Peeking ahead to 2012, and the many changes that are coming, we are grateful to be serving a God who never changes and whose grace is always sufficient.  We are also thankful for new opportunities to serve Him.  We appreciate your prayers as we transition to a new location (San Diego, California) and new ministry with Radius International. We will be developing and teaching the Culture and Language Acquisition courses.  Thank you so much for your part in this ministry of equipping new missionaries for the great task of reaching the yet unreached with the gospel.

Moving Plans: We plan to move by the end of January.  We can keep you updated by email about our plans—if you send us your e-mail!

We Praise God for his provision of a rental home for us for at least the first year (contact us for the address).  It is located about 20 minutes from Tijuana, Mexico where we will be traveling to regularly once Radius classes begin there in July.  Email us for more info about  our new ministry or read more here!

Thanksgiving was spent in the Pensacola, Florida area with Sharon’s brother, Dan, his family, and Sharon’s Mom, Jerry Fitzgerald.  It was a great time, and we are thankful for the chance to spend time together.  It was worth the 30 hours driving time!

Jason moved to Chico, CA in October and is doing well there, living with some friends.  He plans to fly back here for Christmas and spend a couple of weeks with us, before returning there. We are thankful for how well his move and adjustment are going.

Sarah’s Graduation! Sarah’s university graduation ceremony will be held at Southwest Baptist University (Bolivar, MO) Dec. 16th at 7 pm!  We are excited for Sarah as she completes this milestone in her life.  She will receive two Bachelor’s degrees: BA in General Music, and BA in Intercultural Studies.  Sarah plans to move to San Diego with us, at least to start with, with her goal being to serve in East Asia eventually.  Pray for wisdom for her, as she makes plans.  She hopes to be involved in one of the ethnic Asian churches in San Diego while she is there.

Praise God for another group of missionary candidates who will soon be graduating from the NTM Missionary Training Center and making plans to serve in cross-cultural church planting and support ministries around the world.  Praise for those who have heard and believed the good news of Jesus Christ in their own language for the first time this year, and can celebrate the Savior with us this Christmas!  Pray that the Lord of the Harvest will raise up more laborers—and be willing to BE one! Praise God for his amazing provision for the disaster relief of the Mamusi tribal villages that were devastated by flooding and landslides back in August.  Please also Pray for the ongoing growth and outreach of the Mamusi tribal churches.

We so much appreciate your prayerful interest and partnership in our ministry.  We trust you are truly blessed this Christmas.

View Sarah’s recital here! Congratulations to Sarah on her College Senior Piano Recital!

Moving to Radius International in January! We are excited to report to you that we believe that the Lord is directing us to the San Diego area to work with Radius International! We wrote you a few weeks ago, asking for prayer as we considered a request for us to move to the San Diego area to work with this new mission training school, that was initially called “Among All Peoples” (AAP). We were able to visit some of the leaders of Radius in July, when some friends from one of our sending churches in Seattle were also able to join us to help us work through this potential ministry change.

We came away encouraged, but still had some things we needed to consider and clarify before making a final decision. We have talked with Dave Burdette (Academic Coordinator of Radius) a lot on the phone over the last month or so, and we visited San Diego again this last week for the Radius board meetings. We had an excellent visit with the board, we are excited by their heart and vision, and have accepted their invitation to work with them. Tim will be responsible to develop and teach the Culture and Language Acquisition components of the course. We are privileged to be a part of assisting in the pre-field training aspect of this God-sized project of World Evangelism.

What is Radius International? Radius International is a new missions training organization. It is not a missionary sending agency, but is a comprehensive missionary training program, desiring to provide similar missions training to what we have been involved with here at the NTM Missionary Training Center (MTC), for the wider evangelical missions community. You can obtain more information by visiting the Radius website at www.radiusinternational.org.

NTM seconding (loaning) us to Radius: We have really appreciated being a part of training future missionaries here at the NTM MTC over the last 9 years, and have appreciated our coworkers and leadership. We had no plans to leave and were not looking for anything else, but after receiving a request to consider working with Radius and looking into it more, we believe God is wanting us to take this step of faith and move this way. NTM has been supportive of us as we have considered this change of ministry and has arranged for us to be seconded (on loan) to Radius for a period of 2 years, meaning we will continue as full members of NTM for that time frame.

