NTM

1. Pray for us as we travel to Michigan from July 1 –26. Pray for safety, for finances , and for a good visit with our family, friends and supporters.

2. Pray for Tim and his co-workers in the Medical Plan office as they work to fine tune things with the new 3rd party Administrative company.

3. Pray for our oldest 2 daughters who are working this summer: Jillane—counseling at Wildwood Ranch. Kari— who is selling books in Iowa.

4. Continue to pray for the Kafe church that they will grow in their walk with the Lord.

A Link in the Chain

When we were in the Kafe Tribe we were taking care of a large, young German Shepherd for our c0-workers. From the time the dog was a puppy, there was a neighbor boy who would taunt the dog while standing just out of reach of the dog’s chain. You can imagine how infuriated this young dog became. Eventually after lunging repeatedly at the boy, one of the links in the chain gave way and the dog took after the boy. Fortunately the boy was near the fence and was able to get over it before the dog reached him. However we realized that having a link in the chain broken, the whole chain was then worthless. Each link is important.
It is that way with missions. Each link in the “chain” is essential in order for the gospel to effectively go forth. One of these links are those people who, like you, faithfully pray and sacrificially give in order to allow us (and other missionaries) to continue to minister. The support ministry that we do here at the headquarters is a link in the “gospel chain” as we help by providing health, evacuation and life insurance for our missionaries. And of course there are those on the front lines who are in the tribes overseas. What a privilege it is to be used of the Lord to share His Word with those who have never heard of His saving grace. Through your prayers and your support we all can continue to remain a strong link in the “gospel chain”. Thanks for partnering with us.

A Kafe Church Building

We are hearing good reports from the Kafe. The believers continue to meet together for church on Sundays and during the week for Bible Study. They are also continuing with literacy teaching. This is so important in order that the Kafe people can read God’s Word for themselves. They have been given a plot of land on which to build a church so they have begun to build a temporary church building. They seem eager and have been meeting together for work days.

Avoiding Catastrophe in the Workplace
The Webster’s Dictionary defines catastrophe as “a great disaster or misfortune.” This year has been a year of catastrophes around the world. I (Tim) am thinking about the earthquake in China that reached 7.9 on the Richter scale. This earthquake is said to have killed over 69,000 people. We all remember the Myanmar (Burma) Typhoon earlier this year, which is expected to have, in the end, a death toll of over 100,000 lives. What more will this year hold with it only being halfway through the year? Only God knows.
June and July have traditionally been the two months that are months of transition in our mission. By this I mean our missionaries leave the foreign field for home assignment or leave their home countries for their respective fields for another 4 years of service. As a result of this the NTM medical plan office is busy trying to keep track of the comings and goings of the missionaries. Our job is to keep a running list or spread sheet that keeps track of what missionaries are on foreign fields and what missionaries are on the medical insurance plan, the medical evacuation plan, the health savings account or the life insurance plan. Someone once commented to me, “. . . it would be a catastrophe if a particular record wasn’t dealt with correctly”. With this in mind we are careful to do our best to keep track of the missionaries’ records and forms. Although we can try our best to head off a catastrophe with each month’s spread sheet, we can’t foresee the future and what kind of catastrophes are in store for the missionaries (or for us, for that matter) but we are grateful for your support and prayers that allow us to help them take the right precautions for some of those catastrophes here in the Medical Plan office.
The catastrophe that happened to us recently was that the hard drive on our computer crashed. We lost a lot of digital pictures and other information, including most of our current e-mail addresses. We were sad to lose the information we had on that hard drive, however our computer department here at headquarters had our computer up and running in less than a week. What a blessing that was!
How can you pray for me in my ministry in the Medical Plan office?
Pray as I work in the office and deal with the information on the spread sheets, and as I communicate with individual missionaries by both phone and e-mail. Pray that I can clearly answer the missionaries’ questions.

