tresa’s parents, Jim & Mary Blume, missionaries to PNG, were there in that conference. The Blumes have been missionaries to Papua New Guinea since 1969. They took Tresa to the field in January 1971. She was saved in 1973, living there in PNG until 1988 as a missionary kid. We were married in 1991 by Bro. Dave Hardy, Eastland Baptist Church, Tulsa, OK. Eastland Baptist is the Blume’s home church as well as ours.
Survey Trip & Internship
We took our survey trip for 3 months in 1994, then came back to finish school, be ordained, start our family, work in a church, do deputation and arrived on the field in 1998. We worked for one year at Valley View Baptist Church in Walnut Grove, MO teaching the Jr High, taking care of the buildings and always on standby for anything and everything.
Deputation & First Term
After deputation (May 1996 to May 1998) we worked in Wau, Papua New Guinea with Tresa’s parents, Jim & Mary Blume, for another year of internship. We then moved up to Wapenamanda in the Enga Province in July 1999.
After settling in we began looking for a place to go preach and start a church. I went out to Tsak valley area for awhile and saw some fruit. We pulled back from that area because of tribal fighting then went to Birip starting in August 2000. One or two families stayed faithfully there as we were on our first furlough for 10 months in 2001.
In 2002 we returned to PNG, went back to Birip and began preaching and teaching through Genesis, Exodus, and started Leviticus. We tried to go verse by verse, story by story as God led. The Bible really began to make things more solid in the church as it came alive and attracted people. On Wednesdays we taught on prayer and went through 1 & 2 Thessalonians. I also preached at meetings in other areas from time to time.
Birip
Our first baptism was in 2003, and we had a couple more in 2004 and 2005. We observed the first Lord’s Supper with 12 adults in April 2005. There are probably 15 that are a core group and faithful to come. Sundays, with visitors, and others saved but not yet baptized, make the numbers usually 25 to 35. And a few times God has packed out that little grass hut with over 50. Not many promotions just mainly preaching.
We’ve helped them survey out and buy 3 acres of land on the main highway which is now fenced in and ready to be used. Their biggest need is a pastor, preferably one from their local Engan language area. Please pray with us
Wapenamanda
In Wapenamanda where we live, we also helped with a church building project for Pastor Epen Poko and with a Christian school. These three areas of work are shown briefly on the video.
