We are grandparents:
Tyler James Wohlgemut was born Oct 30th about 5pm and weighed 7lbs 12 ozs. Tracy and Baby are doing fine. Alan is as proud as a new papa could be. Thanks for praying.
Since I was up here in Canada for a funeral, I was able to be there shortly after the birth and hold Tyler too. He’s a big boy…should be a good wrestling mate for his dad some day.
Gordon
YES, EXCITING THINGS HAPPEN IN ROACH, MISSOURI!
Just this week a member of the NTM executive board talked to us here at the MTC about changes happening in NTM’s strategy in Africa. It was so exciting it almost made us want to go and reach another tribe!
Last week George Walker came and talked about Worldview, challenging the students to not just preach the gospel, but to preach with the knowledge that others’ worldview is so different from ours that they will HAVE to address those underlying issues or they’ll find themselves with new believers that don’t understand that God is really above all and wants to be involved in every area of their lives—their gardens, their marriages, their businesses, etc.
This week I began teaching foundational Bible teaching in Genesis. Although I’ve taught it many times in three languages, there’s always more to learn and get excited about.
Janet is learning how to teach a new culture & language-learning class. It’s not exactly exciting yet, but she thinks it will be once she understands the new concepts. Yes, it’s a different approach than we used to tackle two languages in Papua New Guinea. In four weeks she’ll be going with 40 students to Oklahoma to help them as they study the Cherokee language. They’ll be there 5 weeks using the tools they’ve learned. More on that to come…
A COUPLE THINGS TO PRAY ABOUT:
Josh (our oldest) still has not found a job. Please pray! Chris (his wife) hopes to take her nursing exam soon so she can work as an R.N.
Our boat died. Well, it ran into a log that wasn’t exactly flexible. And on the Lake of the Ozarks, with lots of students that would love to have a boat-ride, that’s tragic. Well, not tragic, but a disappointment. We do use it as a tool to spend time with the students, getting to know them better. Please pray that we’ll know how to get it fixed or even if it’s worth fixing. It’s almost as old as we are.
Rustling noises in the bushes unsettled the villagers.
The next morning, a village woman went to draw water and saw the source of the noises: a lion.
The village was almost trembling with fear, and the chief called a meeting. He told them he would take care of it, and soon performed a ceremony. Everyone went back to life as normal.
Everyone but missionaries Anthony and Jennie Chee, that is. For the Chees, this was an opportunity to learn more about the people among whom they minister, the Yaos of Mozambique.
They soon learned that to the Yaos, the lion was not an animal that posed a physical danger, nor did this require a physical answer such as a hunter. The lion was the spirit of an ancestor who had come back to frighten the villagers. To them, this was a spiritual problem, requiring the correct ceremony.
Understanding the culture of the Yao people — the way they think and interact with their world — is crucial to clearly presenting God’s Word to them. That’s why New Tribes Mission’s specialized training includes a study of God’s Word and methods for translating and teaching it, as well as instruction on deciphering and dealing with culture.
Classes begin August 20th at the Missionary Training Center in Missouri. 55 students are to return for their second year of missionary training, and 105 new students are expected to begin the two-year course. Please pray that nothing hinders any of these students from coming. Pray for the instructors and others responsible for curriculum. The first semester courses are being revised, and the third semester courses — which will be taught for the first time — are near completion.
Thank God with us that just enough housing has been completed for all these students. Thank Him for His provision for materials and His provision of volunteers to finish this work.
The biggest need now is for a new classroom facility. This education center will provide more space with larger classrooms and more modern wiring and design for today’s technology. Please pray with us for the funds and preparations to begin work in Spring 2008.
Well, we’re a month into summer and hardly feel like it’s started yet. We just finished helping with Refresher Course here at MTC. About 300 furloughing missionaries come to this every year to get refreshed and encouraged. This year since we are staff here now, we helped to host the conference. It was good seeing some old friends and meeting new ones.
