Jason and Angie Bechtel Bringing Hope to Unreached People Groups
Want to see someone really excited about their salvation in Jesus Christ? Then check out this video from the Siar tribe in Papua New Guinea. God is doing amazing things around the world.
There is also a list of updates on the Siar tribe on the NTM website.
Here is a news story from the field of Paraguay written by Ian Fallis that I loved.
Angie and I have personal friends that worked with this unreached people group for 17 years and are now living near us. Hearing how the Bible translation is coming along is thrilling to my heart. Bible translation is a vital part of reaching the unreached with the gospel of Jesus Christ, and seeing a mature church planted and established that truly glorifies God. And to hear that pastor-elders are being appointed, this is extra special!
All the pieces are coming into place for the Manjui church to stand and grow.
The Manjui New Testament is nearing completion. Colossians and 1, 2 and 3 John were printed and made available to believers and Bible teachers in October. With that step, 24 of the New Testament’s 27 books were printed.
Last month, 2 Corinthians was checked for comprehension, to see how well the translation was understood by Manjui people. “This now leaves only a couple of checks to go for this difficult book,” wrote Gordie and Nancy Hunt, who work among the Manjui people.
The only books left to translate are Hebrews and Revelation.
Three of the Manjui Bible teachers were recognized as pastors and leaders last May, and these men have been teaching through Romans and Ephesians.
“The Manjui church is definitely growing spiritually as the pastors have been teaching,” the Hunts wrote. “We are asking you to praise God for what He is doing among these people.”
New Tribes missionary Jason Swanson prays for the Siawi church.
New Tribes Mission seeks to establish mature churches among people who are isolated from the gospel. After teaching chronologically in the tribes’ own language and culture, believers are discipled to lead the church and partner in the Great Commission.
Here is the latest NTM@work magazine. I have gotten piles of very encouraging feedback about the articles in this NTM@work. Just to be up front, if you enjoyed anything in the NTM@work, it had nothing to do with me. NTM-USA does the magazine for themselves, and generously allows NTM Canada to reprint it. I take the liberty to substitute in Canadian specific information in the place of USA specific information (such as featured missionaries, State-side giving opportunities, etc.), but the field-related content is identical.
A lengthy procession of more than 3,000 people sang praises to God as they made their way to the area where they would sit through a sun-scorched, five-hour ceremony.
My trip to Indonesia was jam packed with excitement. So much so I have struggled to know how to write about it. So let me give you a run down on all that I got to enjoy, and some of the highlights along the way.
After leaving Toronto, I had to connect through Seoul on my way to Jakarta. I didn’t have alot of time, so before landing in Seoul, a stewardess allowed me to move to a seat closer to the plane’s exit so I would be one of the first ones off. Then as I was going through security, the airport staff came looking for me and wisked me off to the gate for my next flight. I felt like a VIP.
Once in Jakarta, I had a couple of days to get over jet lag before the rest of the team arrived. While waiting in Jakarta, I tagged along with a very outgoing and adventurous missionary who took me on the public bus system across the city to the National Monument.
The first two weeks of my time in Indonesia, I was the token white guy on a Korean missions team. There were 5 Koreans and yours truly. The aforementioned adventurous missionary was Jiseoung Lee. He and his family are part of the church planting team amongst the Sekadau people of West Kalimantan. Peter Yoon and his family are going to be starting the Missionary Training in Canada this coming August. Then there were three young men from Korea: Jay, Duane and Paul. Jay’s background is in the special forces in South Korea. Duane owns and manages a children’s clothing design business. Paul teaches computer-aided-design at a vocational school.
Once Peter and the guys from Korea arrived, we spent a couple days in the community where new missions to the field spend their first 1-2 years learning the Indonesian language and culture. We learned about NTM’s approach to tribal church planting and how large the need is. Maps were shown of where we have missionaries already, and now many more tribes are waiting for missionaries.
We also visited one of the seven wonders of the world, Borobudur.
Then we headed off to West Kalimantan to visit 3 different tribal groups: the Sekadau, Semandang, and Gerai.
To get into the Sekadau tribe, we took a Cessna 209 on a 50 minute flight into the jungle. This was super exciting. So much so that even though I had taken Gravol/Anti-Mo, my looking around with boyish excitement ended up getting me sick. Thankfully I didn’t heave, and was able to sleep it off once on the ground again.
During our 4 nights in the Sekadau tribe, we attended churches services in three villages where we shared our testimonies and did some special music. We sang “I have decided to follow Jesus” with verses in 3 different languages: English, Korean, and Sekadau.
From the Sekadau tribe we flew to the Semandang tribe. But the airstrip we landed on was not in the same village as the church we were visiting, so we had to take motorbike taxis (ojeks) through the jungle. We got caught in a downpour! After carefully negotiating huge washouts in slippery red clay, we turned on to a newly paved road. We were going to so fast I thought my shirt was going to dry – except that it was raining so hard I had to use my ojek driver as a human shield to protect myself from the sheets of rain that felt like bullets.
The one night we spent in the Semandang tribe was the start of a large Bible conference. Hundreds of people from about 15 different tribes from across Indonesia had gathered for this conference and to dedicate a new church building.
