NTM

        Sebastian began playing guitar last semester when he was challenged by the need for help on the music team at the Hispanic church. Although he has taken some drum lessons before, he is otherwise quite unlearned in music. Now seven months later, Sebastian has convinced not only me but also his parents that this is a commitment that he is serious about. A few weeks ago he played his first song in front of the church as a special number with the rest of the youth joining him in singing. Now his parents are offering to buy him his first acoustic/electric guitar. It’s so fun to watch him improve and want to use his new ability to honor the Lord.

       Our most recent courses here at the missionary training center have included Grammar and Animism. Grammar has provided a good review of some of the material I learned at Moody. It has been helpful to have some more practice analyzing different grammatical structures and seeing how New Tribes organizes the information a little differently. I’m looking forward to the day when I get to implement this knowledge.
       If you’ve ever been told that seeing a black cat cross your path is an omen of bad luck, then you have had a taste of what it means to be an animist. Animism is the missiological term referring to any worldview system that believes in many spiritual beings and forces that inhabit the natural world. Animists are consumed by fear as they try to figure out what powers controls their world and how they can manipulate those powers for their own ends. The vast majority of religious systems around the world fall under this label. Our professor, a veteran missionary from Papua New Guinea, stressed how important it is for the missionary to make it his ambition to be a student of his audience and their worldview. He reminded us that without this, communicating the Good News of Jesus accurately is impossible.  I wonder if this is true within our culture as well. . .
         Among the many things that I enjoyed this past month, I recently had an experience that does not fit that category. First, allow me to back up for a second. As many of you know, I love to run. Unfortunately, my knee no longer shares my passion. I have tried multiple times to try to broaden it’s perspective. However, as it insists that running is no fun, I have decided to play along for the time being. Before you judge me as weak-willed, I must say that it has furnished some fairly convincing arguments.
         Luckily for me, running is not the only cheap aerobic exercise; there’s also cycling! After finding a free bike and cleaning it up, last week I was excited to take the first of many rides which I assumed would follow. I had been treating my knee with extra care – perhaps even spoiling it – in hopes that it would reward me with total compliance for this debut ride last Wednesday. Yes, just as I had hoped, my whole body seemed to be basking in the delight of this new form of exercise. Although my lungs and muscles were taxed by the work, every sinew and joint was responding wonderfully to these smoother movements. I finished my first ride without the slightest complaint from my knee and was turning the last corner to arrive back on campus when suddenly things went south. I realized I was moving too quickly to make my right turn, so rather than ride past and then come back, I opted to apply both breaks as hard as I could. What I forgot was that I can break the bike, but not the momentum of my body. Needless to say, the biked stopped sooner than I did, giving me that uneasy impression you get when you leave home convinced you are forgetting something important. As we well know, the body is a delicate organism.  Fortunately, I was able to minimize the extent of the injuries by offering my face to cushion the fall. You will notice from the pictures that this was a pretty effective move. Apart from the fact that I didn’t know who I was or where I lived for about 15 minutes, I sustained relatively minor injuries – just a couple bruises and raspberries. Fruit can be expensive this time of year, so that was a nice bonus.

For about six consecutive days, including Saturday, the weather forcast for yesterday (Sunday) predicted rain most of the day.  We were afraid that our weekend fun with the youth was going to be seriously dampened by the weather.  However, after about a 15 minute burst of rain at 9 am, the skies cleared up and we had a perfect day.  Thank you, Lord!

Thank you so much for praying.  We had 8 kids come - about what we were expecting.  I think it’s fair to say that they really enjoyed the activities.  We laughed our way through Madagascar II on Saturday night and then hit the sack around 2:30 pm (with the time change).  Sunday’s activities went well, except that the treasure hunt was a little more challenging than the kids had anticipated.  2 1/2 hours of running around and solving riddles left the kids tired and hungry, the perfect lead into a hamburger lunch.  I think today they can look back and say they had a great time, although there were moments when we had to encourage them not to give up.  

The crowning activity of the weekend was our devotional after breakfast.  It was so neat to hear the youth share about different things they are learning and to express the ways they are struggling at home or in school.  When we asked for prayer requests, someone mentioned "unsaved family."  One of the girls, who was invited by one of the regular comers, asked me, "What does it mean to be ’saved’?  I praise the Lord for the opportunity to share with this girl what it means to accept Jesus as her savior.  Now we are praying that God would help Kat to make this personal.  She comes from a church where the Gospel is not taught.  Please pray with us for Kat and for wisdom as we continue to disciple the youth.   

