Twenty centuries after Jesus gave us His one and only prayer request, 2,500 people groups are still beyond the reach of the Gospel:
"Pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers"(Matthew 9:38 and Luke 10:2).
This is not the time to pull back.
It's time to defy circumstances and reverse trends -- time to take our Lord at His Word. Jesus' command to make disciples of all people groups comes on the heels of Him saying all authority is His, and is followed by His assurance, "I am with you always." (Matthew 28:18-20)
People are answering God's call for laborers. NTM's Missionary Training Center is consistently full of people who are willing to serve. We haven't needed to turn away many students yet.
But should we be turning away any students? Shouldn't we be equipping even more people to expand the reach of the Gospel to every tribe? Shouldn't we push for even more missionary candidates, and more space to train them? We think so, and we hope you will join us. New Tribes Mission is trusting God to expand the training center so more people can be sent out and more people groups can hear the Good News.
The centerpiece of this expansion is the new Fleming Center, a classroom, office and student center complex that is the hub of the reorganized campus in Missouri.
With the Fleming Center:
Offices for teachers and disciplers at the Missionary Training Center are gathered in one location, making it easier for students and staff to connect. This is even more important in missionary training than in a typical school, because the goal is to equip students academically and spiritually.
Classrooms are flexible, with spaces that can be one large classroom, two medium rooms or four smaller rooms. Even the smaller rooms accommodate more students than most of the current classrooms. Each classroom also accommodates current and coming technologies, enabling instructors to teach larger groups more effectively.
The new student center lets students interact more with each other and staff members. Besides improving the quality of life on campus, this facilitates discipleship and friendships that strengthen students in their future ministries.
At the training center, students get a foundational understanding of issues they will encounter in church planting, including:
Learning a culture and language
Writing an unwritten language
Teaching people to read
Bible translation
Evangelizing people who know little or nothing about the Bible or God
Recognizing and equipping leaders
They also receive instruction in practical areas such as solar power, small engine repair, health care and educating their children. Further training takes place on the job, as missionaries need it.
The Fleming Center is being built with God's goals in mind. It accommodates the students currently seeking training, and those still needed to make a serious dent in the number of people groups who have never had an opportunity to hear the Gospel.
The overall cost of the Fleming Center is $8 million -- far less than most college classroom buildings. The Fleming Center is a concrete investment in planting churches among unreached people groups.
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