Avoiding Catastrophe in the Family

After living a fairly sheltered life in Papua New Guinea for most of our kid’s lives, a few Sundays ago we found ourselves in an unusual situation. We remember the situation clearly. Let us fill you in. . .
Angela was traveling to a retreat and was somewhere between South Carolina and Pennsylvania.
Kari, who is now in Minnesota for a summer job, had her front brakes fail on her car. She was trying to get to a place to get them fixed.
Jillane, who is counseling at Wildwood Ranch in Michigan, was at that exact same time, in a Tornado Warning.
We found it very unsettling to have 3 of our kids in different states and to have each of them in potentially dangerous situations. We realized worrying wouldn’t help any of them but we knew we could commit them to the Lord in prayer.
What do we do to avoid catastrophe in our families? There is nothing we can to foresee or avoid catastrophe. But we do have the promise that because of Jesus Christ, God has taken care of the only one true catastrophe and that is the catastrophe of the separation of mankind from God due to our sin.
It is this message we want to share with the world. We are so grateful for your support of and prayers for us that make it possible for us to continue to serve the Lord by serving with New Tribes Mission.
We also want to ask you to continue to pray for us for the Kafe believers. Pray that they will faithfully meet together. Pray especially for Susan who has been the most faithful of the believers.
So as we look at the rest of this summer, what are we trusting the Lord to do for our family? At the end of August, Kari will be traveling from Minnesota to Tennessee and then back to Michigan. Kari will be starting her 3rd year at Calvin College in Grand Rapids. Thanks for praying for Jillane. After praying for many months as to what the Lord would have for her, she will be returning to Florida at the end of August and attending the local community college. Continue to pray as there is much to be arranged yet, and with Jillane in Michigan it has been a bit hard. We are so grateful to the Lord has really answered our prayers as Angie has made good friends here in Florida.

Saying goodbye to Kari at the Angie and her friend Katrina going
airport. Saying goodbye doesn’t to a formal party for the Missionary Kids.
get any easier.

Praise the Lord With Us and Pray For Us . . . .

Praise the Lord for good health and strength.
Praise the Lord for the our adjustment to being back in the USA and also to being in Florida.
Pray for Tim as he works in the NTM Medical Plan office.
Pray for the Kafe church that they will grow strong in the Lord.
Pray for Kari and Jillane as they finish up their summer jobs and prepare to begin college this fall.
Pray for Angie, Adam and Nicole as they get ready to start school again on August 13.

Because of His Love, The Holmgrens

Dear Friends,

Greetings from Florida. We enjoy being able to write and let you know how things are going with us. As I think of all the people who pray for us, encourage us, and support us we feel so blessed. What a joy it is to just to know that each of you are part of the network of people that touch our lives in some way. Thanks for being a blessing to us!! We’d like to let you know what we’ve been up to.

Together Again
Christmas saw our family all together again as Kari came down from Michigan. We treasure each of these times, knowing that as our family grows these times will become less frequent. We were able to go on lots of fun family outings including a trip to the zoo and a day at the “Holy Land Experience”. We have good memories of this Holiday Season and are so grateful for the family time we had together.

Back into Routine
As you well know, holidays don’t last forever and we are back into routine. I find myself often saying, “How do people survive in America?” Even after 1 ½ years of being in the states I find it so difficult to keep up with the pace of life here. The kids are enjoying being able to take part in youth groups, Awana, Little League (yes Florida has baseball in January!) and piano lessons. However we find it very busy keeping up with all our daily activities after living in a tribe for so long.

Tim enjoys being a part of the Mission Medical Plan. He is learning a lot about all the different little things that make up the office’s daily routine. This January found the mission changing Third Party Administrators so that is taking some time to help with all the changes that this entails.
Where Opportunity Knocks
I’ve been amazed at the number of opportunities I’ve had to speak with people about Christ, just amongst the people I’ve met at the store or at the park. We still miss the Kafe but we are excited that God can use us wherever we are. Pray we can be an encouragement to our co-workers and a light to those around us who live in darkness.

Praise and Prayer Highlights

1. Praise the Lord for a good family time this Holiday Season.
2. Praise the Lord for continued adjustment to life here at the New Tribes headquarters.
3. Pray for Kari as she starts a new semester at Calvin College in Michigan.
4. Pray for Jillane as she looks to the Lord for what He would have for her this fall.
5. Pray that we will continue to be used of God wherever we can.

Thanks for your prayers and for the part you play in our lives!

