NTM - New Tribes Mission | Planting Tribal Churches

We planned for this 1st update after our months in the tribe to be full of news and photos from our time interior, and we promise we will get to those eventually!  But right now we have some urgent prayer needs and we need you to stand with us in prayer;

1. Caleb had to be quickly evacuated this last Wednesday because of Tropical Malaria and severe anemia. I (Pam) was able to get a flight out with him and we are currently in the hospital in a larger Indonesian City with good medical care.  He received his first unit of blood transfusion yesterday and seems to be doing a little better, but is still very sick and week. Please join us in prayer for his quick and complete recovery and rejoice with us in the way the Lord has already provided a way out of the tribe and lead us to the right place to meet his medical needs.  We are with Greg’s brother Doug and his wife Nancy and they have been an amazing help and encouragement to me.  One special note: Caleb has type A- blood which is very very rare here, we have lined up donors for the first 2 transfusions but if that is not enough please pray the the Lord with direct us to other suitable donors. (if you want to read more about this journey so far you can read the posts and updates on my facebook page where a dear friend posted updates my face book name is; Pam Wiles Berglund)

2. Greg and the kids are headed out of the village today for the first leg of their journey back to North Sulawesi, they will bee traveling until late next week and it is just daddy and the 4 older kids.  Please pray for an extra dose of traveling mercies and health for them.

Stand by . . .

I promise I have pictures, stories and lots of examples of the way the Lord has worked these last few months when we haven’t had contact and as soon as we are settled and Caleb is doing will I will start sharing those things.

As always, we are so grateful to be able to turn to you and know you are joining us in prayer for these needs.

In His grace;
Greg and Pam Berglund
Nate (12) Hannah (10) Grace (8) Katie (6) Caleb (3)

It seems surreal the this day that we have waited for, hoped for, prayed for, has arrived!  We are now in a nearby city and just today shipped the bulk of the food and supplies we will need for the next three months to our village via ferry.  Tuesday morning we will be following in a much more comfortable and much faster boat.  Please pray for us in the days and weeks ahead this is going to be a big adjustment for all of us.

Very Important, PLEASE READ!

We have had lots of experience fine tuning our new communication techniques over the last few days and have some tips that will really help us to keep in touch with you better.

1) Please don’t forget us!  Emails and notes of encouragement are a real blessing to me, I am going to be the only English speaking woman for many many miles and I will be feeding off of your notes (I am sure Greg will appreciate them too

2) Please don’t send forwarded mass emails like jokes, pictures, poems, health warnings etc.  They bog down our email and make it so we can’t receive the above mentioned notes and letters!

3) Email (greg_berglund@ntm.org) is better than facebook.  As much as I love facebook, Greg will be downloading emails from the coast and bringing them back interior for us to read and answer.  We can’t download content like messages on facebook and bring them back to the house to read, so it will be a rare treat when I get to catch up on facebook.

4) Please refer to #1

We are so thankful for each one of you and your partnership in this ministry.  It would not be possible for us to be here reaching the Buru people for Christ with out your years of prayers, support and encouragement, THANK YOU.

In His grace;
Greg and Pam Berglund
Nate (12) Hannah (10) Grace (8) Katie (6) Caleb (3)

Just a few more days until we start our journey.  We will be traveling for about a week before we arrive at our new village home,  2 days and a night on the first ship, 3 or 4 nights in hotel in the nearest large city, one more 6 hour trip on a “fast boat” to the coast, and then a dump truck ride into our village.  While in the large city we will need to do all of our supply buying (groceries, toiletries, and other household needs)  for the next 6 weeks.

