Jack and Alice Corbett

Quick Update on Alice’s Parents and Our Status

Posted in Ministry, Prayer Request on Sep 3rd, 2010 | Discuss This Post

Alice’s Father

Just wanted to post a quick update on how Alice’s parents are doing. Many of you know that Alice’s father, John Ames, was admitted to the hospital on Tuesday, August 31, after a CT scan on Monday showed a blood clot on his lung and did not find a reason for his digestive problems. Alice has started posting updates about her father’s condition on the blog she set up to keep you updated about her mother’s health 2 years ago, http://maryjaneames.blogspot.com. Please go there for more regular updates about those issues.

Our Status

As we shared during our trip north and in our latest prayer letter, we are in the last year of our 4 year Associate Member commitment with NTM. This means we are trying to decide what to do next (see the prayer letter for our options). This decision has been weighing heavily on Jack’s mind and heart to the point of affecting his focus at the office and ability to sleep. We have set a goal of having a decision made by January that both sides can plan accordingly, yet even that seems to be short of a time to leave. In light of these issues, Jack is taking next week (September 7-10) to pray about the decision, seek counsel, and try to work on non-NTM tasks that have been taking up his time. Jack’s biggest concern is that the decision is made for the right reasons and the right motivations, which would be God’s reasons. From purely human perspective there are both good reasons to stay and good reasons to go, but what are God’s reasons? Jack is reading the book, Visioneering by Andy Stanley, and one thing that Jack has taken from the book thus far is that there are good decisions and God decisions and they aren’t always the same. Please pray that we would have clear direction as to what would be the God decision and that this week off would be one that will help Jack be able to regain focus and at least begin to see where God is leading.

Tags: Ministry, Prayer Request

Praise and Prayer Update – Summer 2010

Posted in Family, Ministry, Prayer Request on Aug 31st, 2010 | 1 Comment »

Dear Praying Friends,

Blais, of the Patpatar tribe in Papua New Guinea, recently said as he was dying of cancer: “I want the Christians in America to know how I came to understand the Gospel, so more of them will be missionaries. And I want my family to know my testimony so that they will also believe that Jesus died to pay for their sins, so that they can be in His family like I am.”

We’ve had a good summer. It went by so quickly! In June, we spent three weeks in New England and were able to visit six of our supporting churches, as well as enjoy our niece’s wedding and seeing family and friends . . . and the beautiful White Mountains. We are grateful for the wonderful hospitality we received, and pray for the Lord to bless each one who was a blessing to us. J And we are thankful for our faithful prayer and financial partners—you make our work possible!

Soon after we returned to Florida on June 22, Alice had a wonderful visit from a friend she hadn’t seen for 19 years! We played music together, as we did in college. Another day, we went canoeing with her parents on the Wekiva River in Apopka FL. It was a fun day of swimming, snorkeling and picnicking. Our children had a great time.

The children also enjoyed the pool and our local library this summer. On July 16-17 we all had a lovely time at Cocoa Beach, near Cape Canaveral. Our friends invited us to stay with them there for the weekend.

Our church’s VBS was the last week of July. Alice & our children helped give out flyers and invite people to come. We had about 70 kids each night. The theme was Egypt: Joseph’s Journey from Prison to Palace. Each night the kids learned about something God gives us: Hope, Special Abilities, Wisdom, Forgiveness, and a Family.

On Aug. 3, the Sanford Police Dept. sponsored the “Night Out Against Crime” at the park next door. Our church had several booths with popcorn, face painting, snow cones, balloons and registration for a bike giveaway. We gave out tracts also. Several families from the mission walked over, and it was fun to introduce them to our church friends.

School started Aug. 12 for our kids (and Alice, who teaches Art for Grades 3-4). Our children are in grades 2, 4, and 6, which means they are all “senior” members of their dual-grade classrooms. They all are enjoying it so far and working hard. And Alice is once again serving at the NTM reception desk/phone switchboard on Tuesday & Friday mornings and teaching piano lessons.

