Oath Ceremony 8/28/2009

August 28^th marked a momentous occasion for us; Benjamin took the Oath of Citizenship at a swearing in ceremony in Detroit.  There were over a thousand people in attendance that day with 950 immigrants finishing the naturalization process.  The ceremony itself was straightforward without too much pomp and circumstance, but it was meaningful and very significant for us.  It is ironic to think that becoming a citizen of this country now gives us the freedom to become foreigners in another.  Just a few weeks later we were in the Jackson county Court House putting in our application for passports that will allow us to begin yet another paper work process.  Thank you for praying with us as we waited for this day to come.  The Lord continues to meet our needs in His time.  Be praying with us as the application process for our work permits and visas for Papua New Guinea begins.

ADDISON UNITED CHURCH: We continue to get opportunities to share our ministry presentation despite demanding schedule we find ourselves in this fall.  Please pray with us as we develop our relationship with Addison United Church.  This sweet congregation has decided to get behind us financially.  We have a tremendous opportunity to continue to educate this group about tribal missions and the work of NTM.  Most people in this church have not seen the NTM video production EETAOW.  We are looking forward to an opportunity to view that with them and hope that it will aid to illustrate for them what we are going to be doing in PNG. 

CALVARY BAPTIST CHURCH: In the next few weeks we are going to be sharing with Calvary Baptist Church in Monacca, PA.  Missy’s father pastors this small church.  The congregation there has been tremendously supportive of our family and we are looking forward to the fellowship with our friends there.  Pray that we would be an encouragement and that the Lord would continue to raise up workers for Him from this group.  We are honored to be recognized by this church.

HOME GROUP PRESENTATION: At the end of October we are presenting our ministry to a group from our home church here in Jackson.  Dear friends of ours are opening up their home to host this event.  Pray that we would be able to see this opportunity duplicated in other homes in our local church community.  We also have an opportunity to present our ministry at our evening service Sunday November 1^st.  We hope this will serve to raise awareness in our home church especially with those who are part of the large group of new attendees.

VILLAGE BIBLE CHURCH: We are beginning to prepare our minds for attending the Village Bible Church missions conference in January.  Village Bible Church is located in Sugar Grove, Illinois.  It is a growing church with 15 functioning small groups.  The missions committee there has showed us tremendous support and they intend to get us into each of these small groups to present our ministry.  We are very excited about this.  Pray that we creatively work out the logistics so that our time out there in January is used effectively to this end.

We have made a significant family decision to change our ministry focus from training future missionaries to church planting in Papua New Guinea.  As we make this transition here are some of the questions we are considering and concerns we are trusting the Lord with.  Here is how you can be specifically praying with us!

Raising Support
The typical NTM family will spend 12 months dedicated exclusively to raising support before heading overseas. There are exceptions, obviously, so any time line created for this endeavor will have to be tentative by nature. Our tentative time-line for reaching the field of Papua New Guinea is the summer of 2010. Much has to happen between now and then, and we have chosen not to dedicate ourselves to this process full time. We will continue on ministering at NTBI up until we leave. Our co-workers have already extended us flexibility when and where it is necessary, but the Lord is working on our behalf and our church community is rallying around us in this decision.

We are excited to be partnered with four churches here in Michigan. This  summer we are beginning to focus on the individuals that make up this large church community through gatherings in our home. We hope to gather support from more individuals and families this way.

The Lord is working in another community of churches interested in partnering with us in central Illinois. Presently two churches have shown great interest in supporting our ministry and at least four other churches want to hear how the Lord is leading us. Each church represents many families. We are excited to see how the Lord will continue to add from this group to our growing network of supporters.
We are asking the Lord for another five churches to join in supporting us, and another fifty families or individuals to partner with us in monthly donation.

Church Planting Team
A church planting team is like a marriage, or so we’ve been told. You need to use great wisdom choosing who to work with, and then you need to work hard to make it last. Up until the late nineties the leading cause for missionaries leaving the field was strife with their co-workers. The result of poor parenting is among the top reasons for attrition today.

The grace of God alone will see us partnered with the right families. We really want to team up with at least one family whose kids are near the same age as our children. We believe it’s important to be able to have fun together, especially considering the pressures of living in a cross cultural environment.

Here are some questions we’re asking: When should we start talking with potential teammates? Should we have our team built before we head to the field? What if we find a great team to join, but there aren’t any kids except our own? How much of this do we try and orchestrate and how much of it is just going to be God?

