NTM

August 2009

Greetings from the Heckman\’s. This month we celebrate 27 years of marriage. The Lord has been so good to us! We rejoice in our family and how He has enabled us to walk with Him.

Our ministry continues well. We are faced with challenges every day, and spend a lot of time communicating with missionaries and their supporting churches. As well as verifying employment and a myriad of other things associated with the Human Resources side of an organization. We\’re helping several couples through the process of retirement, as well as contacting many families coming home for a time of Home Assignment.

Our ministry with the teens is going well. They have kept things going over the Summer. It has been nice to see the kids stepping in and taking on leadership within the group. We have averaged 30 kids through the summer months and will see several of “our kids” going on to Bible Institute this Fall. What a blessing!

Because our support level has been too low, to cover our expenses, we have needed to work two jobs. George and I are taking on a new endeavor this month, in our ongoing adventure of faith. With a portion of our inheritance from Linda\’s Dad, we purchased a house to rent out. This house also has a large detached garage, where we should be able too expand our book sales home business. We hope that this real estate investment will be a source of income as well as allowing our book business to enlarge. (A side benefit will be recapturing some of our home, to use for living space, instead of book space.) Please pray for us as we launch out in this new area.

Our falling support level has been a driver in some of these decisions. Please pray that we will not be distracted from our purposes in ministry. We trust that God is leading this direction, and are looking to Him for wisdom and balance in all of these areas. Sometimes living seems a juggling act, but He is our Hope and Balance! We are holding on to His promises, I Corinthians 15:58 to be “steadfast and immovable, always abounding, in the work of the Lord, knowing that our labor is not in vain”, in Him. We look for new opportunities and contacts through these other business ventures.

Thank you so much for your on going prayer and moral support. We really do value your input in our lives and ministry. We could not carry on as we have without you! If you\’d like to get more involved. Let us know! You\’re great!!

Thanks for praying for us!

George and Linda Heckman

Heckman\’s Prayer Requests
August, 2009

George has hurt his back, and is having a bit of pain unless he stands up or lays flat. (It started Friday afternoon 8-7-09).

Linda has shoulder surgery August 17. They are scraping the bone to relieve an impingement. Pray that Wal-Mart will come through with an equitable settlement for doctor bills and pain suffered. Her arthritis in her hands is bothering her a lot, too.

We are taking a trip to a ministry reunion in Colorado Sept 1-8. We hope we will have a good visit with friends there and be able to see God raise up some more support for us as we are below 25% of our recommended at this point. (We were at 50% when we moved to Florida.) Wisdom in that.

Our balance and wisdom as we embark on a new venture of being Landlords.
PTL that the house and detached garage we bought will enable us to reclaim some of the living space of our home, and we can store the book inventory at the garage. Many decisions to be made and a bit of fix up work to be done. Pray we will have good renters, and that we will be a mutual blessing to each other.

Amy in her Partnership Development endeavors. She is going with us to Colorado in early September.

Brett and Debby and Chloe are doing well. Brett\’s job is going great. Debby is babysitting another little girl with Chloe, and that is going well. She is also working in our book business and doing a wonderful job on customer service! PTL for their involvement in their church in Palm Bay.

Beka has review and two days of testing for her EMT course this week, and she returns to school (flying) on Friday the 14th.

David is finished (YEA) with 10th grade, and has a break before he starts 11th when he finished his Latin 1 exam today.

Tim is in Football practice and has “new muscles” from that. Safety and adjustment to new school (its bigger-but he is meeting kids he knows already). Linda is trying to wrap up the insurance paperwork from his finger injury from last November.

Thank you ever so much for praying for us.
We appreciate you so much! God is so good!

July 2009
Hello Dear Friends,

How thankful we are to the Lord for a GREAT summer trip. We returned July 9 from a trip that took us to Missouri for the NTM ENRICHMENT ’09 seminar for missionaries on Home Assignment. It was great to touch base with so many people we haven’t seen in years. Some in MANY years! We went through part of Colossians and it was enriching to review again all that we have in Christ! It was a refreshing trip over all.

