NTM - New Tribes Mission | Planting Tribal Churches

One of the main question we get asked as missionaries is, “What is it that you do?”  So, we decided that our next several updates will revolve around the question of, what do we do on a daily basis?  For each update, we will take one aspect of our ministry and try to break it down and explain it a little better to you all, our faithful team.

Discipleship: every semester here on campus there are around 200 students training to be missionaries.  One thing that sets this campus apart from many other campuses across the US is that we just don’t want to just inform or teach our students and then leave them be.  We want to allow them a time to process and verbally communicate their concerns and questions in a open forum and provide real feedback of how some of the concepts they are learning may be fleshed out in there upcoming ministries.

At the beginning of this semester, Shelbi and I were asked to work with another staff couple to disciple a group of  incoming students.  At least twice a week we meet  with 4 couples and 2 single guys.  We sometimes get together as a large group and other times on a individual basis.  Our conversations always revolve around how we are each walking with the Lord and listening to the Spirit in the things we are learning from the Word and the life situations each of us are facing.  Every week we find ourselves equally encouraged as we hear how our students are allowing God to mold and shape them through some very difficult situations, and even being deeply encouraged and challenged by them as we have been through some tough times and they have prayed with and walked along side us as well.

Although this time with them is scheduled twice a week, we always seem to find ourselves spending much more of our week that that pouring our lives into these students, from having them over for supper, to going for walks, or even the occasional late night calls.  We feel privileged that God has allowed us to walk alongside this amazing group we now consider close friends.

(The group of students we disciple, minus 2 of the couples and 1 of the wives – We get so “into” our meetings that I always forgot to take pictures, and this was our last meeting for the semester and 1 couple was sick, the other had to leave early to speak at a mission’s conference, and 1 of the wives had a sick kiddo, so this fall I’ll get a picture of our WHOLE group )

Many of us know Branson, MO as a fun weekend getaway, where you can go for countless shows and unique shopping.   It is also home to College of the Ozarks, where Shelbi got her teaching degree a few years ago.  But why am I mentioning this to all of you today?  Well, last night a series of serious storms (say that 5 times fast) came through the area, and unfortunately, Branson got an up close and personal look at a tornado.  We bring this up for two reasons.  Number 1, one of our supporting churches resides in Branson, and we have lots of good friends and supporters in that area.  To the best of our knowledge, they are all doing fine along with the church building.  But we ask that you pray for them over the course of the next few weeks that this incident will provide a platform for the church to use its resources in a way to communicate Christ’s love to a community in need.  Number 2, our Administration team and their wives were and are in Branson for a few days, which includes Shelbi’s parents.  We praise the Lord that they were not staying in one of the hotels that was affected or were on the “strip” when the storms came through.

Even before this tornado came through Branson, I have been thinking through the aspect of death, and I am comforted by the fact that I am always in HIS grasp and that I carry with me the hope of knowing what will happen to me at the end of my life.  I praise God for that hope and security.  Yet, as I praise Him on the one hand, my heart aches on the other.  There are far too many people that are in the communities around us, people that we know, sometimes even close friends, that have no hope.  They don’t have the security that we do as believers.  I am then reminded of my responsibility before God to those without our hope.

Romans 10:14 “How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?”

Who among us hasn’t been shaken by the storms of life?  Unfortunately, who among us has also let an opportunity to share with those who have no hope slip by?  We will all be held responsible for our actions, or lack thereof.  I, as a believer, have the responsibility, the command, the privilege to share Christ so that they may hear, so that they may believe.   My prayer for my friends in Branson is my prayer for myself and for all of you as well.

Father, as you bring people into our lives daily, may I lay aside my fears and confidently share the hope that someone once shared with me.  Amen.

“Huh? Sept. 21, what’s that?  And what’s on your head dad?”

