In June, the Nazarene College of Nursing in Papua New Guinea conducted a ministry trip to Barawaghi Prison. This trip included a time of praise and worship, followed by a sermon from Rev. Andrew Omote. The speaker gave an invitation to pray, and 18 inmates raised their hands to indicate a desire to pray. Out of these 18 inmates, eight of them were new Christians. They were then referred to Prison Ministries for further discipleship.

Rev. Omate expressed a desire to spread the Gospel to places outside of the traditional church. “It is very important to visit the prison and witness to needy souls,” he reported. “We thank the [Nazarene College of Nursing] principal and administration for their funding and the transport they provided. It is a team effort.”

Since 1972 the Church of the Nazarene has trained nurses at the Kudjip Nazarene Hospital in Papua New Guinea. Becoming known as the Nazarene College of Nursing in 2002, NCON’s mission is to train young men and women to help meet the physical, social, emotional, and spiritual needs of people who come to the college. While NCON focuses on training nurses, they view their calling to be much more holistic. They provide an international discipleship program for students, as well as numerous ministry opportunities. The prison ministry is an expression of this call to ministry.