NTM - New Tribes Mission | Planting Tribal Churches

In this old movie, Humphrey Bogart epitomized the type of crazed passion that people have had over the years in search of gold in the Sierra Madre mountains of northern Mexico.  Well once again the rush is on!  But, we’re going after a greater treasure…the souls of Tarahumara Indians.  So is there gold in them thar hills? Yep, there is!  A treasure found in the lives of the people that the Lord has called us to labor amongst for almost 25 years now.

We are anxiously anticipating our return to Mexico in just a few days which consequently finds us doing lots of last minute things…. final visits, goodbyes, sharing about the ministry, eating ice cream, and packing.  We’re packing a lot of items to use down in the church and also to aid in outreaches, etc.  We are so grateful for the Lord’s provision for us in so many ways….new computers for both Fernando and Lauren and I to use in translation, lesson preparations, etc…46 cushioned folding chairs to help in the lack of seating in the new church building (thanks Desert Sun Church!), a hot water solar panel for our “baptuzzi,” and lots of items to bless the people with, etc, etc, etc. We’ve had to borrow a small trailer from a missionary friend in order to get it all down there!

We would appreciate your prayers as we cross the border with all of these items and that we will find favor with the officials and for a safe drive out to the tribe.  We will be crossing the border the first part of next week and can’t wait to see our fellow missionaries and especially get back to the Christians in our mountain home.  (Ahhhh, I can smell the pine trees now!)

With the ever increasing drug cartel violence and extremely dry conditions (read: Many forest fires!) we know that returning home also comes with some apprehension and concerns so please pray that God will give us grace, strength and courage for whatever we face.  He has promised to never leave us nor forsake us and we’re definitely counting on that!

We have truly been blessed to be able to see so many of you over the last few months of travels (around 20,000 miles since January alone!) and trust that, Lord wiling, we were a blessing to you as well.  We’ll keep you posted about our arrival, etc.

A big area to cover (but we have a big God!). from Tony Finch on Vimeo.

A Tarahumara "Nike"

Its reported that when the Tarahumara runners crossed the 1928 Amsterdam Olympic Marathon finish line (they didn’t win any medals or blow anyone out of the water in the grueling 26.2 mile long race) they were complaining… accusing the race of being “Too short!”  Well, that’s the way we feel about every visit we’ve had with each family member, friend or church body over the last few months….”Too short!”

Oh, how we’d love to have a much longer time to fellowship together. We rejoice in the life and ministry that God has given to us and we would love to have more time to share with everyone what He has been doing amongst the Tarahumara Indians over the last several years.  But, alas, time moves on, and so do we.  We definitely have too many people to see and no way near enough time to see them all before we return to Tarahumara land in June.

Please pray that we will make the most of our time and be a blessing wherever we are.  Racing on!

We’re seeing our home assignment time moving right along…with just a little over 10 weeks to go before we’re back in Mexico!

We’re seeing our financial support percentage moving right along too…with almost 75% of our monthly support coming in!

We’re seeing our family growing…with our 7th grandchild to be born in June to Micah and Stephanie!

We’re seeing ourselves moving right along around the country getting in as many visits as possible….Oklahoma, Arizona, California, Idaho, Utah, Colorado already and now Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Tennessee in the next two weeks…and then Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota and Nebraska soon after that!

Whoa, we've been everywhere, even the "Extraterrestrial Highway!"

Extraterrestrial Highway from Tony Finch on Vimeo.

Yep, there’s nothing like the Arizona desert in the winter time!  Fresh off the tree grapefruit each morning!  I knew there was a reason we made plans to be in this part of the country at this time of the year.  It’s crazy to think that while many of you reading this are shoveling through two feet of snow we are having trouble deciding if we even want to put on a sweatshirt for our early morning walk!

Our breakfast grapefruit tree this week in Salome, Arizona.

Not only are we thankful to the Lord for the beautiful weather we are enjoying right now, but also for the opportunities He has given us to share our ministry with churches and individuals here.  We are seeing the Lord raise up new prayer and financial partners to team with us in our ministry to the Tarahumara.  It’s exciting to see folks catching a vision for what the Lord is doing in calling out a people for His name’s sake amongst the Tarahumara of Mexico.  What a blessing to share the work first hand and be able to answer questions that come up about what the Lord is doing, etc.

Well, in a few days we’ll be in southern California to share our ministry with folks there in that beautiful State…I bet we get to enjoy some fresh oranges somewhere along the way while there.  We’ll enjoy one for you

We were able to make a quick trip back home to the tribe for a few days recently.  It was exciting and encouraging to see growth in the church even in our absence!  How amazing to even see some of our Spanish speaking Mexican friends attending the Sunday afternoon meetings.  Though their understanding of Tarahumara is VERY limited they are hungry for God’s truth and are seeking to understand as best they can.  Wow!

Lauren seated between two worlds in church...Mexican and Indian

We were also able to spend a couple days with some of our NTM Mexican field leadership discussing and brainstorming together about our vision and suggestions for the future of the Tarahumara outreach.  Can you say “radio?”  Or how about “training center?”  We are living in some pretty exciting days in what we believe is the Lord’s timing for a greater harvest amongst the Tarahumara Indians.

Please be praying for us and our leadership as we consider what was discussed and seek to determine the Lord’s will for us in it all.

As an added bonus we were also able to take down some more food for our faithful dog “CB” who has been guarding the house for us in our absense.  Different ones of the Tarahumara Christians  have been watching him for us.

Hang in there CB! We'll be back soon