NTM - New Tribes Mission | Planting Tribal Churches

August 21 first update regarding Joel’s ear from Home:

August 1 Joel turned eight years old. Happy Birthday!! He had a great birthday party a few days after his actual date because we were in the middle of our annual regional mission’s conference. We had a guest speaker from Canada come in and really encourage us all. We also were blessed with a team from Kansas City who came to work with our youth and do the cooking for all 210+ missionaries (including children) in our region.
It was a big encouragement to be there with all of our coworkers who we do not see all the time because of their remote tribal locations.

This update is to let you know of a prayer need that we have. If you remember Joel has had and ear problem for some time and in January 2006 was able to have tubes put in and his adenoids removed. Well after two and a half years one tube has come out on it’s own and the second is still in. It has been a little challenging for him and us as parents when it comes to swimming and living in the tropics. Joel has had recurrent ear drainage and infections in his right ear and some in the left. Now that the tube fell out of the left ear it has not had any problems. We are so glad for that but his right ear is still causing problems. For the last few months he has had a white pussy fungus type substance in his ear that we try and clean out but not much has worked. Our mission doctor has looked at it and then a week later we had follow-up and here is what he said, "Hmmm…I think that it is time to get an ENT involved to help answer the question .. is it just an outer ear infection that is not resolving? Is it recurrent drainage from the middle ear that is draining through the tube? Or (most worrisome) is it a cholesteatoma (a very rare tumor that causes recurrent drainage and gunk to drain out through the ear drum)?"

He has recommended a CAT scan to rule that out. I have found out that there is a CAT scan machine in PNG but we are not sure about the consistency of the medical system. The other recommendation is to go down to Cairns, Australia and have this done. Both of which will incur a large expense and if we go to Port Moresby and find out that we have to go on to Australia then it is a short hop on down but if we go to Australia and it turns out negative it will be good as we are not looking forward to a long drawn out surgery procedure. Our main prayer is that this will clear up and the tube can come out and he will be infection free. It is not good for a young 8 year old to be on so many medications all the time.

Please be upholding Joel and his ear problems. Also pray for us in the next week as we decide which route to go, either Port Moresby or Cairns, Australia. Pray to that God will intervene and clear this up for Joel.
Praise the Lord with us for the great regional conference we had and a good time of fellowship with our coworkers from all over the Islands region of PNG.

August 28 in Port Moresby

Thank you for praying regarding Joel’s ear. Yesterday we traveled to Port Moresby and were able to see an ENT specialist but it was not at his main office so today we will go and see him at his main office. We would like to see the ear problem to be fixed or found out today and then we can go back to the our home at the Islands Region Supply center and continue on with the work.
I will write the update after we see the Dr.

We did see the Dr at noon and he suctioned out the ear. We were able to determine that the tube is still in the ear and it looks like we need to remove it as it seems to have been lodged near the side wall of the ear and not able to push itself out like the other ear. In order to do this we need to go to Australia for the surgery. Please be praying that the Dr in Australia will be able to get everything taken care of and that we can return speedily.

September 6 prior to surgery

The flight to Cairns on Wednesday was uneventful and Joel loved the fact that the small airline we flew on had a movie showing. That is a first for us since returning from furlough.
The Dr met with Joel on Friday at noon and has said that he will remove the tube out of Joel’s ear on Monday at 7 am. Please pray that the Dr will be able to solve the problems with the removal of the tube and that it will heal nicely and quickly.
We are set to go back to Port Moresby on the 11th and then have to stay until the 14th because of lack of space on the airplanes. It will have been 3 weeks in total that we have been apart from Erika and the kids so please pray for them as we have been separated since the 27th of August. It is hard for the other children to be good and obedient while their dad is away.

On another note we have received word that a dear friend and supporter who has passed on to be with the Lord. She had a stroke and never recovered. Please be praying for her husband and grown children who are desperately missing their mother and wife.

September 8 after surgery

Joel says that the surgery went well and he didn’t feel anything. I watched him go under general anesthetic and they no sooner put the mask on him and he closed his eyes and didn’t wake up till about 45 minutes later. The surgery was a success. Thanks for praying. The doctor removed the tube and cotorized a nasal passage so he can breath better and everything else went very well. Joel wanted to eat right away after surgery as he had not eaten breakfast but when the food came he suddenly was not that hungry. After 20 minutes he did eat a few bites of a sandwich and some ice cream along with a couple of bites of Jell-O. He had a Sprite to drink and we left the hospital.
After stopping by a grocery store to get some food Joel wanted a doughnut so we had doughnuts and I drank a cappuccino. Yummy! 

We will see the doctor on Wednesday to make sure all is ok and then head back to PNG on Thursday.