• It’s the 264th Day of the year, leaving only 101 days till the new year starts
  
• On Sept. 21,1776  part of NYC was burned shortly after being occupied by British Forces
• In 1780 Benedict Arnold gives the British the plans to West Point
• In 1937 J.R.R. Tolkein’s The Hobbit is published
• In 1942  The B-29 Superfortress makes its maiden flight
• In 2001  America: A Tribute to Heroes is broadcasted by over 35 networks and cable channels, raising over $200 million for the September 11 attack victims.
• On Sept. 21, 2012 … The work continues, the challenge begins.  Our first weekend is scheduled!  The first of many groups will have their worlds turned upside down as they’re challenged  to consider how God can equip and use them to join the work given to the church “going to ALL the world and preaching the gospel.”

As the news has gone out about the start of our interactive and innovative program, we are being inundated with requests from churches and organizations wanting  to bring groups to come through our program.  We’ve even received emails from groups that have only been able to visit our campus briefly in the past, and they tell us how much they were challenged just by that quick visit, so they are even more excited about the possibility of what a weekend designed for the purpose of exposing and challenging them to missions will mean for them and the rest of the group they will bring.

Our Team is humbled by the task He has given, “being the voice to those who have no voice” .  We often ask ourselves, if we could capture the thoughts of what a tribal person would want the American Church to know or hear about them, what would it be?  And then, how do we best convey their need along with the command from Scripture, that the Lord wants all people from all language groups to have the opportunity to hear and put their trust in Him.

We will never make history books for kicking off our program on Septmeber 21st, but our hope and prayer is that heaven’s “history book”, the Book of Life, will forever be changed by the work we get to be a part of here.

Matthew 9:37-38

“…The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”

  Surveying the Land where we will be building tribal houses, meeting huts, wash houses, and huts for those who come to use and stay in during their time here going through our mission’s challenge program.  Yes, Adilai gets to be a part of all our meetings too

Meet our discipleship group!  We are so excited to get the privilege to meet with this group of students over the next year and a half to walk alongside them and encourage and challenge them during their time of training here at the Missionary Training Center.  Oh, and I’m pretty sure we’ll probably learn more from them, than they will from us

Shelbi’s been crocheting hats to give away and sell, and Justin decided he liked the owl so much, he wanted one too.  Who’s the cuter owl?

“I’m in! It’s only Tues, and I’m SO excited about all you guys have shared with us so far!  I can’t even imagine how the rest of the week’s going to be even better!  I want to give my life to this, to seeing people who’ve never heard about Jesus hear for the first time.  And everyone else here should want to give their lives to this too!”   This was the response from one of the 17 year old guys from a youth group from Tennessee on only the second day of their time here with us.  The entire youth group sat riveted that evening hearing an NTM missionary from Papua New Guinea share his story about living with a tribal group called the Bisorio and teaching them from Creation to Christ in their heart language and how nearly the whole tribe put their faith in Christ and now there is a vibrant church there today.

Our week started with a devo time where we asked them what they knew about missions and their role in missions.  We quickly discovered that this group of youth had little to no exposure to missions or even the idea of missions.  What a joy to watch them get SO excited over the course of the week as they began to really grasp what God is doing beyond the world they know and understand, and this wasn’t some far fetched thing that was beyond them being a part of!  At the end of the week sitting around a bonfire on a cool evening, we got to hear nearly every student share how deeply impacted they were by their week here. Many shared how they never knew there are still people who’ve never gotten the chance to hear about Christ and how they want to be a part of helping them here for the first time.  They also were asking their youth pastor and leaders when they could come back again!

Thank you for praying for these kids!  The Lord did some amazing moving in the hearts of this group of youth, and we are praying He continues to do so as they are back in their normal environments.

Since hearing about the impact of this week on the lives of these youth, we’ve gotten numerous emails from people wanting to bring a group from their church down (not to mention the countless other groups that have contacted the training center in years past).  This is AWESOME!  We feel like this is once again confirmation from the Lord that this is where He has us and there is SUCH a need for a program like this to help believers really grasp how they can be a part of reaching the unreached.

In order to truly be effective though, our team needs to spend more time coming up with a master plan and a strategic program, not just scrambling to throw together a program each time we hear about a group who wants to come.  Our team will be taking the next 5 months to strategically plan for what feels like a onslaught of people who are excited to have their world turned upside down. Please pray with us as we meet and plan and begin building, that the Lord would guide our plans and provide the funds and people to pull all the pieces together.

