NTM - New Tribes Mission | Planting Tribal Churches

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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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

No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG – www.avg.com Version: 9.0.894 / Virus Database: 271.1.1/3547 – Release Date: 04/02/11 11:57:00