Giving Thanks

In 2007 the gospel message was presented to the Itutang village in Papua New Guinea. At that time over 300 people accecpted Jesus as their Savior and a church was born.

Just recently Bill and Kelley Housley, missionaries in Itutang, wrote:

Yesterday was our first Sunday back with our faith family here in Itutang. We LOVE worshipping with them.  My favorite part is always the thanksgiving time and yesterday was no different.  So good to just sit and listen to them praise our Heavenly Father for his daily acts of kindness towards his people.

It is wonderful to see the thankful hearts of these tribal believers!

As we approach Thanksgiving, this letter is a reminder of just how much I have to be thankful for. I am very thankful for folks who pray for my ministry here at the Missionary Training Center. And I am so appreciative all those who support my ministry and the work of reaching the lost in these remote corners of the world! Without the financial support of my many friends, family and supporting churches, I could not be involved in this ministry.

With much appreciation,

Bob

A Church is Born Among the Siar in PNG

A number of years ago Lane Sanford was sitting in my phonetics class. He is currently working the the Siar people of Papua New Guinea. Just 10 days ago he taught the final lesson in the Firm Foundations chronological series. This last lesson presents Christ’s death, burial and resurrection.

Lane wrote, “After completing the lesson, I simply asked the Siars if they had any questions or comments and then I sat down,”

Jon, Lane’s translation helper, stood up. He was emotional, which is unusual for him – or any Siar, for that matter.

Jon shared how the story of the creation account revealed the true God who is perfect, all-powerful, and the creator of all things. God’s Word showed him that no matter what he thought about himself, the truth of the matter was that he was a sinner separated from God and the punishment for his sins was ready for him to bear.

Jon knew that the death on the cross was meant for him and he deserved it but Christ took his place and suffered his punishment for his sin. He said he firmly believed it, and was confident that God bought him back and that he was now in God’s clan forever.

Then Jon challenged his people by saying, “You guys, this is the truth — the only truth. And this is the time for us to decide whether we will believe this or not. You all need to decide what you will do with this Gospel; this was for you and you must decide!”

Next Tomulai stood and said he been awake all night after hearing about the suffering that Jesus experienced for him. Then Ogen stood and said simply that the death of Christ was indeed the only way to eternal life.

After that Sali had a message for Lane and his teammates. He thanked the missionaries for leaving their homes and coming to give them the truth. Lane wrote, “He was thankful for that and thankful for the truth of Christ’s death that he now understood and believed in.”

Two women, Sakman and Redi, sat together saying, “This is it. This is the only truth and only Jesus’ work for me is the truth that can save me. We are believing this truth and we will never leave it for anything else!”

Tinamidil, a quiet lady, said, “This is the only truth, that is for sure, and I believe it.”

Stiven said he believed that Jesus’ work was complete and the only way to eternal life.

Lane wrote, “The truth of the Gospel has shown its bright light into the Siars’ minds and hearts, and many have responded in faith.”

Now, after years of work to get to this point, the hard work starts, the work that continues to lead toward establishing a mature church among the Siars.

“The ultimate desire of God for the Siars is a mature and thriving church comprised of Siar men and women who are grounded, growing and dependent on the Word of God alone. What that means is that we are not standing at the end of this work with the Siars, but we are at the very beginning,” Lane wrote.

What a joy it is to see God’s Word bearing fruit as the message is being proclaimed to those who have not yet heard.

Bob

Please Save My Daugher!

Isaiah wrote:

For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven, and do not return there, but water the earth, and make it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth. It shall not return to Me void, but it shall accomplish what I please, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.

It’s wonderful to see the life-changing message of God’s Word taking effect in peoples’ lives. I recently read an account of how the gospel message literally saved a girl in Papua New Guinea from certain death. I’m sure that you will enjoy reading this account of God’s amazing grace also.

Caked with a mixture of sweat and grime and nearing exhaustion, Wasi stumbled into the neighboring Hewa village, dragging his 16-year-old daughter, Tino, behind him. They collapsed in a heap as villagers and missionaries came running.

Muddy rivers of tears streaked down Wasi’s face as he looked up and implored those standing above him, ”Please save my daughter! Please save her! They want to chop her up with an axe!”

Wasi’s fears were not unfounded. Six others from his village had already met the same brutal end. Why? Because of the tragic beliefs and traditions handed down by his Hewa ancestors.