As we were heading to bed, Jiseoung mentioned that the keynote speaker for the following day was not there, and that the conference conveners may ask Peter or myself to preach in the morning. Whether it was Jiseoung’s style or Indonesian style I am not sure, but we were getting used to being ready to teach in season and out of season. So we both went to bed planning to teach the next morning. It turned out that another missionary was cornered and asked to teach, so we though we were off the hook. Halfway through the morning Peter and I slipped out to pack up our clothes and prepare to move to the next tribe. Wrong move. Jiseoung came running with a message: they had just announced that we were going to be sharing. So we grabbed our Bibles and headed back to the church where we were both given an opportunity to share from the Word.
After lunch we hired some ojeks to taxi us to the Gerai tribe where we shared in another church service and spent the night. While walking around the village with one of the church elders, we asked about the state of the church. The elder explained that when the missionaries phased out of their leadership responsibilities, giving the responsibility of shepherding the flock to capable men from the Gerai tribe, that attendance at the church was cut in half. When we asked about why so many people stopped coming to church, he responded with a very profound answer: the missionaries had become like gods to the people. With the missionaries no longer there, there was no reason to come to church anymore.
Having done all that we had planned on doing in West Kalimantan, we headed back to Jakarta. Jay, Duane and Paul headed back to Seoul, but Peter and I just transferred to another flight for Central Sulawesi. After one night at Alan and Rachal Whatley’s home, Peter and I, along with Shane and Karen Whatley, took the helicopter into the Lauje tribe. The rest of our group went by road.
As was customary, I took my gravel, maybe a bit too much. I remember taking off, and then someone woke me up when we were about to land 40 minutes later. At least I was awake for the exciting parts of the heli ride!
We spend two nights in Laujeland, and were there for Easter Sunday. Now it doesn’t take much to make Easter Sunday special. He is alive! But this Easter Sunday was extra special because over 600 Lauje had gathered to receive their own copies of the New Testament. And this Easter Sunday was extra extra special, because after the Bible dedication service, 25 people were baptized in the river!
While we were there, one of the Bible teachers from an outreach deep in the mountains shared a story with Barrie Williamson, the Bible translator. This Bible teacher explained how a man from a neighbouring tribe had come to him asking for a missionary to come and teach them the Word of God! New Tribes Mission has over 100 of these invitation to bring the Gospel to lost people – we just need more missionaries!
To get a well-rounded experience, Peter and I took the road home. So instead of a quick trip in the heli, we set out on foot. We walked for several hours before getting picked up by ojeks, which took us further down the trail towards the coast where we hired a taxi to drive us back to Alan and Rachel’s, a several hour drive!
Early the next morning Peter and myself started our trip back to Canada. On the way we spent 3 days in Korea with Peter’s family. Again I was treated like royalty, as Peter and Jay took me to the War Memorial of Korea, among other places.
Here are some pictures from inside Indonesia.
one of the 10 pre-release copies of the new Lauje New Testament Bibles
There are two questions I am hearing a lot of right now.
First off, the baby’s due date is March 31st. We will be letting everyone know as soon as Angie has the baby. Right now she is doing fantastic. Sill going for a jog 3 mornings a week, but has cut back on her responsibilities. She isn’t helping with childcare at NTM anymore, and isn’t tutoring Thursday nights anymore.
The second question (or set of questions) surrounds my upcoming trip to Indonesia.
The original February itinerary was postponed because the Lauje NT wasn’t going to be ready in time. The Bible dedication ceremony is now scheduled for late April.
I will be leaving Canada the first week of April and returning three weeks later. I will be traveling with a Korean “exposure team” for the first two weeks, visiting 3 different tribes. After sending the team back to Korea without us, their team leader and myself will be making a trip to Laujeland for the Bible dedication there.
I never dreamed of having such a full and eye-opening trip. It is only possible because Angie and her parents thought that if I was going to spend the $1700 to get to Indonesia and back, I might as well stay longer and make the trip more worth-while. Their encouragement, along with this opportunity to join the Korean team came together to make this a better, but more costly trip. I was originally forecasting $2500 in expenses. Now I expect to need $3000 to cover all my expenses. I am excited to say that God has already provided over $1000. Please join me in prayer for the remaining support needed.
PS. Angie and the THREE kids will be living with her parents while I am gone.
Traditional Lauje Home
My trip to Indonesia has been rescheduled for the end of April. Since 2008, I have been helping to prepare the New Testament for the Lauje people. Being at the Bible dedication in the tribe is an exciting dream come true.
At this point, I need much prayer as there is much planning to do, funding for God to provide, and logistics to figure out. Instead of going just before our 3rd child is born, I plan on going a month after. Angie and the three kids will be staying with family, so that is taken care of. What I don’t know yet is who will travel with me. I REALLY want someone to go with me.
Salvation is free, but bringing the message to the unreached can be very expensive, especially when the people who need to hear live in hard-to-reach places. This trip into the Lauje tribe will cost each person more than $2,500. It is exciting to see how God has already started to provide the funds for my expenses!
It is a privilege to see God at work and to join Him as His message of salvation is brought to all Nations, Tribes and Tongues! Above all, I really need prayer support for this fast approaching trip! There is much to do. As I join God in His work, I am eternally thankful for all those that partner with me, however God leads!
If you are able to commit to prayer support, or if you feel called to help with the needed finances, please let me know. Angie and I want to keep you updated on how God provides!
Done. Out the door. Finally. Today I sent the files to the printer for the next edition of NTMC’s quarterly magazine, NTM@work. Monday I still have to work on the envelope it will be mailed in, but at least the biggest part of the mailing is done! I know you will enjoy the stories in this magazine.
Learn more about missionary training offered by New Tribes Mission >>
