NTM Update

October 26th

PAPUA NEW GUINEA: Dinangat tribe: Missionaries are preparing to share God's Word with the Dinangat people in January. Please pray that the lessons will be clear and that the hearts of the people will be ready to receive God's Truth. Find out more -- read the full story online >>

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PAPUA NEW GUINEA: Nakui tribe: Two Nakui believers -- Tuti and Kibo -- along with missionary Greg Greenlaw have taught evangelistic Bible lessons for three weeks in a Nakui village. About 80 people will hear the Gospel this weekend. "Please be praying that the people will grasp both their need and the perfect fulfillment of the promised Redeemer as they hear the words of life for the first time," wrote Heidi Greenlaw.

MOZAMBIQUE: Missionaries Jon and Angie Button write, "We have come up against some challenges and are asking that you join us in prayer to be able to receive our Visas in time to arrive in Brazil in January to begin our formal language study. We will spend one year there before going on to Mozambique."

AUSTRALIA: Praise God that NTM is celebrating 50 years in Australia today. About 300 missionaries and ministry partners were expected for the celebration. Pray for God to continue to be glorified through the training and sending of missionaries to plant churches among tribal groups.

Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. 2 Timothy 3:12

Take a hike

Kevin Miles and companions on a prior survey of the Elseng people.

Also available in: Español

September 7, 2007

by Dena McMaster

What do lollipops and ramen noodles have in common? They are both in missionary Jareb McClain's backpack ready for a trip into the interior of Papua, Indonesia.

Jareb is packing lollipops as gifts for village children and of course ramen noodles make a great snack. He also included clothes, water purification tablets, travel mug, matches, rope, sunscreen, granola bars and a host of other necessary items. Then he stuffed in several more packages of ramen noodles, just in case.

Jareb, Scott Flaugher and Kevin Miles will join Ortwin Oesterle, missionary to the Elseng people, to locate another village for Ortwin and his wife Regina to move to. Their trip will take them on foot through a jungle area that is hot, wet, dirty, buggy, thorny and very, very wild. Pray for the four men as they face exhaustion, thirst, leeches and mosquitoes on their trek to various Elseng villages.

A team of three missionary families moved into a village over the past few years to begin ministering to the Elseng people. Through various difficult circumstances only Ortwin and Regina remain. The people in this village have begun working for several natural resource companies and are reluctant to help the missionaries learn their language.

The NTM leadership team in Indonesia feels it might be necessary to relocate the Oesterles to another village where people are more willing to help the missionaries learn the language.

Pray for safety from accidents, good weather for hiking, a restful night's sleep and encouragement when the going gets tough. Pray that the Holy Spirit of God will lead them to just the right village where Ortwin and Regina can move in and establish good relationships with the people.

True Discipleship

Literacy classes are being taught entirely by Kaulong teachers.

Also available in: Español

September 7, 2007

Kaulong believers in Papua New Guinea have caught the vision of reaching their own people.

There are now more than 150 Kaulong believers in the three villages, and ongoing outreaches in two of them. Literacy schools are also established in each of the three villages, taught entirely by Kaulong teachers.

"How thrilling that these Kaulong brothers and sisters in Christ, who were once lost in darkness, are now your and our partners in ministry," wrote missionaries Doug and Shirley Laney.

Earlier this year 22 Kaulong Bible teachers and six teenage trainees taught a series of 68 Bible lessons about who God is, Creation, how sin entered the world, the fall of man, and God's plan of redemption.

In April, when 34 people placed their faith in Christ in one day, the Bible teachers became even more determined to reach their own people.

"The vision is now impregnated into the very fibers of their souls," the Laneys wrote.

Doug and Shirley know that as they return to the USA this month for a year of home assignment that the work they leave behind is in good hands.

Please pray that more Kaulongs will come to a true knowledge of Christ and place their faith in Him.

NY, NY

Dear Fellow Laborers,

First I would like to that all of you for your prayers and support, and for letting God use you in these ways. We left Jackson, Early Saturday morning, at 5:30. It took over twelve hours on the road to make it to New York, while traveling in a caravan of four vehicles; three minivans and a truck. As we arrived at CitiVision Camp, it was already dark and the consensus of the mood was a need of sleep. So late Saturday night we all moved in and crashed. We woke up Sunday morning to head out to Manhattan Bible Church. There, we worshiped together with them in their morning service. Located in the Hispanic part of Manhattan, we could hear the mumble of a translator in the background. A truly universal church was represented by every ethnic background imaginable. From there we headed out to take a tour of Manhattan, and New York City.
Monday through Friday, we worked good nine-hour days, up on a roof, in one-hundred degree weather, taking a break after lunch to avoid the worst of it. With two nail guns, four roofing shovels, and six guys, it tool the whole week but we finished the roof. We had to rip off two layers of shingles with about a million nails per square inch, at least it seemed so. That took two days to finish, and one day on replacing rotten wood and boards on the roof and the last two days to shingle it. All the ladies spent there time inside cleaning the walls and repainting them. The other guys in the group did drywall, and electrical stuff. I had my share of roofing for a long time!
On Thursday night we went to the Transformation Life Center, where drug addicts come to detox and hear the word, and be transformed by the word. It was amazing to hear these men shouting their lungs out to the Lord during the worship service, a huge contrast to our subdued, almost inhibited, services. To hear and see the uninhibited hearts of these men praise the God who saved them, put me to shame when I barely raise my voice in song in our services. To hear them shout, instead of sing. To see them cry and lift up their hands. It was plain to see that the Lord was working in them, and through them.
Tom Maharis, the founder and visionary of Citivision Camp, spoke with us on several occasions, and one of those he mentioned, “you are not here to do God’s work, he could have used others, but you are here for God to do a work in you!” That was so true. As we studied the book of James together God put on my heart many things in my life that were out of place. Studying how our faith should be genuine, and how mine is often stuttering, God laid on my heart that week what I needed to hear. There are many more things that I could tell you about that week, but I’d almost have to write a novel. So I will let this suffice.