Adjustments
Once we arrive we will have many adjustments to make as a family.  I thought this letter, written by our co-workers daughter, Amy McDole, really said it all.  So I asked her it I could share parts of it with you;

I have my own machete and me and my friends go “hete kau” which
means getting firewood. We go swimming like every day. Oh,, and now
I wash my clothes and Alan and Stacia’s clothes too. We have a ton of water
sources here. Next to our house there is a spring and a creek. I usually
wash clothes at the little waterfall we have next to this huge river. I am
learning to swim and for a floatie I use a oil gallon (jerry can) with a top.
Like everyone knows how to swim here but a lot of kids still use gallons.
Sometimes I go “hama/hisi sayur tu yanang rokoro” which means finding
vegetables with my friends. They love playing jump rope and kasti and I
taught them hide and seek the Indo way. But I don’t play kasti with them
cause they hit super hard and they play a little different than in North Sulawesi.
Oh yah they also play soccer with me. My mom say they regard us as family
because we are living with them and have been for a long time. So me or
Stacia or Alan can’t marry any of them because we are related. And everyone
in this village is related. And it is like impossible for u to come here
every month because the road is very bad and it is 20 miles +.

As you can see our kids will be experiencing many changes and we would really appreciate your prayers for their adjustment.
Prayer requests
Please Pray for our safe travels, I can’t claim to be “easygoing” when it comes to being out of my element and out of control   so please pray that I will be calm and easygoing, or at least able to fake it enough that our kids enjoy the trip and consider it to be an adventure.

Please pray for our co-workers, the McDoles.  Paul’s mother, who was an NTM missionary for many years here in Indonesia, is suffering from ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease)  They are home for a quick visit with her and the rest of the family while she is still able to speak.  Pray for their time with her and their safe travels back to Indonesia.

Please pray for our communication needs.  We have not been able to buy the satellite Internet system we would ultimately like to get. In the meantime we are hoping to be able to occasionally download emails using a cell phone on the coast.  Please pray that this actually works out   We will have regular radio contact (daily) with our co-workers here in North Sulawesi and I have given a friend here access to my facebook account and the names of family members so even if we don’t have email we will still be checked-up on, but it would sure be nice to be able to send out occasional updates and answer emails!

Please continue to pray for the finances for this move, we are seeing the Lord meet our needs in so many unusual ways and we know that He will continue to do so.  We even found out we might have public electricity soon!  the lines are run and we are number 54 on the waiting list!  What an amazing blessing that will be.

A few final notes
As we talk about the isolation and the lack of communication, many people have shared concerns about the wisdom of taking our children to a remote tribal location.  I Just wanted to explain that while it will be difficult to communicate to those of you in America, we will be in contact with our leadership here several times a week and have plans in place in case we needed to get to help in a hurry. There is also a small hospital on the coast that could help us with basic first aid needs.  That being said we also feel strongly that this is the Lord’s will for us at this time and there is no safer place for us to be than in the center of HIS will.  We are doing all we can to be safe and keep our kids safe while at the same time being obedient to Christ.

We always love getting your personal emails but at least for a while while we figure out our commuications issues it would be helpful to us if you would not forward any forwarded emails to us (jokes etc.)  and also if you would ask before sending any especially large files or picures.  But PLEASE, PLEASE continue sending personal notes,and emails, they are such an encouragement to us!

We are so thankful for you prayers, support and encouragement.

In His grace;
Greg and Pam Berglund
Nate (12) Hannah (10) Grace (8) Katie (6) Caleb (3)

The earnest prayer of a righteous
person has great power
& produces wonderful results.
(James 5:16 NLT)
Thank you so much for joining me in prayer for Caleb. He is doing so much better. He is up and playing and almost back to normal. His fever hasn’t gone above 100 degrees all day and he really seems to be on the mend. Your notes of encouragement were a real blessing to me, thank you for praying for Caleb and also for taking the time to let me know you were praying.

