NTM - New Tribes Mission | Planting Tribal Churches

We had a wonderful time as we celebrated Asa’s first Birthday on January 4th. It was a great opportunity to think back on those first few days of his life and see how faithful God has been in bringing him along to be a strong, healthy boy who is such a joy to our lives.

Some family and friends shared the celebration with us.

Even though Asa didn’t know what was about to hit him when he had his first bite of chocolate cake, the look on Jonathan’s face shows that he certainly does!

“Hey, this is pretty good!

“Somebody feed me!” 

“Oh, that one is MY piece!”

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“I like cake!”
 

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After the excitement of cake, we moved on to presents.

Wait a minute… isn’t that supposed to be mine?

“Yeah, more noisy toys!”

  
What a blessing it has been to have our sweet, little boys. We are so grateful to the Lord for these precious ones.

We meet so many people who say, “I could never be a missionary”. Sometimes it makes me wonder, “Why not?”

Who is called to be a missionary? Could I be called to be a missionary?

Jesus’ last words before He ascended into heaven answers those questions for us:

Then Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” 
                                                                      Matthew 28:18-20

“But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” 
                                                                                        Acts 1:8

So, you have been called to be a missionary to your community, to your country and to your world. The first two commandments for outreach can be challenging and uncomfortable, as it can be intimidating to share your faith. But they are more feasible since they don’t require leaving all you have and know to go where you don’t know anyone, don’t speak the language, don’t eat the same foods and don’t share the same values and beliefs about God. But does God still call you to be part of global missions? Matthew 28:18-20 says He does. Though we wish all of you could sell your house, car and a couple of kids to join us on the mission field, we know that just isn’t realistic (and I don’t just mean the kids part… and no, we would never sell our kids).

But that doesn’t mean you can’t be part of foreign missions. When someone prays, God moves to strengthen and encourage missionaries where they need it. When someone gives, they enable those who are able to go to stay and continue the work assigned to us all in Mathew 28. The “prayers” and “givers” are what sustain the “goers” to preach the Gospel to the ends of the earth. All three are essential players on one team with the same purpose and goal.

We encourage you, as Matthew 28 people, to join a team. God’s Word promises that with the Holy Spirit as our Coach, Guide and Enabler, we can win some from every nation for Christ. 
                                             

We have seen God’s generous hand of provision carry us throughout the entire process He’s taken us through to train and equip us for ministry. Now, as we wait on visas and funding, we reflect on some of the ways we have been blessed by the body of believers in churches across America…

Auberry Community Church, our home in California, has walked along with us from the beginning when we were first in school. They were the first church to back us financially and the church family is excited about doing this ministry with us. Our friend Johnna let us stay in her home as she was preparing to sell it. We also spent time invading the Blesse’s property, something we and they are accustomed to. It was great having Angie’s parents only a mile away. A highlight was going on the family trip to Mexico where we spent time with the IDT missionaries and assisted them with a house build.

We had an amazing time of refreshment and encouragement while fellowshipping with Sunrise Community Church in the Sacramento area. They found us a wonderful place to stay (thank you Nason family) and welcomed us with open arms into all of their scheduled activities, Bible Studies and Sunday School classes. They took extra steps to make us feel special and loved us as one of their own, including, but not limited to taking on our printing projects, gift cards for groceries and mentoring us. They are a true Barnabas.

Only God knows what would have become of us if we hadn’t met Art and Connie!  This wonderful couple pastors a church Iowa. We met them in California and arranged to stay with them on our trip cross-country to New Hampshire. Upon hearing that our car was “making strange noises”, they determined that we better not leave until they could take a look at the problem. The wheel bearings were living on a prayer (literally) and the inner brake pads disintegrated when touched. They said it was nothing short of a miracle that we made it there at all! Art and his son-in-law Adam spent the morning repairing our van on their dime and sent us on our way with a full tank of gas and lunch for the day’s travel. 

