NTM - New Tribes Mission | Planting Tribal Churches

The latest opportunity the Lord has brought our way was a chance for me to visit the Gadang (pronounced: Got Dung) village in northern Luzon where Chuck Talbot and family along with their partner Christina Canap are currently working.

Unfortunately the circumstances surrounding this visit were not the greatest as we had received word that a Class 4 Typhoon was headed towards northern Luzon and this in turn would adversely affect the Talbot home if he was not able to get back in to properly board up his windows.

Thus the need for someone to go along with him and so despite the short notice we were on our way. Chuck & his family were out for a short break but due to the Typhoon their break would be extended.

THE TRIP

Definitely the hardest part of this trip was the relatively small window of time we had to travel north, get in & get out before the storm hit. We caught a bus from Manila early Friday afternoon and 12 hours later we arrived at our support center in northern Luzon. The next morning with just four hours of sleep we woke up at 6 am & after eating a bit of breakfast we made our way to the trail head where we would begin our two hour hike. It had rained the night before & so the trail was quite mucky but nevertheless we made it to the village in relatively good time.

The truth is there really wasn’t much work to be done when we arrived. Chuck had already buttoned up the bottom windows quite well but because his home is not yet finished he was not able to properly secure his upstairs windows before he left. We spent not much more than a couple of hours gathering plywood & boarding up the windows and then we started our long journey home again. By Saturday evening we were back on the bus & headed for home. Not more than 24 hours after we arrived home in Manila, northern Luzon saw what became the worst Typhoon in four years with winds reaching up to 160 m/hr.

THE AFTERMATH

Just two day’s after the typhoon hit Chuck and another missionary made their way back into the village to see how things had fared. Both missionary homes were well intact but one Gadang family did loose their home completely. Thankfully there was no loss of life & no one was injured. Perhaps the greatest loss was that of yet another rice harvest. Some will be salvaged but most of it not. Please take a few moments to check out other photos from my Gadang visit.

PRAISE & PRAYER

• Praise God that there was no loss of life among the Gadang in this particular village despite receiving a direct hit from the eye of the storm.
• Please pray for the Gadang people as they have yet to surrender their lives to Christ and that somehow we could see the Lord work in this situation to draw them to Himself.
• Please pray for Chuck & Shannon Talbot along with their partner Christina as they work to see these people come to know our Saviour.
• The Gadang people themselves are requesting one more family to live among them and so please pray that the Lord will open the door for the right family to join the Gadang Team.
• Please continue to pray for my time in language study. This continues to go well but there is still a lot of work to be done. Having an opportunity to converse with a few Gadang in the village was a great testimony as to how much Tagalog I have learned this past year. I’m still a far cry though from communicating spiritual truth.

Geoff & Christine Harada along with their four children are on their second term now among the I’wak. They returned to the Philippines last July after an extended furlough in Canada to attend to Christine’s health as she battled breast cancer. Praise the Lord that she has made a full recovery but she still is in need of daily medications and regular check-ups.

We were blessed to get to know the Harada’s a bit during our first term in the Philippines as Associates. We had hoped to visit them among the I’wak then but the Lord had never opened the door for that to happen. Recently though when Geoff was needing someone to go along with him to deliver supplies, the door was suddenly wide open. After our last visit with the southern Isnag we were encouraged to visit other tribal stations to see how God might lead and so this provided the perfect opportunity.

After finishing culture & language class on Friday morning we were on our way. We had beautiful weather most the day but by the time we hit the single laned gravel road carved into the side of the mountain for our last hour of travel we ran into rain. Thankfully most of the hard stuff had passed but nevertheless it left the road a bit more challenging than usual. It was easy to see though that Geoff had driven this same road on countless occassions before under similiar conditions & so we nearly reached our final destination with relative ease. I say nearly only because what might of been the last five minutes of an uphill drive turned into a 30 minute uphill walk or us as the road was washed out. Oh yes, it was also dark by that time and quite muddy from the rain earlier in the day. We found a place to park his vehicle for the night and after stopping off for a short visit with his I’wak neighbors, we arrived at his home in the mountains just five minutes before the start of another terrential downpour. Praise the Lord!

Early the next morning after breakfast we began hiking the area trying to scout an alternative route to possibly drive his 4-wheel vehicle the rest of the way up the mountain. Not finding a suitable trail we began instead to start hiking his supplies one box at a time up the mountain. Praise the Lord we were able to stage his supplies about half-way up at the home of an I’wak friend. Nevertheless this kept us busy until well after the noon hour and with the sun blazing, by the time we had finished around 2pm we were both completely wiped out.

