NTM - New Tribes Mission | Planting Tribal Churches

We are teaching through the book of Titus. Tomorrow we will be in chapter 2 where Paul encourages Titus to instruct the various age groups in the church to live in such a way as to bring honor to the Lord and His teaching. What stands out in these particular verses is that the older ladies are encouraged to train the younger ladies how to love their husbands and children, to be pure, to work at home, to be kind, and to be submissive to their husbands. This stood out to me because you can’t train anyone like this without using the Word of God, and we don’t have anyone at this point teaching the word of God in public meetings, other than we missionaries.

So I suggested to the group of believers that we divide up into small groups after the teaching. I asked Moises to lead the group that doesn’t speak Guanano. Moises speaks Cubeo and Spanish. I asked Mario to lead a group of young men, and I asked Kiri and Delfina, Moses’ wife, to lead a group of ladies. I explained the purpose of dividing up would be to discuss what had just been taught, and to share personal prayer requests more intimately than we can in the larger group. I wanted to give Moses and Delfina, Mario and his sister Kiri some experience in actually using what they were learning from the Word of God to train and encourage others.

But it didn’t happen like I’d planned. When it came time to divide up into small groups, a major crises developed over where they would go. The problem, it turns out, was not that there was not sufficient space for three separate groups, but that they didn’t really want to divide up in the first place. The experiment wasn’t a total loss. Mario shared his testimony with the entire group: "For a long time my life style did not match what I was learning from God. I was a drinker and I caused my family much grief. I was embarrassed before the Lord because I knew things were not right. I prayed that he would give me the desire to be what he wanted me to be. God is answering that prayer. I am married now and very happy with my wife. I have experienced God’s work in my life. Like seeds planted in a garden finally produce fruit, I sense there has been some progress in my life."

Delfina took an original approach and with paper and pencil drew a sketch of what she was understanding from the teaching … how God taught Paul, Paul taught Titus, Paul left Titus on Crete to teach others, as soon as the believers there grew in God’s ways Titus was to appoint leaders and move on. You would have enjoyed seeing how she got all that into a picture she drew!

We are asking the Lord to raise up leaders for the Guanano church. This is an important step of progress in the growth of a maturing church. The book of 1 Timothy has been our textbook as we have looked at leadership in the church from God’s perspective. The believers are beginning to embrace God’s principle that how we live is as important as what we teach. When Paul says to Timothy that as a leader in the church he must be an example of LOVE, FAITH, PURITY, this message is beginning to resonate throughout the Guanano church. They have had the sad experience of trying to witness to their friends, but getting laughed out of town because they were still drinking in very public situations and failing morally on a frequent basis. Now they are growing in their awareness of how important the way they live really is. Regarding these things, Mario says, "We have never loved people before. And yet we find frequently in God’s book, the words, "Love each other." From the number of times we read this, we know it is important as far as God is concerned. And yet we’ve never had love like that. When someone else messes up, we say, "That’s his problem." We talk to each other any way we want without considering the consequences. We scold, we criticize, we yell, but we seldom love. God’s the only one who has the kind of love he’s talking about. He’s the only one who has that kind of purity. This is the only hope we have of becoming who he wants us to be. As we study His word, and obey and walk with Him, it becomes possible to us to have love and purity too."

We have a couple men in the Guanano church who seem to be qualified to be elders. They love God’s Word and his people. Their relationship with their wives is exemplary to all. But in the past, when they were young, sinning believers, they lived with other women. This is true across the board. How does God want us to apply his standard "husbands of one wife" as we think about appointing elders? Must we wait for this generation to pass, and a second generation of more obedient Guanano believers to grow up before we can appoint elders? This first generation is learning how to obey and walk with God for the very first time. They have had no previous examples to follow. It has taken many years for them to understand that God did far more when he saved them than just deliver them from eternal condemnation. He made them "alive with Christ" so that they might cherish what He cherishes and be part of his forever family. We need God’s wisdom to recognize who He is engifting and providing to lead the Guanano church. Thank you for your prayers.

Praise: Barry had a phone conversation with Gustavo. He gave us a very positive report concerning the work of God among the Guananos where we used to live in Colombia. Gustavo is now village leader, and he has encouraged the entire village, believers and unbelievers, to give up weekend drinking parties which are so deeply ingrained in Guanano culture. He says the village has been dry since December, and there are fewer inter-family quarrels since they started living this way. He is using the NTM From Creation to Christ curriculum in a Bible study for unbelievers. They are currently in the story of Joseph at the end of Genesis.

Pray: I can imagine how this change of lifestyle has impacted nearby Guanano villages and beyond. This has never been done before in a Guanano village. Everyone is certainly watching to see if this change is a good one or a bad one, whether it will last, or crash and burn. If the Lord saves more village members, and they join the small group of believers who are taking this kind of stand, then their position will certainly be strengthened against the weight of tradition and culture. Please pray that the Lord would protect this small band of Christ followers and help them to win and to hold new ground against the spiritual darkness.

Praise: We are teaching the book of Titus. The believers are growing. There has been progress in their understanding of how important it is to live the Gospel, not just believe it.

