Jason and Angie Bechtel Connecting You to Tribal Missions
It is isn’t always easy to explain what it is that I do as a missionary with New Tribes Mission of Canada. In the broadest sense, I am working as part of the team that is bringing the Good News of Jesus Christ to people who have been isolated from it.
One of the many specifics of what I do is I help in the design of the GPS newsletter. We actually got mentioned in the March 2009 edition.
Here is a link to where you can download a copy of GPS for yourself:
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God is at work among the Lauje people of Indonesia. He was preparing the way before missionaries first made contact in the late ‘70s. He was changing people’s understanding of the world around them as missionaries taught the Bible. And now that missionaries have only an itinerant ministry in the tribe, God is still maturing the believers.
Last year when I had the wonderful opportunity to hike into the tribe for a Sunday, I had no idea that God was going to have me join the team that is preparing the New Testament. Since the late ‘70s, the missionary team has been faithfully working towards the day when the New Testament can be read with understanding by the Lauje people. The end is now in sight. There is still more translation that needs to take place, and lots of checking to ensure accuracy and understandability, but God is at work.
Barry Williamson, one missionary shouldering the majority of the translation project, recently visited the tribe after 6 years of working from town. Here is an excerpt from his update:
“Church was packed on Sunday with, I am guessing, close to 200 (maybe more) worshiping together. And they were there not just because I was present (because they had no clue we were coming and were not expecting us at all). I was delighted to see so many young people and young families eager to hear God’s Word and to participate in worship. I spent a short time sharing about the value of the Word of God and how it is God’s message to us and is for our instruction and encouragement, how it has been entrusted to God’s people down through the years and is to be shared with those who are yet to hear. Afterwards I asked to meet with any Bible teachers and leaders present. We talked together about the size of print and line spacing they wanted in the New Testament, whether or not they wanted any helps included in the back, what kind of cover, how much people could pay and how many copies we should print. We talked about a literacy drive and the urgency of getting people involved in teaching reading. In the discussions that followed, I was reeling from the immensity of the work load these men are carrying. They told me that there are now 60 men teaching through the Bible and discipling others far and wide. They gave a rough figure of 800 families who would be ready to receive a New Testament right now if we printed it today. Wow!”
Boy oh boy. Lots to share.
1. Delena growing up
2. Baby Bechtel #2
3. Angie went to Missouri
4. 2008 in review
5. Jason sharing at churches
6. Camp Cooks for a weekend
7. Angie finished teaching trig
8. Yearbook advisor
9. Praying about Home Ownership
1. Delena is growing up
Our baby girl is growing up. The beginning of February we confirmed her as officially potty trained. Then this weekend she slept in a big-girl bed for the first time. Read more about these milestones in Delena’s life here:
http://ntm.org/jason_bechtel/11760
2. Baby Bechtel #2
We praise the Lord that Angie continues to have an uneventful pregnancy. We were in to have an ultrasound last week and everything is as it should be. We have a girl’s name picked out (but aren’t telling anyone), and are still tossing around names for if Baby Bechtel #2 is a boy.
Delena thinks it is going to be a boy. What do you think?
3. Angie went to Missouri
Back in January, God granted Angie a chance to visit a friend down in Missouri. New Tribes Mission in the States has a missionary training centre in Missouri that is very similar to the one we work at in Durham. Angie, and two other ladies from Durham, drove down for the weekend. That’s right, 17 hours one way, for the weekend. We were happy when reunited on Tuesday as planned! Read more about Angie’s adventures here:
http://ntm.org/jason_bechtel/11357
4. 2008 in review
As Christmas was getting closer, we realized we wanted to put out an update that mentioned Angie was expecting again. But we planned on telling our family over the Christmas season. So we decided to put off our update till after Christmas. And put it off we did (it is now March). (This “2008 in review” doesn’t mention how our financial support is coming along. If you interested in knowing that, please ask.) You can download our “2008 in review” update here:
http://cid-b163d99fd0af5e19.skydrive.live.com/browse.aspx/.Public/PDFs
5. Jason sharing at churches
Jason enjoys teaching God’s Word and sharing about what He is doing in tribes around the world. Between March 1st and April 1st, Jason is teaching/sharing at 4 different churches. Please be praying that Jason stays healthy and doesn’t get too stressed out. If you know of a home Bible study or church meeting that would like to hear about tribal missions, please let us know.