All our Love;
Pam for the Berglunds

Greg made it to the village safely and should be in the village now.  He will spend this week fixing some things and setting up our solar power system and generator.  He was able to buy a small freezer  (We will use it instead of a fridge to keep things cool, it will run only when the generator is on, about 5 hours a day, and will act as a refrigerator)  and a small clothes washer that we will also be able to use when the generator is running.  the rest of the time lights and computers will run off the batteries that are charged by solar panels and the generator.  It is all very complicated (to me) but I married the right guy for the job!  He will also put out rat poison and fix the bathroom  (my hero .
Now for the prayer request, I have hesitated to say anything because I don’t like to worry anyone, But it seems as if Caleb has also come down with Dengue fever.  There is no treatment for Dengue, just keeping fevers down and keeping him hydrated until the virus has run it’s course.  So far I am managing fine at home, but I would love to have your prayers.  I have every reason to believe that he has the same, milder strain that Katie had and so far his fevers have not gone above 104 degrees  but he is pretty miserable and just wants to be held all the time by Mommy.  Not real easy when Greg is gone.  We also lost a week of school last week between Katie’s hospitalization and Greg leaving so I am determined to get a full week in this week, before the craziness of the move.  We are blessed to have a good support system here, good friends that check in on us, and a young couple that lives with us that will be more than happy to watch the other kids if I do need to take Caleb to the hospital.  Thank you so much for praying and I will let you know as soon as Caleb turns a corner and is on the mend.

All our love;
Pam for the Berglunds

Tomorrow morning Greg will be heading off to the Malukus to prepare for our move later this month.  He will travel by boat to a larger city with a majority of our household goods, Solar panels etc.  While there he will shop for a clothes washer and small freezer and a few other things we will need.  Then he will head to the village where he will hook up solar panels, a generator and lights and fix the bathroom (it is much like an outhouse now, and he will install an American style toilet and close it in enough that his wife isn’t totally freaked out   Once he gets home we will have about 2 weeks to wrap things up before we go as a family at the end of February.

Some random thoughts

We have had a very eventful opening to the new year.  Katie, age 6, came down with Dengue fever this last weekend and ended up in the hospital for 3 nights with 106 degree fevers.  We are very thankful that she had a mild case, and is recovering nicely.  We were reminded, though, that life can be fleeting and we are not guaranteed tomorrow.  It is what we do with the days we have to glorify Him that is important.

Here are the lyrics to a Casting Crowns song that really says it all;

I am a flower quickly fading
Here today and gone tomorrow
A wave tossed in the ocean
A vapor in the wind
Still You hear me when I’m calling
Lord, You catch me when I’m falling
And You’ve told me who I am
I am Yours, I am Yours

Not because of who I am
But because of what You’ve done
Not because of what I’ve done
But because of who You are

- WHO AM I LYRICS – CASTING CROWNS

Praises

First of all we are so thankful for how quickly Katie has bounced back from her bout with Dengue.  We are also so thankful for all of you who prayed for us, and for the nice clean hospital and the wonderful medical care she received.

We have been praying for a way to communicate until we save up enough for the $5000 satellite Internet system we need and we have been blessed much more than we could have imagined in that area.  Pam’s sister donated an iphone that has email capabilities and we hope to be able to use it to check email down at the coast once or twice a week.

We are continuing to see many of our needs for this move met.  We have received many special gifts from you towards travel expenses, electrical, and communication needs, and household furnishings.  Greg’s parents had some canning jars from their time in the tribe that they were able to send over to us. We are able to temporarily borrow a generator and two solar panels until we are able to buy our own. A team mate was able to take several of our trunks as far as the nearest city last month, which was a real help to us.  We love seeing the ways God works out the little details in totally unexpected ways.  We want to thank each of you who have made special sacrifices to partner with us in reaching the Buru people.

Prayer requests

Please Pray for Greg’s travels.  The weather has been very rainy lately, and the waves have been especially rough.  Pray for an uneventful boat trip and that he will be able to get the  things done that he needs to during this “pre-move trip.”

Please pray for our co-workers, The McDoles.  Paul’s mother, who was an NTM missionary for many years here in Indonesia, is suffering from ASL (Lou Gehrig’s disease)  They are going home for a quick visit with her and the rest of the family while she is still able to speak.  Pray that their travel plans will come together nicely and that they will have a special time together with family despite the difficult circumstances.

Please pray for Katie’s full recovery.  Dengue can take a long time to recover from and we are praying that her recovery will continue as it has been with out any setbacks.