“If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind.” James 1:5-6 (NKJV)

We are facing several decisions, for which we are specifically praying for wisdom, and asking for your prayers also:

How to Best Continue to Minister

The Gravity project, NTM’s new personnel system, is moving swiftly and consistently toward a release date with the assistance of M2E Solutions, a local consulting firm. M2E is providing programming assistance and mentoring in Business Analysis, ASP.NET, Silverlight, and Scrum project management. We have made good progress. One of the greatest benefits NTM has gained from this relationship is experience in coordinating remote workers. Some people have asked about volunteering time working remotely, but in the past, we did not have a framework in place to accept those offers.
An issue that NTM has had when it comes to I.T. (Information Technology) is lack of an organizational plan and vision. Often, NTM’s different centers and departments (U.S. Headquarters, Missionary Training Center, Bible Institutes, etc) have been left on their own when implementing technology to meet their needs. This has led to disconnected systems and duplication of efforts. NTM’s U.S. I.T. Committee was formed a few years ago to work on improving this situation. In the last year, they have begun to re-organize I.T. to increase efficiency.
An off-shoot of this issue is that there has not been a recent concerted effort to invite I.T. professionals to join NTM. It is hard to find human resources, especially when they need to raise support, without a plan and vision in place. They need to see how their specific skills will make an impact on the goal of taking the Gospel of Jesus Christ to unreached people groups.
Jack has been giving much prayer and thought to this situation. He is seeking to determine what contributions he can and should make to help develop a plan and vision for Information Technology in New Tribes Mission.

What God Has for Us Next
We are in the final year of our 4-year Associate commitment with New Tribes Mission, and are asking God to show us what to do next. We have three general options:

Transition to career membership with NTM. This was originally part of our plan, based on God’s leading and provision. God has been faithful to provide for the three years that we have been with NTM. One change that would come with this transition is a requirement to contribute monthly to a retirement account. God has kept our savings level during our service, except for replacing our van. With an additional amount needed to set aside for retirement, and to eventually replace our vehicle again, we’d need more monthly support. Otherwise we would be using our savings to cover regular living expenses . . . which we can’t continue indefinitely. But we know God is always able and faithful.
Find employment. If God leads in this direction, we would like to re-locate close enough to Alice’s parents so that Alice could help them. We really feel the difficulty of being away from them as they struggle with physical and mental challenges. In Matthew 15:5-6, Jesus rebuked the Pharisees for teaching that it is acceptable to say to one’s parents, “Whatever profit you might have received from me is a gift to God.”
3. Use our skills and abilities in ministry with a different organization. This option would come with the same issues as staying with NTM, and add re-location as well.

Please pray that we would have wisdom and see God’s clear leading. Our desire is to serve God in whatever we do, wherever He puts us.

What to do with Alice’s Parents’ house
Alice’s parents moved out of their home in April 2009, and it went on the market in July 2009. While the realtor has been showing the house regularly, there have been no reasonable offers. Insurance premiums, taxes, and heating costs are taking a toll on the Ames’ finances, so we are praying that the house will sell soon. People have asked about renting it, so we need to work with Alice’s parents to determine if that is a wise option.

Thank you so much for caring and praying about our ministry!

Jack & Alice Corbett, Danielle, Evan & Regan
New Tribes Mission – Computer Services

Tags: Prayer Letter

God Comesthrough Again.

Posted in Ministry, Praise on Apr 15th, 2010 | Discuss This Post

Well, it’s time to brag on God again. I don’t know why we are still surprised when He delivers over and above what we ask. He has promised to do that:

²⁰Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,
²¹Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen. (Ephesians 3:20-21, King James Version)

We have been considering carefully whether to fly or drive to New England for our trip this summer. If we had been able to spend 4-6 weeks away from the office we would have driven, but only being able to be away for 2-3 weeks makes it a much more difficult decision as we would essentially lose 6 days travelling. We also want to be able to visit as many of our supporters and friends as possible so losing time in New England would limit that as well. Jack has been watching airfare costs and the lowest he had seen was $129 each way, but that fare only lasted for one day and was still more than we thought we should spend. Since Jack saw that price it has stayed pretty steady at $149 each way, but yesterday we decided that we would fly because the time is more important than the money. Jack also had a discussion after his men’s Bible study last night about how it seems that the airlines like Southwest and Allegiant were no longer offering those really low fares. So this morning Jack did his daily price check at Southwest.com and was initially disappointed because prices had gone from $149 to $154 each way on our preferred dates, but when he checked the Low Fare Calendar he was pleasantly surprised to find that by leaving a day earlier and returning 4 days later he could get tickets for $59 each way!! Wow! God is AWESOME! We had discussed how we would like to get our flights at $99 and God undercut that AND gave us more time to spend with supporters, friends, and family!

