Often we have dinners at the camp to celebrate people coming in and out, or just for fellowship with other missionaries in town. These meals are always incredible because not only do we get to meet new people, but also because we often get to eat ribs and potatoes (and of course, white rice). We had one of these dinners recently and I was able to meet David and his family. David is from Australia but has spent the majority of the last couple of decades in the Philippines as a missionary. Of his four children, the two younger ones have been born and raised here. He and his family have just returned to the Philippines after an eight month furlough back home.
David and Angie have been a part of New Tribes Missions and have acted as the host of the base while other members of there team go in and out of the mountains and tribal villages for their mission. This mission for this ministry is to go into these VERY rural areas and become fully integrated into the community while learning the language and ultimately translating the Bible into the tribal language (which are all VERY different). Many families spend nearly 20 years working on this one mission. The good news is that this program has had great success with many of the villages they have entered and are beginning to see the fruit of their life’s work.
The city I live in, Malaybalay, is kind of like the hub for this ministry because it is an excellent city for them to operate out of and has great sites to just disappear to and work on translations for a while. I loved hearing more about the ministry, but also about the lives of this family. It’s always a blessing to hear about the big projects God is working through, but it’s so much more meaningful to sit with someone that’s doing it and hear their stories. Personally, I’ve barely been alive for 20 years and I just can’t wrap my mind around working on one thing for that long. God is truly using this ministry and it shows me a great picture of the Body. Everyone needs to hear the Gospel of Jesus, and I just praise God that people are called to do this because it is a huge need.
As I listened to the family, I heard many of the failures that have happened over the years, but there was still so much more to celebrate. It was also fun to hear the stories from their children because this has literally been their whole life. In the big picture, New Tribes is in somewhat of a harvest time because many of the missionaries they sent out nearly two decades ago are finally in the process of distributing the Bibles and teaching through them. Please pray for this ministry because it hasn’t all been successes and this is a hard mission to persevere through. David and the family are now in the process of transitioning back home to send the older kids to school. So please pray for them as well as they move on.
I greatly enjoy meeting new people, and consider this project such a blessing. Thanks for the continued support and encouragement. I’ll keep posting stories if you’ll keep reading them…