Skiff Lake Bible Church  in Michigan is always one of our stops when making this trip. This is the church we attended when students in Bible School. They are so excited about what God is doing globally through missions and give us a chance to share whenever we are around. They support almost 50 missionaries, all through a faith promise program which raises somewhere around $200,000 a year for missionaries. This is not an especially large church, but it is an especially missions-minded church- unlike any we have ever seen! Last time we visited, they let us know that they want to be financial partners with us.

Epsom Bible Church is where we currently find ourselves. Jon’s parents attend here and the church has graciously opened their mission’s home up for us to use until December. They have also added as their missionaries. We have met lots of wonderful people and look forward to connecting with old friends and new as we visit churches in the area.

God is building our support team through these amazing churches and individuals from them. We are praising God as our support level has increased to 35%. These are just some of the ways and some of the stories of how God is using His people to provide for us. Thank you all for being a part of it, even you as you are reading this we are blessed as we know you are thinking of and praying for us.

And my God shall supply all your needs according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus
Philippians 4:19

"If we do not start with trusting who God says we are, we will end up with trusting in our own resources to try to please God." 

One of the many great quotes from the speaker at the men’s rereat I (Jon, obviously) attended April 27-29. I went with the men of Sunrise Community Church of Sacramento where we are currently spending time developing partners at.

The speaker, Bill Thrall, challenged us men to remove the mask that we wear to hide our condition. God used Bill to communicate the need we have to be real with ourselves and others in order to grow in our walk with God. He said that when we put on a mask it forces others to conform to the "standard" we are portraying. This will result in a group of people living phony lives to keep up the show. If we attempt to work on our sin to get to God, we are living in the "room of good intentions" and not reflecting Christ. In other words, we are merely sin-managing. Sin managment appears to work for a while, but in the end it will fail becuase we do not have what it takes on our own to have victory over sin. We cannot manage our sin. In the end, it will control us and we will have to keep putting on new masks to cover the truth, or someday we will be exposed for who we really are.

On the other side of things, when we trust God and view our postion in Him to deal with sin together, we are living in the "room of grace". Seeing ourselves the way God does; as "Saints who sin, not just saved sinners". This will change how we deal with others too. We will have an attitude of Grace, recognizing that sin will always be a problem and that God is the only one who can rescue us from its power. If you are like me (and I know you are), you long to be real with people and yet fear being vulnerable. God already knows the truth about me and you, so we can trust Him. Can you trust Him to work through others, too? When you take that step to trust another person with the truth, you will find that they are not so different from you. Find someone today to encourage with the truth of acceptance through the blood of Jesus.

This was an encouragement for me and pointed out my need to daily abide and keep a right perspective of who I am in Christ. I hope you find encouragement in it too and grow closer to our Lord and Savior in the middle of this mixed up world. JB

We have really been enjoying our time in Sacramento. We are keeping busy trying to keep up with the boys and get involved at Sunrise Community Church. We are attending various weekly Bible Studies, including youth group, college group and Dr. Dobson’s "Bringing Up Boys". The days are filled with meetings and creating/publishing materials… like our latest newsletter.

Jon has had the opportunity to go to Mexico and on a Men’s Retreat. While I miss him when he’s gone, I’m glad he has the chance for these very meaningful activities. He’s also started volunteering his construction skills at church a few days a week.

I have been chasing our children around and catching up with old friends. We usually only spend a night or two in Sacramento, so it’s been nice to have this time where I can finally see some people I haven’t been able to.

Jonathan 2 is our little ball of energy. I’m still studying to see if there is a way I can channel some to me (slightly ironic since I think the reason I get tired is because he has been channeling my energy)! He talks up a storm- including simple sentences. His latest craze is walking up to people he doesn’t know and greeting them or asking them to pick him up. I guess friendly is better than not.

Asa’s fulltime job- being cute- keeps him very busy. He smiles and laughs (and has been caught doing a type of dance movement with his arms and legs). He gets cuter every day. 

We’ll keep you posted when something extraordinary comes along. Have a blessed day!