Jason and Angie Bechtel Bringing Hope to Unreached People Groups Larry Brown is the President of NTM-USA and passionately shares the purpose and vision of New Tribes Mission.
Archive for the ‘Ministry’ Category
The heart and soul of New Tribes Mission
Posted by Jason and Angie Bechtel on Saturday, March 26th, 2011Indonesia Trip Details
Posted by Jason and Angie Bechtel on Monday, March 14th, 2011
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.
What do Jason and Angie write about?
Posted by Jason and Angie Bechtel on Wednesday, March 2nd, 2011Have you ever wondered what Angie and I blog about the most? I just discovered a cool free service online at Wordle.net that created this graphic for me:
Indonesia Trip Rescheduled
Posted by Jason and Angie Bechtel on Wednesday, February 9th, 2011
Traditional Lauje Home
God promised that the gates of hell will not prevail against the advance of His Church. And God keeps His promises. In 2011, God is calling sinners to Himself, and saving them by His matchless grace. And He is extending His hand of opportunity, to you and to me, to join Him.
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!
New Displays for Reps
Posted by Jason and Angie Bechtel on Wednesday, February 9th, 2011Don’t you love it when you get to finish something? Especially when you have been working on it for a while. For several months I seemed to be working hard, but never seeing any fruit for my labours. Then in the last two weeks a number of projects have wrapped up. One such project is the new retractable displays for our missionaries representing NTM. Here is what they look like:
New NTM@work Magazine
Posted by Jason and Angie Bechtel on Friday, February 4th, 2011Done. 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.
What experienced missionaries are saying about NTM training
Posted by Jason and Angie Bechtel on Thursday, February 3rd, 2011Learn more about missionary training offered by New Tribes Mission >>
Driving to Florida and Back
Posted by Jason and Angie Bechtel on Sunday, January 23rd, 2011
As you all know, we fled to Florida for some warmer weather and a relaxing vacation earlier this month. Well, we had relaxing, but it definitely wasn’t as warm as we had hoped! We left on Friday, Jan. 7th in the evening after dropping off the girls at Jason’s mom’s house. We drove the 5 hours to Ohio where we spent the night at my cousin’s, once again! 
In the morning we hoped to drive out of the snow, but no, it stayed with us all the way to Virginia –sometimes in the air and sometimes just on the ground. Jason had thought about just leaving his coat at home, but boy was he glad he brought it! Especially when he needed it in the car while I, the pregnant one, sat in my t-shirt! LOL
We had a bit of an interesting arrival in Virginia. Just as we turned into the town where our friends live and the gas pedal didn’t respond when Jason pressed it. He stomped on it and away we went until we had to stop at the lights. The car sputtered and Jason had to restart it before it would go. We turned onto our friends’ street where it the GPS told us that we had arrived just as the car stalled again. We didn’t see their house yet, so we tried to start the car again. It did start after a couple tries and we made it into their driveway. PHEW! We were so glad that God allowed us to make it there with our broken car! We tumbled out of the car and shared our driving adventure with our friends to which they replied, “Are you out of gas?” To our credit, our gas gauged doesn’t work and yes, that was the problem, PRAISE THE LORD! We usually keep track with the trip meter, but, for some reason we didn’t that day –probably because we don’t usually drive 800+ kilometers in a day! Needless to say, the next day we filled up at every stop we made! 
The next day we also finally got out of snow in North Carolina and we made it to Sanford, FL around 7:30 pm. Jason spent the next few days in meetings with his American co-workers. I relaxed in our guest apartment, reading, doing puzzles and shopping. Okay, so why was I indoors in Florida? Well, it rained most of our first day and the sun came out the next day, but it was still quite chilly. It was still relaxing though!
On Wednesday we left Sanford for our real vacation destination –Okeechobee, Florida – to stay with Jason’s grandparents. They have a nice little winter-home on a river. We thoroughly enjoyed our time down there and it was the first time where Jason actual set aside work for a few days. He even put an automatic vacation responder on his email which he has NEVER done before! The sun was out our few days there, but it was still quite cold unless you could get out of the wind. It was the last day when I actually got a bit of a tan! We had a good time doing next to nothing! We did get in a boat ride where we saw an 8 foot-long alligator and lots of different birds.
We ended up heading home two days early as the weather predictions weren’t very good for most of the USA and, as much as we would’ve loved to extend our vacation, I don’t think the grandparents or our girls would have appreciated it! Our drive home was quite uneventful. We made it to the Georgia/Tennessee border the first night and then were back at my parents a little before 8pm on Monday night. Delena was super excited to see us and well, Lorelei’s eyes got as big as saucers when she saw us in the morning!
Thank you for your prayers!
Lauje Tribal Bible Dedication Postponed
Posted by Jason and Angie Bechtel on Wednesday, January 5th, 2011
We were getting down to the wire. The excitement was building. Financial gifts for my trip to Indonesia were beginning to come in. Even with our third child due to arrive the end of March, I was going ahead with my plans to be in Indonesia for two weeks the end of February. It hadn’t sunk in yet for Delena that I would be missing her birthday, the one that she has been talking about since forever — she is going to start school after she turns four, don’t you know!