For centuries, the Hewa people of Papua New Guinea have believed that sickness and death are caused by evil spirits. But the deadliest of all these spirits are the ones that inhabit women or children, making them a witch. So when someone dies, the tribal men sit around the fire and quiz each other to find “evidence” of the witch’s identity that caused the death. The two biggest “proofs” of guilt are if someone dreams about you or if you are mentioned in someone’s dying words. Since a Hewa man had recently died and in his final breaths had whispered Tino’s name, she had been declared a witch and marked for death.

Now it was only a matter of time before a raiding party of young men came to hunt her down.

But Wasi had come to the right place. Running through the jungle earlier, blind with fear, clutching his daughter’s arm, all he could think of was, “Go to the village that is different now. The Big Message has changed them. They will care. They will help.”

And they did.

Word went out quickly that another Hewa girl was in danger and needed safe haven. It had to be somewhere far enough away so that no Hewa people had ever hiked there before and never would — out of fear of the unknown evil spirits at that distance.

Then began the long waiting — and praying. And word came back. A believing family in another tribe on the other side of the mountains would adopt Tino as their own daughter. She would be safe there. The missionaries could take her immediately.

Once again, tears covered Wasi’s face, but this time, out of joy. No angry, misguided axes, which had swung in their Hewa mountains for centuries, would swing against his daughter today. Instead, he had witnessed something new. The strangling cord of tradition had been chopped — by people believing a different message. A message of life.

Wasi waved until the helicopter and its precious cargo was just a speck in the distance and then turned for his own long journey home. But this time as he traveled, all he could think of was, “The Big Message is powerful. When will it come to my village?”

Lifesaving faith is cutting a path there now. The believers that helped save Tino are steadily wielding the truth of the Gospel throughout their Hewa mountains — axing fear and falsehood wherever it is found. And it’s leaving a trail strewn with the life-giving blood of Jesus Christ.

Teaching phonetics here at the Missionary Training Center could get boring. But accounts such as this make it all worth while.

Bob

Comprehension-Based Language Learning – A Missionaries’ Perspective

Last month we looked at comprehension-based language learning from a student's perspective. This month we will get a glimpse of what this method of language learning looks like on the mission field.

John Michael George arrived in Papua New Guinea a number of months ago. He is in the process of learning the national language of P.N.G. In a recent newsletter he wrote:

You may picture this as us sitting in classrooms all day, but in actuality we have yet to sit in a single classroom. In fact, aside from our periodic proficiency check-ups, it's pretty much up to us to learn the language. Now it's not that New Tribes Mission is lazy and doesn't want to teach us. In fact, it's just the opposite. You see, once we move into a tribal location there will be no classrooms, no teachers, not even a written language. It will be our job to be self-motivated enough to get out of the house and live life with the locals enough to gain exposure to their language. Also, it's important to build good and loving relationship with the people. What good would it be to speak their language if we don't have a close enough relationship with them and haven't earn the right to speak truth to them. That is why NTM doesn't really teach in a classroom type setting here in Wewak Papua New Guinea. This time here is vital for us to get a feel for what it will be like trying to learn a tribal language on our own. So now each and every day is spent learning language, just not in a traditional setting.

We go to the markets to buy our food and spend time asking about the different produce. "What kind of fish is this? (Wanem kain pis?);" "Is this ripe? (Em i mau?);" or "How do you cook this sweet potato? (Olsem wanem yu kukim dispela kaukau?)" We make local friends and go to their homes regularly and sit under their houses for a talk. We usually record them and at night listen to them over and over again on the computer. We take the public buses instead of using the base vehicles to learn what's customary and what's not.

This way of learning language seems a lot harder at first and seems like it is taking me much longer. However, I know this time will be invaluable once we move in with a tribe. We will have a framework of how to begin, and how to initiate learning.

Learning a tribal language is difficult work. The preparation our students receive here at the Missionary Training Center helps to make that job a bit easier.

O Me of Little Faith

Recently a title of a book caught my attention: O Me of Little Faith: True Confessions of a Spiritual Weakling. I had to chuckle because at times that epitaph fits me like a tee.

In May 2011 a former acquaintance of mine began supporting my ministry. Josie and I were students together at New Tribes Language Institute nearly 30 years ago. I thanked her with a very grateful heart. What Josie did not know at the time is that I had lost a few supporters over the last few years because of the depressed economy.

