NTM - New Tribes Mission | Planting Tribal Churches

Dear friends and supporters,

We have been so blessed at the response to our email a few days ago and thank you so much for praying for us, it is a great comfort to our hearts.

I had my final test today and we called the doctor for the results. I do not have cancer in the bowel or lungs, however, they are pretty sure that I have cholangiocarcinoma which is cancer of the bile duct in my liver – not good.

As anticipated a few days ago, they have scheduled surgery for 18 November. The doctor warned us that it is not without its risks. Since I will have about 80% of the liver removed, there is risk of bleeding or failure of the part of the liver that remains.

Assuming I survive the surgery, I will have some radiation and chemotherapy. Once that is complete, they will talk about a prognosis. If they don’t do the surgery, the doctor said I might have 4-6 months to live.

Feeling quite numb this evening, it all seems quite surreal but very glad to have family close at hand. We also have a very supportive team here at NTBI and as I have said, we are greatly comforted by your prayers and concern.

For the past four weeks we have been asking God to help us deal with what we know rather than what we don’t know and we have experienced a great peace with that. Now we have a definite diagnosis that isn’t good, we are trusting the Lord for that same grace to handle what we know.

Again, we would covet your prayers for courage, that our faith would not fail and for our family around the world. We would also ask you that God would be pleased to give the strength to survive the surgery and to have as long as possible with family.

Another quote from Ps 71:18 So even to old age and gray hairs, O God, do not forsake me, until I proclaim your might to another generation, your power to all those to come.

All our love,

James and Lisa

Dear friends and supporters,

We would really value your prayers at this time because I, James, found out this week that I will have to have some major surgery in the next two or three weeks.

I have a mass in my liver that doctors think could be cancer. In light of that, I am to have further tests to see if there are signs of cancer anywhere else. Whatever they find, I will have to have my gall bladder and more than half of my liver removed.

Needless to say, it has been quite a shock, however, God has been helping Lisa and I to take a day at a time, to deal with what we know and not what we don’t know. I am thankful to God for Lisa and for her steady faith that is very supportive.

We sure would appreciate your prayers. I would ask you to pray for me for courage as I face the surgery and wait on a definite diagnosis. I would ask your prayers that my faith will not fail. I would ask your prayers for the family as they wait with me on the outcome, especially our family in Ireland and our sons in Papua New Guinea and Israel who feel so far away.

“You God, Who have shown me great and severe troubles, shall revive me again and bring me up again from the depths of the earth.” Ps 71:20

All our love,

James and Lisa.

Benjamin left Tuesday, 27 Sept., for a week long survey.  This is the second of five trips he will be making to help prioritize the needs in the Sepik area and to determine where he and Missy should locate to plant a church.  I am sure they would appreciate your prayers:

Pray for physical, emotional and spiritual strength to endure the hiking, the separation and to remain confident and dependent on the Lord.

Pray for wisdom to speak to the right people and clearly communicate their intentions and to accurately assess the results when they return.

Check out his blog:  Benjamin and Missy

First survey video

Silas with his dad’s hiking gear

It has been a month since our arrival at NTBI in Jackson. Having lived here before for three years has been a great help as many things are familiar.

We are in a two bedroom apartment right across the road from the school and last week our stuff from N, Ireland arrived so it looks and feels like home.

It is great to have our daughters Deborah and Martha call in on us nearly every day. We have enjoyed getting to know Martha’s boyfriend, Bryan, very much.

The Siar people in PNG are about to hear the presentation of the gospel for the first time in their own language. All the missionaries on the team graduated from the NTBI Jackson.

It is a great reminder of why we are here … to help equip men and women to, one day, present the gospel to another people group in their own language for the first time, just like the Siar missionaries. (more…)

Friday 8 July in Mexico on the beach at sunset, Isaac and Camille said their vows to one another and became husband and wife.

We had the joy to be among the family and friends at the small, informal gathering that brought the Hatton and Ovington families together.

Camille grew up in Mexico where her parents, Tom and Patty, serve as missionaries.  She met Isaac at College of the Ozarks from where she has just graduated as a nurse.

Their plan is to go to Israel where, the Lord providing, Isaac is seeking to continue his medical studies.  They will be passing through Ireland on the way so our family can meet the beautiful bride.

For more wedding photos check out our Photos page.

Thursday 21 July in London at the US Embassy at about 11:15am, Lisa and I were granted our Green Cards to live and work in the US.

It has been a process lasting 18 months and allows us to return to the States to take up a ministry at New Tribes Bible Institute.  I will be teaching Bible and Lisa will be mentoring ladies one to one.

The move will give us the opportunity to be in the same country as three of our seven grandchildren and where most of our children have gravitated to over the years.

So, thank the Lord with us.

Lisa came across these pictures the other day taken 25 years apart.

On top, Benjamin is standing beside her ready to board a plane to go into the bush.

Below, Benjamin is surrounded by his own family ready to board a plane to go into the bush.

What a blessing to be used as a family to expand the reach of the gospel with NTM for the past 30 years.

Pray for Benjamin and Missy as Missy studies Pidgin English and as they look to the Lord for wisdom as to which people group to work with.

Last month, our daughter Deborah had the opportunity to go to India. She and another teacher from the school she works for here in Belfast, Victoria College, took three students to visit a school in northern India and attend a gathering of educators from all over the world in Delhi.


The school she visited was for girls from under privileged homes. Apart from attending their classes, they attended assemblies each day where the girls performed traditional Indian dances that conveyed different aspects of the Indian culture.

On their visit to the educators assembly in Delhi, they were accompanied by two teachers and two students from the Indian school and performed a mixture of Indian and Irish dancing to symbolise the sharing of ideas and philosophy between the two schools. The trip was capped off with a trip to the Taj Mahal.


Some of the lasting impressions of the trip were shared by the students in assemblies when they returned to Belfast. In one video presentation they contrasted the the obvious poverty of the living conditions with the smiles that they had witnessed on the faces of their Indian counterparts. While students in India might be poor in pocket, they didn’t seem poor in heart.


Students in Belfast couldn’t be said to be poor in pocket but … poor in heart?

Teaching faithful ones to teach others is the basic purpose of the NTM training program.  Lisa and I are involved in the Bible Schools, the ground floor of the NTM training.

The goal of the NTM Bible Schools is to establish believers in the foundational truths of the Bible with an emphasis on church planting among people groups without the Gospel.

Since we joined the training program in 2005, the first of the families who started their Biblical training at the same time have completed the NTM missionary training, partnership development and have begun arriving on the field.

Pray for them as they orientate to the field, learn the national language and look to God for wisdom as to where to allocate.  Eventually, by God’s grace, these dear ones will be teaching faithful ones to teach others.  PTL

Pictured from L2R:  Thomas and Laura Scherer and Logan and Kendra Teall, both in Indonesia.  Kendra is expecting their second child any day.  Tim and Kat Warner in Mozambique.

This past year the gospel was presented to the Uriay people in PNG. Since then, there is teaching for believers two days a week but not all are attending.  Pray that more will come. Scriptures need to be translated for the teaching so pray for consistent translation helpers to keep ahead of the lessons.

You can read more at the following link – http://www.ntm.org/news/11607

Picture:  Lisa Kappeler working among the Uriay

Preparations are underway for teaching among the Akolet people, again in PNG, due to start in January 2011. Pray for strength and stamina for all involved in teaching, for wisdom as to how to deal with distractions and for culturally appropriate examples that will help make the gospel real to the Akolet.

You can read more at the following link – http://www.ntm.org/news/11576

Picture:  Akolet literacy class