Lots of Missions Stuff

I've talked to several people recently about our missionary training, and we always get some of the same questions:

"When will you be going overseas?"

"What does 'tribal missions' really mean?"

"How long will you be there?"

"Where are you going?"

And this one is an important one: "Do you think the tribespeople who have never heard the gospel are actually 'lost'? Since they have never had a chance to hear the gospel, don't you think God would let them into Heaven even though they don't know Jesus?"

So...this post is an attempt to answer some of those questions. 

First...our timeline. All of this information is very tentative, and we are trying to stay very flexible and open to different scenerios if God would lead us in a different way at any point. But here is what our future will most likely look like as far as we know right now. (Most of you probably know that we are going through this training with my sister and bro-in-law, so all of the below information includes them as well.)

• We will be here in Michigan at New Tribes Bible Insititute until next May (2013).
• Then we'll head home (to Indiana) for the summer.
• In August of 2013 we are planning on going to one of New Tribes Mission's MTC's (Missionary Training Centers) in either Missouri or Ontario, Canada. We will be there for three semesters (fall of '13, spring of '14, and fall of '14).
• After that, we will be raising the funds we need to head overseas. We anticipate that taking up to a year or so.
• Then we will head overseas. (So...approximatly late 2015???)
• We don't know what country we will be heading to yet. At this point, we are thinking probably Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, or the Philippines. These countries still have many unreached tribes.
• The first year we are in the country, we will be living on a NTM missionary base, learning the country's trade language.
• After that, our husbands will probably be involved in what is called a "survey" to find a tribe and village for us to move into. This step could possibly be skipped if there is already a "ready and waiting" tribe for us to go to.
• And then...we'll move in with the tribe!

We anticipate being with the tribe for around 20-25 years (coming home every 4th year or so for a furlough).

Some of the goals when we move in with the tribe will be:
1) Learn their language by interacting with the people (this will take years)
2) Learn as much about their culture as possible
3) Develop an alphabet for their language
4) Begin writing Bible lessons in their language
5) Teach the people chronologically through the Bible, culminating in the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ
6) Lord willing--plant a church with the new believers in the tribe
7) Disciple the new believers
8) Begin building a church that will be able to be self-sustaining after we leave. This will involve appointing elders and deacons and eventually letting them take over the teaching and leadership responsibilities in their church.
9) Teach the people to read and write in their language
10) Equip the tribal believers to begin going out to other tribes to spread the gospel message

Some people wonder if the tribespeople whom we are going to minister to are actually lost. People wonder if God could justly send people to hell who have never had a chance to hear the gospel. This is a really important issue to figure out from Scripture, because if people who have never had a chance to hear the gospel are not lost, then to be honest...we wouldn't be going. If they aren't lost, then wouldn't it be better for all missionaries to stay home? Because once we would tell them the gospel, if they reject it...then they will be lost. We know this is not the case, though.

The Bible clearly states that Jesus is the only way of salvation, and no one comes to God but through Jesus (John 14:6). It also states that people who have never heard the gospel are indeed condemned (just like people who have heard) because they continue to suppress the clear revelation about God that He gave them through creation (Romans 1:18-23). In fact, they are actually called "haters of God" (Romans 1:30), and the Bible is very clear that there is no one righteous and no one who seeks God (Romans 3:10). Both Jews and Gentiles (so that means everyone) are "under sin" (Romans 3:9). So every person--even those who have never heard the gospel message--is in need of Christ's substitutionary atonement for the forgiveness of their sins and their entry into heaven.  There is no other way of salvation taught in scripture but through faith in Christ.

So we know that right now, these tribal people who have never heard the gospel are living without hope and dying without hope. That is why it is so vitally important that believers who have the Word of God in their language go to these people and share the Good News with them. (If anyone would like more clarification about this point, we would LOVE to send you a short book/pamphlet called "Are the Heathen Really Lost" by Dick Hillis that shows in a much more in-depth manner from scripture the truth about people who have never heard the gospel. Seriously...just email us your address at aaronandjillm@yahoo.com and we will send it to you.)

Next, this is a short video about a tribe in Indonesia that was brought the Good News by some NTM missionaries (whom we met last year when they were home on furlough!). It may give a little bit clearer picture of what we are hoping to do in the next few decades.

And just because blog posts are always better with pictures, here are our three little future MK's (missionary kids).

And finally, we also just mailed out new prayer cards. If you didn't receive one and you would like to, we would love to send you one! Just leave your address in a comment or email us your address at aaronandjillm@yahoo.com.

Thanks so much for reading this and following us on our journey! It means so much to us, and we would appreciate your prayers as well over the next days, weeks, months, and years.