Saving the money is great, but so isn’t the extra time. With the extra Sunday we will be able to visit at least one more church that we didn’t think we’d be able to get to and do it with less wear and tear on us because we don’t need to rush around as much to get it done.

Thank you God!

Tags: Ministry, Praise, Travel

Danielle and Her Glasses

Posted in Family on Apr 7th, 2010 | Discuss This Post

We shared in our March 2010 Prayer & Praise Update and What’s going on now? posts that we were considering a relatively new treatment for Danielle’s eyes instead of glasses. Well, after much research and prayer we decided to go ahead with it. The treatment is called Corneal Refractive Therapy (orthokeratology), and consists of wearing special rigid, gas-permeable contact lenses overnight to temporarily reshape the cornea to correct myopia. Once the cornea is reshaped, the contact lenses work like retainers, helping the cornea hold the new shape. Also, preliminary studies have shown that this can also slow or stop the progression of myopia in children.

Danielle had her initial appointment yesterday, got her new overnight contact lenses, and learned how to put them in and care for them. She wore them to bed last night with only minimal discomfort (no problem sleeping) and when she went for her one day checkup her vision was improved by about 50%, the doctor said that everything looked great and that by Friday she should be at full correction lasting all day.

Next on the agenda is her one week follow-up visit next Tuesday afternoon. By that point she will hopefully have full correction and no more discomfort as her eyes will have adjusted to the lenses.

Thanks for your prayers and continue praying that Danielle will properly care for the lenses and not experience any issues. Honestly, if it goes off without a hitch for Danielle then Jack my consider it as well.

Tags: Family, Praise

March 2010 Prayer & Praise Update

Posted in Family on Mar 26th, 2010 | 1 Comment »

Dear Praying Friends,

Wow! It’s Already Easter!

We are celebrating the death and resurrection of our Savior, which completes the Gospel and gives us hope. One of our favorite passages is 1 Corinthians 15:19-23 (NKJV):

19 If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable. 20 But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. 21 For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead. 22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive. 23 But each one in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, afterward those who are Christ’s at His coming.

We want to thank you for your financial and prayer support, without which our ministry would not be possible. We are humbled that you are sacrificing so we can do what we do for the Lord. We are blessed that Palmetto Avenue Baptist Church (our Florida home church), and a family have become monthly supporters, confirming that we are where God wants us and showing His care for us.

Now . . . what have we been doing?

Although Jack has been improving the performance and maintenance processes of databases currently used by various applications within NTM, his main project is still the development of Gravity, NTM’s new Web-based personnel system. Tom Young, Chairman of the NTM US IT Committee, has re-located here to US headquarters in Sanford to move Gravity forward. Since he came aboard as project manager in February, a decision has been made to outsource some of the web development. As part of the outsourcing, Jack and his partner Rodd expect to be mentored in the web technologies used, and in Scrum project management, with the goal of being able to continue to advance the project once the web site is up. Jack was able to use his contacts to help “vet” the companies we invited to bid on the project.

Jack and his bass guitar have joined the NTM Praise team. Jack also continues to teach PE at Lake Monroe Christian Academy (our mission K-8 school). He is eagerly awaiting the end of the school year. J

Alice is teaching 3rd-4th grade art at LMCA as well as serving at the NTM reception desk. She has enjoyed meeting more NTMers and learning more about the mission. She also plays piano with the NTM Praise team.

Danielle (11 – 5th grade) won the school spelling bee and represented LMCA in the county Bee. She wants to play flag football and has gotten much better at throwing and catching. She can play many songs by ear on her electric guitar (which irritates her Dad who needs music to play anything on his bass). J Pray that Danielle will want to use her musical gifts for the Lord.