Thank you so much for your prayers for Joel

Here is an update on the walkabout I made into Kakuna with Kaiko, an Ata church Elder April 11 – 15. Thank you all for praying for this time.
Our main purpose was to have a visit with the Kakuna people as it had been 3 years since I had been in there. The secondary purpose was to see if after this time of separation there would be an interest for more Bible teaching in the language. More specifically from Mamusi Bible Teachers who’s language is another dialect from Kakuna.

Kaiko and I have been talking about the Kakuna people, and what God’s leading might be for them to hear the gospel once again in the village we were in or in another village. On March 26th the neighboring tribe, the Mamusi (a similar dialect to Kakuna) has started an outreach into a village near the boarder of Kakuna. The planning for this started in 2006 and at that time Kaiko had mentioned that the Mamusi Bible teachers are interested in reaching out to the Kakuna tribe. Since the language and culture are relatively close it would be a good fit for them. If there were to be a good church established then we would consider either going in again as a family ourselves or another missionary going in and doing the Bible translation and possibly Bible lessons.

When we moved out of Kakuna all of the people in the village we had lived in moved to the next ridge over. We found in general everyone that was there were excited to see us but not as open to having someone come and teach them the gospel. We were discouraged because there really didn’t seem like a lot of change in each individual. Since it had been 3 years since we had been in there I was not sure what to expect but we thought our house might be torn down. We were correct in this it had been torn down last year. The people stole every bit of the house and what little was left in it. As a result of that I believe it has them caught up in the material possessions they have and little desire for God’s word in their own language.

There were several men who came over from the village nearest to see what was happening and who came on the chopper. When they saw us they stayed around and talked. We told them again our plans and after a while they left. The next day as Kaiko and I were talking another man from that same village came up. As he came I was telling Kaiko that this man, Kalap, was our staunchest opposition, trouble maker, and thief. He was from a religious group that was opposed to us being there. He came up to us and I asked him about this custom party he had went to in a village quite far away. He said he was there to tell them the good news of Jesus. I was shocked, but still not knowing what he meant I asked him more questions. It turns out that after our house was destroyed he found some Bible lessons from my office that was strewn on the ground. He picked up 3 of them and started reading them. As he read them in the Kakuna language he started to get convicted. He realized that we were teaching the truth and he felt sick for doing his best to kick us out. Now he wanted to change his ways and from the lessons that I had written he thought the best way was to live by the 10 commandments. We explained that they were more like a mirror to show us our sin, not a way to cleanse us. I told him it would be good to get a hold of the Bible lessons we had left and read them all through with Kiung the Bible teacher. In the end I was still skeptical but only God can move mountains. If He wanted to change Kalap’s heart it was no big thing.

On Friday morning we started hiking down out of the main village and then up a mountain for 20 minutes to the next one. Thankfully I had someone to carry my backpack. The mountains are mostly straight up and down. From the second village through to the last one for the day it took another 7 ½ hours hiking. I was glad to finally arrive in the last village around 3:30pm.

We met some people in the last village who I had known from before. They were on their way back from a cultural party. Everyone was excited to see me. It was also probably the first time a white person had hiked into this area in quite some time, if at all.

We sat in the men’s house and started making acquaintances with all the men from that village. I was really encouraged that the men who hiked with us started telling everyone our purpose for being there. They were excited about it and wanted the people in this particular village to hear too. One of the men who hiked with me then turns to me and says, “Aaron, you need to tell them why you are here. They want to hear it from you!” I told them in the Kakuna language about the Mamusi men who would like to come and do an outreach and about a possible future time (a few years) that we might return and do the Bible translation. They were all very excited about that. Kaiko was able to explain it good in Pidgin English as well. After some lengthy discussions and explanations one of the men stood up and said, “I am now going to tell all the big men about what we have just talked about. If we really hear God’s Word in our own language, I will not sleep at night; I will sit up all night talking about it in the men’s house.”

As we got ready to depart the next morning the same man came up to Kaiko and said, “We will wait for you (Mamusi Bible teachers) then.” Kaiko thought this was a big step in the right direction.

We hiked another 7 hours out to the timber company road and after a fruitless effort to get back to home that day we spent the night in a village. We then caught a truck at 5am and arrived at home at 7:30am on Sunday morning.

Please be praying that God will make His timing clear to all of us as we are involved in this future outreach. Pray for the Ata & Mamusi Bible teachers meeting April 19, 20 as they discuss their overall church planting strategies. We are not sure how or when the Kakuna might fit into this. Most of all pray for the people of these villages who are interested in the gospel coming in their own language. They may have to wait a while for the right time for the Bible teachers to come. For their sakes we pray that it can be sooner than later.

Here is an update on the Patrol I made into Kakuna with Kaiko, an Ata church Elder April 11 – 15. Thank you all for praying for this time.
Our main purpose was to have a visit with the Kakuna people as it had been 3 years since I had been in there. The secondary purpose was to see if after this time of separation there would be an interest for more Bible teaching in the language. More specifically from Mamusi Bible Teachers who’s language is another dialect from Kakuna.