Since we last wrote, Alan & Tracy found out they are able to go to Canada after all, so they plan to move to Ontario in August to live and work for about a year before beginning their ministry with NTM. We’ll miss them but are so happy for the year we’ve had here with them.
As a consolation prize I guess, Josh & Chris are moving here this Sunday (July 1st), also to work for about a year before going on to their next adventure. They’ve faced a few financial trials in the last month on top of the fun of moving (the first time as a couple) so I think they’ll be happy to just get here and get settled and get good jobs, etc.
This summer we both have varied jobs around here. Janet needs to study for a new language-learning class she’ll be teaching this fall. (Yes, it’s a lot different method than what we used! AND it involves computers!) 
She’s hoping that will be the only new class for her this year, but who knows! She’s also helping out with landscaping and teaching some piano lessons, etc. I will teaching some new classes as well so I will be prepping for those also.
Thank you so much for stopping by this site and for your prayers. We appreciate your partnership!
Recently I’ve been teaching a group of students about Tribal Church Planting. It is much more difficult than church planting in our own culture. One of our students gave a presentation on the obstacles to overcome in reaching an animistic culture (ie.the Quechua tribe) and he did such a good job that I asked if I could use it as an illustration. Here is a summary of his presentation:
"Imagine yourself dedicated to going overseas as a missionary to work with tribal people that have never heard the Gospel…Where do you start. …. hop on a plane, and fly down…But then what? Nobody speaks English. Suppose you took Spanish in High School… Great! That means we can buy bananas, describe living room furniture, or get directions to the mall…So we have to either learn Spanish better or hire an interpreter to live with us… Then we have to do the same thing with the Quechua language.
Suppose that we get over the language barrier. . .then what. . .?
We find some Quechua folks and start talking. . .
Where do you start? Give them the Four Spiritual Laws or read John 3:16? Show the Jesus film?
If you walk up to a traditional Quechua and read him John 3:16 out of the blue, this is what would probably be going through his head:
Inti (the sun god) loved Pachamama (Mother Earth) so much that he sent his son, (Manco Capac, the first Inca), to rule the earth. His descendants were worshipped as deity.
It makes complete sense to a Quechua (but it’s not what’s taught in God’s Word).
Most, if not all tribal societies in the world have a belief system is that is classified as animistic.
That just means that they believe that spirits (good, bad, or indifferent) possess objects and people and control the daily affairs of life. The people, therefore have to manipulate the spirits so they will be good to them.
They will do whatever it takes to gain the favor of the spirits. Before planting a field, they make a sacrifice to the earth. . .Quechua farmers often make sacrifices of a llama fetus and coca leaves and pour alcohol on the ground, among other things. Miners are even more reverent, often making offerings to statues of demons deep under ground several times a day. Even bus drivers and truckers made offerings of alcohol and coca, often partaking of each, before making a run.
How do you go about teaching about the One, True God of Scripture in this context? Unless presented accurately, they will merely add Him to their list of spirits and try to manipulate Him the same way they do the other spirits.
That is just what has happened with some religious groups in Bolivia. They do their sacrifices and go to Mass, Confession, etc. (Pachamama, Mother earth, has been connected to Mary.)
We did an in-depth study of Animism at the beginning of the training to help us understand the spiritual perspective of tribal people and avoid these types of problems.
The most important area to come to grips with is the spiritual world around us. Here in American churches we often pay lip service to the fact that there is a spirit realm and there is an unseen war being fought. Yet we don’t see evidence of it in our daily lives.
Animists live in fear of the spirit world every day. Everything that occurs in life is based on some act of the spirits. When someone gets sick, it’s because he broke a taboo, or someone worked sorcery, sending a spirit to make him ill. If a baby dies, it may be because the ancestors were unhappy about the way something was done, so they took the child to be with them. In each case, the spirits must be appeased or it will happen again and again. They typically use a shaman or witchdoctor to communicate with the spirit world so that they can manipulate the spirit responsible. Each practice varies from tribe to tribe, but each shares the same dark worldview characterized by fear and spirit-manipulation.
