NTM - New Tribes Mission | Planting Tribal Churches

Literally…..it’s dark….because it happens at night.

Oh yes, by day, newborns are cute, cuddly, cooing bundles of happiness that have no greater ambition than taking naps and smiling sweetly at their adoring parents. But once nighttime falls, and those adoring parents go to lay their tired heads down to sleep, an awful transformation takes place within the heart of the infant.

Where once contentment reigned, there are now ever-changing, implacable desires: Sleeping in the crib has suddenly become abhorrent, I demand to be held…FOREVER! Also, I want food…. though I am going to refuse to nurse until all hope is lost. And, by the way, I just soiled the new diaper you put on me no less than 34 seconds ago. CHANGE ME!!

So, do we love Tucker? Yes, with a love deeper than words can express. Are we happy he has joined our family? We are absolutely thrilled. Do we think he is sometimes channeling a dark spirit bent on the destruction of our emotional stability and overall sanity? Possibly.

Your prayers for our family during this time are welcomed and appreciated. Thank you.

Finally, our long-awaited bundle of joy has arrived! Tucker Solomon joined our clan on April 1st, at 1:37 PM. He measured 19 inches and weighed in at 6 lbs. 7 oz. We are so thankful for the wonderful hospital staff that we were blessed with and for a safe delivery. Rochelle is tired out, but otherwise in very good health, and the little one himself is also doing very well.

Thank you so much for your prayers for our family!

Little Rochelle Playing Mommy

When I was little, one of my highest aspirations was to one day be a mom. My big sister, Danielle, and I used to lie serenely in our beds, our bellies bulging impressively with an assortment of dolls crammed up under our shirts, imagining the excitement building day by day, until –quite suddenly– out pops a baby!!

Well, I’m not sure pregnancy is quite what I dreamed it would be, but being a mom is so much more! I never could’ve guessed the joy it would be to care for another tiny person –to watch, enthralled, each new step along the way as my son has learned to crawl, run, love books, and use his ever-growing imagination. What an adventure!

Now we’re about to begin a new chapter in our lives, and we’re thrilled to be having another little boy. On top of that, my sister is right there with me this time, and we’re both waiting excitedly (if not quite serenely) for our babies to “pop” any day now!

Please pray for our family throughout this upcoming transition, as we re-adjust to having a newborn in the house and all that comes with that. We’d especially appreciate your prayers for Manny, as he learns to be a loving big brother and share his mom and dad with another baby. Thanks!

Are you a hard-working farmer or rancher with a burden for the lost? Do you wish you could give more to missions, but find yourself hard-pressed to come up with cash? Wouldn’t it be great if you could support a missionary using your time and labor, instead of your money?

You can!

Let us introduce you to STEER Inc.

STEER Inc. is a non-profit organization dedicated to enabling farmers to support missions by using their time, hard work, and resources – at almost no cost to the farmer! Whether you work with beef, swine, dairy, or raise crops, you could use your livelihood to help finance mission work around the world!

Here’s an example of how it works: STEER Inc. will supply a cow at no cost to the farmer. They will also cover any veterinary costs incurred by the animal they supply. The farmer provides feed and raises the animal along with the rest of his herd, as if it were one of his own. When it comes time to sell the cow, 80% the profits from the sale are sent to the missionary of the farmer’s choice.

Is that cool or what?! With a minimal increase to your current overhead costs you could send hundreds of dollars to missionaries each year! You could play a critical role in reaching out to those who have never heard of Christ!

If you are a farmer, or if you know a farmer who you think might be interested in this, please don’t hesitate to contact us for more information!

We were recently blessed with the opportunity to spend a week down near Austin, Texas. And when we say blessed, we mean BLESSED!

We stayed with a married couple who are friends of ours down there. They are both 80, and are so excited about their relationships with the Lord! (The wife showed us her little office and said, “This is my Great Room. Do you know why it’s my Great Room? Because this is where I visit with Jesus each morning, and that’s great!”)

During our visit we were able to share our ministry plans with a Christian elementary school, a local youth group, and a church that meets in an assisted living center. The response was amazing! God was certainly working in the hearts of the people we met with, burdening them with the needs of the lost around the world. We were so encouraged with the enthusiasm that was expressed as individuals asked us how THEY could be a part of what God is doing to reach out to those with no access to His Word.

We made some wonderful new friends while we were down there, and right now we feel more energized than ever to keep pressing onward toward our goal! Please continue to pray for us, as we come to mind, that we would keep our eyes fixed on Christ through this time, and that we would continue on in an attitude of dependence on Him. Thanks!

P.S. If you want, you can check out our photo album from this trip!

