Jason and Angie Bechtel Bringing Hope to Unreached People Groups
In this must-see video, Paiye of the Moi tribe tells the Easter story in his own words. This is from the same tribe where we filmed the hit video Awayo.
Check out more videos from NTM and let me know what you think of them. My co-workers are working on adding French subtitles to a couple of these. Which videos do you want in which languages?
Much of my life is spent doing childcare. Okay, all of my life is childcare, but on Monday and Thursday mornings I spend half the morning looking after other people’s children at New Tribes Mission. I help look after the children of students who are training to be tribal church planters. It’s a fun time for me because I get out of the house and my kids LOVE it. Every morning Lorelei asks if we get to go to childcare and both her and Delna get extremely disappointed if we don’t end up going, usually because of sickness.
It’s a nice set-up — there are three rooms side by side so I have one of my children in each. I’m normally in with the toddlers, but every-so-often I end up with the babies and last year I was 3 days a week with the pre-schoolers — so I’m fairly comfortable in any of the rooms. It’s nice for the children too because when they have the same workers fairly consistently, it gives them a sense that all is right in the world. I really enjoy getting to know the children and their parents through this ministry. Definitely a highlight of the week!
Is there anything going on in your life that we can be praying about?
This week is Norm’s first week in the office. Norm is my new co-worker. We are sharing an office, so we appreciate your prayers as we settle into what that means.
On the weekend a co-worker in the office let everyone know they are moving on the end of May. They were tribal missionaries in North Asia, then worked in the home office. They were with NTM Canada for some 16 years I think. So they will be leaving a hole.
Tomorrow some co-workers are going to Toronto to invite some Chinese pastors and elders to an NTM informational event on April 24th. I am involved in promoting this event on the 24th. Please pray that I keep balance with all that I am responsible for. Yesterday was a little overwhelming.
Thanks for praying!
What makes tribal church planting different than regular ol’ church planting?
This video created by some friends and co-workers of ours gives a fantastic explanation.
On the long weekend in February, after a lot of preparation, Jason, along with co-workers, hosted a Chinese youth group from Toronto. The group arrived late Saturday night and stayed until Sunday after lunch. Everyone had a great time.
Friday night they did some role-playing where they ate some things they didn’t recognize. Then Saturday morning they talked about the importance of communicating clearly across cultures. After a few brave souls went tobogganing Saturday afternoon, everyone spent the evening in a tribal hut around a fire talking with Pete Humphreys, a veteran missionary, about the challenges to planting a church in an isolated tribal group. The Sunday morning, Angie’s brother, Sean, wrapped up the weekend with a challenge out of Habakkuk.
All weekend long, the youth were exposed to NTM and tribal church planting!
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.”
For the second year in a row, the NTM@work magazine in November is a calendar. You can see the Canadian version below. If you didn’t get one in the mail, I would love to send one to you. Just email to let me know!
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.