Pray for all the little details.  There are so many things to think about when you are going to be “off the grid” for 3 months.  Please pray that we will be able to plan and prepare for all the things we need to all the while continuing to do the other things that need to be done each day.

In His grace;
Greg and Pam Berglund
Nate (12) Hannah (10) Grace (8) Katie (6) Caleb (3)

Well, we set a February Goal for moving into the village, and we are preparing now to meet that goal.  It is a bit overwhelming to think about all the things that need to be accomplished in the next 6 weeks or so, but we are trusting God to go before us and prepare the way for us!  There are many reasons why February is a good time for us to move . . . rainy season begins in March disrupting boat travel, and the village has been with out missionaries for a month already  . . . Will you pray with us as we make this huge transition?

Things you can pray for;

1)  Honestly . . .Fear of the unknown!  Especially for the kids and I, this is an overwhelming change of lifestyle for us.  In many ways we are excited about the adventure, but we do have times of fear and anxiety. Pray that we will trust in Him for all our worries and needs.

2) The Move . . .  We need to figure out what stuff goes and what we will do with what doesn’t go, and how to get the things we will need into the jungle.

3) Our Ministry . . . It is easy to get caught up in the worries of moving and forget the reason we are going . . .to bring life changing hope to the Buru people.  Please pray that we will be able to nurture and build our relationships with the Buru people and will be able to disciple them.

4) Finances  . . .we have about half of what we need to get initially moved into the tribe, we can borrow a generator temporarily and also 2 solar panels, but we still won’t have a reliable way to communicate with the outside world and don’t yet have the travel funds we will need.  Still, we have been in this position many times in our lives and have learned that as we continue on in the direction He wants us to go He always provides (usually at the last possible moment .

Thank You!

Thank you for your faithful partnership with us.  Your prayers, support and encouragement mean so much to us.  As the song goes, “No man is an island”  and we could not be here, sharing the GOOD NEWS with out you!

Thanks to a special gift from a very dear church family the home in the picture above is now ours! This is one huge step in getting us closer to being able to make the move to the village. We are so thankful for the sacrifices made to provide this house for us, and thankful that God paved the way for it’s smooth purchase. We also received a gift towards the satellite equipment we will need in order to have communication in the tribe. We re excited to see how the Lord has begun providing for the things we need in order to make this move.

Bible Translation Update

Greg is home from the Bible translation check. They didn’t get as many chapters checked as they would have liked, and fought continually with power outages, but all of the men on the team were there, and it was a very valuable learning time for the team and for those of us involved in the translation process. They checked chapters 1-12 in the book of Acts. Greg is now formatting those chapters for printing and will send it into the villages early next week. Once our team gets the final copies they will be able to start teaching from them.

What is coming next?

It is our goal to be moved into the village before the end of the year. Until we are able to do that we will continue to translate and minister from town, with Greg making frequent trips to the village. The kids and I just finished week 7 of our school year and are getting into a good routine. I am trying to train them to work as independently as possible in preparation for our move, and the older two, especially, are doing very well with that. I am also practicing my gardening and scratch cooking skills in preparation for our move interior, I sometimes feel very inept with things like that (especially when I repeatedly fail at my attempts to make yogurt!) so please pray that I will catch on quickly! Thank you for your continued prayers for us!

In His grace;
Greg and Pam Berglund
Nate (12) Hannah (10) Grace (8) Katie (6) Caleb (3)

The past 6 weeks . . .
have been a whirlwind here in Indonesia.
In August we hosted a 7 person short- term mission trip from our church in Carmichael, California. The ladies stayed here in town with me and decorated our national training center’s new childcare building and also put on a Vacation Bible School for the children of the missionaries here, while the men traveled with Greg into the village. Both groups had a wonderful time and really came to understand what we are doing here. They were such a blessing to us, as well as to the believers in the village and the missionary candidates at the national training center here. I was really blessed by the fact that it seemed as if God chose each member of the team for a specific purpose, and how each of them where able to reach out and make a difference here in ways none of us planned or anticipated, we could really see God’s hand in the entire visit!

