NEW TRIBES MISSION  |  planting tribal churches

May 11th

Senegal: Bolon tribe: Pray for God's direction, provision, protection and encouragement on Robert and Amanda Kay and their family as they prepare to move into a new ministry. Please pray for safety and governmental stability. Pray that God will open doors for ministry to the Bolon people and will draw many to Christ through building relationships that will open the way to sharing the Gospel with them. Find out more -- read the story >>

Papua New Guinea - United Kingdom: Kelly and Beulah Sehorn and family arrived back in the UK at the end of March and they have been really busy trying to get their house set up to function for a family of six; getting winter clothes for everyone and uniforms and also things like school, dentist, opticians, church meetings and youth meetings and visiting family, local council offices etc.
Holly now has access to the local library so she can revise and the three boys have started school. Also this month Holly will sit the GCSE, UK school exams, for an easier transition into the UK higher education system.
Kelly and Beulah were very relieved and excited that the Home School work that the kids did last year was all good and met the standards for the home school company and they are expectant that the Lord will undertake now for the UK side of things.
Pray that the boys will be a faithful witness to their new school friends and for Holly as she does revision and takes exams.
The departure from PNG was emotional, the packing up process took a long time so when it finally came time for them to leave it seemed all too unreal, and all of a sudden they just wanted a little more time with their friends who they love in PNG. They had an eventful trip.
Kelly and Beulah are thankful that the Lord is truly making his path known to them, but at the moment it's a day by day revelation. They are encouraged by the kindness shown from their home church and they are having a fun time with their family.
The next few weeks will see them busy putting presentations together for the different church meetings and also doing some home modifications to help living in a rather small space go smoothly.
Pray for the restoring of the paperwork Kelly lost in travelling, in particular for Kelly's US driving licence.
Also pray for wisdom for the timing of their USA trip.

Philippines: Tagbanwa tribe: Paul and Cathy Wright with Zoe were pleased to see that on their return from a short time of home assignment in Northern Ireland over Christmas that some of the village believers were really growing in their relationship with the Lord and that others were coming to know Him. They were also excited to start a study for the ladies, a study for the men on 'How to understand the Bible' and teaching the kids through the Bible for the first time.
The ladies are grasping more of what the Gospel is and beginning to want to share it with others. Some of the men are starting to enjoy studying.
Pray on, as despite all the activity people seem largely unchanged by what they hear.
Paul and Cathy's daughter has now turned two and they are so thankful to the Lord for His care for Zoe.
After some training, the ladies are now teaching their kids who are very excited to be hearing Bible stories, learning verses, singing and of course quizzes!
Pray for the Wrights as their co-workers the Brooks are currently out of the village.

Mozambique: Mwinika tribe: Francois and Nadia Hattingh and children returned mid - April to Mozambique and after a week of cleaning and repairs their house hass started to look liveable again and they have started to tackle the offices and school building.
They have been receiving many visits from their Mwinika friends and were even able to do some visiting themselves.
Francois and Nadia are encouraged that there is a group of believers in April 2012, where there was still none a year ago… Praise Him!
Recently Francois drove a car full of Mwinika neighbours and friends -- all of them HIV/Aids positive, to the closest village for tests and hopefully treatment.
Pray for one man who is very sick and on the brink of dying. He was so weak that Nadia had to feed him like a baby before his family and Nadia could carry him to the road where the vehicle could pick him up.
Pray for their friends that they will receive the correct treatment and continue to use it. Most of all, pray for their salvation!!
Please pray for Francois’s work permit to be renewed.
Francois and Nadia’s youngest son Waldo has recently been suffering with malaria which is really hard on one’s system, so pray for his full recovery and complete healing.

