NTM - New Tribes Mission | Planting Tribal Churches

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

This past year we have seen our family spread out around five countries in the world.

Martha moved to the States to take up a position on staff at New Tribes Bible Institute.  She is part of the Dean’s department, working one on one with the single girls students.  It is challenging and exciting and scary for her all at the same time.

Benjamin and Missy and their four kids moved to Papua New Guinea.  They would like to be involved in church planting and are currently in orientation.  Part of that will involve a four week trip to a bush location to continue their study of Pidgin English, the PNG culture and to help them prepare to live in the bush themselves.

Isaac moved to Israel where he is halfway through his first year at medical school.  God has amazingly provided all his school fees despite not being eligible for student loans either in the US or UK.  He is planning on getting married to Camille, an MK from Mexico,  in Mexico on the 8 July this year.

We often prayed that God would be pleased to use us as a family and he certainly is answering that prayer as each and every one is seeking to walk with the Lord.  Thank God.

Pictures from L – R:  Martha with her neices; Benjamin and Missy and family in PNG; Isaac with his fiancee, Camille

Yesterday, Lisa and I stood at the top of Slieve Bearnagh together with our kids, Deborah, Martha and Isaac and good friend Geoff McNab.  Geoff is an experienced hill walker and guided us to the top of Bearnagh, the third highest peak in the Mourne Mountains at 2386ft.

We drove down to the Mournes in heavy fog and wondered at the point of hiking the mountains in fog but were encouraged by Geoff who thought it was an excellent day.  Throughout our day we were taken aback at glimpses of the mountains as fog cleared and covered the peaks again.  At times we walked the Mourne Wall, a 22 mile wall built in the early 1900′s to enclose the Mournes’ water catchment.

The day ended in high spirits and aching bodies, glad we didn’t let a bit of fog keep us from enjoying a wonderful day on the Mournes.

Pictures:  Above – the view from the top of Slieve Bearnagh;  Below – the Mourne Wall