Just a couple days after the team left Greg’s parents arrived for a visit. It has been so nice to have them. As is their custom, they have spent time with each of our children individually and we have had some neat family time as well. Caleb even gave Nita, Greg’s mom, the highest compliment a 3 year old boy can give, he told her she looks like Lightning McQueen, the race car from the movie “Cars”! It will be hard for all of us when they leave, as we have gotten used to having a set of automatic book-readers, game players, and huggers around! They will head to Singapore on Monday before heading back home.

Coming up for us . . .
Just this morning Greg headed to a neighboring island where he will be met by our teammate, Herman Kodidi, three native speakers that will be helping, and our Translation Consultant, Bob Clark. They will work on checking the translation of the first 20 chapters of Acts for the next week, then he will take a quick trip into the village before coming home the first week in October. Please Pray for clear understanding on the part of the helpers, and a successful translation check.

Once Greg gets home we will start packing and planning for our big move into the village. We still don’t have a firm move-in day, but are hoping to be settled in the village before Christmas. We have seen the Lord begin to provide in amazing and unexpected ways for this move, and are trusting in the months ahead that He will continue to provide the things we need to set up house and minister in this remote setting.

You are the key!
We are so thankful for each of you and for the vital role you play in our ministry. Without your partnership we would not be able to share Christ with these people. We appreciate your prayers, support, and encouragement, and as always, we love to hear from you and how we can pray for you.

Dear Friends and Family;
It is that time again to update you on the happenings of our lives and ministry here in Indonesia. We are racing full-steam ahead toward the day we finally move into the village! Greg just finished preparing Acts chapters 1-13 for a translation check scheduled in September. Getting Bible passages ready for a translation check require many steps and stages, and he was glad to have that huge project completed.

I finished my own huge project this month. I planned out the entire school year for my kids as well as for our teammate’s children. Knowing we will be facing a big move this year, and I will have a huge learning curve learning to survive in a primitive tribal location, I wanted as much school preparation as possible done ahead of time. This way I will have more time available to learn a new language, build relationships, and all the other new things we will be facing. We also jumped into the new year early, starting school this week. We know there will be many interruptions and missed days this year, so we are trying to get a head start.
Now we are turning our attention to planning for the team that is coming on a short-term missions trip from our church in Carmichael, California. Three men and four ladies from Carmichael Bible Church will be coming to spend three weeks here in August! (Yippee) The men will be traveling with Greg to the village and will see first hand our ministry there. They will have the opportunity to share their testimonies with the Buru believers as well as helping Greg with some plumbing and electrical projects to get the house we will be living in ready for our move. The ladies and I will be staying here and putting on a VBS for the missionary children in the mornings, and decorating and setting up the new child care building at our missionary training center here
.
We are so excited about this visit and are busily making sleeping arrangements, meal planning, travel arrangements, and all the other the details that are involved with hosting 7 people for three weeks.

Praises
The translation check is ready to go forward as planned despite many “technical difficulties” with computers and communication.

The kids and I are able to get a head start on the school year in anticipation of the missed weeks we will have during our move.

We have found a young couple willing to stay in our house here in town as caretakers when we move interior.

Prayer requests
Greg has been battling a recurring UTI infection. Please pray we will be able to keep it under control without needing to use excessive antibiotics.

We are facing many one-time expenses as we prepare for our move into the village. If you would like to see a list of these needs, or would prayerfully consider giving to one of these projects let us know and we will send you this list.

Please pray for our planning and preparation for the short term missions trip we will be hosting in August. Also pray for their travels, as well as their time here.

We so appreciate your faithful prayers, support and encouragement. We know the sacrifices you make in order to support our ministry to these people. We would love to hear from you and know how we can also pray for the needs in your lives.

Because of Calvary;
Greg and Pam Berglund

If you would like to see some recent pictures of our family you can follow this link: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2070847&id=1321659393&l=b0e0c5c13e