In this article you will read about my growing conviction that I would NOT have been prepared without the training I am receiving. I suppose I will never be totally ready for what lies ahead, but I sure am learning a lot this semester.
When I was in the eighth grade, I read a book about a medical missionary who lived in India for many years, giving his life to help the outcast lepers. Dr. Paul Brand had such an incredible love for those people that his work opened many doors for the Gospel in India. Although I considered becoming a medical doctor at the time, obviously that never happened. A couple of weeks ago we took a course on "International Health and Wellness." This class reminded me of yet another area of my life and ministry that will have to be entrusted into God’s hand. Although we learned quite a bit in one week, it was obviously not intended to turn us into trained nurses. If statistics mean anything, I’m sure that in the future I will be asking for prayer because of a need in this area – probably multiple times. 
Something that is often overlooked when preparing for missionary service is how much we depend on technology in missions and how important it is to know how to set up some kind of electrical system. In many countries around the world – and particularly in remote areas where we will be working – electricity from the local power companies is either unreliable or inaccessible. What are usually simple activities, such as washing clothes or cooking a meal, can become significant chores. The students here at the MTC are currently in a course to prepare us to deal with many challenges regarding this area of electricity. Did you know that there are at least 4 different kinds of electricity that comes from the wall, depending on where you are in the world? I doesn’t take but a couple seconds of 220 volts to render an American appliance useless. (My family had a knack for burning out appliances in Bolivia, and it seemed like they were always borrowed appliances). To complicate matters worse, missionaries often have to produce their own power, using either solar, wind, or hydroelectric power. Unfortunately, there are no such thing as house calls to the local electrician.
New Tribes has a team of engineers and technicians who work full-time to train and support the technical side of missionary work. The head engineer here has countless stories of things blowing up, melting, catching fire, falling, etc. because missionaries were not properly trained in this area. While I do love figuring out how to take advantage of all of these incredible advances in back-woods technology, I’m glad someone’s watching my back and can help out when I get stuck.
The latest news from our outreach is that the youth from the Hispanic church are coming this Saturday to the New Tribes campus. Yesterday, one of my co-workers and I spent several hours planning an elaborate treasure hunt for the youth. This is one element of our weekend getaway that we have prepared for the youth. We will also be watching a movie, eating lots of food, sharing from the word, and, weather permitting, going for a hike. Please see the prayer requests page to know how you can pray.
One of the joys of this semester is being able to continue getting to know and serve the believers of this Hispanic church. Now that I have developed a good relationship with the youth, I see how much they need consistency in teaching and discipleship. I mention this only because it may play in to my plans for the summer. Honestly, I feel pulled between the decision to stay here for the summer or to return to West Chicago. I would love to stick around and continue to be involved here with this church. At the same time, there are so many people at Community Fellowship that I would like to see again, and there are always opportunities for involvement there as well. Please consider this decision as well when you pray for me.

Saturday, March 7, the youth from La Iglesia del Lago are coming to the New Tribes campus to enjoy a week-end getaway.  After church, we will bring the youth with us back to New Tribes until it’s time to go back for our prayer meeting on Sunday afternoon.  We are hoping for 8 kids, perhaps even more. 

What’s planned? 

• movie night on Saturday 
• pancake breakfast Sunday morning
• an elaborate treasure hunt
• hamburger lunch and . . .
• a time of singing and sharing. 

Everyone seems to be really excited about this time together.  I would like to ask for prayer as we plan, especially for the treasure hunt and the devotional.   Also, pray that all the kids would be able to come and that the weather would permit us to have the treasure hunt.  Thank you, and please come back to read the report of how it went!

Fun Figures

Miles covered: 3000
Average MPG: 31
Sermons listened to on the road: 13
Houses slept in: 6
Churches attended: 4
Number of times I fell asleep at the wheel: 0
Enjoyment quotient: 7.674 x 10^9

Hi friend. As promised, this is my review of my holiday globe trotting. I was quite pleased that the Lord allowed my Christmas break to go as planned. I only missed one engagement that I was really hoping to make. And once again I was delighted to visit family and friends whom I have not seen for a while.
Two of my good Tambo friends and I were invited to join the Al Lotz family – our school principal for many years. They are now living in Rome, Georgia, a welcome refuge (for me) from the winters of Chicago. The fact that Christmas was not white did not bother me a mite; give me Georgia and 60s anytime. The four of us (their son was the fourth stooge) had a great time together picking up where we left off and reminiscing about our Bolivia days. Among other things, we also enjoyed soccer tennis, piecing puzzles together, and making Bolivian salteñas. Although these opportunities seem to be few and far between, they are such a blessing when they come.
The bulk of the rest of my break was spent catching up with my brothers and sisters from two churches in North Carolina. During my stay, I shared a room with my cousin Daniel and enjoyed the time to fellowship with family. There are many reasons why I love visiting the Doss family, but I would lie if I said my Aunt Jeany’s cooking was not one of them. Seriously – Wow! Let’s just say I’m glad for the sake of my diet that she lives several states away.
On a more serious note, my time with family was not in the best of circumstances. My Uncle Ken was diagnosed with cancer last year and is fighting for survival right now. The battle against the side affects of the chemo has been all uphill, so he doesn’t have the energy to do much of anything. It is difficult seeing him in this situation because he hates being so useless. At this point it’s just pray and wait to see what happens. I was glad that I had the chance to be there with them and help out some around the house and with clearing out his office.
Now that school has resumed, I’m back in Missouri, ready for a new semester like a linebacker waiting for the hike. Something about the break and some lessons I revisited with the Lord have refueled my tank and restored my determination to make the most of this time. Please continue to pray for me as I seek to keep Him first in all. Thank you.