Pray: Soon we will be teaching 1 and 2 Thessalonians and then Revelation. God wants us to know what he has in store for us in the future and how his salvation story ends. He hasn’t taken all the mystery out of it. We can still study Revelation and scratch our heads and wonder, "What does that mean?" But the big issues are clear. Satan loses. We win, because we belong to Jesus. Pray that the believers will be encouraged in the midst of their daily struggles here. "Look up! Your redemption is near at hand!"

Pray: This past month was party month in this Brazilian town as many saints are honored on their special day. Delfina has two young teenage daughters, Maggy 13 and Irley 14. In school, all of their friends were super excited about getting out of school and going to a party with their boyfriends. One told Maggy, "It’s fun to drink with the others. It doesn’t matter if I get pregnant, my Mom will take care of the baby." Of course, Maggy and Irley received many invitations from their friends to get in on the fun. Tempting, but they came straight home. They talked with Delfina about what their friends were saying and doing. It was an opportunity for Delfina to reinforce for them what they already knew. She told her girls: "God has made a great difference in our lives. For many years we lived however we wanted and we suffered terrible consequences for it. Now we belong to God and he has filled our hearts with joy and purpose. The path your friends have chosen may look like fun, but it will only lead to disaster and painful memories. Let’s be strong and walk in the light!"

Thank you for your participation in the Guanano work through prayer.

We are asking the Lord to raise up leaders for the Guanano church. This is an important step of progress in the growth of a maturing church. The book of 1 Timothy has been our textbook as we have looked at leadership in the church from God’s perspective. The believers are beginning to embrace God’s principle that how we live is as important as what we teach. When Paul says to Timothy that as a leader in the church he must be an example of LOVE, FAITH, PURITY, this message is beginning to resonate throughout the Guanano church. They have had the sad experience of trying to witness to their friends, but getting laughed out of town because they were still drinking in very public situations and failing morally on a frequent basis. Now they are growing in their awareness of how important the way they live really is. Regarding these things, Mario says, "We have never loved people before. And yet we find frequently in God’s book, the words, "Love each other." From the number of times we read this, we know it is important as far as God is concerned. And yet we’ve never had love like that. When someone else messes up, we say, "That’s his problem." We talk to each other any way we want without considering the consequences. We scold, we criticize, we yell, but we seldom love. God’s the only one who has the kind of love he’s talking about. He’s the only one who has that kind of purity. This is the only hope we have of becoming who he wants us to be. As we study His word, and obey and walk with Him, it becomes possible to us to have love and purity too."

We have a couple men in the Guanano church who seem qualified to be elders. They love God’s Word and his people. Their relationship with their wives is exemplary to all. But in the past, when they were young, sinning believers, they lived with other women. This is true across the board. How does God want us to apply his standard "husbands of one wife" as we think about appointing elders? Must we wait for this generation to pass, and a second generation of more obedient Guanano believers to grow up before we can appoint elders? This first generation is learning how to obey and walk with God for the very first time. They have had no previous examples to follow. It has taken many years for them to understand that God did far more when he saved them than just deliver them from eternal condemnation. He made them "alive with Christ" so that they might cherish what He cherishes and be part of his forever family. We need God’s wisdom to recognize who He is engifting and providing to lead the Guanano church. Thank you for your prayers.

NTM Guanano Church Planting Team, Brazil Lindy and Carol Drake, Barry and Denise Spor

February 2008

Praise

We are back among the Guanano people. It felt so good to unpack after 3 1/2 months of living out of a suitcase. So that’s where I put that pair of green socks!

Our houses were in good shape, and initial reports from Moses and Delfina concerning church life while we were gone have been positive as well. Moses took the leadership responsibility seriously and met with several believers personally to encourage them in their walk with the Lord and participation in church life.

Barry and Denise arrived on Sunday after a brief trip to visit family in the United States. It is always an encouragement to be together in the work.

Pray

We need to sit down with the Spors and think through what we hope to accomplish in the Guanano work this year. We continue to work towards the publication of Genesis in Guanano. We are finishing up teaching the book of 1 Corinthians and will soon begin teaching 1 Timothy and Titus. We will focus our efforts on developing Guanano leadership for the church. But we need to organize our thoughts and work together with the Lord to see these things happen.

Mario got married while we were away. His wife Nilsa is an unsaved girl he has liked for a long time. Like a lot of unsaved young ladies in town she likes the dance clubs and partying.

The other night she came home drunk. Mario gave this testimony before the church: "Before I was saved, I would have hit my wife for disobeying me like that. But after studying Ephesians, I know my responsibility before the Lord is to love my wife and be the spiritual leader in our home.

When my wife gets drunk like that, I think, ‘What a stupid thing to do.’ But for such a long time Lindy and Barry have been fighting the same battle with me. After struggling with Nilsa, I’m finally seeing it is a stupid thing to do.’

You may ask, "Why didn’t Mario marry a Christian girl like we all know we are supposed to?" They may be out there. But personally I don’t know any. There are certainly Guanano Christian girls, but Guanano young men have to marry outside their own tribe. Please pray for Nilsa’s salvation. She is attending church with Mario. 

Cell Phone:
011-55-97-8113-0915

E-mail:
lindy_drake@ntm.org