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Did you know missions is like bagpiping?
Not just because they both attract some people and send others running.
Missions is like bagpiping because both take a team of people doing unnoticed things to bring it all together.
Our oldest daughter, Jackie, plays swing tenor in Rosie O’Grady’s Highlanders here in Orlando. Swing tenors are the ones who twist and flip and spin their mallets – it’s called flourishing. They also hit their drums now and again.
But there are also different parts for each swing tenor, and if a band is large, each drum is often tuned to harmonize with a different note played by the bagpipes. (It’s doesn’t take that many. Pipes can play only nine notes.)
Meghan, our second-oldest, plays bagpipes for the band (and snare drum – more on snare in a moment). I’ve shared before that many pipe band tunes have a harmony and a melody. Meghan’s fiancé, Jonathan, plays snare drum, and there are different parts for different snares. And Julie plays bass drum – and she doesn’t just keep time, she has a score she is following.
And that’s not even talking about the role of the pipe major and the drum sergeant, or others who might not even play an instrument yet keep the band running.
So while people mostly go to listen to the bagpipes (the people who aren’t running the other way, that is), and to watch the swing tenors, there’s a lot more going on than the average person notices.
There’s also a whole lot more going on in missions than you might notice on first glance.
The focus in New Tribes Mission is on the work going on in remote tribal villages, and it should be. That’s where people are meeting Jesus, learning to follow Him, and sharing Him with others.
But here in our NTM USA Communications office, there are a lot of things that come together to help folks like you get involved in the work God is doing among tribal people.
This week we’re discussing the preliminary sitemap for a new NTM website, deciding what will go where and what we’ll call things so people will be able to accomplish their goals on the site. Each step is being taken with a lot of input from others, so we don’t build a website based on what we think, but on what will work.
We’re meeting with some folks who work in communications for NTM Canada, which is helping us ensure the website will be a template for other countries, as well as helping them see where we’re going with the site and other media. Their team is much smaller, and we’ve been able to help them.
We’re making final changes and approvals to have the next issue of NTM@work magazine printed, and we’re working on the gross editing of articles for the following issue. That’s the part I like, because I get to hack through huge swaths of type. (Insert evil laugh here.)
Each day, we’re writing and editing news stories and prayer requests for the website.
We got some new tiny little “brochures” for our Bible schools back from the printer this week, and we got the design of the more in-depth booklet on our Bible schools back from our designer for review.
Each of these things is aimed at helping people like you get involved. Each is tied back into the five-year vision of NTM USA, and the priorities that our leaders have identified. For instance, we’re trying to increase enrollment at the Bible schools, because that leads directly to more missionaries being sent out.
There’s a plan coming together because a bunch of people are doing a variety of different things, with a clear focus. And you’re part of that team, too, because your prayers and giving and encouragement make our ministry possible.
Now, I realize this is going to sound terrible if you’re one of those people who runs away when you hear the pipes, but … if you like bagpipes, think about the intricacies of the band next time you hear them, and the way you and we and a whole lot of other folks are working together in a great composition led by God.
Thanks for being part of our ministry!
PS I’ve posted some photos on our site of Julie, Jackie, Meghan and Jonathan at the Orlando Highland Games this past weekend. Take a look >>
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