Evan (8) is playing Cal Ripken baseball. He is the youngest player on his team, the Twins. He has not had the chance to make any big plays in the field, but he is getting to the right places and batting .286 so far. He is having fun and making new friends. Evan also bought the trumpet he has been saving for and is slowly learning to play it.

Regan (7) is preparing to play Upward basketball at our church again this year. He takes after his dad because he is small, but really likes basketball. He is getting much better at the fundamental skills and has good quickness. Regan is also learning piano. He loved dressing up for “Cowboy Day” at school.

Summer 2010 Plans

We are planning to head north for Jack’s niece’s wedding on June 5th and stay about two weeks. (Because of the critical stage of Jack’s Gravity project, we don’t feel we can take longer at this time.) We are looking for a place to stay in the Berlin/Gorham NH or Bethel/West Paris ME area so we can see friends and family (especially Alice’s parents) as much as possible. Please pray for wisdom whether to fly or drive this trip.

Prayer Requests

Wisdom for the revamped Gravity team in selecting a consulting partner and in moving forward quickly.
We are considering a “new” treatment for Danielle’s vision called Corneal Refractive Therapy (orthokeratology). It initially costs more than glasses, but could prevent further progression of her myopia.
Wisdom as we approach the end of our Associate term in July 2011. We need to determine what God wants us to do next.

Praises

God providing two new financial partners to our ministry.
God’s continued provision. Even though the economy has affected our support we have not suffered any unmet needs.
God providing excellent information, through Jack’s cousin Jean, regarding the treatment we are considering for Danielle’s vision.
Jack making it to age 40 and the great party Alice threw for him. He still thinks he’s 20 sometimes, but then again he feels 80 at other times.

In His service,

Jack and Alice Corbett – Danielle, Evan and Regan
New Tribes Mission Computer Services
1000 E 1st St
Sanford FL 32771-1441
Phone: 407-547-2484

What’s going on now?

Posted in Family, Prayer Request on Mar 25th, 2010 | Discuss This Post

First off: We have a full prayer letter under construction that should be out next week. This is a short post to let you know we are still here, and what we have for prayer requests.

Our #1 request right now is about our taking advantage of a “new” treatment for Danielle’s myopia. She had a recent appointment with an optometrist who practices Corneal Refractive Therapy. This treatment replaces eyeglasses and day time contact lenses with overnight wear contacts that temporarily re-shape the cornea which allows you to see without glasses or contacts for the day. Preliminary studies also show that it may slow/stop the progression of myopia in children. It is because of this last statement that we are doing it for Danielle. Her vision has deteriorated fairly quickly and if we can slow or stop that then we think it would be great. The biggest issue is cost. This therapy is $1800 upfront and then from $50-200 each year. Of course glasses cost up to $400 per year because of her prescription changes so long-term we believe it balances out. You can read my professional/technical blog to see the research we did before deciding to go ahead.

Second on the list would be for wisdom as we begin to plan for the future. The immediate future would be decisions regarding how to get back to New England this summer (fly or drive), how long we can spend, who we can visit, and where we will stay. The long term future would be what we do next. We are almost 3 years into out 4 year associate commitment with NTM and we are now praying about what we will do next. We have the option of converting to Career membership with NTM, which was our original plan, or moving on to something else. The key is that we want to be where the Lord wants us, so we are open to where He leads.

Lastly, please continue to pray for the sale of Alice’s parents’ house in Gorham, NH. They have been out of it for almost a year now, and the expense of keeping it heated, insured, and paying taxes is starting to cause some financial difficulties. We were recently informed that someone has expressed an interest in renting so Alice’s folks need wisdom in deciding if that is the direction they should take.

Thanks again for praying.

Tags: Family, Prayer Request

Merry Christmas from the Corbetts

Posted in Family on Dec 19th, 2009 | Discuss This Post

christmas09

In the busyness of the Christmas season, it is good to know that the gift of the Savior’s birth is ours to keep and to share. Thankfully, Christmas does not depend on whether we get all the shopping, shipping, baking, and wrapping done.

