Kabiufa Adventist Secondary School (KASS) in Goroka, Eastern Highlands, has dedicated a room for prayer at the back of the library building.
A simple prayer of dedication and ribbon cutting ceremony were performed by General Conference president Pastor Ted Wilson after he addressed the students in the campus church.
“May this wonderful prayer room be a source of tremendous spiritual inspiration for the students and faculty of this precious secondary school,” said Pastor Wilson, just before cutting the ribbon.
According to KASS principal Lawrence Suto, the new room offers students a personal space. “Students can see that that is a place where they can come and share what is bottling up in them, bothering them—in any other situations they’re going through, it’s at their convenience,” said Mr Suto.
Earlier, the church was full and overflowing, with the roughly 600-seat venue not able to accommodate the more than 1000 students and special guests in attendance.
“Kabiufa is one of those special places,” said Pastor Wilson. “I’m looking at the future leaders of God’s church in Papua New Guinea.”
Mr Suto said having the General Conference president visit his school was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
“I was a student here when [Pastor Wilson’s] father came around,” he said. “It’s about 35 years since then and in my faintest dreams, it didn’t occur to me that I would be the principal and the GC president would come around during my time.
During the service, Mr Suto gave a brief history of the school at Kabiufa and shared some of the needs that the school is experiencing.
“Welcome to Kabiufa, the school of the prophets,” he said. “Since I started as principal in 2021, we have baptised 218 students and this year during the PNG for Christ program we will baptise 163 students.”
The principal gave attendees a snapshot of the school. “Our students are actively involved in outreach programs,” he said.
“This school has 35 teachers with fair representation from different provinces of Papua New Guinea. We have 13 support staff. The student population is at 1127, giving an additional strain on the already existing structures.”
North American Division president Pastor Alexander Bryant and his wife Desiree, and the PNGUM president Pastor Malachi Yani, were also in attendance along with other PNGUM and Eastern Highlands Simbu Mission staff.
Pastor Wilson and his wife Nancy were welcomed to the school with a Pathfinder guard of honour and the students lined the path from the front gate to the church to welcome Pastor and Mrs Wilson.
