NTM - New Tribes Mission | Planting Tribal Churches

Dear Friends and Family,

Thank you for praying with us for clarity concerning decisions about our future. Over the past few weeks, it’s become very clear to us that we have more work to do in the realm of preparing our family to go back to a remote place like Guinea. We have decided to resign from New Tribes Mission to be able to stay stateside longer than the home assignment time allows. New Tribes Mission graciously allows us to continue receiving funds through the end of July to help us through this transition.

At this time we need to focus on stabilizing our family priorities and assisting our children with their educational needs. We are praying about how to be involved in Guinea in the future, and how to go back with the tools that we need to thrive as a family in those stressful conditions. Please pray with us as we seek the Lord’s will in this.

Praise God to his answer in time of need. We’ve been greatly encouraged by the supportive friendships and the new habits that have enriched our marriage and family life. Please continue to pray that our marriage will grow stronger, and that we will learn how to be better parents, helping each child with their specific needs and interests.

Praise God for the many knowledgeable people that are homeschooling in our area. Pray for us in our search to meet the kid’s educational needs. Pray for wisdom as we select the tools that we will be testing out this summer and fall. Pray that we will know to what degree we should homeschool next school year.

We thank God for clearly leading us to pursue local employment. Kris has a second interview on Monday, April 22. Pray that God will provide employment.

We will be needing to move by June 1st. Pray that we can find suitable housing. Please let us know if you know of any good options in Southern CA.

We will continue to send updates as things come together for going back to Africa.

Please know that your friendship and fellowship over the years is special to us, and we trust this will continue for many years to come!

Love, Kris & Ruth Andrew, Natalie, Caleb & Timothy

Dear Friends and Family,

We are thankful for this time of refreshing. We have seen healing and improvement occurring in our marriage and family.

Our youngest two frequently ask when we can go back to Guinea. They are still not at home here. In some ways we are in the same place. We have been called to reach out to the least reached and go where the Gospel and the Word of God is not known. However, the timeframe for returning to Guinea has been complicated by many difficult obstacles. We had expected that all the pieces of the puzzle would come together during our one year home assignment. But there is still more hurt to work through and more to figure out concerning the missing pieces in our children’s education. We are overwhelmed by the options and need you to join with us in prayer.

¨ Our furlough is over early May, but we need to stay longer in the US to get the education help that our children need. We need to learn how to meet those needs when we return overseas. We think we can gain the additional resources in 1 more school year.

¨ We need wisdom to know how to extend our home assignment time.

¨ Pray that we will make wise choices concerning education for the children next school year (now is the time to enroll).

¨ Should Kris seek local employment or find a ministry to do stateside through a mission agency?

¨ This week (March 13-15) is Biola’s Missions Conference. Pray that those attending will seek to know their role in missions.

Thank you! Kris & Ruth P.S. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to ask.

Dear family and friends,

Thank you for your prayers.

Kris’ surgery was successful. He is recovering normally. He’s enjoying listening to the Bible on CD to make good use of his restricted physical mobility. Please continue to pray for his recovery.

Several of you have asked about Steven. He is well, and has remained active sharing his faith. He desires to go to Bible School soon. Pray with us as we help him to find a suitable option.

We want to share with you our new contact information.

Our mailing address is: 12002 Georgette Ave La Mirada, CA 90638

Our phone numbers are: (562) 237-6517 (562) 371-4594

Love, Ruth for the Altmillers

Dear friends and family,

Thank you for your continued prayers and support for our family.

We have had a full time since returning to the USA. We are now settled in a house, and the kids are attending public school. In the fall they enjoyed playing soccer, and now they are beginning basketball.

The adjustment to living in the USA has been nice yet challenging at times. We miss the simplicity of life, and the emphasis on being more relational that is in Guinea. We like being able to run to a store and pick up something quick if that day has been extra busy. We value the medical and dental help available here. We appreciate the paved roads. We enjoy easy access to parts and materials.

We have had quite a time beginning to heal from our exhausting and disorienting 3 year term in Guinea. We hadn’t realized how much it had affected our marriage and family life. We are learning new skills to be able to communicate better with each other and meet each other’s needs, so that when we return to Guinea our marriage and family life might remain stronger. The dominant theme in our life has been trying to deal with our short-comings and inbalances.