Radius location: Starting in July 2012, classes will be held at a property in Tijuana, Mexico for the first year or two, while a property in El Cajon, California (just east of San Diego) is being prepared. We will very much appreciate your prayers for us as we look into housing possibilities in the area. We will be traveling to Tijuana for classes at least for the first year or so.

The next few months: It has been amazing to see God provide co-workers to take over our ministries here at the NTM MTC! Tim’s responsibilities have been lightened somewhat this semester, as he will be working on making sure his current course work is ready to pass on, and will be working on training some coworkers, as well as hoping to have time to give some thought to course development for Radius. God has also provided replacements for Sharon’s various responsibilities here on campus and she will be busy with training for these jobs as well. We are praying for someone to replace Sharon’s local ministry with Medical Missions for Christ and our various ministries at our local church here (Lake Area Evangelical Free Church). It’s going to be really hard for us to leave our church, but we believe just as God moved and caused people to step forward and take responsibility when we left our tribal churches in PNG, so He will do here.

Family plans: Jason is strongly leaning towards moving to California, although he may go to a different area of the state where he would live with some of his friends. However, there is also a possibility that he will decide to stay in Missouri, at least for a while. Please pray for him in this decision. Sarah will be graduating from University in December and is also considering moving out with us for a while, before moving on with her mission plans. She may even use the Radius training as she prepares for ministry. This move appears to be good timing for her!

Pictures! You can check out some of our recent pictures here.

Thank you so much for your faithful prayers and support, and your part in this ministry of training the next generation of missionaries!

Partnering together to see the least reached people groups exposed to the good news of Jesus Christ,
Tim and Sharon Simmonds

Tim's family

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From South Africa,  America, Wales and England,

The Simmonds family all did gather

to celebrate the beloved parents

50th year of marriage!

All of the grandchildren with the grandparents.

We are grateful that we could take part in this momentous event and for the time we were able to spend visiting with different family members, after many years of being separated.  During our 3 week visit in England, we were able to make trips to the area where Tim grew up, visit friends in the Cotswolds, visit Tim’s sister and her family in Wales, visit and speak in different churches, visit the area where we went to Bible College in 1982, and spend a lot of time Derbyshire with the family.  We were also glad that both of our kids were able to be there with us, and it was a good time of connecting with family again for all of us!

Thank you for your prayers for us during our travels.  Everything went well, although with layovers and delays, the trip home was almost a 30 hour journey!

June began on a different note, with my Dad going home to be with the Lord on June 4th, after a long devasting illness. Our hearts ache as we face his no longer being on earth with us, but also rejoice in knowing he is with the Lord, and no longer suffering.  While we still have the incredible hope of the inheritance that God has laid up for us (1 Peter 1: 3-5), Dad is experiencing the fulfillment of that sure promise!

Dad’s memorial service was truly a celebration of his life, of the impact he had had on so many, and of the Lord who had given him life and allowed him to serve in this way. We were blessed to see many friends and a few family as well, and to hear how God had used my Dad in their lives.

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Enrichment Conference!

After arriving home from Florida late on Sunday night, we began the NTM Enrichment Conference early Monday morning. This is a conference where many missionaries serving with NTM in the USA and missionaries on furlough from overseas locations come to learn, have fellowship, and be blessed.

For Tim, this involved cooking for 500+ in the kitchen, while I was involved in preparing coffee breaks and helping out in the kitchen on occasion.

We saw many of our missionary guests encouraged and blessed, and are thankful to have a small part in this.

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Trip to England!

Our trip to England begins on July 19th, arriving there the 20th, and returning to Missouri August 10th.  It’s been 7 years for most of us (Tim was there for a brief visit 4 years ago), and we are excited to see the family again.  Tim’s parents 50th Anniversary celebration will be held on August 6th.    We appreciate your prayers as we spend time with family and visit churches, friends and supporters!

God is working in Mamusi!

It’s amazing to see how God is working in Mamusi, the tribe in PNG where we previously served.  Many are wanting to hear the Bible teaching, and the believers are planning new outreaches, despite facing many threats and much oppostion.

We praise God for providing for the purchase of a new laptop computer and a solar panel (an 18 foot flexible solar panel that actually rolls up!), and solar controller and inverter kit, which will enable the Mamusi believers to be able to set up and use the computer in their remote location.

Tim is almost finished editing the Ephesians Bible lessons, and then we will be looking at getting them and other lessons printed.

Pray for Tim and I during our time here in Florida, and for a safe trip home next Saturday and Sunday (driving) (June13th – 14th).