To give tribal people an accurate picture of the God of Scripture, we must present the Gospel in a way that goes head-to-head with the animistic beliefs.
One thing that I really appreciate about our classes is that many of the things we are learning can be applied to matter where we go." (Both here at home and also in the tribe.)
Well the surgery went well, I guess. The doc found some torn and loose ligaments which he fixed and also a bone spur from an earlier injury. He cleaned that up as well. Thanks for praying!! It was sure weird being put under for the surgery! I remember being rolled over….and then nothing. Two and a half hours later I was wheeled up to a recovery area where I lay for several hours. Very nauseated and weak. The hospital staff was very nice but I was sure glad to finally leave (on crutches of course).
Janet has been playing nurse for me since then and she is doing a very good job. At first I was pretty helpless and had to keep my foot elavated. Then after a week, they gave me a more permanent cast which is not any more comfortable. I’m still on crutches, but hope to graduate to a cane this week. 5 weeks to go …goody
Pray for healing and a quick recovery and for Janet’s continued patience for her patient. But most importantly- that God would continue to teach me through this trial and that He would be glorified through it all.
Thanks again for your prayers.
PS. new update May 12th…. I had the cast taken off and am now just wearing a brace. Hurts, but I’m making progress.
Oh my achin’ foot!! Actually it’s been hurting for a long time but it’s getting worse. My ankle has a history of sprains, going back to our days of playing basketball with the students in Papua New Guinea. The ankle healed but has been quite weak since then and I always had to wear a brace when playing sports. But in August, I was playing volleyball here in Missouri and really twisted it bad. I stayed off it for a while and it seemed to heal but it has given me trouble ever since, and lately has been getting worse and quite painful. So finally I decided to see a specialist and the surgeon said that I had torn a ligament or two and that’s why it was not getting better. So, I need to have surgery and it’s booked for early morning on March 30th. If you remember, would you please pray that I would not only heal quickly but also learn the lessons that God has for me in this. Maybe I should start with a lesson on how to play volleyball or maybe how NOT to play!
Thanks for praying.
Gordon
Pray requests for Gordon and Janet Wohlgemut:
Praise:
Check out this link to an example of amazing language skills!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OHxkiXALQjU
Hark The Heavenly Angels Sing!
Yes the angels are again rejoicing, but this time it is over the many new believers that have just come to faith in Christ over the last few days in the Abau tribe in Papua New Guinea. Some of you may remember about the Abau people from our prayer letters while we were still in PNG. During our final years in PNG we were involved in training and orientating new missionaries for tribal mission work. You may remember us talking about the Abau people who had been constantly sending us letters begging us to send them missionaries to work in their tribe. In fact, they have been waiting over twenty years to hear this good news, but we were finally able to put a team of missionaries into the Abau tribe. You may remember the above picture of us sitting with some of the members of the new Abau team as it was being formed, and planning their future work there. Those were exciting days, but lots of hard work has gone on since then. They had to transport materials and build their houses in their new jungle location. They spent years of language and culture study to prepare for teaching the Abau people. They spent months preparing literacy and lesson material and doing foundation teaching. And now after all this hard work and planting spiritual seeds, God has raised up a harvest of souls among the Abau people! Here are some translated quotes of the new Abau Christians:
(quotes taken from an email by Kelly and Sien Luyendyk)
We praise God for this wonderful work of grace among the Abau people and we want to thank YOU also for your part in helping these people being reached with the gospel! Yes, in God’s eyes you are very much a part of this team that reached the Abau people with the gospel. As Christ’s body (the Church) we each have our part, and you…through your prayers and support–have been very much a part of our ministry and those whom we have helped also. And so, whether you realize it or not, you are sort of "spiritual grandparents" to those new babes in Christ there among the Abau!
Thank you again for being a part of our team and the Abau team in helping see the Abau people reached with the gospel. Continue to pray for these new babes in Christ.
Gordon and Janet Wohlgemut
Gordon and Janet Wohlgemut Just another weblog