God bless,
Rob Jordon

A translation everyone can understand.

Also available in: Español

June 18, 2007

by Jackie Fallis

Men speaking three different dialects of the Guahibo language are currently working with missionary Mark Cain to fine-tune portions of their Old Testament translation.

They face a unique challenge: translating the Bible so that all of the Guahibo people, no matter which of the three dialects they speak, can understand it. However, the missionaries' understanding of the Guahibo culture makes biblical concepts easier to convey.

The day starts with discipleship time in the morning, lead by Mark. He is teaching through 1 Corinthians and recently brought up the fact that every culture has beliefs from their ancestors. Mark said it was really bad in the time of the Corinthians as they were doing a lot of evil things, and that it doesn't matter what culture we look at, we all have the same type of evils.

Back when Mark was with the Guahibo people teaching the initial evangelistic Bible lessons, some said to him, "Oh my, we are not like those bad Israelites. No way! We would never sacrifice our children to idols like they did. We don't even have idols. We are not bad like them." Today the Guahibo people think their earlier reaction was funny.

Mark later taught those same Guahibo people that they had other gods and idols that they looked to in their times of need apart from God. This is where knowing the Guahibo culture came in handy; the missionaries learned of parts of that culture that were equal to idolatry.

After having this pointed out to them, the Guahibo people were able to see that they too were sinners and that we are all lost without Christ.

After their morning discipleship time, four Guahibo men -- Virgilio, Luis, John and Joe -- work with the missionaries to edit the Old Testament in their language. They work all day on this, one chapter at a time.

There has been only one tense moment so far, when one Guahibo man felt that the word for "east" should be used from his dialect. To keep the Old Testament translation consistent with that of the New Testament, the word was kept as it was, but a footnote was added so that others would understand that another word is used for "east" in a different part of the tribe.

It may take longer than two weeks for them to comb through the Old Testament, but they are prepared to work on it for up to three weeks if they have to.

So far, the translation is going well.

Please pray for unity and understanding as the translators work with three different dialects. Pray for God's guidance as they choose which words to use to communicate the Bible to the Guahibo people.

When will the Gospel reach the Southern Tepehuans?

Also available in: Español

June 18, 2007

by Jackie Fallis

Tribal leaders of the Southern Tepehuan people of Mexico held a meeting last week. The question they sought to answer was whether or not to allow missionaries Kevin and Alina Beach and Stephen and Kathy Tibberts to live and work in their villages.

The missionaries had high hopes after holding dental and medical clinics for the Southern Tepehuan and forming many friendships among the people.

To the missionaries' disappointment, tribal leaders denied permission to build in the village. At that time the leaders also asked them to move all of their stuff from where they were staying and leave the village completely.

When they asked if they could continue the dental and medical clinics, the answer was no. The village leaders decided that they did not want to take responsibility for the missionaries if something bad happened.

The Southern Tepehuans have a deep, longstanding mistrust of outsiders.

The team is in the process of taking down the solar panels and packing everything up. Please pray for the four missionaries as they work through the discouragement of these latest events and to know how they are to proceed.

Jon and Janalyn were invited to their neighbor`s wedding.

Also available in: Español

June 18, 2007

by Jackie Fallis

Jonathan and Janalyn Carlson and Paul Wilhelmson are three of the new missionaries to arrive in Indonesia and begin learning the language.

"A friend of mine put it this way," Johnathan said. "The beginning of language learning is like standing under a waterfall trying to catch everything with a thimble!"
Paul asks, "Apa kata untuk brain-fried dalam bahasa Indonesia?" That means, "What is the word for brain-fried in Indonesian?"

Classes start at 8 in the morning and go until noon. Afternoon is personal study time, which includes going out into the neighborhoods and practicing what they learned that morning.

The students are exhausted, but are adjusting to the new culture and language.

Please pray that all of the new arrivals to Indonesia will have an open mind to learn the language. Pray also for their continued adjustment to their new situation.