NTM - New Tribes Mission | Planting Tribal Churches

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Further Training for Mission Agencies

Every year the personnel department from NTM travels to Virginia to get training for mission related business. There were many representatives of mission agencies and churches. It is a great time to share ideas on how to handle personnel issues. I was encouraged after talking with other candidate coaches and found that we all face the same issues. We found that we have similar processes for evaluating potential candidates. Another benefit for attending the seminars given was to learn how to better connect with the sending churches of our candidates. One pastor was particularly helpful by sending materials on how to best serve a missionary from selection all the way to retirement. They have a great program. If you are interested I have permission to send the manual to other interested pastors or missions leaders in your church.

How You Can Pray

• Pray for wisdom in implementing some of the things learned in Virginia.
• Pray for a refreshing time with family in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
• Continue to pray for my brother Arnie, he is continuing to battle cancer. In talking with him today he understands that term better. The battle is between the cancer and the drugs and the body is the battleground. He is in quite a bit of pain.
• In 2008 we put our retirement money into purchasing a house in northern Georgia. Our son is no longer in the house and we do not want to maintain this house from Florida. We discovered when we prepared to put the house on the market there was a “break in the chain” of title. This means that the paperwork from 3 owners ago has to be found and properly logged at the County to fix the break in chain of title.  Pray that this can be fixed in a timely manner. We would love to sell this house and put it back into our retirement account.

Foundational Teaching Training for National Church

Foundational Teaching Seminar

We received this update from Greg and Jim two of NTM’s missionaries in Papua New Guinea. It is so encouraging to hear of how the Word of God being taught is changing people’s lives in PNG. Each of you play a part of this kind of outreach around the world. I trust this gives you a better understanding of how teaching the Bible chronologically is helping the national church in Papua New Guinea.

“Pastors from 7 church denominations in the Eastern Islands gathered this week for 5 days of introduction to the Chronological Bible lessons we call “Planim Pos”.  Planim Pos is pidgin language for ‘setting house posts in the ground’.  It illustrates the objective of the 68 lesson series, to establish a clear understanding of the foundational truths of Christianity through a survey of the Old Testament and life of Christ.  Jim and I set aside the last hour on Friday for feedback, and this was their response:

Elder - This is going to change the way we teach.  I want to hear all of it.  We need to pick another time and study the rest of the lessons together.

Bible School Instructor – This foundational teaching is essential.  We need to hear all 68 lessons.

Elder – The chronological style helps me understand the Bible so much better.  I need this resource for my teaching and very much want to hear the rest of it.

Pastor – I love the depth and expository style – I want the rest.

Pastor – This pieces the Bible’s story together for me.  It’s changed me.  My daughter and I go home talking about it every day.

Women’s leader – I plan on taking this tool with me everywhere I travel.

Pastor, Chairman of Goroka Pastor’s fraternal– This is better than Bible school because it’s understandable to the layman and it’s targeted to our PNG culture.  Our spiritual maturity level shows poorly for the 100 years of having the gospel in PNG.  We are blown around by all kinds of new movements, but this is different.  This curriculum is different and can bring real help to our churches because it’s JUST GOD’S TALK: it doesn’t change or disappoint.  We pastors need to finish learning this so we can pass it on to our congregations.

Pastor, Secretary for Pastors Fraternal – This is better than my seminary experience because of its simple chronological approach.  Timing wise, I think the churches of PNG are ready for this.  Before you can “Planim Pos” you have to clear the ground, and I believe that PNG is a prepared place and it’s time for this tool to be used.

Jim and I are already committed for the rest of November, and the pastors get really busy in December, but early next year we hope to gather them again to finish the lessons.

These encouraging words make us realize just how important the national churches are in Papua New Guinea.

More about Firm Foundations Bible lessons

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Personal Update

• Please continue to pray for more students desiring to get cross-cultural training with NTM. We know that the economy is affecting how many students are coming. Many are delaying coming until the finances are in place to join the training.
• Pray for us as we travel to Tennessee for the Christmas holiday. It will be fun to spend some time with Brock, Heidi & Ryley.
• Pray for us as we work on the house in Flintstone, GA and get it ready to be sold.

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The 1942 Pledge

Just over 70 years ago 3 men signed a pledge to each other that an organization called New Tribes Mission would work toward reaching the last evangelized tribe. This plaque is on the wall outside my office here in Sanford. I was reminded of “The Pledge” by a visiting missionary from Japan. He said I need to take a picture of that! It does embody the heart of what NTM does. This got me thinking about the people I work with and how I can challenge them to fulfill this pledge. I read an article (by Susan M. Heathfield at About.com) about the “Millennials” (those born between 1980 and 2000) to help me understand those that I work with. This is a list of what describes the best way to work with them:

• Provide Structure
• Provide Leadership and Guidance
• Encourage “Can Do” Attitude
• Like to work with teams
• Need to be listened to
• Up for the challenge
• Multi-taskers
• Electronically literate
• Networkers
• Life and Work well balanced
• Employee Centered work place

What better people to become missionaries! If we challenge the “Millennials” to what needs to be done, maybe we can see God raising up a generation that can finish the pledge made by these men.

Mat 9:37-38  Then he said to his disciples, “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.”

(If you cannot read the pledge in this post email me at phil_sutton@ntm.org and I can send a larger copy of the text.)

Update on Janelle’s Surgery

We are encouraged that Janelle is doing well after the surgery. She is up, out and about. She started working in the afternoons about a week ago. No lifting is allowed until after 12 weeks of recovery. She cannot push, pull or bend. We go back for her 8 week check up in the first week of October. Thank you for all the encouraging notes that were sent to us. Keep praying for continued recovery.

Phil and Janelle Sutton