As much as I wanted to go to Indonesia, as much as I wanted to be there for the Bible dedication, for a Bible I have helped prepare for the last two years, I didn’t have a peace that passes all understanding. I just didn’t have a peace.
So I put a condition on my trip. I wouldn’t travel alone. If the Lord didn’t provide someone to travel with me, I wouldn’t go. I approached one of my best friends. He wanted to come. His wife was okay with it. His work was okay with it. It was just a matter of the finances, for him and for myself.
While salvation is free, bringing the gospel to the unreached can be very expensive, especially when the people who need to hear live in hard-to-reach places. Our trip into the Lauje tribe will cost each of us more than $2,500. Not only do we have international flights to Jakarta, but domestic flights, and then renting a helicopter to fly into the tribe.
As we got down to the wire, needing to make some decisions and commitments, neither of us had a peace, but we pressed on. Why wouldn’t God want us to be a part of this once-in-a-lifetime celebration?
Then I got the call. An email actually. The decision to go or stay was not actually ours to make. The Bible translator learned from the printer that the Bibles won’t be ready in time. The Bible dedication has been postponed till April or May.
The relief I felt was quickly followed by regret and dread.
I was relieved that I didn’t have to say no. That I wouldn’t be seen as unwilling to trust God for the money. I was relieved that I wouldn’t have to make a hard choice between going and staying. But I also realized that I was very close to making a bad choice. Actually, I was very close to being disobedient. I didn’t have a peace with going, and I knew it.
So why didn’t I have a peace? Was it simply that the timing was off, and the Lord knew it? Was I just being told not to buy the tickets for February? Or am I not to go at all? I don’t know.
While the pressure is currently off, my friend and I still have to decide if we should move ahead with going to Indonesia in April. For both of us, the deciding factors will have changed. There will be no risk of me missing the birth of my 3rd child, but I will be leaving Angie with two preschoolers and a 4-week-old.
I covet your prayers. Not only that I would have a sense of the Lord’s leading, but that I would have the boldness to listen.
What does Jason do?
Posted by Jason and Angie Bechtel on Wednesday, December 29th, 2010
Over Christmas we saw a lot of extended family. One question I heard a couple of times was, “What does Jason do?”
This is an interesting question, because the answer has been in constant flux since April of 2010. The week before Christmas I revisited my list of current responsibilities.
So here it is, in no particular order:
Help Missionaries serving with NTM:
- designing, editing, proofing, and printing of ministry updates
- designing prayer cards and business cards
- publishing e-news bulletins for Canadian missionaries with NTM
- oversee the development of internal manuals, reimbursement forms, etc
Preparing a New Website
- coordinating the content for a new public-facing NTM website
- planning a campus blog for our new website
- researching companies to help with online donations
Promoting NTM on Canadian Radio
- Oversee the mailing of promotional CDs to 70+ radio stations across Canada
- Oversee followup calls to each of the radio stations
Assist in Mobilization Co-ordination
- Setup and implement salesforce.com
- Oversee the design of new literature and DVDs for promoting NTM, such as Awayo
- Ensure that representatives across Canada have the literature and DVDs they need to be successful
- Help plan how to best follow-up with Canadians who have gone to NTM’s Bible colleges or otherwise been involved with NTM in the past
- Oversee the designing of new retractable banners for our representatives
Helping donors/churches know the impact they are having
- Oversee the thanking of donors to the operations and development funds, both through written notes and phone calls
- Develop a welcome package for first time donors to NTM of Canada
- Continue to develop a “support report” service for churches and donors asking for an update on their missionary’s financial needs
Help with NTM’s social networking efforts internationally
- Oversee the NTM international twitter account, which includes:
- Daily tweets
- Thank new followers and engage
- Listen for mentions of our ministry and engage
Oversee the Canadian version of the NTM@work
- Fine-tune the content of NTM@work magazine for Canadian donors
- Oversee the printing and mailing across Canada
Teach in the Missionary Training Centre
- I help teach a module/class on “Ministry Partnership Development”. This class is about building and maintaining a team that will pray for you and support you financially. Everyone within NTM has to raise their own support.
I am sure there are things that I do that are not coming to mind right now. And there are things I have taken off my list, such as coaching graduates of the Missionary Training Centre as they raise their support. I can’t do it all. Technically this list falls into two separate departments: Communications and Media, and Mobilization. The more I get a handle on what my new ministry is, the more my work blends together into “promoting what God is doing in tribal missions across Canada.”
I am thrilled that I don’t have to do this all alone. This last fall I had two interns, and two mom’s (Angie being one of them) helping as they could as well. One of the things on my personal prayer list is a full-time graphic designer, and a full-time administrative aid. Do you know anyone who may be interested in volunteering for a year or two?