Is this my house???  What? We’re actually staying here?!  No way!  Sweet, I get my own room!  (So, this is my interpretation of what Adilai might be thinking after all of our moving )

It’s official!! We are Missouri residents now.  One more step accomplished in the process of fully settling in here.

In the fall of 2004, Shelbi and I, both still single at the time, started classes with New Tribes Mission (NTM) at the New Tribes Bible Institute (NTBI) in Waukesha, WI.   We graduated from NTBI in 2006.  In 2007, we were married.  God laid on both of our hearts a desire to expose, challenge, and disciple believers to live for something beyond themselves, something eternal.  Much to our surprise God had the perfect spot for us here with New Tribes Mission.  So, in January of 2008, we packed up our lives and moved to the NTM Missionary Training Center (MTC) in South Central Missouri for a year of specialized training.  After completing our training, we embarked on a year and 9 month journey traveling the U.S. seeking financial and prayer partners, and we saw the Lord raise up an amazing and faithful team (that would be you all J).  It is because of you that we are now finally able to begin work on this innovative program we’ve been talking about for so long for the purpose of seeing the next generation of missionaries raised up.

Our current financial support level is floating around 76%.  We are still praying for 52 more people to join our team at $30 a month.  Although we have not reached the 100% fully funded mark, we have prayed about and feel like the Lord is leading us to switch gears from a ministry of full-time partnership raising to working full-time in our ministry here at the MTC.  We will continue to seek out financial partners so that we will be able to cover all of our expenses, but this will no longer be are main focus.

Here we go! We are excited to begin focusing on our ministry of raising up the next generation of missionaries.  As we are in the process of making this transition, we have decided that for the month of October we want to dedicate the month to a special time of prayer for our ministry, our personal walk with Christ, those who will be affected by our ministry, and in prayer for all of you who have been praying for us.  So, we ask two things of you.  First, please pray along with us as we make this transition and for our upcoming ministry.  Second, we would love to know how to specifically pray for YOU.  Please send us your requests so that we can go before our king more specifically on your behalf.

It’s hard to fathom that this journey started with two single people 7 years ago. J We look forward to walking along side you over the next 7 years and more.

One of our ministry responsibilities will be conducting programs for the volunteer groups that are currently coming to the training center to help out with different projects.  We got the opportunity last week to meet with a group of mechanics, some of whom have been coming to help out here for 29 years.  What a privilege to thank them for their service and share with them how they are an integral part of seeing people who’ve never heard that Jesus loves them hear this for the first time!

Who doesn’t love an update in bullet point format?!  Here’s a little of what we’ve been up to and where we’re headed:

• ♦ 2 hours after we pulled back into our place in Missouri, Justin was in the dentist chair getting an emergency root canal (this would be #4 root canal for our family in a matter of only 2 months – what’s the deal?!)
• ♦ Our teammates, Dave and Laura Percy, arrived just a few days after we got here.  (Justin and Josh helped to unload their trailer. We are blessed to have Josh helping out in our department for a year while his wife finishes her training here.)
• ♦ We are enjoying our new home (still on the training center’s property) where we now have more room to be able to invite students over to get to know them (here’s a fun fact: our old apartment was deemed unlivable and turned into storage after we moved out because of all the water damage and mold.  Haha! Makes us even more grateful for our new place! )
• ♦ Along with continuing our support raising endeavors, we’re working to build relationships with students and staff here, inviting them over for meals, movies and game nights, and taking them for rides on Shelbi’s dad’s pontoon boat. (Adilai’s even making a few new friends.) Part of our ministry here will be pouring into the lives of the students, encouraging and discipling them as they complete their training for their ministries with NTM.
• ♦ Nothing’s more refreshing than jumping in the lake after working hard on these 100°+ days we’ve been having here, and nothing’s quite as entertaining as watching my dad teach their dog how to fetch
• ♦ Next month we have a 2 week trip planned to visit one of our sending churches in southeast Iowa and share our ministry with another church and several small groups. Please pray with us that we will be sensitive to the Lord’s leading in what we share, that we will be able to encourage and challenge these believers to get more involved in what God is doing globally, and if that is to partner with us financially in our ministry, that He would move in their hearts to do so.