Papua New Guinea - Hoskins: Ineke Haaring arrived in Hoskins mid-February and is in charge of the Church Development Guesthouse which was put in place to be able to show hospitality to the missionaries' national co-workers who labour for the growth of the tribal churches. Recently Ineke was able to host nationals attending a believers' conference and also a group of Bible teachers on their way to Madang for a citizens' teacher training workshop about leadership in the church.
Ineke thinks it is just awesome that she is allowed to serve these servants of God.
The contacts Ineke has with these national guests provides some good practice for her NCLA (National Culture and Language Acquisition) as officially this still is her first priority. Last week Ineke had her first language evaluation and received a list with some clear information on what she needs to work on, which she finds useful. Pray for wisdom in priorities and good continuing language learning.
Preparations have started for the annual conference to be held at the centre at the end of May. They are very grateful that a team from Northern Ireland plans to help out with the cooking and the programme. In the weeks to come Ineke hopes to help Norma with "setting up" the houses for all those who are coming. This is a great opportunity for Ineke to get acquainted with all the work involved in the "Hoskins Housing" ministry.
Pray that Ineke's CD Guesthouse ministry will be a help and encouragement for the guests and the missionaries who send them over.
Pray for Judith who helps in the guesthouse; she is not a Christian.

Papua New Guinea: Uriai tribe: In the past three years of living among the Uriai Elias and Jose Struik with Jefta and Tomas have seen the start of the first literacy class to the birth of the church in the village where they taught. Now Elias and Jose are in the midst of the ’training process’ of the young believers. Just like parents, they tend to get occupied with the activities involved in raising the spiritual children that the Lord has entrusted to them. However, as they step back and look at all that the Lord has done it is simply amazing and they praise the Lord!
Despite the challenges of the Uriai nomadic life style at the end of that initial stretch of teaching there was a small band of thirty believers.
Today that small faithful group continues to slowly step away from all the ancestral beliefs and animistic practices. Their motivation seems low, which is evident in their spiritual growth.
The thirty believers are currently meeting weekly and the teachers are continuing a new evangelistic class geared towards their unbelieving relatives. The believing men and women are meeting weekly for Bible study as well. For the next five months there won’t be any missionary in the village. Elias and Jose are trusting the Lord and are excited to see how He will grow them with passion and a capability to edify and encourage each other as fellow believers.
As a family the Struiks were so aware of God's goodness over the last couple of years. Jefta and Tomas did enjoy home schooling and made great progress with mum as their teacher. Jose recognises the Lord's help in this huge task. Health is another aspect that they do not take for granted! They’re praising the Lord for the strength and energy that he gave.
Once back in the Netherlands Elias and Jose’s major priority is to see Jefta and Tomas connect with their ’home country’. Jefta, who is nine years old, has only lived in the Netherlands for one year. The family are so looking forward to seeing family and friends again! Their church core group has informed them that housing and transportation is all coming together. They’re looking forward to opportunities to share about what God has been doing among the Uriai. Elias and Jose will work for a couple of days per week as well.

Philippines: Agta tribe: Donovan and Charla Epp’s new partners; Jared and Bana Major have started building their house! Teams are coming and going as they help with this huge project.
This month two teams will be visiting, first the DVBS (Daily Vocational Bible Study) team, and then a week later an Australian team for 10 days. They will be working primarily on the Major’s house and finishing off the community water project: running 2km of hose from a spring up in the mountains! What difference clean water will make to the whole community!
Donovan and Charla are so thrilled to be able to host the DVBS team and that money has been raised to be able to fly the team into the tribe. They are excited that another Filipino church is coming to share Christ with the kids in the tribe. They will be communicating in Ilocano which is the general language of the community; enabling them to share Christ with their non tribal neighbours.
Donovan and Charla are also pleased to report that Mark Derksen, from their home church in Winkler, Canada has joined them for the next four months to help them with home schooling. This will free Char up for language learning and medical work. Please pray for Mark and all his adjustments, for wisdom and patience as he becomes teacher to three very different kids! It is a big undertaking and Donovan and Charla are honoured that he would trust the Lord and give of his time, gifts and abilities to serve the Lord in this way.
Also pray for Charla who plans to fly to Canada in July for a two week intensive Medical Training course.