“For my eyes have seen Your salvation
Which You have prepared before the face of all peoples,
A light to bring revelation to the Gentiles,
And the glory of Your people Israel.” Luke 2:30-32

We have so many blessings to thank God for this Christmas:

For the privilege of helping to share the Good News about the Savior through serving in the Computer Services Department of New Tribes Mission
For you, our friends and family who make our ministry possible through your prayer and financial support
For good health
For Alice’s parents being able to move to assisted living this past Easter
For Jack’s parents moving to Florida for the winter – close to us!!
For opportunities to serve God every day–at home, school, office, church, and the community

We pray that God’s joy and peace will fill your heart this Christmas and in the New Year 2010!

Warmly (we are in Florida, after all),

Family photo 1

Jack and Alice Corbett – Danielle (10), Evan (8) and Regan (6)
New Tribes Mission Computer Services
1000 E 1st St
Sanford FL 32771-1441
Phone: 407-547-2484

October 2009 – Praise and Prayer Update

Posted in Family, Ministry, News Article, Prayer Request on Oct 22nd, 2009 | Discuss This Post

This is a long post–it is the quarterly prayer letter we are printing and snail-mailing.

October 2009

Thank you for praying for us and partnering with us financially as we help to plant churches among tribal groups around the world. Click here to view an 8-minute video about God’s working in the Moi tribe of Indonesia!

Ministry News

The chairman of the NTM-US Information Technology committee, Tom Young, recently moved here to Sanford. He is a proactive guy who is suggesting some reorganization and other positive steps to move things forward. Jack likes his ideas and we are glad to have him in the Computer Services dept. here.

Gravity, the new personnel system Jack and his partner Rodd have been working to develop, is nearly ready for release. Also, NTM Computer Services has a new partnership with the computer department at Taylor University to jointly develop a student tracking program. The goal is that this software will be compatible with Gravity.

Jack was asked to teach Phys. Ed. for Grades K-4 at Lake Monroe Christian Academy, NTM’s Christian school where our children attend. Having a degree in Phys. Ed., he didn’t feel he could say no. So he has brushed up his old skills and teaches two classes a week.

While our children are in school, Alice is serving two mornings a week at the reception desk in our main building, answering the phone and assisting staff and visitors. NTM had a need in this area, and it is a good fit for Alice’s personality and skills.

Family News

Jack’s parents, Art and June Corbett, have arrived to spend the winter near us! They purchased a mobile home less than three miles away. It is GREAT to have them close by–makes Florida feel more like home. Spending the holidays here, which we plan to do this year, will be much nicer now.

Alice’s parents, John and Mary Jane Ames, are doing fairly well! Although health concerns are ever-present, we are grateful for Mom’s recovery from her aneurysm and that much of her speech has been regained. God has provided family members who are such a help with errands and laundry . . . things Alice would like to do but can’t. We do ask for prayer that their house in NH would sell in God’s timing.

In August, we enjoyed a week with Alice’s sister Lois Tignor, her husband Chris, and their four children, who came to Florida for a visit. They have since returned to Ecuador for their third term as missionaries with Baptist Bible Fellowship.

Jack’s involvement with the Orlando Professional Association of SQL Server (OPASS) continues to provide great professional development and networking for him. In our last update, we asked you to pray about the possibility of Jack’s attending the national PASS summit in Seattle in November. God has answered! Jack received a complimentary conference registration ($1,500 value) due to his volunteer work with the local OPASS group. NTM is covering the airfare, so Jack’s only cost is lodging, which he will share with another attendee.

Our children are doing well. Danielle (10) is in Grade 5. She is getting quite good at playing the electric guitar she was given, and has also written a few songs! Her inquiring mind is curious about so many things–history, science, politics. Evan (8) still enjoys sports and reading, and is our “dependable” child. Regan (6) is in first grade, easily distracted, but very expressive and highly entertaining. We are so grateful for the good health that we all have.

We are planning our trip North next summer to visit you, our prayer and financial partners who make our work possible! Approximate tentative dates are July 1 – August 8, 2010. Please contact us as soon as possible as to when we might include you in our itinerary.

