Jason and Angie Bechtel Bringing Hope to Unreached People Groups
Don’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:
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 >>
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!
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.
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:
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?
We made it back safely from our 1.5 week trip to Missouri. We had lots of stops along with way and back which made it nice for the girls. Our longest day on the road was 10 hours and I think the girls might have done the best that day, but I’ll explain that later.
Our first stop, after crossing the border on Friday, was lunch with my Uncle and cousins for a yummy lunch and leg stretch. Then on to his daughter’s house, in Ohio, where we stayed for the weekend. We celebrated a very late Canadian/early American Thanksgiving! Delena and Lorelei had fun playing with their two boys as they are all fairly close in age.
Sunday found us in the car and heading downtown St. Louis, MO. Jason has a couple cousins here so we stopped in for supper to see everyone and stayed overnight. On Monday we went with Jason’s cousin and her 3 girls to the St. Louis Zoo. It was a blast. With the cooler weather –quite warm for us Canadians –the animals were pretty active. Jason’s cousin goes there all the time and she kept commenting on all the things we were seeing that she had never seen. I think my favourite was the hippo that we could see through the glass –above and below the water. He kept swimming in circles for us. Another favourite was the orangutans that were sitting RIGHT beside the glass. Delena leaned in closer to see them and they leaned towards her. Boy, did she jump! LOL
When the girls were good and tired, we hopped in the car for our last drive to the Missionary Training Center in Camdenton, MO. We arrived for just in time for a delicious supper with our good friend, Sherry, who was in missionary training with us. We spent the next four days with her and she really spoiled us! Jason was able to sit in on some partnership development classes and bounce ideas off the staff down there. I did some shopping and Jason even watched the girls for a full day while Sherry and I headed to the city!
The only low point of our stay there was waking up to find ‘bites’ on my hands and feet one morning! I had felt a couple in the night, but they were all over my hands and feet when I got up for breakfast. By the end of breakfast they had spread all up my arms and legs and even on the insides of my hands and feet! I realized then, that these were NOT bites, but some sort of allergic reaction. None of us could think what it might be, so Sherry called her nurse friend, who asked me a lot of questions and we finally figured things out. The week before our trip I’d had a chest infection and was put on antibiotics. It was day 9 (of 10) for taking those, but apparently that’s when a reaction will show up your first time. I’m now allergic to penicillin! I’m pretty sure I’ve been on it before, but strange things happen when you’re pregnant! So I was itchy for a few days, but it didn’t stop me from shopping!!!
We left MO on Saturday morning by 8am. The girls weren’t ready for breakfast before we left for our 10 hour drive, so I let them bring their breakfast in the car. We were maybe 10 minutes down the road when Lorelei threw up! I should mention that the roads leaving the training center are VERY curvy! So we stopped and cleaned her up. About 15-20 minutes later, Delena announced that she was going to be sick. Thankfully she’s done this a few times in the car before so we were prepared for her and she got it all neatly in a bag!!! YEAH! Note to self: don’t eat on the curvy roads! You’re probably wondering why, in my first paragraph I said that this was the best travelling day. Well, I gave them both Gravol after that and they slept until 11:30! We made a pit stop for the toilet and then ate snacks in the car. They played and were quite content until 3:30, which turned out to be 4:30 when we decided to actually stop for supper, because of the time change. After supper they watched a movie in the car (thanks to my cousin’s DVD player) and before we knew it, we’d arrived back in OH at my cousin’s once again!
We spent our second weekend with my cousin and her family and then left early Monday morning to head to ON! We had NO problem and no wait at the border which was wonderful so we were able to head straight to a friend’s place in St. Catharines for supper. Then we spent the next two days visiting friends in Port Colborne, our first home as a couple. We finally made it back home on the Wednesday and I spent Thursday, no, not putting stuff away, but putting up Christmas decorations!!!
Steve Saint of I-TEC drove his road-legal flying car from Florida to Oshkosh this summer. Since then the FAA has also issued the Maverick a S-LSA aircraft airworthiness certificate. I-TEC hopes to be in production by EAA Oshkosh 2011.
As you probably remember, in 2008 we went to Indonesia for a month-long missions exposure trip. One of the highlights of this trip was climbing to the peak of Mt. Merapi. It is the most active volcano in Indonesia and has erupted regularly since 1548. It erupted in a big way on Monday. Just thought you might be interested to know that we climbed this famous volcano!
Here is our original post about our trip up the volcano: http://blogs.ntm.org/jason-bechtel/2008/09/03/climbing-active-volcano-mt-merapi/
Here are some photos of us at the summit:
Have you got your new NTM@work magazine/calender yet? Did you notice anything different?
Previously the NTM-USA head office sent their quarterly magazine to all Canadian donors. The November edition of NTM@work is the very first one where Canadian donors will receive a Canadian version of the magazine. And as an added twist, this edition of the magazine is a calendar.
Jason is super excited to oversee the “Canadianizing” of this fantastic publication. Right now one of his biggest prayer requests is for a graphic designer to join the Communication and Media Department. There is so much to do and someone with experience in design would be a huge asset!
A printed copy of this calender has been mailed to everyone that has supported our ministry financially in the last 12 months.