Josie said that she would begin praying that my support would increase. However, "me of little faith" had my doubts. Honestly, the economic future of this country at this point in time does not look very rosy. And it's not like I have been traveling throughout the highways and byways of the United States lately trying to raise my support level.

While I was thankful that Josie decided to pray that my support would increase, I myself certainly lacked the faith of David's good friend Jonathan who in boldness of faith said, "It may be that the LORD will work for us. For nothing restrains the Lord from saving by many or by few." And it is just as true that nothing restrains the Lord from providing for His children in a good economy or in tough economic times. But, O me of little faith, was a bit skeptical that the Lord would answer Josie's prayer request without me at least going on the road and doing some support raising. After all some wise sage once said, "God helps those who help themselves." Hmmmm, where is that verse found in the Bible? I don't seem to recall right off hand!

Well you could have knocked me over with a feather when I opened an email the other day that had the title "Support" in the subject line. It was from David, an on-line friend who I have never actually met in person. We have exchanged email messages over the last few years discussing topics such as doctrine and language learning. David and his wife decided that they also would like to begin supporting my ministry.

Within the last two months the Lord has raised up two new financial supporters on my behalf. And He did it in spite of tough economic times without me having to follow the advice of the wise sage who encourages us to "help ourselves because that is supposedly how God helps us."

Abraham sure had it right when he said, "Jehovah Jireh — the Lord will provide!"

Praising Him for His faithfulness,

Bob

Comprehension-Based Language Learning – A Student’s Perspective

Years ago I took a Spanish class in High School. We did a lot of memorization and studied Spanish grammar. But most of us never really learned Spanish.

When I came on staff at New Tribes Language Institute, I found out that there are better ways to learn a second language than the methods that were used in our High School Spanish class. Over the years we have improved our language acquisition course as we have implemented comprehension-based methods in the classes that we teach.

A student couple in second semester recently wrote a newsletter describing the language acquisition class that we teach here. It provides a bit of a glimpse into our comprehension-based language learning methods.

Have you ever studied a foreign language in school? Did it involve endless hours of textbook reading, memorization, and, might we say, beating your head against the wall?!

That's how we studied French in school, and, not surprisingly, we are not fluent today. But in our last few weeks at the training center, we have been learning Portuguese using a whole new approach: TPR - Total Physical Response.

This method involves learning language the way little kids do: listening, comprehending, and then speaking. Instead of reading and memorizing, we've gotten both our minds and bodies involved. In some exercises, we point at objects on the table, pictures, and things around the room. In other activities, we jump up and down, kick the wall, and spin around in circles. Our Brazilian language helper describes the object or our action in a Portuguese phrase. He also gives us directions in Portuguese, and has us point at the objects or perform certain actions. After listening and comprehending for a few days, we even got to attempt speaking Portuguese ourselves! From trying out TPR, we are excited to learn another language, and convinced that it is possible!

Comprehension-based language learning is a great improvement upon the methods that were traditionally used in the past. Our missionaries have found this approach to language learning to be very effective. Here at the Missionary Training Center, we are continually developing our classes so that our students might have the best tools to use when they arrive on the mission field.

Freedom is not Free

As we celebrate Memorial Day, we realize that freedom is not free. Someone once wrote:

The story of America's quest for freedom is inscribed on her history in the blood of her patriots.

The desire for freedom screams from within our souls to be satisfied. To taste its peace, many will gladly sacrifice the dearest thing they have to find it — even life itself.

Hours before dawn, the tortured Baniua chief stood at the river's edge, trembling. The battle for his soul raged on in his heart. He had to make it stop.

"I want to be free!" he cried out desperately across the water. The empty echo didn't bring any answers and only increased his agitation. "I have to be free," he hissed the words frantically to himself — then stepped into the water.

The Baniua chief was a witchdoctor. He had everything he could ever wish or hope for. He had respect, wealth and power. No one ever made a move without consulting him. He had free reign over his village and people. Yet he wasn't free. He knew it. He was a slave to all the dead spirits and all the rituals needed to appease all the dead spirits. It was an endless game of manipulation — with the spirits ready to pounce at his first unguarded moment. And the constant, fearful waiting for what the spirits might do, ate around his heart like cancer.

