Bill presents a copy of his biography of St Francis of Assisi to lay church leaders in Bougainville, Papua New Guinea. To the left is Jacob Surface, a US diplomat and former student of Bill’s, who arranged for Bill’s visit there.
PAPUA NEW GUINEA:
The island of Bougainville, site of furious fighting during World War II, has been devastated by the closing of the one source of employment, a large copper mine. Schools and the students who attend them are largely without books, including basic textbooks. School is taught in English there, so sending books of all kinds will be a great help to the children. Because one of my former students is a diplomat stationed there, we can ship books from Washington to New Guinea via diplomatic pouch. We already have children at various schools collecting books. We need to get them to Washington, and that requires funds for shipping them.