New Tribes Mission works on several islands in Indonesia, a country which has the 4th largest population in the world. There are still hundreds of language groups without access to the gospel.
Borneo island is divided between Malaysia and Indonesia, with a couple of small independent countries tucked in the northeastern part. The Indonesian part of Borneo, Kalimantan, is divided into four provinces.
Living in the interior part of Borneo are about 85 separate tribes, all called Dyaks, each having their own language and culture. New Tribes Mission works with 10 of those groups in the province of West Kalimantan, with the goal of seeing God’s church established and functioning in each area, and reaching out to others still bound in darkness without God and without hope.
Churches have been started in all 10 tribes, though some are made up of baby Christians who still need a lot of care. Two churches, in the Embaloh and Gerai tribes, now have the New Testament in their languages. There are ordained leaders in 18 of the 57 tribal churches. The need is for Bible translation, discipleship, and time for individuals to grow strong in the Lord.
Ron & Nita have mostly been involved in administration and leadership, living in capital city of the province of West Kalimantan, a city of around 1,000,000 people.
Though continuing with leadership responsibilities, in 1998 Ron and Nita moved into the Semandang tribe where they are helping with Bible translation and disciplship of church leadership. This is the largest tribe NTM works with in West Kalimantan, with the most churches and ordained leaders, thus has a great potential for reaching the rest of Borneo, as well as sending missionaries out to all of the world.
Leadership responsibility has meant lots of travel around the field and more time away from ministry in the tribe. Maintaining a clear focus on church planting across our far-flung field demands a huge volume of communication with wisdom and skill. In May 2007, the field chairman responsibility was turn over to two younger men as co-chairmen giving a huge relief in the demands for Ron’s time and travel. He continues to be a member of the field leadership team.
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