An update on God's protection of His People and Ministry.
Greetings in the precious name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Christian Books Melanesia (CBM) Papua New Guinea (PNG) has been operating for over 55 years, publishing books and distributing Bibles, Christian books and Textbooks throughout PNG and beyond. Publishing has been done in different languages but mainly Tok Pisin (Pidgin English) and English. It has been a light of hope within PNG and very well known in the land.
Recently, many of you would have heard the horrible news of the devastating fire that destroyed CBM's Head Office (HO) building on Friday June 06. That building has been used by CBM for its HO operations since the late 1970's and it is difficult to get your head around it when visiting the site. Nothing but twisted metal and ash (desks, bookshelves, files, books etc) or plastic blobs (computers, printers, shredder etc). We were so thankful that none of the staff were killed (as it took hold in such a short time), but our General Manager (Carol Luttah) and a staff member (Bartholo) both needed medical follow up, having been badly affected by smoke inhalation and shock at the near thing of being caught inside.
Thank you for your prayers over the whole situation, especially the protection and welfare of the staff. We have also seen God's providence in other ways, especially with a previous move to cloud based systems but also the recent backup of other general data (not long before the fire), that shows He not only protected his staff from tragedy, but also His own ministry. Praise His name!
Carol was the most affected by the fire (and the subsequent need for medical assistance) and continues to move through the necessary steps of that recovery. In a remarkable way she was able to set up the new temporary / borrowed equipment for the staff even before getting to some of the much needed medical attention. A couple of the Board members have been able to be in town for a period afterwards to support the team as they recover.
As you are probably aware CBM operates several Christian Bookshops around PNG and this HO building is separate to the Wewak Christian Bookshop (which is 100 metres away on the main shopping street). The HO building has served the organisation well for all those years.
Ever since the fire there has been much activity - fire department and police attendance on the day (their reports are still being compiled), insurance assessor visit to the site, restarting of the processes for the staff on new notebooks & laptops (where possible) and portable wi-fi etc. One of the first areas of focus was to ensure operations could continue as close to normal as possible. Staff & suppliers were paid as per their normal cycles, which was remarkable. This reassures key people. Bookshops have remained open and operating , temporary office space has been set up for the HO staff and devotions have occurred as normal every morning. We are very thankful to God for the way the staff have responded and it has shown in the morning devotions how they put God first despite the terrible setback that they witnessed. They are notably affected as well as they face the site each day while walking into their temporary office at the back of the same property each day.
Everyone is wondering why this could have taken place at this time in our history.
Only late last year, after much prayer over the previous months, did the CBM Board unaminously agree that it was time to begin the transition of the HO operations from Wewak to be based in future out of Lae. Lae has a much stronger base (and is seen as the PNG logistics hub) to work from and take us into the next 50+ years. CBM has owned a warehouse property (with 2 storage buildings) in Lae for many years that had some old accommodation space on site as well (albeit in a poor unusable state). With the Board's decision, a project was established to firstly improve the warehouse floor and racking in building # 1 and also establish a new HO office space within that same structure. We are extremely grateful for the Australian working party who came to Lae with Les Loader and covered off these much needed areas. The second part of the project was to use local PNG National trades people to do the necessary renovation so some accommodation could be made available for the Head Office single women that would move from Wewak. In a remarkable provision by God, the first working day after the Board's decision, a company came to the gate wishing to rent building # 2. That rent money has helped underpin that specific renovation.
Once the above preparation had been completed (estimated August), we had plans to start the move of HO staff to Lae over the ensuing weeks and are therefore taken aback at the suddenness and practical impact of the fire on so many aspects of that move. We don't have an office anymore in Wewak, but we have the office space already established in Lae. However, the plan to use all the equipment we had in Wewak has literally "gone up in flames". This is a big setback - needing to fund the equipment lost without digging into normal operational budgets that underpin the Bookshops.
Everyone keeps telling us that "the insurance will cover that". But as everyone also knows with insurance, that process can take a long time (and even more so in PNG). It will probably take at least 12 months and could be anything up to 24 months. Even when insurance money does come through, costs of re-establishing anything on that site will likely soak up most of the payment (due to cost changes etc). Which has left us in an immediate battle. Along with the above, this year the cash that normally flows from government budgets to schools and offices (who are some of our biggest customers for textbooks and school supplies) has been virtually non-existent since the start of this year. CBM normally covers its own way on the constant bumpy roads we find ourselves on over the years but these 2 areas have left us in a spot right now as we try to prepare for & complete the move we believe God directed.
We appreciate your interest in CBM and your partnership with us over the years. Many people in this circle have been asking how we are coping, so as the CBM Board executive, we have decided to pass on this update to you for 5 main reasons:
1. To join us in giving God praise for protecting His staff at CBM and His ministry when the fire hit.
2. To seek your ongoing prayer covering of God's CBM ministry, as we know any of God's ministries are only ever impactful when covered in prayer.
3. To seek your ongoing prayer & practical support for the welfare and ongoing recovery of the affected Head Office staff.
4. To seek your ongoing prayers for breakthrough for the PNG government budgets to flow again (to underpin the employment of staff + ability to purchase stocks of bibles for families/churches etc).
5. To ask you to see if God is prompting you to partner with us in a practical way through this period of time - any help would be greatly appreciated
I trust the update is helpful in understanding CBM's current situation.
All brought before you in Jesus' precious name,
CBM Board Executive
8 July 2025
