NTM

Our plane to the States will be a little bigger than this one!

Coming Your Way

We are excited to see what the Lord is doing among the Agutaynen people.  God’s Word continues to be taught each week, and there are still many (about 100) who are faithfully coming to hear.  Please continue to pray for all those who are coming, that they will place their trust in Christ alone as their Savior.  Our family only has a couple  more months that we will have the privilege of being a part first-hand of seeing God work among the Agutaynens.  We will miss them while we are in the States for our year of Home Assignment.

At the same time, we are excited to come see you!  We have recently purchased our tickets, and will be arriving into Michigan at the end of April!  Already, we have several meetings scheduled in churches, and we are looking forward to sharing with each one.  We want to personally thank you for your prayer and generous giving in partnership with the ministry among the Agutaynens.

You can use this link to see when we will be in your area (http://www.ntm.org/wp/stephen_jordan/furlough-itinerary/).  We remember our last Home Assignment year flew by very quickly, and we weren’t able to see everyone as we would have liked.  Let’s not let that happen again!  We want to see you when we are in your area!  We will be updating this itinerary frequently as new meetings are scheduled.

Jasmine with her gift

Agutaynen boys with their gifts

December is a busy time anywhere in the world, and our village is no exception.  Each year for Christmas, our team gives a small gift to the preschool and elementary students in our village.  A big thank you goes to Atlantic Free Church in Iowa for supplying the Christmas gifts this year!  Even though we’ve never met them, and we don’t know how they chose us, the church sent us two large boxes stuffed full of clothes.  There was enough in the boxes to supply clothes for each student to receive at least one item!  The church also sent many adult and baby clothes that we will distribute at a later time.  Thank you again, Atlantic Free Church, for helping to supply for the Agutaynens in our village through your gift.

Philip and Vina LeRoux

We would like to introduce you to the LeRoux family.  They are from South Africa, and are the newest addition to the Agutaynen team.  We are excited to have them join the team.  Especially as they will be a great help to the Zimmermann family while we are on furlough.  The LeRoux family recently completed Tagalog language study (the national language of the Philippines), and are currently helping out with the supply buying ministry at the guest house on our island.  They will continue living in town for the next several months, and then will move into our house in May, when we return to the States for our furlough.  This arrangement is beneficial for at least two reasons.  First, it is helpful to the LeRoux family because they can be living in the village while they are working on a home for themselves.  Second, people living in our house will reduce the number of other creatures that may otherwise move into a vacant house (termites, rodents, large lizards).  The only downside is that we won’t be able to actually function in the village as a team with the LeRoux family until after our furlough.  But, while we are still in the Philippines, we will be spending as much time as we can with them, both in the village and in town.

8 out of 9 kids at a birthday part

The LeRoux’s have three children, which brings the total children on the team to nine, under the age of eleven!  We recently celebrated some birthdays while we were all together, and believe us, nine children can be pretty noisy!  While there will be challenges along the way, we are looking forward to our children having the opportunity to learn and grow together with the other missionary children.

We greatly appreciate your prayers, that our team will work together in unity for His glory.

Jordan kids riding home with our Agutaynen neighbor

We Jordan kids think that Bible Lesson nights are fun.  We get to stay up late because the meeting starts right at our normal bedtime, 7 pm.  Before the meeting, we have an early dinner and then take turns riding with Dad to pick up Agutaynens who live on the outskirts of the village.  Dad’s truck is not a bus, but we can still pack in 20 people at a time, sometimes more!  It’s nice to help Agutaynens get to the meetings each Wednesday evening, and take them home afterward, so that they don’t have to walk for so long, especially when it’s rainy or muddy.

 There are lots of kids who come to the Bible lessons, and we have fun playing with them before and after the meeting.  We don’t take anything with us to the meeting, like books or toys.  We need to sit quietly because we want our friends to listen to the Bible lesson, and not be distracted by watching us play.  It’s hard sometimes to sit still for the whole hour.  We can tell what stories are being taught because Mr. Manfred and Dad hang up pictures.  But we can’t understand very much of what they are saying.  We look around and pray quietly for Mr. Manfred and Daddy, and for all of the people who are there.  It’s fun to see all the people who are still coming to the Bible lessons, and we pray that they will soon be our brothers and sisters in the Lord.

