NTM

Us with Lucille

We’re in the middle of transition number…umm, I’ve lost track.

Almost 8½ years ago, Mindy and I made the move up to Jackson, MI to attend the New Tribes Bible Institute and begin the process of preparing to serve as tribal church planters.  It has been a long road full of stress and growth and disappointments and accomplishments.  It seems like every time we got through a twist, there, up ahead, was a turn.

This last bit of preparation was a practical study of linguistics with the Cherokee language in Oklahoma.  We had a very sweet Cherokee lady named Lucille Wilson as our language helper.  We are very thankful for the time that she gave us for those seven weeks.  We especially appreciated her patience as we fumbled along, trying to speak Cherokee while digging for patterns in the sounds and grammar of her language.

Of Course the kids also provided some excitement to the adventure.  They were involved in killing a tarantula.  Daniella had a tick attached to her chest.  Hannah had a case of poison oak.  Macayla hit her head on the cement slab, adding an extra hole.  Elijah “lost” his first two teeth—one was extracted with a seat belt, the other by another kid’s head.  (He just “lost” his third one with the help of Hannah’s thumb!)  Click here to see some pictures of our time in Oklahoma.

And now, with our linguistics Cherokee Write-up complete, our training is complete as well.  We’re now looking ahead at new curves in the road:  packing, planning, paper work, pronouncing our plans, and finally making our pursuit of Paraguay a reality in March.

This seems like a lot of work and a lot of headaches; maybe even with more stress and disappointments.  But it’s worth it; because we’ll see more growth and accomplishment as well.  Of course, it was God that brought us through the training, and it’s Him that will bring us to Paraguay, and it’s Him that will do the accomplishing after we’re there.  With the final destination in mind, we’re trusting God for what’s around the next turn in the road.

Below is a little video about our time in Missouri.  It works best if you push ‘play’ then ‘pause’ and let it buffer until the gray line is half way across, then push ‘play’ to watch it.  Click the four-arrow icon at the bottom to watch the video full screen.

Thanks for watching!

Missionary Training Center from Bryson White on Vimeo.

On the evening of Friday, December 19, 2008 we graduated from the church planting course at the Missionary Training Center in Roach, MO. We received our degrees at that time and we will become official members on January 1, 2009.

Our neighbor and friend, Wayne Chen, was one of our class speakers. He encouraged us to remember the words of John the Baptist as we go to our various fields of service. In John 3:28, 29 John said, “I am not the Christ…He must increase, but I must decrease.” These words really are applicable no matter what circumstance we are in. These words will help us to maintain the proper perspective when our ministry is flourishing, when we appear to be failing, when we are in the midst of a conflict with our coworkers, and when we are having a hard time liking the tribal people that we are there to serve.  Our ultimate goal is to see Christ increased in people’s lives.

Having finished the church planting course, we are ready to begin the linguistics course in January. Out of a class of about 80 students, 20 are staying for this advanced course in language analysis, and Mindy and I are two of them. The decision for us to do this class was based on our aptitude, interest, and future ministry.

Upon completing the linguistics training, we hope to leave for Spanish study in January of 2010. Then we will head to the tribes of Paraguay, reminding ourselves that we are not the Christ and we must decrease, that He might increase.

After much research and prayer we have indeed chosen Paraguay as our field of service. We are extremely excited about knowing where it is that we’re headed and we’re looking forward to seeing what God is going to do to get us there.

We have a few reasons for choosing this field. Paraguay was first a consideration because Spanish-speaking countries occupied the top of our list. We also looked at translation and linguistic needs, both of which Paraguay does have. The field of Paraguay is one of NTM’s oldest, having been opened more than sixty years ago. In recent years they have not been getting many new missionaries. However, the missionaries that are there are optimistically expecting to finish several works and are looking ahead to nearing the closing out of the field. Since there are still several works yet to open, this of course is still many years down the road.

Their excitement has been contagious, and we are excited about being a part of seeing the work of New Tribes Mission come to an end in this country. Having contacted the field and being invited to join their team, we were very excited to learn that two other families and two single ladies from our class here are also headed to Paraguay. Besides us from our class, there are several others from classes before and after us that are headed there or considering it. For some reason, it seems that God has chosen this particular time to direct a handful of His servants to Paraguay. To the left is our prospective timetable for the next couple legs of our journey toward a tribal ministry.

Click here to find out more about the work of NTM in Paraguay.

Turn. Click. Turn. Click. Wait. Turn. Vroom. Rumble, rumble, rumble. It started again. This “procedure” to start our van began in Oregon and grew more frequent as we traveled through California and across the country. It even came with us down to Chihuahua, Mexico. At the mall in Chihuahua, in the midst of a downpour, I ran out to retrieve the van. The “procedure” this time took two full minutes. I knew that something was wrong with the van, but I did not know what. I worried.

Leaving Chihuahua a couple days later, the van did fine. We stopped in El Paso to pick up our trailer before continuing on to Albuquerque and there was no hint of a problem. We camped in Albuquerque and the next morning…turn. Click. Turn. Click. Turn. Click. Wait. Two minutes (and a prayer) later, turn. Vroom. Grumble, grumble, grumble. We were on our way again. I was apprehensive.

We pulled up right in front of my sister’s driveway in Oklahoma and stopped. After unloading the suitcases from the van, I went back to move it out of the way of the driveway. Turn. Click. Turn. Click. Turn. Click. I was frustrated. Turn. Snap. Uh, oh. Turn. Turn. Turn. It didn’t start. It didn’t do anything. I thought, I guess we’ll be driving a different vehicle into Missouri. I doubted.

Honestly, during the next week, I prayed the most that I had prayed in a long time. My sister’s neighbor was a mechanic. He used to tear down and repair Ford steering columns for side money. Our van is a Ford. He knew exactly what the problem was. We had the steering column completely out of the van and the steering wheel off. After buying the new part, the neighbor put the column back together and did not charge me. He also left the work of reinstalling the column and wheel into the van to me. For that, I am still concerned, but I’m learning. But after turning the last screw, I put in the key. Turn. Vroom.

I don’t know where we’ll end up. I don’t know how we’ll get there. I don’t know how far we’ll get with what we have. One thing I do know is that I can look forward to more worry, apprehension, frustration, doubt, and concern. Another thing I know is that I drove our same ol’ van into Missouri. Despite my doubts and everything else my flesh can muster up, God is faithful to take care of us. And we will go as far as He’ll take us.