From Missouri, we Visited Kansas for a short time. During our brief visit there, we saw some of Linda’s relatives, helped a friend remodel a house, and did some sightseeing at historic Fort Scott. Our trip then took us back through Missouri, where we had a bit or vehicle trouble. We did purchase another van to enable us to have a 3rd vehicle for the summer while the Amy and Beka are home–that will help on the logistic strain we had been having with 3 drivers and 2 vehicles.

After picking up our “new to us” van (a 2005 Dodge Grand Caravan), we drove on up to Michigan where we opened up the Summer house. Linda became the “chief cook-and bottle washer”, and we had usually 16 or more folks to eat meals. On July 4th we hosted a Memorial service for Mom and Dad, and had 31 relatives there for the day. Everyone pitched in and the day went well. We placed a 4 ton boulder in the yard with a bronze commemorative plaque on it in honor of Mom and Dad, and their lives.

July 5, we drove Debby, Beka and Chloe (she’s walking and has 3 teeth already at 9 months old!) to the airport in Grand Rapids and headed South to Ft. Wayne IN. At the motel there, the Lord gave the boys a blessing, as they met folks from a couple of Christian bands. They recognized the guys from one of them. The band manager gave them free cd’s and they got to spend a little time talking.

July 6 we drove to Covington KY and took in the Creation museum there which is sponsored by Answers in Genesis. It was very interesting and well worth the stop. July 7 and 8 we drove to Knoxville TN and visited a book warehouse from which we have ordered inventory for our business. Wednesday we spent most of the day there going through books to have sent home. The boys were a tremendous help!

July 8 we spent the night with our dear friends in Greenville SC, and made our way home the 9th.
Beka had a nice surprise in store for us. She (and friends) had worked very hard and cleaned the house throughout for us so we could come home to a clean house. What a blessing! We had new shelving built in our storage buildings as well. All was clean and tidy. That was a great blessing! She is home for the summer and taking an EMT course at a college in Daytona Beach. She is loving it! That as well as coaching gymnastics and taking Kung fu is keeping her busy!

Our work at the NTM Home Offices continues and we are able to pretty much continue with the things we had going before we left. Much data entry and many phone calls, and letters to write for our missionaries as we keep the records up to date, and questions answered. We are also involved in helping our folks through transitions such as changing fields or going to retired status; also helping folks become members or step out of the mission graciously. Sometimes we feel like a “Jack of all trades” in order to be all we can for these dear folks who are on our team in reaching the world. A missionary couple wrote the following in their last prayer letter:

“Reaching tribal people with the gospel requires a large team of Christians….(We) tribal missionaries depend heavily on the support team back at the headquarters in Sanford….Each is a vital and important link in the chain of these who are involved in taking the gospel message to people who have never heard the name of Jesus Christ.”
Samuel and Tracy in Paraguay

We are encouraged that we are privileged to be a part in this important job.

Youth group met at our home on Friday night. We hosted 30 kids/young adults and it was so good to see them all again! What a joy to see our children walking in truth! Two of our teen leaders are in Papua New Guinea now doing the INTERFACE course. They are having a great time and learning lots! We had decided not to meet over the summer as so many families travel, but the kids have wanted to continue meeting anyway and are doing a great job with the planning. They’re a great group.

It is a blessing to see Amy’s support rising as she prepares to go to Mexico in September. She is trusting the Lord to provide all she needs (at least 60% of her recommended support) and the wisdom she needs for the decisions she will be making in the next few months. Thanks for praying for her. 

As we face challenges each day with the economy, just like some of you, and others around the world, we find GOD ever FAITHFUL!   Please pray with us that God will provide new folks and churches to partner with us in this ministry to the NTM family of missionaries worldwide, as well as to the more local MK & Friends youth group. Thanks so much for your part in our ministry as well. We are well blessed through your support and prayer for us. We could not be here ministering without you.