Thankfully a number of I’wak youth helped to carry the supplies the rest of the way up the mountain and so this was a tremendous relief to us. It also gave us just the rest we needed to visit various I’wak families later in the afternoon. One lady we visited was very sick & dying of cancer. Because of God’s grace though she is a believer and perhaps even now she is with our heavenly Father. Quite sobering to think of the urgency of the task we are called too. It was a huge blessing to listen to Geoff pray with her in her own language.

On Sunday morning a large number of I’wak gathered, mostly women & children but a few men also, to hear the message that Geoff had prepared from 1 Corinthians 9. Needless to say it was a blessing beyond measure to see God at work first hand in the process of transforming lives for His glory. Geoff introduced me briefly to one young man who had surrendered his life to the Lord and later he wrote a song in his native language which testifies to his new relationship with Christ. You can just imagine the joy this must bring to the Harada family as they see their efforts as being not in vain. A great deal of work is yet to be done among these people and so your prayers & support are much coveted.

How Can You Pray?

1. Please pray for the Harada’s as they continue to serve among the I’wak in a very remote location. Please pray for the health & safety of this family. More than just time, they have invested their lives among the I’wak.

2. Pray for the Lord to provide the right family to come alongside to work with them among these people. Currently they have three single ladies from a neighboring tribe working with them but Geoff has expressed a desire for another man to come in and work alongside of him, specifically in the area of discipleship with I’wak men.

3. Please continue to pray for God’s leading in our lives as we consider the needs here in the Philippines and how we can be of the greatest service for His glory. For now, we praise God for where he has us and for what He is teaching us, for the wonderful relationships we have built with members of our church family in Manila, and for all of you who pray for us, support and encourage us in ministry in so many different ways. To Him be the Glory!

Isaiah 52:7 (NASB)

7 How lovely on the mountains
Are the feet of him who brings good news,
Who announces peace
And brings good news of happiness,
Who announces salvation,
And says to Zion, “Your God reigns!”

We wanted to say thank-you to all of you that have prayed specifically for our recent visit with the southern Isnag located in the mountains of northern Philippines. Some hightlights from this six day visit includes being treated to a demonstration of tribal dance and song as organized by missionary Robbi Padernal, viewing the Jesus Film in a neighboring dialect with some 200 people in attendence, witnessing young believers teaching at a neighboring village (a one hour hike down-river) and then seeing believers in the village we were visiting gathering on Sunday afternoon beneath the home of missionary Vicky Martin to sing praise to God in their tribal tongue and then to hear teaching from the book of Romans by missionary Jonathan Bamford.

So why the need for additional team members in this village where God has obviously already begun a great work? The truth is there is no one answer but the short answer is that the untimely death of their original Bible teacher, Galen Martin, who passed into glory on May 27, 2004, has left a void that has yet to be filled. Current teammates, including Vicky Martin, the spouse and widow of Galen, and the Isnag believers themselves have all prayed faithfully for this gap to be filled so that the Isnag people might continue in the process of discipleship to maturity in Christ.

Praise & Prayer Points:

1) Praise God that 100% of our need for this trip has been provided. God is indeed faithul & we are extremely grateful for all that have participated in this ministry opportunity with us.
2) Team member Robbi Padernal will be retiring from tribal ministry in March of this year. Her seven month commitment early in 2003 turned into seven years of faithful service. Please pray for her transition to ministry outside of the tribe.

3) Robbi’s retirement will leave Vicky without a partner & so she too will need to leave the village until new partners are raised up. Please pray that she can return as often as she is able to encourage the believers.
4) Please pray for team members Jonathan & Heidi Bamford as they fullfil certain administrative & leadership duties from Manila while Jonathan continues the process of translating the Bible to the southern Isnag dialect.

5) Pray for our family as we continue to seek the Lord as to whether or not this is the work God has for us. What is sure is that already He has given us a great vision for the Isnag people & we are extremely humbled at just the prospect of being used by God in such a way. For now, I have a great deal of work ahead of me still with Tagalog language study and so please pray that we will remain focused on the current task God has for us.

Psalm 67:1-2
1. God be gracious to us and bless us, And cause His face to shine upon us. 2. That Your way may be known on the earth, Your salvation among all nations. (NASB)