Because of His Love,

Tim and Teresa and family

Dear Praying Friends,

Not having seen a spring in 5 years, we have really enjoyed this past spring to the fullest. Watching the flowers growing and the trees budding new leaves is amazing. It is truly a time of new beginnings. For us, we too are at a point of new beginnings.
As a family, we will be encountering many new beginnings. We will be moving to Florida and facing both a new home and a new ministry. We have a lot of adjustments to make. Please pray for us as we adjust to a new home and as we learn the ministry in the Medical Plan Office.
For Jillane she is starting a new phase of her life. She has completed her high school studies. We are proud of our Graduate! She will be counseling at Wildwood Ranch this summer and looking to the Lord for her future. Pray for Jillane as she has this time of new beginning in her life.
And then for Kari it is a time of new beginnings as she stays behind in Michigan to attend Calvin College. Pray for Kari as she adjusts to being away from the family and begins her second year of college.
Angie needs your prayer as she continues to home school. It is difficult to be a teenager and to move to a new place. Please pray for Angie as she once again has to say goodbye to friends and needs to once again establish relationships in a new place.
With the mission having a small Christian elementary school, Adam and Nicole will be able to attend school for the first time. Pray for their adjustment to being in a school situation and having to make new friends. There have already been many tears shed as they anticipate saying goodbye to their friends and cousins here in Michigan.
Pray for the Kafe church. With both the DeJagers and Tracey Bernard on furlough the next few months, they will have a time of new beginnings as they learn to rely on the Lord. Praise the Lord for the new leaders who have been teaching and translating in this new baby church. Pray for them to stand strong as there are many pressures from both unsaved family members and from the culture.
Your prayers will be such an encouragement to us as we once again move. We know that there will be many challenges as we face these new beginnings in our lives. However we are excited to see how the Lord can use us to help reach tribal people with the gospel of Christ.

SO WHAT ARE OUR PLANS???

Our plans at present are to move to Florida in July. Tim’s main responsibility will be to learn all that he needs to know in order to help in the Medical Plan Office. The task looks overwhelming but we know with the Lord’s grace he will be able to “learn the ropes”. We have been shocked by the high cost of medical bills here in the states. We have learned first hand how essential it is for Missionaries to not only have medical insurance, but for them to be able to understand what exactly their insurance covers.

Here is our current timetable:

July 19-22: Tim travels by car (with our belongings) to Florida.
July 30: Teresa flies to Florida with Angie, Adam, Nicole and Jacob.
August 20: Adam and Nicole start their school year at Lake Monroe Christian Academy.
September 1: Jillane flies to Florida after camp is finished.

Thanks for your partnership and for your prayers.

Because of His Love,

Tim and Teresa Holmgren
Kari, Jillane, Angela, Adam, Nicole, and Jacob

Pray as the new believers in the Kafe grow and learn from the Word of God.  Pray that thier nieghbors would hear and believe too.

The primers are ready and now teachers are preparing to teach other believers to read.  Pray that the teaching will go well.

I’ve had a few people ask how our trip to Florida went ( or maybe you don’t even know we went) so I thought I’d write up a little report of our time there.

We arrived in at our headquarters last Monday night about an hour late. There were a few delays, but overall it was a good flight and it was nice to arrive in a warmer climate. We stayed in an apartment just across from the main building at the New Tribes Mission Headquarters. The Main building is really gorgeous with this huge wooden staircase and wood floors etc. It is a renovated historical building and has a lot of character.

We were met by John and Linda McGhee who are in charge of the Mission Medical Plan. The Med Plan Office will be the office that Tim will be working in when we move down to Florida. They are a really nice couple and were very excited to have us down there.

Tuesday we spent the day going over things in the office with John and Linda. Overall things look pretty basic. The one thing that was stressed by John and Linda, as well as others we met during our time there, was that the main ministry in the med plan office was that we are able to answer questions and talk with missionaries when they call. They explained that many of the missionaries are confused by their claim statements. Some of them are frustrated with trying to settle their claims and often are dealing with difficult medical conditions at the same time. Our job then is to help them settle their claims and to help them understand their statements while offering encouragement to them as well. This is in addition to administering the medical insurance, life insurance and emergency evacuation plans.

Wednesday we went out house hunting. That was interesting to say the least. Houses in Florida are very expensive and houses that are $200,000 or less (regardless of size) are considered ‘fixer-uppers”. We were floored at the condition of the houses we saw and it was very discouraging. We also visited the mission run elementary school where Adam and Nicole will be attending.