6. Camp cooks for a weekend
It was a snowy Friday in January. The phone rang at 10am. There was an emergency. 60 youth were headed to snow camp for the weekend, and the head cook was sick. You’ve only got a couple of hours to find a replacement. Who you gonna call? Not the ghost busters, but Angie Bechtel! Read about our spontaneous weekend ministering at camp here:
http://ntm.org/jason_bechtel/11378
7. Angie finished teaching trig
Since November, Angie has been teaching grade 12 trigonometry to a class of one. And not just anyone, but a very bright one-and-only, Ruth. But all good things must come to and end, and so has this. Read an old blog entry about Angie’s teaching ministry:
http://ntm.org/jason_bechtel/10768
8. Yearbook advisor
Jason’s ministry in the office is keeping him very busy, but not so busy that it keeps him from one of his passions—graphic design. One of Jason’s outlets is as the yearbook advisor at the Academy for missionary kids in Durham.
9. Praying about Home Ownership
You would have had to be a pretty successful hermit to not have heard about the economic “slump”. Words like recession and depression are being used to describe North America. In the midst of all this uncertainty, we are praying about the possibility of home ownership. Would you please pray with us?
Fully Potty-trained
Our baby girl is growing up so fast. A mere 5 weeks ago we confirmed her as totally potty trained (aside from at night). Up till that point, she hadn’t “volunteered” that she needed to go. If we asked at the right time, she would admit a need (most of the time).
But that first weekend of February she started requesting trips to the little girl’s room. And then the confirmation—on a 2-hour drive that weekend, she needed to go. Twice we pulled over onto a cold and snowy shoulder, and twice she refused to go. The second time we put pull-ups on her, but even in the warmth of the car and the comfort of her diaper, she insisted we stop in the next town for “proper” amenities. Of course she didn’t use such large words, but non-the-less, she held herself together till we got someplace proper.
Sleeping in a big-girl bed
That was 5 weeks ago. Last night she did it again—she went from one stage of life to another. Last night she slept in a big girl bed for the first time.
Angie and I had talked about it off and on for a couple of months, considering when she might be ready (and when we might be ready). We had the toddler bed on hand. Yesterday we were having a quiet day in Durham, and Angie suggested that maybe it was time. So we asked Delena. She said, "Yes"; it was time. So off I went to get the screw drivers to take apart the crib, and in its place, assemble her new bed.
Come bed time, Delena didn’t think twice. She climbed into her new bed, let us tuck her in, and fell asleep. No getting up, no playing with the things in her room—she went to bed, fell asleep, and there she stayed till we had to wake her up for church this morning.
She has just gone down for her afternoon nap now… God only knows when she will realize she can escape from her bed.
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While there is nothing about the LORD that changes, He delights to see positive change in us. He loves to effect this change in us. He carefully works in each one of our lives, changing us into agents-of-change.
Stephen and Carolyn Crockett, along with the rest of the team to the Moi people of Indonesia, have had the privilege of seeing God change Moi lives. This change has been so evident in part to the fact that the Moi lived such ungodly lives before they were introduced to the Truth.
God changed the Crockett’s lives, and through them, a number of Moi are enjoying changed lives. But now it is coming full circle—the Moi are having an opportunity to challenge and change lives in North America.
The NTMfilms team recently made a trip into Moi land to begin shooting footage for an upcoming short film. For nearly two weeks they battled the elements, listening to story after story of lives being changed by the Creator of the Moi.
They met a woman who had never before seen a white person. They walked down trails with men who have killed — some of whom have killed two or even four people. They heard these same men tell of their fear of witchcraft and spirits, and ultimately, death. “We have no old people,” one man said. “We all die young.”
But they also heard dozens of Moi believers lift their voices in praise to God in a uniquely Moi way. They heard them pray and thank God that they no longer live in fear. And they heard them express their appreciation to God, and to the missionaries here, and to all the folks who have helped the missionaries who are planting a church here.
On this crazy journey into the jungles of Indonesia, God was found. He was found changing lives.
The hope of the NTMfilms team is that the story of the Moi journey to faith will have an impact on the North American church. The journey is one of contrasts. Men who once ran through the jungle to set up murderous ambushes today can be heard singing praise to God together.
NTMfilms team member Ian Fallis wrote: “If this film is what we want it to be, it will glorify God, stir praise and worship of our Creator, and inspire others to get involved in the work He is doing; as well as getting the Moi believers involved in all that.”
Will you please join us in praying that, in God’s strength and by His power, we reach those goals?
