NTM - New Tribes Mission | Planting Tribal Churches

I love these boys and I’m so glad I get to be their mommy!

(You can click on any picture to enlarge it)

Out to ice cream with our good friends, the Gantts.

There was a fun children’s museum in a neighboring town that we spent an afternoon at:

Adam loves ANY steering wheel!

I love Samuel’s look of pure thrill:

Samuel and I enveloped in a bubble:

Checking out another huge bubble:

Silly poses in the photo room:

We spent an afternoon at a beautiful state park where we got to do lots of hiking.  The boys loved hiking to the waterfall, climbing up 853 stairs (which they did with NO complaints!) to the top of Chimney Rock, and just generally exploring.

Heading up.

853 stairs later!

Here’s Adam, our 14 month old.

We met a couple that own “Kidz Play,” an indoor bounce house place and they invited us to come over anytime.  What a fun blessing!  We highly recommend the place if you’re ever in Forest City, North Carolina!

We even got to go to their house and go on their zipline.

Judah found out it’s not a good idea to try to cut a nightlight out of the outlet.  “There were big sparkles.  I was scared.”  Praise God for His protection!

We just got back from 2 weeks in North Carolina.  I, Kristen, got to teach Phonetics at another missionary training center.  Joel stayed with the boys all day and was Mr. Mom.  He’s amazing!

The boys had so much fun wrestling, swimming, and getting their faces and bodies painted (who knew water color paints were so great for face painting?!).

We also went to a town festival where the boys got to ride a pony.  Judah wasn’t so impressed until he saw Samuel do it.  Then he had to do it too!

Make sure to click on a picture if you want to see it bigger.

I’m having trouble getting pictures to upload so check back soon to see the pictures!

Thank you for your prayers!  We arrived home Thursday night after 3 days on the road.  Adam was much better after the first day and our car brought us all those miles!  Yay God!

The days can be long for our boys in the car so each day we did a “fun thing” to break up the time.

DAY 1: This was my favorite!  We stopped in St. Augustine, FL to visit a historic fort, Castillo de San Marcos, and then that night we got to stay with a wonderful friend that I hadn’t seen in 2.5 years!  Thanks Miriam and Tim!

The fort was so cool!  And the boys couldn’t get enough of all the cannons.

Another fun thing – Ever heard of the Duggars?  We met their daughter-in-law’s parents on the streets of St. Augustine.  Crazy!

DAY 2: We were driving down the highway and saw a billboard for a railroad car “museum.”  So we stopped.  What little boy (and big boy) doesn’t like trains?  There were tons of cars and engines to climb up on and look in.

For meals on our trip, we mostly ate at Chick-fil-A, thanks to our friend, Jeannie!   That woman is amazing – she gathers Chick-fil-A coupons for free items and eats there for free every single day.  She gave us gobs of her free item certificates so we got to eat free too.  In 3 days of traveling we only had to pay for 2 meals!  Thank you, Jeannie!!

A huge added bonus that anyone who has traveled with small children will appreciate:  every Chick-fil-A had a play place!  Hallelujah!

DAY 3: This was Samuel’s favorite day for sure.  He was telling me about it again today!

We stopped in Memphis for the night so we went into downtown that next morning and rode the trolley (the “train”) around.  The boys are obsessed with trains so this was heaven for them!

Thank you again for praying for us!  We appreciate it!  Check back soon for a post about our time in Orlando.

“Life-changing!”

That was what the students were saying about the classes Kristen was a part of teaching at another missionary training center in North Carolina for 2 weeks.

While there, she was asked to re-write the manual for the Phonetics class she was teaching.  It was two long weeks of working until 11pm in order to get the first draft completed.  It was all worth it, though, knowing that the trainees are now better equipped to reach people in South Sudan, Honduras, Northern Africa, France, South Korea and many other places!  And they asked her to come back and teach again in February!

Mr. Mom

Joel was a wonderful Mr. Mom during those weeks, taking care of Samuel, Judah and Adam in addition to taking care of the house and grading homework for Kristen.  He thoroughly enjoyed the time with the boys, getting to know them better as individuals and observing them together, but was glad to hand back responsibilities to the one God gifted for the job of motherhood – their mother!

Our friend, ALISON

In college, I, Kristen, was a secret friend to a little girl with brain cancer.  In time I introduced myself and we have corresponded for 16 years now but never had the chance to meet.  She lives in NC and I had never been there.  When I got asked to teach there, I checked out where Alison’s town was in relation to where I was teaching and it was only about 10 miles away!!

So we met!  The picture above is the first day we met.  Her dad turned out to be a pastor and we had the privilege of presenting what God is doing around the world in tribal missions.

The family was so fun and wonderful.  We loved meeting and getting to know Alison and her family!

A church is born…The following is an email from one of the missionaries.  I loved the testimonies of some of the new believers (names in bold)!

Well it’s official; the new body of believers, the church here in Siar was established yesterday here in Siar land!  On Thursday we taught on the death and burial of Jesus, and then we culminated the teaching yesterday with His resurrection and ascension.  After completing the lesson, I simply asked the Siar if they had any questions or comments and then I sat down.

To be honest I knew where many of the Siar were at in their faith and that many were believing already, but I still felt nervous with a flood of questions running through my mind, “Would any testify to their belief in the gospel?  Would they be clear on the true issues of their personal salvation?” Well after a few quiet moments, my uncertainty was put to rest.

