NTM

The month of July sent us in different directions. Rocky spent time in Norway and Liz in Canada.

Rocky had 10 days in Norway attending and sharing at a NTM Conference. He was there during his fishing days many years ago, but sure saw it through different eyes this time. Norway is now one of NTM’s 6 sending European Countries. He was also able to spend time with 3 families who had worked with us in the Philippines – always pleasant times.

Liz’s time in Canada was basically with family in Niagara Falls. As all of you grandparents know, we can never spend too much time with our grandkids. She loved every minute of those 2 weeks and came home with lots of wonderful memories from her time with Noah who is 3 and Selah 16 months.

The month of June has kept us hopping around all over campus getting ready for several different events.

Annual Conference – over 400 people gathered on the campus for our annual Conference. If we had more room, we could add more to that number, as there is always many on the waiting list. We have people in every room available, plus most of the staff houses. It is so encouraging to hear all the missionaries reports, challenges from the Word, special music and have time for fellowship with people from all over Europe. People fly in from many different countries.

Filipino Night – we sent out an invitation to all of our students and volunteer workers to come join us for a Filipino evening. They were greeted at the door by a ‘Kankanaey tribal man’ who could only speak his own language, which brought lots of superb reactions. Watching them trying lots of different dishes – using their fingers as forks and the floor as chairs was also fun. We had games with prizes, taught them a chorus in Kankanaey, shared lots of cultural experiences and had a question and answer period.

Open Day – an opportunity to welcome visitors, trying to show the local residents and church groups in a friendly way what we do. We had tours of the campus; a Cafe with lots of desserts in our dining room, along with a barbecue outside; games for the children; lots of displays and then a Cultural Show at the end of the day explaining what we are doing here, as well as in tribal groups around the world. It also was a great opening for us to get to know some of our neighbours.

We just had a very busy, motivating and rewarding 2½ week trip to the Faroe Islands. In some ways it is hard to believe how much we crammed into those few days.

We invited one of our NTM Representatives to the Faroe Islands to teach a very challenging seminar called "Each One Reach One; Each One Teach One." The dates were set for a long week end in May. We were really encouraged both by being able to sit in on the seminar, and by the response of many others who joined. Lots of positive feedback was received, expressing their desire to "Reach One" and then "Teach One". The seminar was held at a camp where we also had lots of time for fellowship and catching up with friends in-between the meetings.

We also able to take part in an island wide Conference the following week-end. We enjoyed lots of great singing and teaching. Ragnar shared at one of the meetings with around 1500 people attending. Friends and relatives from out of town continued to drop by our house for a cup of coffee, giving us an opportunity to catch up with even more people, since we didn’t have time to travel much this time.

Of course our time with Ragnar’s parents also great. We continue to be amazed at their good health, ability to get around and their fantastic memories!! Praise the Lord for lots of good quality time with them. Even though they are quite capable of looking after themselves, it is always a joy for us to help with some extra cleaning, gardening and needed repairs.

We were so encouraged with the news we recently received about the believers in our tribal village. They held a Conference for the Kankanaey believers from far and wide. It was exciting to hear about the work they did to make it possible – making a temporary ‘roof’ in a wooded area for the meeting place, contributing food so they had enough to share with the many visitors and along with all the other logistics to make it feasible, prepared lessons to share with their fellow believers. We would have loved to have been there – maybe someday we will have that opportunity again.

Last November when we sat in on our first Pre Field Orientation Seminar as observers, we thought we had oodles of time to get ready for the next one in May. As is often the case, those months flew by so quickly, and soon that week-end was here. We were thankful to have 13 Associates join us for the week-end of trying to squeeze a year’s worth of Missions Training into 3 days.

We have lots of pleasant memories as we look back on our time with the candidates. We are thankful that we had a chance to get to know them, after many, many emails; for how smooth the week-end went and for the team we are working with here. Lots of them were so encouraging and helpful. I don’t think we will be nearly as nervous when we see the next one approaching in November.

Working in the Associate Office with folks interested in taking a career break and serving overseas for a year or two is very rewarding. We continually receive inquiries from all over Europe.

One couple from Germany that is really interested in working with NTM for a couple of years had applied for the Guest House Manager position in the Philippines. Since all of their contact with the RP was either by email or Skype, they were willing to make the trip to North Cotes to have a personal interview with us, even though it is an 18 hour drive and he is working full time. Proving their enthusiasm, a couple of days after this suggestion, they let us know they were on their way on a Friday night.

They drove all night and arrived at our house 8:00 a.m. on Saturday. After a couple hours rest we spent the rest of the day together going over their experiences, expectations, job description etc. Following dinner that night they hopped in the car again with their 4 week old baby and drove the 18 hours back to Germany. We think this was just one more sign that proved they are passionate about this job and willing to do what it takes to go there. We know they will be a blessing to all of those passing through that Guest Home.

