NTM - New Tribes Mission | Planting Tribal Churches

“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!

Meet Dave and Laura Percy! With 14 years of service with NTM in Thailand, and 2 years with the Wayumi program in Pennsylvania, and a love for people and the Lord, they come to us with a wealth of experience and gifting.  This summer the Percy’s will be moving to Missouri to join our team as we begin development on a new location for this innovative program. The Wayumi program exists to creatively challenge people to seriously consider their role in reaching people around the world who have no access to the gospel.   Our team’s goal is to extend the reach of this powerful program to challenge churches and individuals throughout the Midwest.
The Percy’s are an answer to the request for teammates we’ve been praying for over 2 years now, and we are so thankful to see how the Lord has answered this prayer!

Christmas was spent with the Brammer Clan in Northeast Missouri

Justin spent 2 days fighting our ’88 Suzuki Samarai, and it finally relinquished it’s ancient clutch in exchange for a brand new one

Mmm, making 600 cookies with Shelbi’s mom for the students to enjoy during their first few days of orientation meetings with the start up of the new semester.

And, here comes baby!  Only 2 months left until we get to meet our little girl!

Uncle Justin’s getting ready to be a fun daddy

You have been our faithful readers, prayer and financial partners and have journeyed with us through our struggles with things like a miscarriage and too many miles traveled.  You’ve also humored us by participating in our attempts at being creative through our fun challenges along the way.   But, I feel like we haven’t had time to really share with you some stories that hold more of an eternal perspective.  As Christians, I believe that we should be able to look back at our year and recall how God has used us for His glory.  So, with all of that said, we wanted to share with you some stories of how God used you to enable us for what I like to call “kingdom stories”.

Story one, some missionary friends of ours got in a car accident that ended up totaling their car.  After hearing their story, God really laid it on our hearts to offer them our vehicle for well below its value.  So, we drove over to their house and let them know what was going on and shared with them the price God had laid on our heart.  To our utter surprise, they shared with us that one of their supporters sent them an email not an hour before saying they wanted to help them buy a car and were writing them a check for the exact amount we were offering them ours.  Needless to say, their family is still enjoying the vehicle.  But that was not the end of the story for us.  See, we did not have a back-up plan and were now left without a reliable vehicle with a 600 mile trip to Wisconsin to make.  The Lord kept it running, and we made it to Wisconsin in a snow storm in our rather unreliable soft top Samurai.  Then, an even cooler God thing happened when we finally bought a car from a guy on craigslist.  He turned out to be a believer who went to a Bible study for years at the house we were staying at during our time in Wisconsin.  His church was also one that Shelbi worked along side of this summer at Elmbrook as she helped their children’s pastor learn about setting up their own day camp.  Talk about a small world!  …or maybe it’s just a world that happens when we let go of our vehicle/control and let God take care of the rest.

Story two, involves our miscarriage.  As tough as that time was in our life, we have been amazed at how the Lord has deepened friendships and brought new interactions with others going through their own battles with infertility.  We have been encouraged by and been an encourager to more people than we could have ever imagined because of our now common denominator.  It’s always difficult to walk through tough times, but being able to connect with people on a deeper level because of it, can be one of its many blessings.

Story three, friends of ours from Wisconsin decided to plant a church in a rough part of Milwaukee with few churches and no evangelical ones already existing there.  One afternoon, Shelbi and I decided to make a trip to the building they were remodeling to use for this ministry.  We walked through and heard their story of how God led them to this point of planting a church in this part of Milwaukee.  They were being told along the way by countless people that white people couldn’t have any kind of ministry there, but they knew this was what the Lord was calling them to, and they needed to keep pushing through the barriers.  One of many things on their heart was to reach out to the people in the neighborhood with practical things like laundry and providing meals.  Unfortunately, not really having a budget to purchase the appliances necessary to make this a possibility, they knew this was going to be a tough task.  As we left that day, we decided to start making some phone calls.   One good thing about traveling around a lot and meeting lots of people, you end up with lots of connections.  So, within a month’s time, through people such as yourselves, that church is now serving meals from a brand new kitchen.  Through this they’ve also had an amazing platform to share Christ with people whom no one else wanted to reach out to.

There are many other stories such as these, but we wanted to share just a few to let you guys know of the impact you are having on eternity.  It’s that whole body principle of 1 Corinthians 12:12-31 actually being lived out!  All of these interactions and stories have taken place because of friends, like you, who’ve stood with us, working as the body of Christ.  These kingdom stories are just as much your stories as they are our’s.  THANK YOU for standing with us this past year!

With much Love,

The Brammers

That’s right, the original 90% prediction from the first ultrasound shot to 100% at the next one when we got a nice shot of her girl parts.   So that means sometime mid-March we’re looking forward to welcoming our baby girl into our lives, knowing full well we have no idea how she is going to change them forever – we can’t wait!

As our support raising journey continues, we have seen the Lord continue to provide for us in ways that simply blow our minds.  He’s raised up financial partners from among our dear friends and others we would never have expected.  Thank you to all who have given to see us reach 60% of our recommended monthly support level!  Continue to pray that the Lord will raise up those who will fulfill the last 40%.

Hanging out with our couple’s group from Spring Creek Church in Wisconsin for a neighborhood Halloween meet ‘n greet on the night of Trick or Treating.  Check out our awesome costumes.  Justin, the ever-so-pious looking monk, and me as the red m&m.

Helping some friends get ready for their new restaurant opening: Parkside 23.  If you live in WI, you should check it out!  Yummy food!

Our 4 month old nephew, Sage, showing how big and strong he is.  We all think he looks like a cute little old man.

Shelbi’s dad hanging out with his 2 grandkids over Thanksgiving.  We had a great time in Missouri with Shelbi’s parents and brother, Sid, and her brother, Ryan, and sister-in-law, Susan, and their 2 kids, Selah and Sage, who had driven down from Wisconsin.

Selah getting ready to ride grandpa’s horse.