SOMETHING'S COOKING with RVA...Meet the Kitchens!

From Kimberly Kitchens:

Over 11 years ago, Eric and I were living in Mississippi and preparing to move

to Kentucky for him to attend seminary. During this time, a friend started forwarding

us missionary updates from Bill and Kelley Housley. We were in awe of how God

was using them in Papua New Guinea. We were amazed at the faith of this family to

move to such a hard to reach place and we were thankful that God was moving

among the people there.

We soon moved to Kentucky and quickly began looking for a new church

home. Upon recommendation from mere strangers, we began attending Clifton

Baptist Church.

It wasn’t long after this, we soon heard thepastors ask for prayer for some missionaries, the Housley’s in PNG. Eric and I just looked at each other in disbelief. We had been praying for this couple and reading their updates, but we had no idea that Clifton was one of their sending churches.

After continuing to follow the updates and lots of prayers for the Itutang

people, we rejoiced when God opened the hearts of the people there and a church

was born. Wow, brothers and sisters now in a land so far away!

Finally, Bill, Kelley and the girls came home for a visit. Eric and I attended the

Sunday school class that they taught. One of my daughters became attached to

Sabra, who helped teach her VBS class that summer. My daughter would come

home saying, “I want to go live in a tree house in the jungle like Ms. Sabra.”

Over the years we continued to learn more about PNG and the Inapang

people. We continued to pray for the Itutang church and the churches that were

being born in the other tribes. Each time Bill and Kelley came home, we were able to

get to know them a little more. When they left in 2015, it was really hard to say

good bye to them, even when we knew they were coming back for another visit in a

few years.

One night, Eric came home from an elder's meeting and told me that he

volunteered us for something and he apologized for not asking me first. I anxiously

wanted to know what it was! He asked me if I would like to visit Kelley the summer of

2017 because our church was planning a summer mission trip to PNG. That was the

best news ever! And while we were very excited about seeing Bill and Kelley again,

but both of us were overwhelmed at the opportunity to actually meet our brothers

and sisters in Itutang.

I cannot begin to describe all of the emotions of our trip. We spent time in

Itutang and heard so many testimonies of the believers there. We were able to

worship with them. We watched them teach their children in the school. Eric and

the other elder with us were able to meet with the elders and deacons from Itutang

and Bogan. It was just a sweet time and our hearts fell so in love with these people.

As we came home and went back to our daily lives, Eric and I both could not

stop thinking about PNG. We could not stop thinking about how we could get back

to these people. We knew Bill’s and Kelley’s plans for Ramu Valley Academy, and

we wanted to be a part of it. We were not even sure if it was a fit for us or if this was

God’s will, so we just prayed, and prayed, and prayed. We talked with and prayed

with our kids. God was pulling all 6 of our hearts to PNG. So when Bill and Kelley

returned back to the states, we sat down with them and discussed how we felt God

was leading us to PNG to partner with them and RVA. Now, after much prayer, talking

with our Christian friends and our elders and with Bill and Kelley, we are so excited

to say, we are ready to become PNG! When we think of all of the preparations that we

have to do, July 2019 seems to be approaching quickly, but when we think of being

back with our PNG family and serving there, July 2019 can’t get here fast enough!