Then a missionary came to his village offering education. He welcomed that. He wanted his people to learn to read and write and strongly encouraged them to listen to her. He even allowed them to listen when she taught about God and the Bible. But he wouldn't listen, of course. As chief, he wanted his people to learn what they could, so he could show off his newly literate society. But he was above the learning himself. As witchdoctor, he had the responsibility to protect the old and deeply entrenched way of life — not to mention maintaining his power and control over the spirits and his village.

But something unexpected began to happen. One by one, the Baniua people were changing. Lights were springing into eyes. Faces were brightened with smiles. People were helping one another. Families were loving each other. But most of all, something old and familiar had suddenly vanished from their lives. Their fear was gone. His people were free!

And then the battle ensued in the Baniua witchdoctor's heart. Should he keep to the old ways or reach for the new? If he let go of his power and control and manipulation of the spirits, would he be free too? Or would the spirits just swallow him up in sickness and death? Were they even trying to trick him now?

Sensing his spiritual turmoil, the missionary approached him many times and asked him to turn to Jesus, but he refused. He was a witchdoctor! He didn't need anything else! Or did he?

Finally, he couldn't sleep — at all. Every night became an excruciating inner war. Old or new? And the spirits began calling his name louder and louder.

One night in desperation, he ran to the spot behind his house where he had hidden his witchcraft articles, passed down from his father. He madly clawed up the earth, hoping for answers.

But the little pouch of feathers, crushed bones, teeth from dead ancestors, pieces of dried pig's heart and poison herbs, just lay there silently in the dust. No answers. He snatched up the pouch and ran for the river. He must end this.

Now torn and weary at the river's edge, he clutched his father's pouch to his chest and stepped into the water. He had to be free. He waded out deeper and deeper and then stopped. He hesitated for a moment — then made his decision.

He must throw the articles, entrusted to him by his father, back to the devil. He must throw away generations of witchcraft and life as he knew it.

But as he tried to raise his arm, it wouldn't move. It seemed tied to his side by an invisible force. So he offered his first prayer to the God of the Bible and asked for help.

Strength and power surged back into his arm and he heaved the little bag far out into the water and watched it splash down and disappear. The Baniua chief stretched his arms to the now rising sun — and placed his trust in Christ. He was finally free.

Yet we must never forget that freedom is not free. Jesus died on a cruel cross to purchase our freedom. What a privilege it is to be part of a team helping to take the good news of Jesus Christ to tribal people like the Baniua so that they too can experience the freedom that was purchased for us on the cross of Calvary.

J Vernon McGee’s Series on Doctrine

A number of years ago J. Vernon McGee taught a series on doctrine. MP3 files of that series can be downloaded from:

http://cid-8916fcbd91d7e70e.office.live.com/browse.aspx/Stuff/J%20Vernon%20McGee%20--%20Doctrine

 

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Difficulties of Language Learning

The other day I was reading my Greek New Testament and ran across a verse that made absolutely no sense to me. I recognized every Greek word. I knew all the case endings and tense markers. Yet, I still didn't have a clue what the verse was saying until I looked at it in my English Bible. Learning another language is not easy! You can know all the words and still be clueless as to what someone is trying to say.

When learning another language, you need to have a good sense of humor. You will probably make a lot of mistakes and humor will alleviate a good deal of frustration. I'm reminded of a story that one of our missionaries related from his language learning days. He wrote:

I saw a man seated on a piece of wood in front of his house, so I ambled over and sat down beside him. He asked me a few things in his language that I didn't understand and I answered with a few things in his language that he didn't understand either. It was comforting to see that I was not the only one who struggled with this language.

Obviously the native speaker had no struggles understanding his own language. The struggle that he had was in understanding the missionary who was trying to learn the native language. Learning to laugh at your mistakes is a great asset for learning another language.

A common mistake in learning another language is confusing two words that sound similar. A missionary in the Philippines learning Tagalog wrote:

To say "beef" you combine the word for meat (karning) and the word for cow (baca) into, karning baca — literally "meat of cow." Well, the word for child is, bata, which sounds close to baca, right? Alas, it may be close but saying, karning bata (meat of child) elicits an understandably strong reaction!

In preparing our students for these inevitable mistakes that they will make in the language learning process, I like to remind them that:

As missionaries you bring joy into the lives of the people you meet. And some of that joy will be the result of the funny language bloopers you make as you learn another language!

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