NTM

Classes have been so impacting the last few weeks! God seems to be pouring it on as quickly as we can soak it up! It is both exhilarating and overwhelming!

We have been taking a class on Animism…which is the belief that spirits and impersonal forces control mankind’s day to day life and the after-life. This is what all tribal people believe and live in fear of very moment of their lives.
As we have been studing these beliefs, we realized how vital it is to know and understand how the tribal people view reality, and to know what they believe. Without having a clear grasp on where they are coming from, we will never be able to effectively explain God’s Story to the tribe we will be going to reach.
Thankfully, we have classes to help us know some of what to expect, teachers who have been there and lived amongst tribal groups themselves, and a God for whom no job is too big! 

We are also in the middle of a class on Grammar. No, this is not the English grammar we all had in school! We are learning how to pick apart the written forms of speech in foreign language, recognize patterns, and be able to label them in order to understand the way the tribal people communicate.
It has been fascinating to study all these different languages and to see the intricate way written speech functions. It reminds us that God is a creative Creator! What a blessing to study a remote tribal language and be able to see God in the intricate complexion of words!

Pray for us as we continue to learn tools that will aid us in tribal missions.

“I greet you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Eli, tribal believer from the Amazon, waited for these words to be translated from his tribal tongue into English for those of us listening expectantly.

As we sat and soaked in the words this Brazilian tribesman had come so far to speak, I remember feeling joy that someone had taken the Gospel to his tribe…and that he could now stand before us as a brother in Christ.

“Please,” Eli continued with animated gestures, “Keep going on! Do not let your fire cool down!”

He had been exhorting us to stay focused on the task of reaching tribal people. He had come all the way from the Amazon to speak at our Training Center and to encourage us to keep taking the gospel to tribal people like him.

Needless to say, this impacted all of us in a huge way. We will never forget Eli’s tears as he thanked us for caring enough about his kind of people to tell them of the greatest gift given to man. What a renewed focus this has given us to hear the need from a tribal person’s perspective!

2009 has been an exciting year so far!

We are counting down the months until our trip to Indonesia, and enjoying some really great classes at the Missionary Training Center this semester! God has been showing us so much about what it will look like to minister to a remote tribal group.

We have much to learn! But, He is a patient teacher.

We have been busy with all the logistics of planning our trip to Indonesia…getting malaria shots, booking plane tickets, and speaking at churches about our vision for this trip. We have been excited to see how God has brought us together as a team, and how He is getting others interested in helping us get there!

Indonesia continues to burden our heart as we think about the huge need there. With over 13,000 islands, hundreds of unreached tribes, there is much to be done.

This semester has already been packed with amazing practical classes! We have been learning how to deal with tropical illnesses, give shots and perform simple medical tasks, how to run solar panels, solder, work with electrical problems in the tribe, how to run your water source from the river…the list goes on! We are so excited to be receiving this training, and feel like we are getting a taste of what life in the tribe will be like. And it reminds us often of how weak we are without the Lord’s strength. There is no way we could ever do this job if He was not in it with us, enabling us as we go!

Keep praying for us!

Phonetics.  What is it, and how is it equipping us to be Tribal Missionaries?…

"I want Missionaries to come and live with us…you must come and clear our eyes, they are darkened! My people have no one, our people need to hear God’s talk. We are not clear who God is." 

 -Tribal Leader

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Without the proper understanding and use of Phonetics, these tribal men and women could not come to a clear understanding of a Savior that wants to free them from their life of fear.

Phonetics is the study of the physical sounds of speech. It is concerned with speech sounds (phones) themselves, and the processes of their production, and reception.

As we sat in Phonetics class this semester, we were hit by the importance of this tool. We are entrusted with a precious message, the most important thing we will ever share. Because it is so crucial that it be given and received with clear understanding, we need to learn to communicate with the tribal people in the best, clearest way possible. We were so grateful to have the tools of Phonetics at our disposal, and tried to soak in as much as possible.

It was an intriguing, frustrating, brain-cell-melting, amazing experience! We learned that English is not the only crazy language, that you CAN control parts of your mouth you didn’t even know existed, and that laughing at yourself is the best medicine.

As we consider the tribal people, who have never even heard a single word of Scripture, we are humbled and grateful for the tools that will help us clearly share God with them, in their own language. Pray for us as we continue to grow and learn in this stage of Missionary Training.

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"Before the missionaries came to us we were going to die and go to hell. But now we understand that God sent Jesus to die for our sin so that we can be saved. That’s what I think is true. God is true!"

-Takido, Papua New Guinea