NTM

It’s hard to believe that we are 11 weeks into the 15 week semester. The fall semester concludes on December 14. Here’s a list of  the course titles our students have already encountered since they began in August.

The freshmen have already completed Biblical Foundations, Hermeneutics 1, Bibliology, Pentateuch, Apologetics/Evangelism, and Job.

The sophomores finished Hermeneutics 2, Life of Christ, Theology, Anthropology/Hamartiology, Christology, Prophets, and Job.

The juniors finished courses in Song of Solomon/Ecclesiastes/Ruth, World Religions, Pneumatology, Soteriology, Angelology, Romans,
1 & 2 Peter, 2 Corinthians, and James/Jude.*

*(Note: We don’t have a senior class this semester since we only have a spring enrollment every other year.)

When we consider that most of our students also have jobs, we are amazed at how well they are doing.

However, it’s not all work! There have been a number of social activities this fall as well. Many went paintballing on a Saturday last month. There was a skate night the end of October. Our annual Carnival was held last Saturday. The proceeds are going to a missionary lady and her family in Mexico. Her husband was killed by a drunk driver a couple months ago.

Please pray that our students will finish the semester well. We can see that they are getting weary and are looking forward to the  holidays.

Pray that these courses will mean more to them than memorizing facts. Pray that God’s Word will change their lives and equip them for ministry.

Imagine our Bible School students attending classes without having books! Imagine them trying to study without being able to read or write. How well do you think they’d be able to absorb the information?

That’s a very real problem that tribal people have. Most of the cultures that NTM works with have no written expression of their languages; hence, no books and no ability to read.

One of the tasks our missionaries face is to develop an alphabet for the tribal language and then use that alphabet to translate the scriptures into the tribal dialect.

Our goal is to teach the tribal people to read so that they have the ability to study God’s Word on their own and teach others the truths of the Bible.

Here’s a quote from a recent story on NTM’s website.

“Missionary Lisa Kappeler met with the NTM language consultant in Papua New Guinea and the Uriai alphabet has been checked and approved.

“…Lisa will soon finish her culture and language study and begin preparing to teach the Uriai to read their language….”

Now, there are many non-Christian people in the world who could do what Lisa is doing. However, they wouldn’t take it to the next level, to translate the scriptures into a tribal dialect.

Without her understanding of God’s Word, Lisa would be of little spiritual value to the Uriai. She received that training from New Tribes Bible Institute and our Missionary Training program.

So, on behalf of Lisa and countless other missionaries in NTM who received their Bible education from NTBI, we thank YOU for your partnership in our ministry at New Tribes Bible Institute.

To paraphrase the Apostle, Paul, “[We] thank God upon every remembrance of you …for your fellowship in the Gospel…” Philippians 1: 3, 5a.