Education
The education of our children is of upmost importance to us. However, raising our children overseas provides some unique challenges that we must consider. We have chosen not to send our young children away to boarding school. This leaves only a few other possibilities.

Home-schooling is one alternative to boarding school. This is a daunting task but there are plenty of amazing resources for this; including an established support structure in place on the field of Papua New Guinea where we plan to serve.

There may be other alternatives if we think outside the box. Some NTM church planting teams have had a dedicated teacher on location with them for a season; say during the critical first three years of language and culture acquisition. This makes it possible for the wives on the team to dedicate more time to language learning positioning them to be more effective disciplers. We have no such plan in place but want to depend on the Lord for wisdom and creativity as we consider the education of our kids. If you have any ideas feel free to share them with us as we brainstorm this issue.

Ministry Expense
Everything from solar panels to a four year supply of sneakers has to be either purchased ahead of time and shipped to PNG or planned for purchase once we arrive in the country. This is an incredible undertaking both financially and logistically. PNG is a developing country so resources there are limited, but there are some major items that can be purchased locally. We need to determine what supplies are absolutely necessary and from where and when to purchase them. Of course the funds will have to be raised beforehand.

Throughout the remainder of our ministry in PNG the full amount of the ministry expense will be our personal responsibility. NTM, the organization, does not provide us with any funding. There are many services that NTM can provide but each at a personal cost to us. At different phases in the work the demand for funds will vary. For example in the initial days of the ministry there will be a higher demand for funds and supplies as we build a home and possibly engineer an airstrip. Once these initial projects are completed life and ministry in the bush will be less financially demanding. This great expense will only be possible as the Lord builds a team of dedicated people for the task of reaching the unreached with the Gospel.

National Culture and Language Acquisition
For the first year of our time in PNG we will be getting familiar with the national culture and learning the national language of Papua New Guinea. During this time we may be asked to temporarily fill a supporting role in order to get more acquainted with how NTM PNG works. Our desire is to move as quickly through this stage of ministry so that we can begin a ministry in a tribal area. Pray that we would not rush this important transition time, but that the Lord would also see us move quickly and efficiently into the church planting ministry.

Citizenship
Benjamin has been in the process of gaining American citizenship since we got married. This has been a long and involved process, but it is nearing completion now. It first required getting a green card. We filled out many forms each with a processing fee attached. We are now down to the final step in this process. Benjamin has sent in all the required information and now we are waiting to hear whether his application has been accepted or not. We have been waiting since January and have heard nothing. We remain optimistic but are feeling the time crunch. The paper work process for acquiring a Papua New Guinea workers visa can only be started once we have Benjamin’s new American passport. Could you pray with us that this process will come to completion soon?

How many missionaries does it take to reach one unreached people group with the Gospel?  This isn’t the makings of some lame joke!  The vital nature of a support team is a concept that isn’t appealed to enough when mission work is being promoted.  Too often the majority of attention is focused on what is happening on the ‘front lines’.  In reality, however, the front line effort can never be separated from the support effort making it possible.

There are several important services that make living in remote locations possible. The aviation program is considered a life-line to the missionary in the bush. The bare minimum size of a given aviation program would number at least three people; a pilot, a mechanic and a radio technician. There are other supporters who have a direct connection with church planting teams including medical personnel, language consultants, regional leadership and neighboring tribal church planters.

The support team goes beyond those who are in direct contact with the church planter. Without them the church planter could not give full attention to the ministry. These include supply buyers, business managers and office workers, government representatives, education support team, field leadership staff and many more.

Beyond those who have direct and even indirect contact with the church planter the support team includes those who send money, their prayers and kind thoughts from across the sea. Our sending church family, our friends and our own relatives are also part of this group. Our many co-laborers state side who are involved in training the next generation of missionaries are the epitome of the unseen and often forgotten supporters that we simply cannot do without.

In any of these groups of supporters there are many jobs being done by only a few people. If there isn’t a mechanic for the airplane, chances are the pilot is skilled enough to maintain and fly the aircraft himself. But this isn’t the case when we are talking about the local church. The church family may be a distant part of the support team, but it is the most vital element of the team, without which none of this would ever happen. Who can replace the sending church? It cannot be replaced. It is irreplaceable.  It is invaluable.

