SLR Report
Just wanted to catch you up a little on what God has been doing in our ministry. We plan to send you our Christmas letter soon, so this will be more of a work update.
I just finished translating a 17-page resource paper titled “Questions for Worldview Analysis and Thematic Development” and sent it to a Colombian brother for editing. It’s an anthropological research tool for church planters working among minority people groups (AKA “tribes”), but since we don’t have a lot of eggheads in NTM, it’s formatted as a list of questions that the church planter needs to find answers to before beginning to put his or her Bible lessons together.
It’s been quite a challenging assignment, full of terms that I’d never translated before… but then, that’s what makes it interesting! Unfortunately, many expressions and phrases don’t come up in online Spanish-English glossaries, so I do a lot of educated guessing, then search the web to see if anyone out there is actually using what I’ve come up with.
Meanwhile, we’re getting great feedback from the Spanish edition of the NTM website!
Christians from all over Latin America visit Espanol.NTM.org and write to us in response. It is SO ENCOURAGING to interact with Spanish-speaking people who are excited about what God is doing to share the Good News with unreached people groups.
Just yesterday Eunice wrote…
May God continue to bless you! May He sustain your lives with peace and keep showing you his purposes. The work being done to spread the gospel is not in vain. Keep doing the will of your Father.
A couple of weeks ago, Yendriel wrote…
Hello, I want to serve Christ in aviation. I am 25 years old and am from ***** (it’s safer not to identify where he lives).
When I asked about his educational background, he answered…
… I am not a trained pilot… I’ve looked into it and been advised by many Christian brothers regarding the steps I must take to achieve this goal. My degree is in administration… but I have the will, the strength, the intelligence and God’s favor.
I was able to connect him with someone locally who could orient him. In the “touchier” countries, we often have a local ministry partner contact the writer rather than giving out their contact info.
A Nicaraguan brother who lives in Guatemala wrote…
My name is Jared G, I am a 25-year-old man. Well, let me tell you that for some time God has been calling me to the great commission to GO and I am ready to accept the challenge. I have been praying and asking God what I should do. I’m seeking help/guidance and knocking on the doors of different missions agencies which train and send missionaries. This is why I am writing to you. I look forward to hearing back from you.
Our training center in Mexico City got in touch with Jared to follow up…
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Here’s one last very interesting note from María in Bolivia…
I’m writing in response to the article published by NTM on the internet titled “Waiting to Fly.”
I learned of New Tribes Mission because I became interested in the story of missions in the Amazon jungle of Bolivia through reading the book Jungle Condor by Peter Wagner and Joseph McCullough. This book tells the story of the life of Walter Herron and his missionary work in the Amazon jungle of Bolivia, a pioneer in using small airplanes in Bolivia for missionary work.
I would like to have the local address of your organization… or get in touch with people who know the history of missions in the northeast part of Bolivia…. I’m interested in the history of missions in the plains of Bolivia as well as the current situation.
María’s letter reflects a level of curiosity and interest in missions in Latin American evangelical churches which just did not existwhen we first went to Colombia in the early 80’s. It’s the result of a lot of hard work – training and discipling missionary candidates and educating congregations, casting a vision of Latin American churches as senders and no longer merely receivers of missionaries.
As José wrote: “Thank you for inspiring the church and us as individuals to focus our vision on the great commandment of Jesus in Matthew 28.”
We want to thank you for another year of partnership, making it possible for us to participate in this amazing thing that God is doing — raising up and equipping Latin American missionaries!
Serving Him together,
Steve & Eida Irwin
New Tribes Mission
Spanish Language Resources
steve_irwin@ntm.org
Mobile: 408-515-1721
Mail: 1009 Lantana Ct., Leander TX 78641
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