We are enjoying our ministry here in England. Ragnar’s desk continues to pile up with work – at some point he will have to learn to say ‘no’, but so far has been enjoying getting involved in many different things.

Since we don’t work directly with the students in the Bible School and Missions Training Course, we try our best to think of ways to get to know them – they are our future missionaries. They have a daily coffee break in the mornings which we try to walk over to – our office building is only a two minute walk from their building; we have signed up to eat one meal a week in the dining room with them and I have been attending a Ladies Bible Study which is held every second week. However since we came late into the semester and there are 50 some students, it is still taking awhile. So we have decided to try and have students over for a meal each Tuesday lunch and Friday dinner. That has been going well – so far we have had people from Germany, England, Scotland, Northern Ireland, Belgium, Switzerland, USA, Faroe Islands, Egypt and the Netherlands. Lots of interesting conversations!!

We enjoyed two birthday trips to Birmingham this past month. Craig’s was on the 15th, Ellie’s (3rd) on the 26th and Rebekah’s (1st) on the 27th. We feel very blessed to have family so close – something I don’t think we will ever take for granted – only a 3 hour drive!!

The first two weeks of January were amazing – ten Niclasens under one roof – what more could we ask for?!?!? The planning of this started almost a year ago. Craig needed help in renovating his kitchen and thought the best person in the world to help with that job was his brother, Ryan. So the plans began to form – why don’t we do it over the Christmas holidays – that way we can all be together for Christmas too!

However when looking into getting tickets it became clear once again that Christmas time is the peak season. Why not postpone it for one week, when tickets were much cheaper? We are good ‘pretenders’ so celebrating Christmas one week late was just as much fun. We have developed quite a few traditions over the years which our sweet daughter in laws have happily joined in on.
When Ryan and Craig went down to Craig’s home (a 3 hour drive) to work on the kitchen, the ‘girls’ and grandkids stayed here. It was lots of fun to see the 4 little ones interacting with each other. We are very blessed and thankful for our family.

Although we tried to keep up with our office work as well as we could, it basically took us the next two weeks to catch up, but it was well worth it. We are thankful for flexible hours, when we can go into the office early, or stay quite late.

We are so thankful as we look back over this past year. Lots of changes, lots of travel, lots of new things and lots of encouragement from the Lord to keep moving in the direction He was leading us. We treasure our time spent with friends and family both in the Faroes and in Canada in-between our transition from the Philippines to England.

Our new ministry here is moving along quite well. More and more tasks that need to be done keep making their way to Rocky’s desk. My position was more concrete with an existing job description. We both still have lots to learn, but are enjoying the process and are thankful for great and helpful coworkers.

In December we had the opportunity to go to Northern England to take part in the farewell service of a young couple on their way to PNG with the Associate Program for a couple of years. They were here for their Pre Field Orientation when we first arrived. We are thankful for this occasion to meet the leaders in their sending church and to get to know their family. The couple we stayed with run a bed and breakfast and invited us to come back anytime – sounds great!!

We are thankful for a great start in our new ministry here in England. The timing for our arrival was ideal. The two main areas we will be involved in had their major events for the year in November so we were able to sit in on them, trying to observe all that we could.

#1 – Annual Euro Meetings – people from the 6 NTM sending countries in Europe meet each year to discuss lots of various topics, and make decisions for the upcoming year. The countries take turns in hosting the meetings, and this year it was in Spain. (Our suitcases had a two week rest when we first arrived. They were feeling a little lonely in our attic, so we brought them out once more.) Our last day there we were able to take a bus tour of Barcelona, and see some amazing sights.

#2 – Pre Field Orientation – lots of folks join NTM for a 2-4year period to work in various support roles around the world. After they have been accepted they come here for a 3 day orientation. Classes all day long on diverse topics help prepare them for what they can expect when they arrive on the sundry fields. This time we had 2 candidates on their way to Indonesia, and 5 to PNG.

We are on a steep learning curve for both responsibilities. However, we know God is in control, and since He called us here to do this job, He will also equip us to do it.

Hello from England! We are thankful to be able to report that we are basically settled in our new home, and enjoying the beginnings of our new ministry here.

Our flight over from Canada was very smooth and uneventful. Getting off the airplane less than 7 hours after getting on was a real treat!! On top of that the train station is right there at the airport, so just a few minutes later we had our tickets in hand for the journey across the country. Friends met us at the other end, and on the way to our house we stopped by to join staff and students at the NTM Center for their morning coffee break.

Friends, coworkers and neighbours have been so kind in helping us find a suitable car, apply for a phone line, take us grocery shopping and assist in getting our office set up. Learning to drive on the left hand side of the road will be a continual challenge for awhile, but we both decided to jump right into it the day we arrived.

A bundle of joy (Ellie) and a living doll (Rebekah) brought us much delight a few days later. Craig & Claire were able to come visit us for our first week-end here. We had lots of fun catching up with them in person and we are thankful to know that that will just be the beginning!