Kaiko and I have been talking about the Kakuna people, and what God’s leading might be for them to hear the gospel once again in the village we were in or in another village. On March 26th the neighboring tribe, the Mamusi (a similar dialect to Kakuna) has started an outreach into a village near the boarder of Kakuna. The planning for this started in 2006 and at that time Kaiko had mentioned that the Mamusi Bible teachers are interested in reaching out to the Kakuna tribe. Since the language and culture are relatively close it would be a good fit for them. If there were to be a good church established then we would consider either going in again as a family ourselves or another missionary going in and doing the Bible translation and possibly Bible lessons.

When we moved out of Kakuna all of the people in the village we had lived in moved to the next ridge over. We found in general everyone that was there were excited to see us but not as open to having someone come and teach them the gospel. We were discouraged because there really didn’t seem like a lot of change in each individual. Since it had been 3 years since we had been in there I was not sure what to expect but we thought our house might be torn down. We were correct in this it had been torn down last year. The people stole every bit of the house and what little was left in it. As a result of that I believe it has them caught up in the material possessions they have and little desire for God’s word in their own language.

There were several men who came over from the village nearest to see what was happening and who came on the chopper. When they saw us they stayed around and talked. We told them again our plans and after a while they left. The next day as Kaiko and I were talking another man from that same village came up. As he came I was telling Kaiko that this man, Kalap, was our staunchest opposition, trouble maker, and thief. He was from a religious group that was opposed to us being there. He came up to us and I asked him about this custom party he had went to in a village quite far away. He said he was there to tell them the good news of Jesus. I was shocked, but still not knowing what he meant I asked him more questions. It turns out that after our house was destroyed he found some Bible lessons from my office that was strewn on the ground. He picked up 3 of them and started reading them. As he read them in the Kakuna language he started to get convicted. He realized that we were teaching the truth and he felt sick for doing his best to kick us out. Now he wanted to change his ways and from the lessons that I had written he thought the best way was to live by the 10 commandments. We explained that they were more like a mirror to show us our sin, not a way to cleanse us. I told him it would be good to get a hold of the Bible lessons we had left and read them all through with Kiung the Bible teacher. In the end I was still skeptical but only God can move mountains. If He wanted to change Kalap’s heart it was no big thing.

On Friday morning we started hiking down out of the main village and then up a mountain for 20 minutes to the next one. Thankfully I had someone to carry my backpack. The mountains are mostly straight up and down. From the second village through to the last one for the day it took another 7 ½ hours hiking. I was glad to finally arrive in the last village around 3:30pm.

We met some people in the last village who I had known from before. They were on their way back from a cultural party. Everyone was excited to see me. It was also probably the first time a white person had hiked into this area in quite some time, if at all.

We sat in the men’s house and started making acquaintances with all the men from that village. I was really encouraged that the men who hiked with us started telling everyone our purpose for being there. They were excited about it and wanted the people in this particular village to hear too. One of the men who hiked with me then turns to me and says, “Aaron, you need to tell them why you are here. They want to hear it from you!” I told them in the Kakuna language about the Mamusi men who would like to come and do an outreach and about a possible future time (a few years) that we might return and do the Bible translation. They were all very excited about that. Kaiko was able to explain it good in Pidgin English as well. After some lengthy discussions and explanations one of the men stood up and said, “I am now going to tell all the big men about what we have just talked about. If we really hear God’s Word in our own language, I will not sleep at night; I will sit up all night talking about it in the men’s house.”

As we got ready to depart the next morning the same man came up to Kaiko and said, “We will wait for you (Mamusi Bible teachers) then.” Kaiko thought this was a big step in the right direction.

We hiked another 7 hours out to the timber company road and after a fruitless effort to get back to home that day we spent the night in a village. We then caught a truck at 5am and arrived at home at 7:30am on Sunday morning.

Please be praying that God will make His timing clear to all of us as we are involved in this future outreach. Pray for the Ata & Mamusi Bible teachers meeting April 19, 20 as they discuss their overall church planting strategies. We are not sure how or when the Kakuna might fit into this. Most of all pray for the people of these villages who are interested in the gospel coming in their own language. They may have to wait a while for the right time for the Bible teachers to come. For their sakes we pray that it can be sooner than later.