If there’s anything Manny wants right now, it’s to be a big person. The little guy is just dying to enter into his next phase of life! Whatever big people are doing, he wants to be a part of it. Put on Mommy’s boots and hat? Yes please! Try on Daddy’s winter coat? Certainly! Whether we’re putting groceries away, folding laundry, or making a phone call, it MUST be the most interesting thing in the world, and he doesn’t want to miss out.

And honestly, we can really relate with him in this. We want to enter into our next phase of life so badly! We want to move to PNG! We want to throw ourselves into language and culture learning! We want to tell people who have never heard about Jesus what He’s done for them! Every time we share with someone about what we plan to do overseas, we get excited all over again. It’s what we’re passionate about. But sometimes it just seems so far away. We get discouraged with how things are going in the phase we’re at right now, and it feels like we’ll never get there.

A few friends have written to us recently from the other side of this intimidating mountain called “Support Raising.” And they keep saying the same thing: This time isn’t wasted in God’s hands. He’s wanting to use it to prepare you for what’s next. Keep your focus in it, and thank God for today. There’s so much He wants for you NOW — not just in some distant future.

So, as we get packed up to go on yet another trip to share with other believers what God’s laid on our hearts for the future, we’re going to trust God to be working for us in the here and now, providing for our future, yes, but more importantly teaching us to walk with Him day by day.

And as for Manny, well, I think he’s going to keep trying to re-organize the cupboards. Maybe he’ll slow down when he graduates from college.

We just finished up an awesome weekend with an awesome church full of awesome people, and it’s gotten us to thinking: Do the people who support us through prayer and financial giving understand just how critical their part is to our ministry?

Wrong View

 It’s been our privilege throughout the last months to be able to meet with hundreds of other Christians, in their churches and in their homes. As we’ve shared with these brothers and sisters about our desire to be used by God to take the Gospel to an unreached people group in PNG, we’ve seen many of them get excited about what we’re doing.

And as much as it thrills our hearts to see other believers making decisions to join in our ministry through their consistent prayers or financial giving, it’s also kind of sad to hear some of the comments that are sometimes sent our way: “I’m excited to see what the Lord will accomplish through you.” “It’s so great what you’re a part of.” “You’re making a sacrifice now, but it will be worth it in the end.”

Not that these are BAD things to say, it’s just that they seem to lack an important element; and that element is The We Factor. The We Factor acknowledges that, without the prayers and sacrificial giving of hard-working Christians here at home, missionaries could not do the work they do in the foreign countries where they serve.

Right View

The We Factor recognizes that the elderly woman who prays for the missionary every night, the hard-working family man who writes a check to the missionary each month, and the missionary himself, taking part in teaching and translating in a foreign country are all EQUAL PARTS of the same TEAM. Yes, their roles are different, but each one is filling a necessary part of an important equation.

The We Factor puts the role of the supporter where it is supposed to be: on the same level as the missionary! It rephrases the previous comments to be: “I’m excited to see what the Lord will accomplish through US.” “It’s so great what WE’RE a part of.” “WE’RE making a sacrifice now, but it will be worth it in the end!”

If you are supporting a missionary, REMEMBER THE WE FACTOR!!

Hi. My name is Manny, but sometimes when I’m getting in trouble my Mom and Dad call me Emmanuel. I’m 1 year old, and Mom says I’m growing up too quickly. I can walk and run really fast. I even learned how to slide down stairs on my belly, so I don’t fall and get hurt.

I love helping Mom organize the Tupperware cabinet, and sometimes I show off to my Dad by lifting really heavy things. I’m really strong. When my Dad and I wrestle I can knock him over really easy.

Sometimes I say words, like, “ball” and “Mom.” Mom and Dad like it when I do that. But most times I just make noises, because that’s more fun. Like, when I want to show Mom a bird, I just say, “Caw!” And when I want Dad to look at a picture of a cow, I say, “Oom!”

My Mom and Dad say they are missionaries. They say that someday we’re going to go to another country. They also keep telling me that I’m going to be a big brother soon. I don’t really know what Mom and Dad are talking about with any of this stuff. Maybe someday I will though.

Well, it’s official: the Christmas season is finally here! Thanksgiving has come and gone, we’ve had our first snowfall, annoying music is playing in all the stores, and yes, we’ve got our Christmas tree.

And not just ANY tree… a REAL tree. A sap on your hands, pine needles on the floor, odd-shaped trunk, needs water, balsam fir tree.

My whole life we’ve gotten a real tree at Christmas. Actually, when I was younger, my parents let us take it a step further. We didn’t just get a tree when I was a kid. We got a TREE. I kid you not, more than once we were able to convince Mom and Dad to let us bring home a 14-footer. It was awesome. (There are scratch marks on their ceiling to this day, where we managed to cram a 14-foot tree into a 13’ 10” room.)

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