Thanks for your prayers and support. 

1Pe 1:3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
1Pe 1:4 and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade–kept in heaven for you,�
(NIV)

     In 2007, a village in Papua New Guinea heard the gospel, joyfully accepted it and many of them began worshipping the one true God who alone is worthy. Now these same believers themselves are beginning the literacy and gospel outreaches that are needed to reach the other 2,700 people who share their language. Amazing! 

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     What is more amazing is that prior to the literacy program and the gospel presentation in 2007, they had been illiterate and in complete spiritual darkness. Because their language had never been written down before, they had been trapped in their tribal superstitions and were ignorant of the message God had passed down for them in the Bible concerning the gospel.

     In 2004, as we moved into the village and began the process of language learning we were so thankful for training we received through the NTM training centers. In this village, there was no dictionary to turn to. The people couldnʼt tutor us as they themselves were unaware of the patterns in grammar and phonetics that made up their every day way of communicating. Even the way they thought and interpreted life was completely foreign to us. We were completely dependent upon the Lord to open our minds and show us how to proceed. 

     M. David Sills in his book, The Missionary Call, he quotes Ralph D. Winter, “God cannot lead you on the basis of facts that you do not have.” We saw this to be so true as we began the process of trying to understand the culture and language. The Lord did not give us ideas and plans from thin air or mystically come and inspire us. The Lord used our minds and the time we invested into being learners throughout the training as the substance to work with as he guided us through the Holy Spirit to do the work that He had sent us there to do.
   

  Everything we learned in the training was crucial. All the little sounds we were hearing in the tribal language needed to be analyzed and written down into understandable symbols. The grammar structure also had to be analyzed so we could understand what was being communicated. When it came time to write an alphabet, we were able to use the training in forming new orthographies that we had received. It was not easy, but again, the Lord prepared us in advance with the knowledge required and then brought all the information back to the forefront of our minds when we needed it. 

     Sometimes we get so busy in what we are doing that we forget to stop and look back and remember how the Lord has worked in our lives to equip us for the work He is doing through us. In light of that, we want to stop and thank the Lord for the great cross-cultural mission training we received through New Tribes Mission. We want to especially thank the staff that works at the training centers for the time they give to equip new generations of missionaries and for passing on their life stories and examples to those of us who are able to take and apply those principles to our own new works. 

     We are also thankful for those who prayerfully and financially support these trainers and teachers as they work stateside. Their jobs may not be taking place on foreign soil, but they are no less impacting the world of tribal missions as their thoughts and ideas are spread throughout the world as they are implemented by the NTM students in many countries.The Lord is truly using them to give missionaries the tools they need to take the gospel to the ends of the earth.

-Written by Bill and Kelley Housley, serving with NTM in Papua New Guinea.
You can receive their updates by requesting them at pilgrimspa@aol.com.

On Saturday (July 14th) we plan to leave Seattle and head for Central Washington, where we will have some meetings and visit friends, and then begin our trip back to Missouri on July 19th. Please pray for safety as we travel. We are very thankful for our time here in the Seattle area, and praise God for how He has provided for the expenses of our trip.

See more pictures of our sojourn in the Northwest at the photo section of our website. Click the link below: www.ntm.org/tim-simmonds/photos.php

We praise God for improvements in Jason’s health situation over the last week. He is feeling better and able to work more. Today is Jason’s 22nd birthday! We look forward to seeing him again when we return to Missouri. We will celebrate Jason’s birthday together when our daughter (S) gets back from England.

(S) graduates from Bible School in England on July 19th! She is returning home on July 24th. Needless to say, we are very excited about this, as it’s almost a year since we’ve seen her! She starts college 3 weeks after her return home. Pray for (S) as she says good-bye to close friends in England and returns home. Her wrists do continue to bother her, so please pray for direction for her as she begins college, pursuing a music (piano) degree.

We enjoyed having Sharon’s Mom with us for 10 days while we were in Seattle. After she returned to Florida she had emergency surgery to remove her gallbladder, but she is recovering very well. Dad is gaining a little weight and talking a little more. We are thankful that he seems to be comfortable and content in the Nursing Home.

At the outreach in the new village in the Mamusi Tribe, the Bible teaching from Creation to Christ will come to its climax on July 24th with the presentation of the death, burial and resurrection of Christ! Please pray for the Ata and Mamusi Bible teachers as they teach, and for the people who are being taught to clearly understand and believe the gospel. The Bible teachers will then begin discipling the believers.

