“My older son is now showing a true thirst for knowledge of the Bible. My mother also has developed a strong desire for the Word. Last, my son’s little friend is getting a start by making it to church and hopefully one day too will have the Holy Spirit in him.

“The lessons you have taught my family over the past 1 to 1 1/2 years has been life changing. I feel my 11 year old son has a better understanding and knowledge of the Bible than most ‘church goers.’”

How did this miracle get started? David saw a need in his local church for men to become equipped to accurately teach the Scriptures, so made an open invitation to any men who would like to be discipled. Don accepted.

The next day David and Don started meeting, and have met nearly every week since. They have been using the Firm Foundations Bible study series to outline what they will talk about each week. While it is packaged like a curriculum, it is a repeatable model for discipleship, following the same path God used to reveal Himself to mankind.

It grieves us to see so many teachers using God’s words to support their own beliefs. David has been teaching Don to read God’s Word in the context God presented it, and look for God’s intended meaning.

Don now understands the Scripture to be one story with one Hero – Jesus Christ. He is able to explain God’s plan of salvation, not from a pamphlet, but from the Old Testament Scriptures. David sees the ability to know and clearly articulate the Gospel as the first qualification for any Bible teacher.

David was almost blessed to tears recently when he was able to sit and listen to Don teach his Sunday school class, having full confidence that the Scriptures were being presented clearly and accurately to the children.

Please pray with us for Don’s continued growth as he and David learn more about the role of the Holy Spirit in our lives and God’s plan for the Church. Please pray for David as he also teaches Sunday school weekly and leads a bi-weekly homegroup.

I knew that God would provide for me if He wanted me over there. It was so exciting to see Him send the money in every month and finally I made it to my goal. God provided for me in so many ways. He provided through support and prayers like I’ve never gotten to witness before. That was a big learning experience in itself.

I am so glad that I got to go on the trip to Papua New Guinea. There were so many things that I got to see and experience throughout the six weeks. The classes were really helpful and it was wonderful to be able to spend time with the villagers. But honestly the time I grew the most was in my early morning devotions.

Before I came on this trip I did my devotions at night, and only when I wasn’t too busy or too tired. On one of the first days in Papua New Guinea one of our teachers told us to take a 55 minute quiet time before lunch so that we could read our Bibles and pray. During that time God really spoke to my heart and I realized that if I really cared about spending time with Him I needed to make the time, not hope that I’d have the time.

During the trip I got up at 5:00 am, got ready, and then headed up to the dining hall to have my devotions. It was quiet and peaceful and I was able to really focus on what God wanted to teach me. I started writing in a journal so that I could remember exactly what God was showing me. I realized how much that was helping me and so I continued to write things down.

In Mathew chapter four it talks about how Jesus was tempted, but I also realized that it was after he was hungry and was fasting. He was weak and it was then that Satan came to tempt him. I realized that if I didn’t take the time to read my Bible then it would be a lot easier to fall into temptation.

As I continued reading through the New Testament I learned more about Jesus and His relationship with God. I realized that Jesus truly is the perfect example for us to follow and that there is nothing that could fulfill us more than to follow Him. I started to understand just how important our relationship with God is, and I was able to grow so much closer to Him.

I am so thankful that God cares so much about me and having a relationship with me. During this next year I am planning on finishing High School and working on saving up for Bible School. I plan to go to Bible School in August and from there I’ll go through the rest of the New Tribes Training.

There is nothing more important to me than sharing the story of Jesus with people who have never heard it. I can’t wait to see how God is going to use me. Would you please be praying with me as I continue to work toward these goals? 

Learn more about Bible School >>

Learn more about Missionary Training >>

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The team took most of the seats on the last leg of the trip.

Cleaning our van out of all personal belongings.

Well, the time for retiring our van is past and we are now looking for a dog food factory.

Here’s the deal. We made it to the NTM annual beach retreat, but when we tried to move it – it became apparent that all forward gears had failed.

Between the age of the van, the other things that are wrong with it and how much it would cost to repair the transmission, it seems like the best thing to do will be to find a salvage yard.

David was able to get a ride home Saturday night and bring back his truck.  Then after check-out on Sunday our whole family crammed in the Ranger pick-up and was thankful to have transportation.

David will try to sell the van to a auto salvage on Monday.  Please pray that he will get a fair deal and that the Lord would provide all that we need to get a replacement family vehicle.

If you would like to learn more about how you can help, see our post from last week: http://www.ntm.org/wp/dave_abbott/2009/09/17/retiring-successfully/

David was able to make a quick trip on Friday to find the house his grandfather finished in 1952.  His dad and six siblings had lived in the basement for several years before the top of the house was completed.

The school that had been across the street and the garage his dad and older brother used as their “room” in high school were still there.  David talked to his dad while driving around, and even found the old grocery store where his dad had worked.

The ministry partners who treated David and Kristia to the weekend, also took them out to a four-course meal on Friday, put them up in a jacuzzi suite and many other things to make their weekend special.  Some of the speakers David and Kristia enjoyed most were Chuck Missler from Koinonia House, Mike Riddle from Answers in Genesis and Mike Gendron from Proclaiming the Gospel Ministries.

