From the editor

Singapore, Saigon, Manila, Tokyo, Brisbane and Guam are great places that we would love to visit. My son Jeremy is an airline pilot and flies to all those places and more every week. It’s his dream job. Sometimes, I get to fly to those places with him.

What amazes me is the team of people it takes for him to make these incredible trips. Before he steps onto the flight deck and pushes back and fires up the engines, a multitude of people have been working to make that trip possible. They work in reservations offices, and do flight planning, weather checking, scheduling, fueling, and more. They swarm around the plane like worker ants preparing, checking, double checking. It takes a huge team working together to fly the friendly skies.

It’s the same in missions. It takes a team. The missionary on the ground cannot do effective ministry without his team preparing and helping in a united effort. Surveys are made before the missionary is assigned. Pilots and buyers will provide transportation and food and supplies to remote places. Others take care of their funds or help educate their children. Highly trained consultants assist in areas such as language learning, Bible translation and lesson preparation. Leaders edify, support and encourage the missionary family throughout the years it takes to plant a tribal church. Without this dedicated support team, the missionary would spend all his time just surviving in a harsh remote region. But as a team, we keep each other strong and effective.

You, too are part of that missionary team network. Your prayers, gifts, and encouragement are needed. The results tell the story: a new tribal group reached every 45 days. What a job you are doing! We need you, and you need the missionary team. Together, through God’s grace, we are getting the job done.

But it blows me out of the water that some people do not think these strategic support team members are part of the mis- sionary force. Someone recently asked me if I could give them the name of a “real” missionary they could support. I thought, “I am a real missionary!”

This issue of NTM@work is about members of the church planting team who serve in the USA. These are real stories about real missionaries, dedicated to reaching unreached people groups. The unreached cannot be reached without this team, a team highly deserving of your prayer and financial support.