Praises:

God’s working to open tribal people’s hearts to Him
New partnership between NTM Computer Services and Taylor University’s computer department
God’s provision for Jack to attend the national PASS summit
Stable health for Alice’s parents currently
Jack’s parents joining us in Florida for the winter
Good health for our family

Prayer Requests:

For the salvation and spiritual growth of tribal people around the world
For Christians to be willing to give sacrificially, even in tough times, to enable the Gospel to go forth
God’s wisdom for Jack, Rodd and others working to complete and release the new NTM Gravity personnel system.
Safety as Jack travels to Seattle the first week of November, and that he would be a good witness for the Lord
Wisdom in teaching our children, and that we would model Christ
That Alice’s parents’ house in NH would sell
Several boxes that Alice’s sister Lois and her family shipped to Ecuador are caught in government red tape. Please pray for a quick resolution, and peace in their hearts about the situation.

For more frequent updates, you can also find us on Facebook. Thanks!

Thought we’d share the kids’ recent school pictures:

Did Someone Pray for Patience?

Posted in Family, News Article on Sep 29th, 2009 | Discuss This Post

James 1:2-5 (NKJV)

² My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, ³ knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. ⁴ But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.

Since we arrived in Florida in July 2007 we have been able to take advantage of the Florida Healthy Kids and Medicaid programs for our children’s health insurance. Having these programs available has saved us hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars even though our children have been healthy. But, each year when it is time to re-apply for the program we question if the benefits are worth the hassle. You would think that the process would get easier each year, as it should be simple process of re-submitting income information. Well, it never is. First you fill out the original application and return everything that it asks for, then you receive a letter stating that you did not submit enough information (even though you included everything asked for). Normally Alice handles all of this, for the following reasons:

She worked with HICEAS in New Hampshire so she has experience dealing with Medicare, health insurance, and government agencies.
She is home and “has more time” to fill out the forms and compile the information.
She has more patience dealing with the process and people than Jack does.

So this year as usual in late July/early August Alice began the process, again assuming that it would be easier this time since it is our third year in the program and our income has not gone up. Little did we know that it would take until almost October to get through process. Combined we have spent at least 40 hours filling out forms, waiting on hold, and being passed from person to person and, sometimes, agency to agency trying to make sure our children have some form of health insurance. To be honest, we really thought it was never going to happen. Finally, we were told today that our children are covered, of course, we will really believe it when we actually have insurance cards and paperwork in hand since this is the second time we were told we were covered and the first time the person was wrong.

We can relate to Solomon when he says many times in Ecclesiastes that is all “vexation and grasping for wind”. Thus the title of the post.

Seriously, thanks for praying. And yes, there should be a prayer letter upcoming in October.

Tags: Family, News

Missionaries’ electronic dilemma

Posted in Ministry on Aug 22nd, 2009 | 1 Comment »

We were working this week on one of the most important aspects of missionary life . . . updating our e-mail address book. You, our friends and family who care about our work and pray, are a valuable and precious part of our lives.

Each time we send a group e-mail update, an average of 10-12 messages are returned as undeliverable. These were folks who at one time requested our updates. We don’t want to lose them, so we do our best to make the needed corrections to our address book. But at the same time, we can’t help but wonder: Do these folks REALLY want to stay in touch? If they did, wouldn’t they have given us their new e-mail address?

Every missionary is grateful for technology that allows our partners to have up-to-the-minute information without the time and expense of photocopying, folding, stuffing, sealing, and putting postage on letters. But many electronic options are available, and we wonder which option is best.

So we ask ourselves questions like the following: If we regularly update our blog, should we still send e-mails? If so, how often? If we e-mail our prayer letter as an attachment, can you open it? WILL you take time to open it? What if we ask you to subscribe online in order to get our letters?

Some missionaries believe that those who have Internet and truly care and pray will make the effort to subscribe. Other missionaries feel that because your lives are as busy as ours, we should make it as easy as possible for you to read our letters, even if that means a little more work for us . . . and a few more e-mails in your Inbox.

What do you think?

Tags: "prayer letters", attachments, spam

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