Some of our coworkers in Papua New Guinea are in the process of reprinting many of the Mamusi Bible lessons so that the six (almost seven!) churches can continue to be taught and discipled in God’s Word, as well as reach out to new villages and train Bible teachers and church leaders. We would appreciate your prayers for funding for this printing project. Any donations for this Mamusi Bible lesson printing project can be sent to:
New Tribes Mission, 1000 E First St, Sanford FL 32771 and marked “For PNG Field Fund, Mamusi Bili Printing Account, #432326″ (Please also send us an email or note if possible to let us know about your donation to the Mamusi Printing Account.)

Thanks for praying for us in the ministry of training the next generation of missionaries at the NTM Missionary Training Center! We consider it an honor to be able to serve in this way and we praise God for a great support team who make it possible for us to continue this ministry.

Read a summary of our prayer requests at:  www.ntm.org/tim-simmonds/pray.php

This was Tim’s small group class in 2003 – 2004. Adam and Julie Martin (front) and Ryan and Nicki Coleman (Right) are now in the Akolet Tribe, pioneering a work into a new tribal area in the Islands Region of Papua New Guinea.

Ryan and Nicki Coleman’s Top Ten List:
You know you are living in the jungle when….

10. Your standard mode of transportation is a small, Cessna airplane.

9. You sit down at night to watch a movie and you have a hard time seeing the screen because bugs are covering it.

8. Your 5 year old son finds a stick bug that is over half the length of his arm and says, "Mommy, I found a bug!".

7. A tribal person catches a reef fish and proceeds to bite its head with their teeth to kill it.

6. You find out that 6 dozen of your 8 dozen eggs are rotten and there is no grocery store anywhere for you to restock your pantry until your next flight comes in.

5. When your supplies finally do come in every two months or so, you have to number each box and hire security just so they all make it to your house.

4. It is so hot that when the temperature drops to the high 70′s you want to put on jeans and a coat just to stay warm.

3. You have to sift the bugs out of your flour, or you can pick ‘em out while you roll the dough out, or you can leave ‘em in for extra protein and a nutty crunch.

2. You go down to wash in the ocean and you see a log floating by, but then you realize that it is moving and it’s not a log but a 15 foot long python swimming on top of the water. (Our hats go off to our work team from Iowa that experienced this first hand, and at night too!)

1. You are talking with a tribal person and they are talking to you while picking lice out of the hair of the person next to them, then biting the lice to kill it before throwing it away.
-by Ryan and Nicki Coleman

How amazing to see these young couples moving out into very difficult circumstances, yet keeping their eyes on the Lord in the process of reaching these people with the gospel. As Ryan and Nicki said in their letter: " If we don’t continually keep before us that it is the Lord who called us to this work amongst the Akolet people and it is Him alone who will keep and sustain us here, we could become easily defeated and discouraged.."

It is hugely exciting to know that the Akolet people finally have an avenue to hear and understand the greatest Good News in their own language and cultural context.

It may often be gruelling over the next couple of years for Ryan and Nicki and for Adam and Julie as they build meaningful relationships with the people, and learn their culture and language, in preparation for sharing God’s truth with them. Pray for the Colemans and Martins:
* that their lives and relationships will honor God.
* that they will be content in every situation.
* that they will understand the culture and be able to speak the language fluently.
* that the people will be cooperative and hungry for the truth.

READ MORE about the Akolet work at:
www.martinpng.com

To read our most recent news go to:
www.ntm.org/tim-simmonds/pray.php

Jason experienced more frequent power outages in town, but for shorter spells, and he kept warm with a kerosene heater.

Yesterday (Friday) was a good thawing day and it was equally amazing to listen to the trees and power lines shedding their burdens of ice and crashing down to the ice-covered ground below, or whatever else was below!  Seeing a frightened deer under the trees that didn’t know which way to go because or the noise, was funny and sad at the same time.

Snow is forecast for later on today (Saturday).  Better than ice, we say, but we are still likely to be cut off from the rest of the world for a while because of the hilly, winding roads that lead to the Missionary Training Center.  Hopefully we will be able to keep classes going so we don’t lose any more class time.

Thanks for praying for all of us during this time.  Missionary Training Center classes were postponed for a week, and will begin on Monday.  We are looking forward to the new semester.  Tim will teach phonetics starting Monday.