Impacting Lives

With our minds on the Thanksgiving season, one thing we are so thankful for is the privilege to be a part of what God is doing to build His church. Do you feel privileged sharing in God’s work of reaching the unreached with the Gospel? YOU are impacting lives as we partner together. While we help equip missionary candidates for cross-cultural life and ministry here at New Tribes Missionary Training Center in Missouri, it is exciting to get to know these candidates and see how God has led, and is leading, in their lives. We want to share with you the journey of just one of the many families whose lives you have impacted through your partnership with us.

We are pleased to introduce to you John & Asmara Anyan and their adorable little boys, Judah (almost 4) and Elias (2).

John grew up in Spokane, WA, and Asmara is from southern Germany. They met at John’s high school when Asmara ventured to Spokane as an exchange student to spend a year improving her English and learning about American culture. During that year, Asmara became a believer and then she and John started dating shortly before her return to Germany.

They married after a 3-year, long-distance relationship. Four years later, John graduated from Moody Northwest with his Bachelor in Biblical Science and Asmara graduated as an English teacher from Whitworth University. After some short-term mission trips and a class called “Perspectives on the World Christian Movement”, their passion for cross-cultural missions was ignited and the search for a mission organization was launched.

Judah was born the following year and when he was about a year and a half old they moved to Missouri to begin their training with New Tribes Mission. Shortly after their arrival, Elias was born. Besides the regular cross-cultural training for church planters that they have taken here, Asmara got an extra year of specialized training in linguistics and John is currently taking a Greek class. Asmara also received 100 hours of education consultant training that our department offers for teachers. They have lots of tools in their tool belt!

Finishing their official training here in December does not mark completion of training, growth or learning. They will be moving back to Washington to engage in full-time Ministry Partnership Development so that they can, Lord willing, head to Tanzania the summer of 2016; that will be a whole new learning curve. Once they arrive in Africa, they will once again be learners as they engage in culture and language study, vital efforts in building relationships and living life overseas.

Please pray for this bicultural, bilingual family, the Anyans, as they continue on their journey, pursuing God’s leading in their lives to reach the unreached with the Gospel. THANK YOU for your partnership in seeing people like the Anyans equipped for cross-cultural life and ministry. Through the Anyans, YOU are having a part in getting the Gospel to the people in Tanzania.

[To follow the Anyans, go to: www.ntm.org/john-anyan ]