I have been reminded a few times lately that you are still praying for Joel’s ear. We would like to thank you very much for your prayers of healing. At this point he is doing really well which is a real miracle based on the past 2 months. After the last dose of antibiotics he had to wait and be infection free for 2 weeks before we could do an Pneumococcal Conjugate vaccine immunization that was recommended to us by our doctor. It has helped several other families who have had children with chronic ear infections. Living in the tropics is not the place to come and get and stay healthy all the time. There is always fungus and bacteria to cause problems. We do covet your prayers for the continued good health of Joel and his ears. His hearing is still not 100% back to normal but we are praying it will continue to improve. We are in the process of ordering an air purifier now that kills the mold and cleans the air. We have heard about it from several families who work with us in PNG. One family could not even function here if it was not for this machine. They have too many other health problems and this is the one thing that has helped. We hope this will also help Joel’s ears to stay healthy.

Yesterday I returned from a night trip to a tribal church that was planted by a New Tribes Mission missionary in the 90’s. New Tribes Mission is going to do a survey of the Nakanai language group in New Brittan and we wanted to collaborate with the Ata church to see how we can work together the most effectively. We had such good fellowship it was really exciting to see this church take such an active role in helping new missionaries move into neighboring language groups and ones that are in other areas of PNG. Please be praying about the actual survey that is being planned for the first week of February. We are really seeking the Lord’s will in whether or not to locate in the Nakanai tribe. Secondly if we do where should we locate new families. These are exciting days for all of us. The pictures are of the Ata church and some of the believers.

In Christ,

Aaron, Erika, Rachel, Micah, Joel, & Grace Weatherl

“When is the soonest you can come? We need some help here. We do not have a ………” This is from the lips of a man on the island of New Ireland in Papua New Guinea.

He has heard the explanation of what New Tribes Mission is doing in Papua New Guinea and is very excited about the possibility of having some one come. They would be coming in and learning his language and culture, translate the Bible and do literacy classes in the language, and then teach them God’s word in their own language.

The responses to our questionnaire were the same in every one of the 13 village locations we were able to stop into on the 5 day boat survey. “We want a Bible in our own language and to be taught God’s word in our own language” We met people from 5 different languages located along the coast of the New Ireland Papua New Guinea.

One characteristic of this island of PNG is the level of education that is there. In most every village you will find a large average of the middle age people who have been educated up to grade 6 in both English and Pidgin English.

These are not people who are starting from no literate understanding at all. While they speak their own language they are not literate in it. Yet for true understanding of God’s Word to take place we have proven that it must take place in their native tongue.

The main reason for our survey of the area was based on invitations the mission has had in the past 10 years to come and work in 2 of the 5 languages. We also have some new missionaries who feel that this is a location God is leading them in.

Therefore, Randy Wise, Aaron Luse, Wesley Alip (a PNG elder in the Ata tribal church) and I went on this survey. It is crucial to have a man who is a believer and is and from the PNG culture to come along and be our eyes and ears to the things we do not see.

We had been praying for calm seas and a good reception from the villages that God was leading us to. We traveled in a 23 foot long banana boat with a 50hp outboard on it.

We started out by boat Saturday October 14, at 2:30pm and visited 1 village to get our bearings, before finding a location to sleep for the night.

The second day we visited 3 locations. As we were on the ocean that day though it was quite rough and some of the swells were around 10 feet from the bottom of the trough to the top. That is an intimidating feeling in a small boat in large seas. On that second day when we went to shore we were facing some 10 foot breakers.

The one thing we had to do each location was to pull the boat completely out of the water so it would not get swamped. We were able to have enough people to help us do so at every location but not always before we had the back end swamped with one or two breakers. You have to get in the back of the boat and quickly bail out the water and then everyone pulls it on shore.

We were thankful for the safety God granted us overall on the trip. We all realized that we could have drowned on the waters quite easily.

As we went to each location we had to observe how the seas were and where a person could pull their boat into for a good landing. We were looking not only for the future team moving there but also for our own safety.

At the end of the trip we were recounting the good things that had happened, and for all of us the best thing was to see the rough seas instead of the calm seas. If we had only seen the calm seas we would not know to warn the team about the dangers of simply trying to get supplies.

What is the next step for this team? We need to wait for some letters of invitation to be sent to NTM before they proceed. The second item is to do a secondary survey of those villages that do send the invitations. Please be praying for God’s direction in this regard. We are specifically praying for the Lak (Siar) language, and the Kandas language.

I returned back to Home Sunday and have the privilege of heading back out Thursday for another week (October 26 – November 4th) long trip for 4 language evaluations. Please be praying for safe travels, wisdom in evaluating the progress of the missionaries and for Erika and the kids to have a good week.

Returning from this evaluation I have been asked to attend a 2 week (November 13 – 26) Advanced language workshop. This will help me in understanding how discourses features work in languages and how to find the patterns.

Again please be praying for Erika and the kids during this time that I am away. Hopefully this will be the last trip I will have to go on that will require such a long time away. We do covet your prayers in all that we are able to be a part of. God is planting and cultivating His church for His Glory here in PNG. We are so excited to be a part of it.

In Christ,
Aaron & Erika, Rachel Micah, Joel, & Grace Weatherl