As we venture overseas we are thankful for a strong church community in support of our family.  We are looking forward to seeing how God uses this body of believers even more in our lives to prepare us and support in the ministry of church planting.  God continues to humble us with the marvelous design of the Bride of Christ.

With a deep understanding of Scripture and 65 years of experience NTM has developed a unique and effective church planting approach for unreached people groups.  This biblical approach is being applied today with great success.  Tribal churches are now reaching beyond their own language boundaries to other unreached tribal people.

Every people group has an existing belief system that is completely established. These beliefs stand in contradiction to what God has told us in His Word.

In order to challenge these beliefs and present an opportunity for these unreached people to accept the truth we must teach God’s Story (the Word of God) from the beginning. God’s story effectively dismantles any man made worldview, and provides a firm foundation of truth.

In order for a people group to understand God’s story the teaching of this story must be done in the heart language. Worldview change happens in a person’s heart, so the missionary must teach using their heart language proficiently.

Language is the most distinct part of a person’s culture. So it isn’t just speaking a language well, but being able to present God’s story in that language having considered the native culture thoroughly.

All of this effort is applied with one goal in mind; a mature church. The inner workings of a mature church are complex, but there are some basic principles that stand out. A mature church is one that can feed itself spiritually from the Word of God.

In order for this to be said of any tribal church the Word of God must, first of all, be translated into the tribal language. Also, a translation requires readers so each missionary team must teach the people how to read and write in their own language.

These are very basic principles, but they form the bedrock of a mature church.  This type of indigenous church will eventually begin to venture out on its own, expanding the reach of the gospel further than any foreign missionary could.

We feel so blessed to be able to stand on the shoulders of those who have gone before us.  The experience that has been poured into our training has given us a clear sense of direction.  This valuable training has also engrained in our hearts the impossibility of the task of changing a person’s heart.  Only God can do that.  We are so thankful for the rich testimony of God’s grace and the model that we have been given to follow!

Benjamin and Missy Hatton have made a signifcant family decision.  But this decision to move overseas from their present ministry with NTM in Michigan started a long time ago.  Read some of the details of this story of God’s grace and faithfulness.

Benjamin and Missy have been associated with New Tribes Mission since they were children. Benjamin’s parents joined NTM when he was only three, and raised Benjamin and his siblings in Papua New Guinea. Missy’s parents joined the mission when she was 12 and served at New Tribes Bible Institute in Jackson, MI until 2000.

Missy was trained and went to Bolivia with NTM herself in 1995. She spent nearly three years there then after her first furlough joined the staff of NTBI, back in Michigan, working in the Dean’s Department. This is where Benjamin and Missy met in 1998. Once Benjamin completed his training with NTM he too joined the staff at NTBI. Benjamin and Missy were married in October 2002 and have served as Dean’s at NTBI ever since.

Benjamin and Missy have always had the ambition to serve the Lord full time in the Gospel ministry and have felt privileged to be a part of the work NTM is doing among unreached tribal groups around the world. As Dean’s their ministry was always charged with the notion that each student was a potential church planter or support worker in fulfilling the Great Commission among the unreached of the world.

Although filling an important role in training and equipping missionary candidates with NTM, they recognize the continued plight for laborers overseas, especially for church planters. This is a role that they both feel the Lord has gifted them to fill and given their intimate understanding of the needs and the methods NTM has developed to do this work Benjamin and Missy have decided to leave NTBI for Papua New Guinea to begin a church planting ministry.

The Lord has supplied wisdom and direction and grace in this decision making process. Benjamin and Missy have received excellent counsel from their co-workers and leaders and look forward to watching the Lord continue to work out the details.

There are a great many challenges being faced in this transition. All of the funds for this ministry have to be raised by the Hatton’s. This includes not only the money to send and support their family overseas but also to fully fund the church planting ministry. All of the equipment and supplies for this endeavor have to be gathered and shipped, not to mention preparing for the long, difficult separation from family and friends. But these are only some of the challenges that lie ahead for Benjamin and Missy.

Once they are finally in Papua New Guinea the long hard job of learning both the national language (Melanesian Pidgin English) and the tribal language begins. They will face the challenges of living among a people with an extremely different culture, and will only be able to model a biblical worldview to start with. But as they progress in their culture and language acquisition they will prepare to evangelize.

