Needed: Hearts that yearn for what God’s heart beats for — people who have not yet heard!

Accelerating the reach of the Gospel depends upon people willing to go

This article is the second from Larry Brown, New Tribes Mission’s CEO, discussing the vision that is driving NTM toward planting maturing churches among every tribe and unreached people group in this generation.

As Jason Swanson traveled from village to village, he asked various Siawi believers to share their testimonies.

Again and again he heard, “Christ has opened the way to God.” It was a phrase from a skit the missionaries presented years earlier. They hung a sheet to symbolize the curtain in the Temple that set apart the Holy of Holies. The sheet was ripped in two, demonstrating that Christ has removed all barriers to knowing God.

“I had no idea that skit had firmly cemented things for so many people,” Jason said.

Today, faithful Siawi men lead and teach the Siawi church, and the New Testament, a product of more than 25 years of ministry by Jason’s co-worker Linda Krieg, is going through its final format before printing. This has been accomplished by ordinary men and women who are responding in obedience to Christ’s command to go into all the world, and through the gifts of people like you.

The Last Tribe Can Be Reached

The task is up to this generation, and it is achievable.

God could have given his angels the task of reaching the world. I’m sure they would be much more impressive than you and me. But He didn’t. He gave this work to us. He told you and me, His people, His church, to “make disciples of all nations.” (Matthew 28:19)

He entrusted you and me with this awesome “ministry of reconciliation,” and made us “ambassadors for Christ.” (2 Corinthians 5:18-20) God invites us all to be “workers together with Him.” (2 Corinthians 6:1)

The task of establishing churches among thousands of unreached people groups can seem daunting … unless we remember Who gave us this work and why. You and I have an incredible opportunity to actually see the task of reaching the last people group in this generation completed. I believe it is doable!

Evidence that the last tribe can be reached in this generation

Already, in partnership with people like you, New Tribes Mission is reaching a new tribe every 45 days. And NTM is just one avenue God is using to glorify His name among the world’s unreached people groups.

Because you and NTM are working together to see the last tribe reached in this generation, we’re hearing testimonies like this:

“This is God’s talk,” said a Biem man who heard the climax of foundational Bible lessons late last year. “See, it’s just one story, from the Old Testament to Jesus. There is no other road but Jesus. God meant it this way from the beginning.”

We’re seeing transformed lives: Shatito, a Mwinika boy, was a troublemaker in the community. But once he started coming to hear foundational Bible teaching, he made sure to get to every lesson. Recently, missionary Nadia Hattingh saw him in the abandoned, run-down schoolroom, teaching younger children to read and write – even though no one was paying him to do it.

We’re challenged by God’s work among the people we serve: Mesari – a Dinangat woman in a ripped shirt and a patched skirt, living in a grass-roofed hut and eating a steady diet of sweet potatoes and little else – was ashamed when she read 1 Timothy 6:6-8: “But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that.”

She responded, “When we have food and clothes, what else do we need? We have God, our Savior. He is everything we need to live and die!”

Tools to get the job done

He is indeed all we need. He has given you and me these opportunities, and so many more, to glorify His name by making Him known to the ends of the earth. He has given us great tools:

• Foundational Bible teaching that lays out God’s story chronologically, building an understanding of who God is and our relationship with Him.
• A Maturing Church Model that gives our missionaries a clear target, and a measuring stick along the way.
• A training program that lays a solid biblical foundation, builds practical missionary and ministry skills, and then provides on-field help in crucial areas including language learning, Bible translation and leadership development.

These tools need to be put in the hands of today’s young people – people who have a heart to reach the lost. We’re updating our Bible school facilities and expanding our Missionary Training Center with a goal of accommodating 450 students at our two New Tribes Bible Institute campuses and 250 students at the training center.

This will allow NTM to equip more tribal church planters to reach more tribes and transform more lives – and to give more folks such as you additional opportunities to be involved in the work God is doing among the world’s remote tribal people. Together, we can see the last tribe reached in this generation.

You can help put those tools in the hands of young people

The first step in equipping today’s young people is to give them a good grounding in God’s Word. At New Tribes Bible Institute, students study every book of the Bible.

One student recently said, “The Lord has personally and intimately transformed me starting at my most basic foundation: the understanding of His Word.”

“The Bible teaching is outstanding,” another said. “You can really see how God is working from day one of Creation to the final judgment of Revelation. He has a mission to see all come to the knowledge of Him.”

You can help more young people get this tremendous understanding of the Bible. In order to continue to accommodate up to 250 students, the Waukesha campus is in need of renovations, including:

• Renovating and repairing the brick and stucco on the five-story historic main building.
• Consolidating all single men, all single women and married students in their own housing areas to prepare for expansion and growth.
• Refurbishing and expanding an outdated kitchen.

The 116-year-old main building has housed New Tribes Bible Institute for 50 years, and this $5.9 million, six-year plan will keep the facility viable for many years to come. If you’d like to take on one specific part of the plan, our Partner Relations Office can also provide you with a breakdown of the project. This year’s goals range from $6,000 for dorm furniture, to $50,000 for lobby repairs and $300,000 for the exterior of the main building.

Please pray about what God might have you do to help equip young people to reach tribes and transform lives.

Just the other morning I was talking with one of our young students who finished Bible school and is preparing herself to go to one of the difficult areas of the world. I hear over and over from this generation “I want to go and do the hard thing for Christ.” They are ready to go; let’s be ready to help them!

“I stayed up reading my new Bible”

A clear, quality translation underpins church planting efforts

Jaspa apologized to missionary Ralf Schlegel.

“I’m really tired because I stayed up most of the night reading my new Bible,” he said. “It was just so sweet I couldn’t stop.”

Work on Bible translation for the Dinangat people began in 2006. Six people have worked together tirelessly during those years to translate portions of God’s Word. Last summer, Ralf said, “We were able to hand out all the Scripture portions which we have translated and consultant-checked so far in one bound book.”

The book contained portions of Genesis and Exodus, as well as Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts, most of Romans and all of Ephesians.

“There are altogether about 1,700 verses that are printed in this edition,” Ralf explains. “There are still another 6,000 verses that need to be translated before we can hand out the whole New Testament.”

But handing out this bound edition of Dinangat Scripture was a triumph that was well summed up by Felix, a Dinangat believer: “When we got those Bibles, I was so happy that I wanted to cry.”

Ralf says that the Dinangat people kept shaking the missionaries’ hands and thanking them for giving them God’s Word in their own language.

“Now that the believers have at least part of God’s Word in their own language,” Ralf said, “they can feed on it anytime that they want to and hopefully by doing that, they will live more and more according to truth and will grow in their love for their Savior and in doing so, will glorify God through their lives.”

The Bible is the foundation for your life and mine. This is why New Tribes Bible Institute plays such a key role in preparing young people to reach tribes and transform lives.