Elijah and Moira Hall TRIBAL MISSIONS - Reaching the unreached About
EXPANDING THE REACH OF THE GOSPEL…
in Paraguay, South America!
These are the questions we are most frequently asked:
Where are you going? We are bound for Paraguay, South America. It’s a country roughly the size of California, with areas of jungle and semi-arid land. Paraguay is home to eight tribal groups who still have not heard the Good News in their language.
What will you be doing? We will be working as tribal church planters, and there are many things involved in this job description. New Tribes Mission goes into a tribal location with the permission and generally the invitation of the people. When missionaries finally arrive, they follow these steps…
1. Learn the language and culture. This is important so that as we communicate with the tribal people, we will speak in ways they can readily understand. It’s hard, too – how do you learn a language with no teacher, just by listening to it? New Tribes Mission uses comprehensive techniques for learning tribal languages.
2. Teach the story of the Bible from beginning to end. This provides a scope for the people to understand the truth of Jesus Christ. Who would watch only the middle of a movie – and if they did, would they understand it all? In the same way, we need to hear God’s entire story to understand it properly.
3. Literacy. The people are taught to read and write their own language; many of these languages have never been written before, so the missionary is the on who designs the curriculum! This helps the people in many ways, and goes hand in hand with step 4.
4. Translate the Bible into the tribe’s "heart language". This is a difficult task because many languages are drastically different from ours, but the goal is to have new Christians be able to grow by reading God’s Word. And the Bible in their language is something that will remain with them long after we are gone!
5. Disciple believers and continue teaching them. Those who become Christians are helped in their personal walk with God and taught how to function as a local church according to the Bible. We want to work ourselves out of a job! When we leave, we want to leave behind a mature church that is run only by the tribal Christians!
We will also be doing some medical work and most likely building a jungle house and other necessities.
How long will it take to plant a tribal church? Approximately 20 – 25 years from the start of a work until the missionaries move on.
What is a "mature church"? A "mature church" consists of believers who function together locally and govern themselves; they are grounded in solid Scriptural teaching. The tribal believers will be trained to reach out to other villages in their area and teach others just as we have taught them. There will be trained teachers, literacy workers, and medical workers reaching out to their own people. That is the goal – a mature church!
Where does your support come from? New Tribes Mission is a "faith-based mission". This means that we do not recieve a salary from them. We are supported through gifts and partnership from interested friends and churches. God truly has provided for us.
When will you be going? We will be heading to Mexico for further training in January 2010 and Lord willing, we’ll be in Paraguay sometime in 2011!
"It’s tribal missions, isn’t it, Lord?"
"But when He (Christ) saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd.
"Then saith He unto His disciples, ‘The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few; pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that He will send forth labourers into the harvest…’ " (Matt. 9: 36-38)
A couple of years ago we began praying this prayer as we prepared to leave the children’s home in the Bahamas to return to the States. Matthew 10 goes on to tell how the Lord Jesus sent the disciples out to labour in the field themselves after they prayed that prayer, and little did we realize then that He would ask us to do the same.
We felt led at the time to start our family and settle down, but through a series of circumstances it became clear that the plans we had were not God’s plan. But when we heard a message on Peter stepping out of the boat to walk on the water to Jesus (Matt. 22-33), we both looked at each other afterward and said the same thing: "It’s tribal missions, isn’t it?"
So we asked, like Peter, "Lord, if it is You, tell us to come to You…"
He did!
We appreciate the Lord and His ways…they are past finding out! In His power, we pray that many will come to the Truth as He works in the lives of tribal men, women and children.