Evangelizing the tribal community has all sorts of challenges to it; some that will be unforeseen. The evangelism effort will consist of chronological teaching from the beginning of God’s Word. This provides a foundation for understanding Jesus’ death and resurrection. This will take immense effort on the part of the entire community; The Hatton family, their co-workers and the tribal people themselves.

Discipling a growing church and translating Scripture will eventually occupy all of their efforts. The goal is to leave an indigenous, mature church to continue expanding the reach of the Gospel in a way that only those native to Papua New Guinea could. None of these challenges can be overcome without the vital support of the local church and fellow believers. Benjamin and Missy are trusting the Lord who is not only the reason but the means for life and ministry.

Out of the many people groups in the world today how would you identify an unreached people group? NTM has focused their vision on reaching new tribes with the Gospel message and planting indigenous churches among them. Along the way criteria has been developed to help identify “new tribes” where Christ has yet to be named. This criteria can be summed up in the following three characteristics.

Language Distinctives
There are measurable differences that distinguish one language from another. NTM’s highest priority is the people groups who do not currently have the Gospel available to them in any of the languages in which they are proficient. Of the nearly 7,000 spoken languages in the world today there are still 2,200 languages with no translated Scripture at all. In the South Pacific Islands of Indonesia and Papua New Guinea nearly 800 of the 2,200 languages exist. NTM has been ministering in PNG for over sixty years and has impacted 72 of these 800 or so languages that have zero Bible translated. These are unreached people groups.

Cultural Distinctives
Cultural distinctives are the integrated set of beliefs, values, and behaviors that comprise the unique worldview of a people group. NTM’s highest priority is for the people groups whose unique worldview remains intact and consequently isolates them from the Gospel message. In the year 2000 the Moi people were touched by the modern world for the first time through NTM missionaries. They were living in the Stone Age with only wood, bone or stone utensils at their disposal. Needless to say their cultural distinctive were intact and they were completely isolated from the Gospel message. There are many more just like the Moi who have yet to be reached.

Existing Church Impact
In a country like Papua New Guinea where there is open opportunity for mission work there are “churches” rampant. One missionary accurately described PNG as missionized but not evangelized. NTM’s highest priority is the people groups among whom no mature church exists, and who are isolated from the outreach vision of other viable churches or mission agencies.

Once an unreached people group has been found it must be determined whether the resources are available to allocate missionaries. However, before the resources are brought into question there has to be a missionary team to allocate.

NTM could allocate missionaries with 200 unreached people groups tomorrow. The real challenge isn’t in identifying new tribes. Tragically we simply do not have the people enough for the great task of reaching these new tribes. The message of hope – of abundant, eternal life – is still out of reach for millions.

Our desire is to be allocated among one of the unreached people groups in the Sepik region of Papua New Guinea.  We are looking to the Lord to be in PNG by early Fall 2010.  Could you pray that the Lord would continue to raise up laborers to expand the reach of the Gospel with us?

It has been said, “The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.”  We are beginning a journey of five thousand miles and more.  Papua New Guinea is on the far side of the globe from where we live now in Michigan.

About eight months ago we made a significant family decision. We decided that we were going to change our ministry focus from training potential missionary candidates at New Tribes Bible Institute here in Michigan, to church planting among unreached people groups in Papua New Guinea.

God has been faithful to supply wisdom and direction during this transition and we are slowly gathering momentum. As we have shared this with our family, friends and co-workers many have asked us how we came to make this decision. We would like to share this story with you. Others have asked how our preparation is coming, and what challenges will we face as we transition. We want to answer all of those questions too.

For those of you who live here in Michigan we will be using our home as our center of operations for our partnership development effort. Our goal is to invite small groups of interested people to our house where we can share the specifics of this ministry move with you.

This natural, home environment will make it easy for us all to enjoy fellowship, and be able to speak candidly with each other. You will be able to ask all the questions you want, and we will have the flexibility to tailor our presentation to the needs of the group!

If this is something you would be interested in attending give us a call, email us, stop us at church or subscribe on our website for our ministry updates. This will ensure that your name is on our contact list and we’ll make sure you get an invitation.

For those of you who do not live in the Michigan area our ministry website will be the tool we use to keep you updated. There are several articles already published that document the significant details of our story so far.