The first to stand was Jon, my translation helper.  He was emotional from the beginning which is not normal for him or any Siar for that matter.  He started by telling the people that he wanted to share with them what God had done for him.  He said that he could share a lot but he wanted to clearly state three main things.  He started by explaining how he used to call himself a pastor and teacher of God’s Word, but he never understand the true God.  He shared how God’s Word in the creation account revealed to Jon the true God who is perfect, all-powerful, and the creator of all things.  He was just amazed at encountering the one true God through His Word.  Jon’s second point was that God’s Word showed him that no matter what he thought about himself, the truth of the matter was that he was a sinner separated from God and the punishment for his sins was ready for him to bear.  Finally he culminated his talk by touching the promise of God that started back in the Garden of Eden and found its fulfillment in the person of Christ and His work on Jon’s behalf.  The previous day as we taught on the death of Christ, we nailed large nails into a cross that we had made and had laid on the ground in the teaching house.  Jon referenced that cross and shared that as he heard the sound of the hammer hitting the nails, he knew that the death on the cross was meant for him and he deserved it but Christ took his place and suffered his punishment for his sin.  He said he firmly believed it, and was confident that God bought him back and that he was now in God’s clan forever.  Jon’s talk ended with a challenge to the others as he said, “You guys, this is the truth – the only truth.  And this is the time for us to decide whether we will believe this or not!  All other issues, ideas, paths to God, are all lies.  But you all need to decide what you will do with this gospel; this was for you and you must decide!”

Next an older man named Tomulai stood and shared how he been up all night “crying in his heart” over the suffering that Jesus experienced for him.  He storied about the severity of the beating that Jesus received and the cruelty of his death on the cross and how that was for him.  He was very emotional and moved by the suffering of Christ on his account.

Another influential village leader named Ogen stood and gave a simple clear testimony that the death of Christ was indeed the only way, the only truth, and the only way to eternal life.  He shared how there have been so many lies they have believed, but that finally now the truth was here and that he believed it.

After that another good friend named Sali stood and was very emotional as he thanked us for leaving our homes and coming here to give them the truth.  He was thankful for that and thankful for the truth of Christ’s death that he now understood and believed in.

There were also a number of ladies who gave clear testimonies after we ended the meeting.  Sakman and Redi sat together and encouraged each other by simply stating, “This is IT.  This is the only truth and only Jesus’ work for me is the truth that can save me.  This talk is SO good, there is no other talk that is bigger than this.  We are believing this truth and we will never leave it for anything else!.”

Tinamidil is a quiet little lady who has faithfully come to the teaching from the beginning.  When asked what she thought of all this, she answered in simple faith, “This is the only truth, that is for sure, and I believe it.”

Another man, Stiven, as we finished the teaching, showed his excitement by pumping his fist and saying over and over, “This is IT!  This is IT!”  He also shared that Jesus’ work was complete and the only way to eternal life.  He shared his total confidence that this message of Christ’s death was the only truth and that he believed it.

These are only but a few of the testimonies and there will be many more to come.  A number of individuals, husbands and wives, older men, and older women have believed.  The main point is this – the truth of the Gospel has shown its bright light into the Siar’s minds and hearts, and many have responded in faith.  Have they arrived yet to the full measure of what God has for them?  Certainly not yet, but have they understood the message of Christ’s salvation for them?  Absolutely!  And with that, the church was born here in Siar land and God has begun the long journey of maturing these believers and unifying them together as a body of believers established on the truth of His Word.

What now?

As exciting and thrilling as it is to see people go from darkness to light and see the salvation of a number of our Siar friends, we know that this is just the beginning of what God wants to do here.  The ultimate desire of God for the Siar is a mature and thriving church comprised of Siar men and women who are grounded, growing, and dependant on the Word of God alone.  What that means is that we are not standing at the end of this work with the Siar, but we are at the very beginning.

What does that mean for us?  It means that tons of work lies ahead: Bible translation, lesson writing, equipping and discipleship, and further outreach.  It means beginning the long journey of walking through life with these new Siar believers, and see them mature as inidividuals and as a group.  We plan to take one week off from teaching, and we will visit the Siar and talk with them to get a better idea of their understanding of the gospel and their personal application of that truth.  On Thursday of next week we will meet again with the group to review and encourage them in the Gospel, share testimonies, and also to plan with them for our next phase of teaching and instruction in God’s Word.  We will be sure to update you at that time.

What does that mean for you?  Prayer.  Our team has been amazed and very thankful for all of you who have prayed faithfully for the Siar’s salvation, but if you were entertaining thoughts that your job was over now, think again!  Salvation is not the ultimate goal of God for mankind, it is only the beginning of what He wants to do.  If we understand the goal of God for the Siar is their maturity as a body of believers united and growing in truth and reaching out to those who have yet to hear, then your intercession of behalf of the Siar has just begun.

May the testimony of the Siar be a challenge to all of us to commit to whatever is necessary to build them up and present them complete in Christ.  We are so thankful for all of you that have prayed faithfully for the Siar.  As is the case with God, those prayers weren’t in vain, and the new Siar church is evidence to that fact.  Rejoice with us and with the angels as the celebration in Heaven is still going strong for the new names written in the Book of Life!

Lane for the Siar Team