It’s not about the plane

January 12, 2010

It’s really just a big hunk of metal. As cool as the Quest Kodiak airplane is – and it really is a cool plane – it’s little more than a bunch of aluminum with an engine stuck on the end. What’s really great about the Kodiak is the lives it will help save. And I’m […]

11 years of thanks

December 30, 2009

Thank you! January 1, 2010 will mark the beginning of our 12th year in ministry at the NTM USA home office. Your prayers and giving have brought us this far, and we appreciate being able to count on you in the future. I don’t need to ask where the last 11 years went. I know. […]

Mois learning to teach

December 18, 2009

Have you ever wondered what’s going on with Awayo and his people these days? Well, we just heard from missionary Rich Brown, who works among the Mois, that Moi believers are excited about learning to teach God’s Word. “The eight students in the discipleship class have been very keen on growing and excited to teach […]

I probably deserve this

December 17, 2009

What words do you think just do not belong together? George Carlin famously cited “jumbo shrimp,” among others, in a monologue about oxymorons. (Did you know oxymoron is an oxymoron? It’s Greek for “sharply dull.”) This week I’ve run headlong into two words that really should not be together. They’re not an oxymoron, but they […]

Encouragement, Part 3: It’s all Greek to me

December 16, 2009

The problem we have with encouragement gets deeper when we see the depth of what the Bible means. But solutions also start to come into focus. Now I’m going to do something that I generally try to avoid. I’m going to go back to the original New Testament Greek. I usually try to avoid this […]

You’d better watch out

December 15, 2009

People are watching everything you do this Christmas season. Missionaries spend their entire careers carefully observing the people they work among. They listen to the words people use, and how they use them. They hear and record the people’s stories and tales. They watch them plant and harvest, hunt and cook, build and clean. All […]

ECHOs of Christmas

December 14, 2009

I hope you get an ECHO by the end of the year. Perhaps you’ve already had one. I had one Saturday. ECHO is a term I invented this morning. Yes, I’m breaking new ground in vanity by making up my own terms, and I’d be quite proud of that if not for the fact that […]

Painting by numbers with words: 1

December 11, 2009

One elderly man came to the missionaries with an important question. Years ago, he had watched with interest as they came to the Mibu people in Papua New Guinea and said they had an important message from God. Later he saw the difference in the lives of the Mibus who listened to and believed this […]

Pictures or numbers?

December 10, 2009

Do you prefer pictures or numbers? Most folks prefer pictures. If you’re like me (and I won’t tell anyone – don’t want to embarrass you), your mind starts to wander when people pour out statistics. Sure, some numbers are useful. If your bank has alerts, it’s probably a good thing if you get a note […]

Brynna is impressed

December 10, 2009

When we basically took December’s income as an advance so our youngest daughter, Brynna, could stay in college, we knew God would take care of us, and we were praying that the abundance of His provision would make an impact on Brynna. So during a rare dinner that our entire family was able to be […]