We will also provide progress updates and any other information that will keep interested supporters satisfied and aware of current events. But if this isn’t enough, and you believe there is an opportunity for us to meet even more potential supporters and friends in your local area please contact us by phone. Talking together will help us determine if a trip to your area to personally share our ministry is feasible. Please do not hesitate to call. You never know how the Lord may use you.

Judah has enjoyed and excelled at Kindergarten.  Pray for us as we consider placing Gianna in Kindergarten this fall.  The school is only going to offer full day Kindergarten this fall.  We are seeking wisdom to know if this is the best thing for Gianna.

As many of you know we made the decision to change our ministry focus from stateside training to overseas church planting.  It has been six months now since we made this decision and we are in the midst of transition between ministries.

Pray for us as we seek to continue to be 100% focused and available in our present ministry.  Pray that we will use our time wisely as we invest in partnership development (fund raising and awareness).  We are looking to the Lord to raise up an adequate group of supporters to see us sent off to PNG by early Fall 2010.

There are 2,500 unreached ethnic groups in the world today.  What makes them unreached?  There is no gospel witness available to them.  How is this possible?  There are not enough people willing and equipped to take the Gospel message to them.  This hard message is what we are choosing to focus on as our theme at NTBI this Fall.

The summer is quickly drawing to a close for those of us here at NTBI.  In just two weeks we will begin our Student Training Prgram (STP) focused on preparing our student leaders for their various roles among their peers this semester.  In many ways it feels like a crash course because of how much we cram into just a week.  It is our opportunity to focus our hearts for service.  After all, that is what bilical leadership is all about.

As we focus our hearts on service, we will also focus on another area of great need.  There are still 2,500 unreached ethnic groups in the world today.  The Gospel has not reached these people groups and so they remain lost and separated from God. 

Although our students primary focus here at NTBI is studying the Word, it is in the light of this great need that they are being trained.  Our goal isn’t to crank out well adjusted, happy Christians.  We want to expose these students to God’s worldview so they will realize His purpose for our lives.

God’s rich provision in Christ Jesus equips the believer to live radically driven by the Father’s desire and only His desire.  Men and women who have found freedom in the Lord Jesus have what it takes to embark on the journey to the dark corners of this world with the Gospel message.

Filled by the Spirit and armed with the Word of God our students are able to focus their vision on the greatest need; reaching those who are yet unreached.

Please pray for us!  Pray that we would focus our vision on what is true.  Pray that we would be effective ministers of the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ into the lives of our students this semester.  Pray that we would all be focused and ready to serve as a result of our week of training and preparation.

Thank you for faithfully investing in our lives and ministry. 

Benjamin and Missy Hatton

Another semester has come to a close and we are adjusting to our summer schedule.  Goodbyes, family fun and hopefully some time in the sun will be our summer experience this year! 

We kicked off the Summer season with our graduation ceremony on May 17th.  It’s always a bitter-sweet experience.  During a student’s two years here they learn so much, grow phenomnally and become good friends. 

Tami Brooke in this picture with Missy is a good example of these friendships.  We’ll miss her and the many others we have grown close to.

As the weather has improved we have been outdoors much more.  Our kids are just eating up the freedom.  We are logging as many hours and special events with their Granny and Grandad (James and Lisa) as they will be leaving the USA for Northern Ireland in just a few short weeks. 

They are due to leave on June 30th and will begin a new ministry at the NTMUK missionary training center teaching in the Bible course there.  Our kids have formed such a lovely bond with their Grandparents.  There are no words to express how much they will be missed and how difficult it will be to say goodbye.  Please pray for us as we work through this new chapter in our lives.

Benjamin spends most of his time behind a desk during the semester and suffers the normal physical consequences.  So this summer he has opted to spend some time working with the guys in the physical plant department.  He’s been enjoying the manual labor which is a real change of pace for him.

For the rest of the summer he will be working on planning for the leadership training program held in August.  He will also be preparing student notes for the two classes he teaches among other preparations for the Fall.

Meanwhile in many obscure corners of the earth the missionry endeavor of NTM continues.  This has been a year that the fruit of years of investment has been realized.  The NTM website documents all of these stories in their many articles.  Just click on the NTM logo at the top of this page. 

Abohapiya pictured here with his family are new believers and members of the fledgling Moi church in Papua, Indonesia.  Your faithful suport allows our ministry and the ministry ot the Moi’s and many others to continue.  Thank you for your generous investment.