We are also seeking help and accountability to communicate better with everyone. The need to communicate is not a new compulsion on our radar. It has been a daily burden for more than a year now.

In the mean time, life goes on.

We have made some powerful memories as a family this season. During Christmas break we visited the wild animal safari park near San Diego. It was amazing! All the huge and diverse animals you might think of as African (but are nearly extinct there) are easy to see walking around in a habitat that looks natural. Then we went to Legoland. The children seemed to appreciate it! We also spent several afternoons playing in local parks, and scootering along the beach.

Please pray with us:

Kris will be having hernia surgery on Wednesday, January 16th at 11:00 AM. Please pray with us for a safe and successful repair, and quick recovery.

Pray for our healing after an exhausting and disorienting 3 year term in Guinea. Pray that our marriage will continue to be strengthened, and that we will learn how to be better parents, helping each child with their specific needs and interests.

Pray that we would not loose hope – coming to terms with all that we have lost relationally, spiritually and emotionally, and how far we need to grow is sometimes overwhelming.

Thank you, Love, Kris & Ruth Altmiller Andrew, Natalie, Caleb & Timothy

Dear Family and Friends,

Thanks for your prayers for our travels. We made our flight back to the USA with no problems. We all were able to take some naps and have enjoyable flights.

We are in awe of Gods amazing mercy. The welcome we received was greatly appreciated. From the group that welcomed us at the airport to the people who were involved in setting up housing (including a full pantry), we were blessed by our friends’ encouragement.

We have had many appointments with doctors and dentists. We’re getting help with things that we could not resolve in Guinea.

We are in Missouri to spend some time with Kris’ family and Ruth’s family. We’ve gone to amusement parks together, enjoyed restaurants, and the kids have had horse riding lessons.

We are slowly getting re-adjusted to life in the USA, and catching up on some much needed rest.

Love, Kris & Ruth Andrew, Natalie, Caleb & Timothy

Hi friends and family,

We’ve had a restful time in the Gambia. We have enjoyed time as a family on the beach, in the pool, and catching up on our sleep. We were encouraged at the spiritual retreat we attended.

Please pray for some of the other retreat attendees – they were unable to return to their West African country of ministry because of the current unrest there.

Please pray for us – in a few hours from now we are boarding the plane to make a 29 hour trip to the USA. Please pray that the kids will stay well, that they’ll have “happy hearts”, and that all will go well.

Thank you! Kris & Ruth

My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. 2 Corinthians 12:9

Dear Praying Friends,

We write to you with happy thoughts of our imminent home assignment this summer! We expectantly hope for wise counsel and clarity as we consider the years we have lived the call in Africa. We know God has not allowed the awkward times of learning and adjusting to be wasted. At the same time we know much can be gained from reflecting on these years from a new perspective and with the help of our partners and mentors. We look forward to this time with all of you and pray for an intentional time of refining and clarifying His purpose and plan as it relates to our next term overseas.

We have purchased our tickets to return to the U.S. in the first week of May. We will fly to Southern California to spend a week or two with our home church and re-learn how to function in the USA. The Lord has graciously provided a vehicle (the six door Prius) that we will pick up there and drive through the Midwestern states. We will spend the summer with family and friends, and then settle in Southern California for the school year.

Not this already! Before his sixth birthday, Caleb entered the grand enigma concerning girls. “Some days she likes me, other days she doesn’t. I just don’t understand. I just want to be her friend.”

Tim is riding a bike without training wheels. Natalie is vacillating between dressing up as a princess, Laura Ingles Wilder, or wearing her brother’s big, comfy sweatpants on our flight home.

Andrew is actively soliciting broken or obsolete electronics so he can learn how things work and conduct his own experiments.

All our children have profited greatly from this season with other missionary kids and village friends.

Praise God with us:

Steven’s recovery from the month long illness seems to be complete, without any lingering complications. we’ll be back in the USA soon. for the chapter ahead and the chance to be reunited with friends and family.