Sometimes our plans are just not the same as what the Lord intends for us.  SO, what does He want to teach us along the way, and am I tuning my heart and mind to hear it?

As most of you know, we moved back to Missouri a month ago with the hope of reaching 100% of our support level by June 1 and starting our ministry here.  We are amazed at ways the Lord has provided, bringing us to 72% of our needed funds.  We are SO grateful for an amazing group of friends and churches who have teamed up with us!

BUT, after much prayer and listening to the wise counsel from one of our sending churches, we have decided NOT to begin our “official” ministry yet and TO continue on with our support raising with our goal set at 100%.  One of the main reasons many missionaries have to quit their ministry often times is a lack of finances, and we don’t want to have that happen to us because we cut short our support raising time.

So what does this mean?  Over the past month, we’ve been continuing to meet with people sharing our ministry.  We are also in the process of asking some of our current supporters if they would be willing to invite us to share with their small groups and churches in hopes of establishing some new connections and potential supporters.  If you have a small group or church connection and would be willing to invite us to come share, please let us know.  We would love to come speak with them!

Next week we’ll be heading to Wisconsin until the end of July with plans of possible trips to California, Texas, Illinois, and Iowa after that.  Please continue to pray with us for new connections and that the Lord would build our financial team all for the goal of seeing more people become true Christ followers.

Besides support raising, this last month we…

• Moved back to Missouri and then moved houses
• Adilai got to meet her grandma for the first time (Shelbi’s mom)
• Justin’s parents came to visit twice and brought his grandparents the 2nd time (it’s amazing how a grandbaby draws them in )
• Shelbi had 2 root canals, a wisdom tooth pulled, and a cavity filled
• We’ve gotten to share from our experiences and encourage students here who are just starting out on their support raising ventures
• Unexpectedly, we got to spend some time with our future co-workers, Dave and Laura Percy, who came to visit for a couple of days (super encouraging for us to talk about our vision for the ministry)
• We participated in a 3 day conference on discipleship and understanding the next generation that challenged our mindset and got us even more excited about what we’re going to be doing
• We’ve been able to reconnect with our Bible Study group down here who have been a huge encouragement to us in our continuing transient life.
• (← 4 Generations hanging out on the lake together)
• (we know it doesn’t look like much now, but soon this will be our office space and the new branch for New Tribes Mission Mobilization ↓)
• 

Help us meet our goal for as little as a dollar a day.

We are excited to see how the Lord has provided 66% of our financial support over the past year and a half.  Thank you to all of our supporters for being the answer to that prayer! As we look to the future, please pray about what you could do to help us reach this goal.

Naptime (which is almost all the time right now )

Such a strong baby!  Our future power lifter

Where’s the baby?  Can you tell we were desperate to get outside?

Our photographer friend, Emily Johnson took these wonderful pictures of Adilai.  Thanks Emily!

We made it!  BUT, the bigger question is, what did we pack?  With lots of great ideas, here is our top ten packing tips from you:

10. Diapers

9.   Car seat

8.   Bible

7.  Scratch the Bible, the Word should be written in our Hearts

6.  Deodorant (for the sweaty baby event)

5.  A vehicle (cause it’s too long of a hike to walk to Wisconsin)

4.  Full body massage chair – oh yeah! (unfortunately, once we packed the diapers, there just wasn’t room for this)

3.  Phones/camera (for updates)

2.  Winter clothes

And the winner is Bill from Branson, MO with this answer:

1.  “Rolaids. Whoops that was a spelling error. I mean, Roll Aides. Things that help you roll things from one place to the other. I mean, it will help with the move up there, the move back. In fact, Shelbi may just prefer to be carted around after she tries one of these.”  Ha ha!  Thanks Bill!

Thanks for all your helpful and not so helpful but funny advice.  We hope you all enjoyed this as much as we did!