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David's grandfather completed this house in 1952 after the family had lived in the basement for several years.

David giving a presentation in the Philippines in January 2005

This week we were able to successfully retire a Dell Latitude D600 notebook that had been been generously given to us by one of our loyal ministry partners.

The D600 was by far the best notebook we have ever owned.  It came with a gold support 800 number that never had to be called.   – Absolutely incredible, considering it was used almost daily to publish web content for New Tribes missionaries around the world for five years.

Our 1997 Plymouth Voyager mini-van.

We have another incredible piece of equipment that we purchased in 2001 with 65,000 miles on it.  It has been an outstanding van for transporting our family wherever we needed to go.  It has never left us stranded.

In recent months, if this mini-van had come with “gold support,” we would be getting our money’s worth.  Unfortunately it didn’t and our 1997 van is becoming a money pit.  After repairing the van’s air conditioning unit 3 or 4 times over the last year-and-a-half, our NTM mechanic declared the air conditioner officially dead.

The long hot summer with no air conditioner, a transmission that slips, and other wear-and-tear issues common to 12 year-old vehicles have helped us conclude that it is time to retire our family van.

If you agree that our van needs to “be put out to pasture” so to speak, and that having a family vehicle is important to our participation in planting tribal churches, would you consider helping us buy a reliable used vehicle? 

If you would like to donate, visit our Give page to find out how >>

David introduced the staff and students of NTM's Missionary Training Center to myMinistry blogs.

On Monday, David had the privilege of addressing the majority of NTM’s staff and students at the Missionary Training Center in Missouri.  The newly released “myMinistry” blogs are being made available to students just arriving as well as New Tribes Mission staff and students around the world.

David’s first point to get across was that NTM can provide a much greater service to Christ-followers around the world if a unified message about planting tribal churches is presented with a clear path for involvement.  He illustrated how Coca-Cola has accomplished reaching 97% of the world’s population through building a consistent brand and how the public is best served through consistency, rather than individuality and creativity.

Wal-Mart was used as a prime example of a company that is using a uniform customer experience to make shoppers feel welcome.  Just like people like to know where items are located in a store, people like be able to find information in predictable locations online.

The myMinistry blogs are designed to provide the site visitor with a consistent, user friendly experience, branded to New Tribes Mission.  Widgets, the blog posts and photos represent the uniqueness of each missionary’s role in accomplishing the task of planting tribal churches.

Monday afternoon through Thursday, David was available to students and staff for individual training.  David is also the main one to answer inquiries to the myMinistry Help Desk and set up all new myMinistry blogs.  All of this resulted in 14-16 hour work days this week and being away from the family for seven days.

While David is back home in Florida now, the demand for support of the new sites has not let up much.  He hopes to be able to leave the office early this week while Kristia’s family is visiting and staying on the beach.

Thank you for praying for wisdom and endurance while we help New Tribes missionaries effectively communicate their ministries while considering their safety at the same time.  More financial partners are needed to support our ministry.  Contact us or use the Give tab above to become more involved.

Water was running out of our garage when David left for work this morning.  It looks like our date night will amount to a trip to fast-food on the way to the hardware store.  This will be the third gas water heater in three years.

David has a trip coming up soon.  Please pray for us.  Life is pretty stressful right now.

You might remember that for the first four years following our overseas assignment, David was the webmaster for NTM Philippines.  During that time he managed 18 websites.  It was too much for one person.

Since then, David has joined the NTM Communications team. With major advancements in web programming he has been able to manage hundreds of websites at the same time.  The largest group of these websites has been the “myMinistry” sites for over 500 NTM missionaries.

With the loss of his main programmer at the beginning of 2009 and constant changes in internet technology, the custom “myMinistry” sites were becoming unmanageable.

Beginning last spring, David and his team have been working on a new solution.  The combination of Bible teaching, going through family transitions and the development of new myMinistry sites this summer have all added up to the busiest and most stressful time in David’s life to date.

You are about to see over 500 new “myMinistry” blogs emerge on Tuesday, August 18.  Please pray for David and his team as they work like crazy the next several days to get the new sites released and assist NTM missionaries in learning how to use them.  And please remember to pray for David’s family as they often see him in only in short snatches.

The Dinangat people heard the Gospel just over a year ago, and two of the three New Tribes missionary families that are working among them are visiting friends, family and churches in their home countries. The family that is there and doing translation and literacy work with the people are Jeremiah and April Markley.

If you would like to see photos from the Dinangat village and learn more about the family Katrina is visiting right now, they have one of the 500 myMinistry websites David manages: www.ntm.org/jeremiah_markley  

You can also read articles David has reviewed and published on NTM.org about God’s work among the Dinangat: http://www.ntm.org/news/news_results.php?keywords=dinangat  

Please continue to pray for Katrina as her time in Papua New Guinea comes to a close. She has had an irreplaceable cross-cultural missionary experience, but we know she is also very tired and ready to come home soon. I know she is anxious to share with you more about what she has learned and some of the pictures she has taken in the near future.