Pondering the Truths of God's Word

Praise the Lord that the Agutaynens in our village have finally heard the Truth that Jesus died for them! Thank you for praying for the final lessons of Phase 1 that were presented last week. Praise the Lord that we now have Agutaynen brothers and sisters in the Lord!

The first question that some might ask is: “How many Agutaynens are now saved?” During the last few days, a few Agutaynens have given clear testimonies that they now are trusting in Jesus alone. At the same time, others have clearly shown us that they are still trusting in their old ways. There are many who we have not heard from either way. But God knows their hearts.

In Hebrews 4:12, it says that God’s Word is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. The Agutaynens have been clearly taught God’s Word, and the way of salvation through the blood of Jesus Christ alone. Our team has talked with several people individually, asking questions, and continuing to point them to Jesus. Please keep praying that those who have trusted in Christ as their Savior will now begin to grow in Him. And keep praying for those who are still lost in their sins, that they will make the decision to trust in Him.

So what’s next? Our team will continue teaching the Agutaynens. We will be teaching Phase 2 of the Chronological Bible Teaching on Wednesday evenings. This phase is a review of Creation to Christ. The goal of this phase is for new believers to be assured that their salvation is in Christ alone, and also to more clearly teach those who are not believers that Jesus truly is the only way.

Thank you for praying!

Last week, Manfred and Stephen went through the lesson about the Death and Burial of Jesus with our language helper. After the lesson, we asked him if everything was clear, and if he thought people would understand.

He likened the Agutaynen people to being out at sea. He said that through all of the Bible teaching over the last several months, the Agutaynen people have been brought to the shore. However, they are still in the water. He said they will now need to make a decision whether or not to get out of the water.

These last lessons, he said, are clear. The people who listen to the lessons will need to make the choice to take the last remaining steps to the beach.

We praise the Lord that our language helper understands what he must do to be saved and we hope that he has already made that decision to trust in Jesus alone. We pray that others have likewise made that decision too.

Please keep praying. We taught on the Death of Jesus two nights ago. Tonight we teach on the Resurrection. So far, we haven’t noticed much of a reaction from the people. We don’t know if they are missing something, or if they are simply taking time to absorb everything before making a decision. Please pray that the Agutaynens will be freed from their bondage to sin and Satan, and for wisdom for us to know how to proceed from here.

Thank you for praying through another week of Bible teaching!  We have been getting various reactions from the people.  Some are saying that they agree with what we are teaching, and are thankful to be taught the Truth.  Others are saying that what we are teaching is against the “church” and isn’t what they have been taught in the past.  Both of these views assure us that God’s Word is being taught clearly, and all those who are coming do understand what they are hearing.  Please continue to pray with us that those coming will choose to believe what they are hearing from God’s Word, and will accept Jesus as their own personal Savior.

Last week we taught about Jesus talking with Nicodemus (John 3), and the Last Supper and betrayal of Jesus.  This week is a fiesta in our village.  Rather than compete with the events that have been planned, we will take the week off from teaching, and will resume the following week.  That means that we will be teaching about the Death, Burial and Resurrection of Jesus on September 14 and 16!  Please keep praying!

Pray for those who are attending the Bible teaching.

Thank you again for praying us through another week of Bible teaching among the Agutaynens!  We continue to be encouraged by the number of people who are coming to the teachings, and by some of the responses we’ve been hearing.

This week, the Bible lessons were about Jesus’ miracles, emphasizing that He is all-powerful and is truly God the Son.  After the Wednesday night meeting, an Agutaynen couple came up to Ginger and Nadine, bursting with excitement.  They shared that they know that Jesus is God the Son, and no one can be saved without Him.  Others in the village have been talking about how they have been lied to through the years, and have never been taught God’s Word so clearly.

Please continue to pray for the salvation of the Agutaynens!  If teaching continues as planned, we will be presenting the death, burial and resurrection on September 14th and 16th.