Have a great Summer!
In His Strength,

George and Linda Heckman and family

Dear Friends,

Warm and DRY greetings from Central Florida!
It’s getting warmer now, but still not much moisture to give us greener grass. We planted some bare root trees in April and are enjoying seeing them grow and get leaves. There is some green grass around them, as we have splashed some water on them!  The blooming flowers this time of year in my yard are the Magnolia tree blossoms, and the pretty light blue Plumbago.  My Hibiscus bushes have new growth and promise me nice orange flowers.  Some of my cacti show new growth too!  In Florida, there is ALWAYS something blooming.

We are also enjoying feeding the fish in our lake.  It is fun to see the water just "boil" when we toss in the stale bread.  So far we have a single duck visiting for a meal.  Not sure what happened to the dozen or so we have had.  We did see a momma Mallard duck and her brood of 6 or 7 cute little ducklings.  So cute!

Amy’s departure date for Mexico has been adjusted again. It now looks like she will head down in September. We are praying that her support will get to the place it needs to be (60%) so she can go in September to begin her language and culture acquisition. (This also allows some of the swine flu scare to subside, and perhaps the violence in Mexico will decrease.) We do know that in the Lord’s place for us, we are safe, and His ways are best.

Dave and Tim are doing well in school. David has finished 2 of his classes for the year, and he is working diligently to finish up his other classes. He has enjoyed his year doing Virtual School. We are re-decorating David’s room, and Tim has moved into a room of his own. Plenty of changes going on here!

Beka flies home next week, as she has finished up her first year at the NTBI. She is excited to be enrolled at Daytona State College, and will be taking an Emergency Medical Training course this summer. She will be busy as usual!

We are doing our annual review of our job descriptions at the NTM office. It is exciting to see how God is moving to help us meet the needs of our members. As we have added some new personnel to the member Services Team, it is neat to see how God is using us together to cover each area. Thanks for praying for us, to be effective in our ministry to the NTM family. 

The MK & Friends group we help sponsor is doing well.  We are seeing some of the younger kids step up and take on some of the leadership.  That is exciting!   We have several of our kids taking missions trips this summer, and rejoice that we can be a part of seeing that happen!  Right now in MK & Friends, our study has been  the video series GOSPEL JOURNEY MAUI from Dare 2 Share.  It has been a great series, and we have heard that it is answering questions for some of our kids too!  So exciting to have God’s word meeting needs in the lives of real people!

We appreciate your part in our ministry! Thanks again for your care and your prayers for us.  I hope to get some new pictures on here soon! 

In Him,
George and Linda Heckman
and Family

                                 April 2009

Dear Friends,

Happy Easter! May you be encouraged as we remember the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ!

Thank you so much for your prayers for our ministry. We appreciate your care for us, and the part you play on our team. This is a team effort and we are doing what must be done to see the Tribal peoples of the world hear the Gospel in their own heart language.

What a blessing to hear of so many groups who are hearing the Gospel for the first time. If you would like to read stories about these new brothers and sisters in Christ, look at the www.ntm.org website, and you can cruise the globe and read of the mission effort going forth that YOU are a part of!

Our work at the NTM Home Offices Keeps us plenty busy. We have made huge strides to digitize our personnel records. We have several other projects going, too. These, along with the daily work which helps keep our mission family functioning smoothly.

Our family is doing well. We are going to be enjoying a group of college kids from Wisconsin for Spring Break (Beka and friends). Debby and Brett and Chloe will be visiting too!

Amy is doing well in Oregon. We are seeing her support level rising some as she trusts the Lord to bring her to the necessary 60% of the recommended monthly allowance so she will be able to go to Mexico as planned in late July (Note date change!)

David and Tim are going along well in school and we are seeing both of them enjoy more space, as Tim has moved into another bedroom.

Thanks again for the part you play in this work of seeing the Gospel go out to the unreached of the world. Your labor is not in vain, in the Lord! 1 Corinthians 15.:58

Sincerely In Him,

George and Linda Heckman and family