Ian and Julie Fallis Your connection with tribal missions ‘Interesting quandaries’
Naomi Christenson at a Sekadau wedding
Where are you in your Bible reading these days?
I’m in Ephesians, and I have to say there’s a lot in those six short chapters.
So I understand what Cori Gervasi and Naomi Christenson are going through as they help polish a teaching draft of Ephesians in the Sekadau language.
“It has been a brain-twisting exercise to search for words to accurately and dynamically communicate all that is packed into this tiny book,” Naomi wrote.
Most translators start with something more straightforward, such as the Gospel of Mark or a book of history from the Old Testament. But Cori and Naomi have started with Ephesians so Sekadau leaders-in-training have material to teach from.
“Along the way we’ve run into some interesting quandaries,” Naomi wrote. “Paul addresses some heavy issues: the unity of the Jews and Gentiles, the mystery of Christ, the church described as a house and as a bride. It has been stretching to think through these concepts in Sekadau.”
The vocabulary is challenging as well.
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An important step for our ministry
Julie and I thank you and God for helping us take the first step in the right direction.
Our support has increased, and we now can keep from running a deficit by holding ministry expenses and personal expenses to a minimum. This means we’re no longer at risk of having to leave our ministry. That’s huge! I don’t think we can thank you enough.
It is, however, the first step. We can’t carry out our ministry on our current support. Increased travel, photo and video mean we should be spending 20 times what we spent eight years ago. Due to finances, we’ve cancelled four trips this year.
So please keep praying as we continue to talk with potential ministry partners.
Pray that God prepares people to give, and leads us to the people He desires to bless by being involved in our ministry.
Pray that our attitude mirrors Paul’s in Philippians 4:17: “Not that I seek the gift, but I seek the fruit that abounds to your account.”
Tags: giving, opportunities, photography, pray, video
The things you have to do
Did you ever have to do something that seemed really awkward just because it was expected of you?
I have.
But one step in making things right the Nagi way is way more strange than anything I’ve ever had to do. My response would be a lot stronger than, “Gee, no, thanks, I’m fine.”
You see, there was a recent killing. The relatives of the dead man have not yet decided how the killing will be avenged. To the Nagis, there are three options:
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Tags: fear
Student and teacher
Vicente, left, and other Bible school students
I hope God still surprises you.
He used Vicente to surprise the folks at NTM’s Bible institute in Chihuahua, Mexico.
Vicente, a young man from Mexico’s Guarijio people group, applied to the school. In his village, he had helped missionaries learn his language, and he had come to know Christ.
“When we get this type of application,” wrote Virgil Holt, who until recently ministered at the Bible school, “we wonder … if they would be better off studying with the missionaries in their native language.”
But the school admitted Vicente, and
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Tags: outreach
It’s all Hebrew to me
Well, THIS is all Greek, but ...
I’ve been trying to read a rather academic book because there is some very valuable information in it.
But I find my eyes glazing over after a couple of pages. If I get that far.
I imagine you’ve had that experience as well, so you probably understand what it was like when several Mwinikas gathered around Francois Hattingh and the book he was showing them.
This was the Word of God, the story of the beginning, in Hebrew.
As their eyes scanned the letters on the page
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Sharing communion
An Ese Ejja Bible teacher
Sometimes communion says a whole lot about communion.
Interest in God has increased recently as flooding has impacted Ese Ejja communities. Some have come to faith in Christ, including Huajojo.
“Huajojo has lived a life of drinking, stealing other´s wives, and was very closed to the Gospel,” missionaries Mike and Cher Riepma wrote. “He has always been very critical of our work and accused us of having ulterior motives.”
But something happened
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Tags: character
Figures of speech
Nagi men shaking hands
“You crossed my nose!” the Nagi man shouted at his brother, angrily drawing his finger across his nose.
What?
Idioms – those phrases that don’t literally make any sense but convey a lot of meaning – are tough to master in any language. Yet can you imagine trying to hold a conversation – or teach – without using them?
“I’m hanging on by the skin of my teeth.” Huh? Teeth don’t have skin. Where’d that phrase come from?
“The cake is a lie.” My teenage son said that. I have no idea what it means.
“Airing your dirty laundry in public.” Who even airs their laundry anymore? Or maybe I think no one does that because I live in Florida, where it’s so humid that hanging clothes outside would just make them more damp.
But in sense, that’s what the Nagi man was doing.
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Tags: fear
Tough night takes teamwork
Bailey Pruett and the couple's daughter
It looked like it was going to be a long night, and that did not bode well for a long day of flying the next day.
In the morning, Missionary pilot Brian Pruett was scheduled to fly missionaries Chris and Lynn Strange to a Banwaon village in the Philippines. He was to stay with them there until they were ready to head out later in the day. With a front moving in, he anticipated nasty weather and the stress that brings to flying.
Yet just before bedtime,
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Please pray daily
Between rising costs and falling support, we have reached a critical point in our ministry. We are living out our calling and desire to continue serving God, so this month Julie and I are focusing on seeking the people whom God desires to be involved in our ministry financially. Since this is all about God, we want you praying with us.
Pray that God leads us to the correct people. Pray that He works in their hearts to make them receptive to His will, and that they respond to it.
If you’re going to pray daily this month, would you please contact us to let us know that? That would be very encouraging. Thanks!
Tags: pray
Really? Mosquitoes? Why?
A Da'an man at his house.
“Why did God make mosquitoes?”
With the weather warming up here in Florida, that’s not a bad question. But it wasn’t a Floridian asking. It was a Da’an man in Indonesia.
Missionary James Poarch was spending time with an older neighbor, as he learns the culture and language of the Da’an people. He was specifically asking about their beliefs in regard to a creator.
“Mohontara was always good,” the neighbor said. “Mohontara created everything, and everything was good.”
But then James’ neighbor stopped. He though for a bit, then
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Tags: beliefs