Our last day of our visit, we met with the committee. We talked with them about the housing situation and how our current support level wouldn’t be able to handle a mortgage payment. They did come up with a couple apartments there at the mission. They are both 3 bedroom (one with 2 bathrooms and one with 1 bathroom). They both need some renovation, but they hope to have them ready by this summer. We put our name down for the one with 2 bathrooms!! What a luxury to have 2 bathrooms!! It will be a tight fit with only 3 bedrooms, but we’re trusting the Lord for the grace to handle the small living space. The price is right as the rent plus utilities is only a little more than we are paying now. This means that with housing available ( Lord willing), that we will be moving to Florida in mid-July or early August.

Once John and Linda heard that we had housing available and are planning on coming, Linda began crying. She said, “You guys don’t realize how long we have prayed for someone to help us. You are an answer to prayer!”

So that’s it in a nutshell. We struggled the last few months, making a decision on what the Lord had for our future. Seeing all the adjustments we will need to make, I know that our struggle isn’t over, but we have seen that the need is there and that the Lord can use us to further His desire to reach the world with the gospel.

Thanks for all your prayers. Keep praying..

Love, Tim and Teresa

1. Pray for the need of Kari to have a place to stay when we move. She will continue to attend Calvin College.

2. Pray for Jillane as she graduates in June and isn’t sure what direction the Lord would have her take.

3. Pray for the urgent need to have an increase in monthly support. We are presently at 49% of our recommended support.

4. Pray we can find affordable housing in Sanford.

5. Pray for wisdom in choosing what to do for schooling when we move to Sanford. There is a Christian school at the headquarters however we can’t afford it at our present level of support.

First of all we want to thank you for your prayers and financial support over the years. We have completed 5 terms on the field of Papua New Guinea. The last two of which were in the Kafe Tribe where we worked with the DeJagers and Tracey Bernard in the power of God’s Word to established the church. While we have been on our home assignment Luke DeJager has told us that the church is growing and using the Bible lessons to reach out to new communities in the Kafe Tribe.

In our report last year we said that Kari will be going to school at Calvin College and she is now attending there. She has a full scholarship this year, which is a blessing from the Lord. She seems to be adjusting well to new life as a college student in this culture.

Jill is involved in a Grand Rapids inner city mission and is taking art lessons. While both she and Angela are enjoying getting to know their cousins again.

Teresa is very busy with home schooling the children and trying to keep Jacob busy with fun things. This is a real challenge for Teresa to keep up with every thing.

We have been traveling to many parts of the state the last six months visiting supporting churches. We still have a few more churches to visit yet but for the most part have made all of our contacts.

Tim has tried out a few things to help subsidize our income but they didn’t work well. We are hoping for something that we can use on a part time bases as a tent making type thing to help out with our needs as we look to the Lord for a new ministry. As it is, Tim will be spending most of his time now visiting new churches and trying to make contacts with people to encourage more prayer and financial support.

One of the reasons we are on home assignment is to get Kari and Jill adjusted to living in the U.S. So this can take more then a couple of years to do that and with the church started and growing we hoped to take on a home assignment with New Tribes Mission. This isn’t an easy transition for us or the children and we are still in prayerful consideration of what direction the Lord would have us to go.

We have been considering helping to administer the New Tribes Mission Medical Plan and Medical Evaluation for NTM missionaries. This would mean a move to the NTM U.S.A. Headquarters. The top two prayer requests for missionaries are, salvation for the unsaved and for their health. The purpose of the NTM Medical Plan is to insure that catastrophic medical bills do not become the financial responsibility of a missionary and those who support them financially.

1. Please pray with us that we will know God’s will for us in our future.
2. Continue to pray for Kari as she adjusts to college life in the USA and for Jillane as she looks to the Lord for what His will is for her when she graduates in June.
3. Pray for us as we really need more monthly support and as we still are paying off the huge bill from our airfares when we returned to the USA from PNG.
4. Pray that we will continue to know God’s peace even during this time of transition.
5. Continue to pray for the Kafe church as the Christians there are teaching bible lessons, translating and also teaching literacy.

Thanks for your support and prayers as we seek to desire to continue to serve the Lord,

The Holmgrens

Tim and Teresa
Kari, Jillane, Angela, Adam, Nicole, Jacob