Pray for:

preparations for a year of home assignment. clear priorities as we bring our responsibilities here to a close. the needs of Steven and our other contacts as they will be on their own while we are away. travel safety – we are leaving April 18th to travel by taxi through Guinea, Senegal, and The Gambia for a family vacation before flying to the USA. the ability to sleep well during this busy, stressful time of packing up and saying goodbye. our family as we travel and as we shepherd our four children through some significant and confusing changes. the continuing effort among the many West African language groups that still lack access to God’s message and the hope found in Him.

Things we’d like to borrow for our summer trip around the country:

Small trailer 12v DVD player

It’s a busy time for us. We regret that we won’t be able to respond immediately to responses. We’ve found your personal notes and prayerful reflections very valuable.

Thank you for your involvement with us here in Guinea, Kris, Ruth, Andrew, Natalie, Caleb & Timothy Altmiller

Dear Friends and Family,

We wanted to give you an update on Kris’ apprentice, Steven.

As we mentioned previously, Steven had been having abdominal pain. After his March 13th servere pain, a doctor helped him to become rehydrated and adjusted his medication.

March 14th Steven left for the capitol city with his friends. There were some difficult days there. Your prayers were much appreciated. It has been three days since the last episode and we trust God has healed him.

We ourselves went down to the capitol city March 16th to do some things that we needed to do and get our travel visas before going to the USA on furlough. We and Steven returned home today. Steven has full energy again, and is gaining weight.

Praise the Lord for protection while traveling. We saw the aftermath of a big truck accident while traveling home today. Every minute is a gift from Him.

We praise the Lord for healing Steven. Pray with us that we will be able to strategically use our minutes in our remaining time here. We desire to continue our Bible study and literacy times with Steven until it is time for us to leave.

Love, Kris & Ruth

Thank you for your prayers. We have been encouraged by the outpouring of personal notes and the prayerful responses that we’ve received.

Yesterday (March 13) was a very hard day for Steven. He forgot to take a dosage of medicine. Then he took the medicine on an empty stomach. This aggravated the situation VERY much and the pain became intolerable. A doctor came to his house and hooked him up to an IV with a strong antibiotic, liquids (he was dehydrated), and pain medicines.

Last night he slept soundly – the best he’s slept since this abdominal pain began. This morning he was very energetic, saying his stomach doesn’t hurt at all, it’s the best he’s felt in weeks. Steven has decided to go to the capital city with his pastor friends. They invited him to attend a pastor’s conference.

Pray that he will remember to take his medicines at the right time, and that if the symptoms are being masked by medication, that he will seek appropriate help when needed.

We are preparing for our family to go to the capital city this coming weekend. We want to be there (where there is good medical help) when Steven’s 10 day course of antibiotics is complete. We also have other things we need to do there before we leave the country on home assignment this summer.

Kris & Ruth

Dear Family & Friends,

Thank you for your prayers and encouragement.

We are happy to announce that we are officially done with our time of French and culture study! Today we threw a big party for our host church. The leaders of our mission came to celebrate with us. Ruth and the ladies prepared a big meal for the congregation. Kris enjoyed using his culinary skills to make delicious cookies for all. It was a nice way to thank the church for their part in helping us learn the culture.

80 people happily consumed 50 pounds of rice, 22 pounds of beef, lots of veggies, 12 gallons of punch, etc. Ruth enjoyed the experience of shopping and preparing the food with the ladies. She was thankful for their knowledge to know how much food to prepare for such a large group.

Please see attached pictures. 1. The ladies used a very large pot to make the large quantity of food. 2 & 3. As soon as the food was prepared, we all enjoyed a bit of it for breakfast before the church service started. Notice they use their right hand to scoop up food, make it into a ball, and pop it into their mouths. 4. The ladies serving with an assembly line of food. Rice, sauce, hot sauce, cookie and a spoon.

Please pray with us that we would have good closure to our relationships here in Kamsar. People won’t be seeing us daily or weekly anymore. After our move we’ll still be coming back once a month to do shopping.

Now we can more fully focus on fixing up the house at the mission center, planning the projects that we’ll begin this summer, and continuing homeschooling.

Love, Kris, Ruth Andrew, Natalie, Caleb & Timothy

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