Ian and Julie Fallis Your connection with tribal missions Backpacking photos
Photos from Ian’s trip through Myakka River State Forest last week …
“Myakka River State Forest, Florida”
From Backpacking January 2012, posted by Ian Fallis on 2/03/2012 (9 items)
- Myakka loop trail on the edge of palmetto scrub
- Dangerous creatures along the trail. Oh, wait, that’s me …
- My campsite at Panther Point.
- Field next to Panther Point at sunset
- And this is what happens when you turn the camera at the field next to Panther Point …
- On the trail from Panther Point to Oak Grove.
- Entrance to Oak Grove campsite
- Scrub outside Oak Grove campsite
- One of the few areas of water in Deer Prairie Slough.
Generated by Facebook Photo Fetcher
Tags: backpacking, New Tribes Mission, NTM
Spanuguese doesn’t make the grade
A missionary takes notes as they learn a language in Brazil.
Because of my work on NTM’s crisis team, I sometimes am awakened in the night to deal with issues that arise.
But I have to admit, I don’t really like it, and it seldom presents a ministry opportunity, as it did for a missionary in Brazil recently.
He awoke suddenly. Someone was standing outside his house in the tribal village, calling his name.
“I stumbled out of my bed to find Herbert at our veranda door,” the missionary wrote.
Read the rest of this entry »
Are you ready to go?
Aaron Luse works with two Patpatars
Do you ever feel like God’s timing doesn’t make a lot of sense?
Paal and her husband, Ezra, were scheduled to depart for a translation workshop this week. This will better equip them to help translate God’s Word into their language, Patpatar. But Paal’s older brother died, and his funeral was scheduled for the same day as their departure.
“He was a leader in the village and died after a long struggle with sickness,” wrote missionary Aaron Luse. “Culturally funerals are significant events and it is important to attend them.”
So when Ezra asked Aaron if their departure date for the workshop could be changed, Aaron was quite concerned as he explained that it could not.
“Don’t worry about it,” Ezra replied. “Paal and I have talked and we think that this work [the translation training] is what God wants us to do. We are ready to go.”
Taking such a trip in the first place was a stretch. The boat ride and a flight would take them farther away from home than most Patpatars have ever been. “In terms of miles, these trips are not that far away, but to the Patpatar it is taking them outside their comfort zone to a place they know little about,” Aaron wrote
And traveling instead of going to the funeral was not a popular choice among their clan and family.
“I know it was a difficult choice to be willing to go on this trip, but I could also see their smiles,” Aaron wrote. “They are willing to go to do the work of the Lord despite the cost. What about us? What are we willing to do in this new year for God? Where are willing to go? What are we willing to give up?”
Good questions.
Tags: Bible
God’s talking: A New Year’s message, part three
This is the third part of a message I shared at Southside Baptist Church in Orlando on Jan. 1, 2012. I encourage you to first read part one, They need Jesus, and part two, Good or great?
I’ve reached that point in the message where I’m going to ask you to respond to what God had said to you. Before I do, I want to turn your attention to Philippians 2:13. In one modern translation, it reads like this: “It is God who produces in you the desires and actions that please Him.”
I think that means that if you are feeling that you should do something for God’s Kingdom, that’s God speaking to you.
Read the rest of this entry »
Good or Great? A New Year’s message, part two
Which would you choose -- a 10-year-old Ford or a new Mercedes?
This is the second part of a message I shared at Southside Baptist Church in Orlando on Jan. 1, 2012. Read part one: They need Jesus.
Would you prefer good or great?
I drove to church in a 2002 Ford Focus. It’s been a good car for us. But a brand new Mercedes, well, that’d be a great car, wouldn’t it? If I offered you the keys to my 10-year-old Ford, or the keys to a new Mercedes, which would you choose?
Most folks would pick the great car over the good car.
The reason we don’t all drive Mercedes is that we’re not all willing to work that hard for a great car. For most of us, getting a great car takes a lot more resources than we’re willing to put into a car. So we settle for – or at least hope for – good cars.
It’s that’s way in life. We take good because great takes time, work, perseverance, dedication, and all those other tough things.
And we do that in church too. We do that when it comes to God. God gave us the Great Commission. You’ll notice that Matthew 28:19 is never referred to as a good idea. It is the Great Commission: Make disciples of all nations.
The church in the First Century
Read the rest of this entry »
They need Jesus: a New Year’s message, part one
Awayo's road to faith is inspiring people
I had the privilege of speaking on Sunday, Jan. 1, at Southside Baptist Church in Orlando. Here’s a recap …
Our team faced many obstacles in filming AWAYO a few years back, one of which was rain. It rained almost every day we were there, which meant there were parts of each day when we could film. It was also tough to work inside, because of all the noise on the tin roofs. Getting anywhere was hard, and not just because of the rugged terrain. There was also a lot of mud, and many creeks and rivers and streams.
Yet in spite of abundant water, the Moi people have many skin problems because they do not bathe. And they are frequently dehydrated because they do not drink enough water. You might look at a situation like that and say, “They needed a well.” But the fact is, they did not. They were afraid to access clean water because they believed evil, dangerous spirits live in the water. They did not simply need help with a physical problem; they needed freedom from fear.
They needed Jesus.
Read the rest of this entry »
Who do you identify with?
Who’s your favorite person in the Bible?
OK, besides God. Besides Jesus. That’s cheating. Stop it. You know who you are.
My favorite is Luke, because I identify with him. Yes, he was a physician, and no, I am not, but you know what? Only once, after Paul and his team are shipwrecked, does the Bible indicate that Luke did any medical work.
Paul’s references to Luke make it clear that he considered Luke his fellow missionary, yet only once – in Philippi – does the Bible indicate Luke did any evangelism.
So what was Luke doing?
Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Bible
Our other kids
Don’t want to leave out our other three children, who’ve also been busy …
Jackie, our oldest daughter, returns from a week-long trip to California tonight. She’s been visiting a friend in the San Diego area. She has been considering moving out there. She has been thinking about a culinary school in the area as well. She’d love to be able to work and get off disability, but her constant vertigo still gets in the way a lot, sometimes severely. That’s a result of Lyme disease. Please pray.
Brynna is working full-time at TGI Friday’s in nearby Altamonte Springs and going to school full-time at Seminole State College. She’s working on general classes while deciding what she wants to do. She is considering psychology.
Would you please pray for her as she makes these and other decisions relating to her future?
Evan graduated this past spring from Crooms Academy of Information Technology, a magnet high school near where we live. He’s planning to work for a year, then go to New Tribes Bible Institute.
Off to China
Jon and Meghan at Orlando International Airport this morning
Our daughter Meghan and son-in-law, Jonathan, left this morning for China.
They’ll be training in Colorado for a week, then go to Beijing for more training. After that, it’s off to Hohhot — which is in China but north of the Great Wall — to teach English at Hohhot Normal School, a university for teachers. They’ve made a minimum two-year commitment to be part of an ELIC teaching team there.
Independence near for two people groups
Teaching the Mwinikas
What would it be like to not be free?
I fear that for most Americans, July 4 means little more than a day off, cookouts and fireworks. There is supposed to be so much more to Independence Day than that.
But wait – I’ve got something even better. I have a freedom that can’t be taken away from me, even if I lived in the most repressive government on earth. I have freedom in Christ.
And two people groups are going to get a glimpse of that real freedom next week.
Read the rest of this entry »
