{"id":2,"date":"2009-08-14T16:37:12","date_gmt":"2009-08-14T20:37:12","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2011-09-09T15:13:09","modified_gmt":"2011-09-09T22:13:09","slug":"about","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/steve-lawrence\/about\/","title":{"rendered":"About"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"2010-09-04_Steve<\/a><\/p>\n

You may be wondering how we are involved in this job.\u00a0 We\u2019ll start out by giving you a brief overview of our past and tell you about our current responsibilities, and then we\u2019ll work our way back through some of our previous ministries.<\/p>\n

Gay and I have been members of New Tribes Mission since 1976.\u00a0 We served in Papua New Guinea from 1976 to 2006. After being involved in construction, orientation, and survey work, we were involved in planting a church in the Metaxofiyo tribe.\u00a0 In 1992 we transferred to the NTM PNG\u00a0 Center where I worked in the Office, and Gay worked at our Numonohi Christian Academy \u2013 our school for missionaries\u2019 children.\u00a0 In 2006 we returned to the States to help our boys get settled into life here.<\/p>\n

Last year the Lord called us back to Papua New Guinea where I will be Office Manager and Manager of Human Resources, and Gay will work at the school as a teacher and\/or assist in the school office.\u00a0 We am currently working on raising our support team, applying for our PNG visa and work permit, helping our sons move out, and arranging to get our house rented.<\/p>\n

Steve and Gay are also looking for opportunity to share with Sunday school classes, home Bible study groups, or Churches what God is doing in some of the tribes in Papua New Guinea.\u00a0 Please contact us if you know of a group of people that would like to hear more about what God is doing to reach tribal people in Papua New Guinea.
\nSteve also wants to tell pastors and Christian workers in the Salem Oregon area about the Chronological method of evangelism and discipleship.\u00a0 We have seen God working in powerful ways in Papua New Guinea and in other tribes around the world as people have come to know God, after being taught about how He has interacted with people in the Old Testament, and in the gospels.\u00a0 We believe that this method of teaching people is good not only for tribal people, but for people everywhere.\u00a0 We want to let the Body of Christ know about these tools so that they can begin using them to reach people here in our community.<\/p>\n

Up until recently Steve has been working with New Tribes Mission Communications team and was the photo editor for the photos used in the articles that go up every week-day on the home page, the news pages and prayer pages of New Tribes Mission\u2019s website \u2013 www.ntm.org.\u00a0 Often photos come in the e-mails that the articles are based on.\u00a0 When the e-mail has no photo, then Steve would search through the NTM photo collection to find a suitable one.\u00a0 If he had sufficient lead-time, and the missionary had an e-mail connection adequate to send photos, he would contact the missionary and request specific photos for the article. What an amazing time we live in! Right from the jungle to the internet.<\/p>\n

When he was not doing that, he worked with organizing, and cataloging the thousands of unique tribal photos in the NTM photo collection.\u00a0 These photos are used not only for the website, but also for presentations and for all materials that NTM prints.\u00a0 In order to effectively communicate what God is doing through NTM around the world, we need a full library of tribal pictures that are indexed for ease of selection and use. As he has time he is continuing with this aspect of the ministry.<\/p>\n

Prior to working with the Communications Team, Steve and Gay worked at the NTM PNG Center, in Papua New Guinea.\u00a0 Steve worked in the Office, and was responsible for seeing that all of the mission bills for the Center, including the supply store, were paid in a timely manner, and that the charges were billed out to the correct department or missionary.\u00a0 He also managed the Insurance department, which oversees the Building and Contents Insurance, Vehicle Insurance, and Workers Compensation Insurance for all of the mission locations in Papua New Guinea.
\nGay worked at our school for MK\u2019s as the High School secretary.\u00a0 She also taught 7th grade English, typing and violin.<\/p>\n

From 1979 to 1992 Steve and Gay worked with the Metaxofiyo tribe.\u00a0 They worked alone for 2 years, and then after a year of home assignment were joined by the Beckmans.\u00a0 In the fall of 1987 Steve began teaching the Creation to Christ course, and in June of 1988 we felt that we had a handful of people who had trusted Christ.\u00a0 In 1992, in fellowship with our leaders, we moved to the NTM PNG Center where we could better minister to the needs of our family. As we were leaving the Metaxofiyo believers thanked us for bringing the gospel to them.\u00a0\u00a0 They said, \u201cBefore we were in the darkness, but you brought us the light.\u201d<\/p>\n

Since we have been gone from the village some of the leaders from the Waxe tribe have done some teaching and discipleship among the Metaxofiyo people.\u00a0 We continue to pray that the Lord will raise up a new team to translate the Scriptures into the Metaxofiyo language, and the related dialect of that language spoken by 6 other villages.\u00a0 We would love to see the Metaxofiyo believers involved in taking the gospel to the other villages.<\/p>\n

In January of 2008, the Creation to Christ course was started in the two neighboring tribes of Bagwido and Yembiyembi.\u00a0 These people are hearing and understanding God\u2019s Word and applying it to their lives.\u00a0 We are thrilled to read about what God is doing in this area, and watching to see what further things He will do to build His church among the group we worked with.\u00a0 We are asking the Lord provide us with people who will join us in praying specifically for the Metaxofiyo people, and the 6 other villages of this language group.<\/p>\n

Prior to working with the Metaxofiyo tribe from 1977 to 1979, Steve and Gay, worked at the Sepik Region orientation center.\u00a0 We helped new missionaries learn Pidgin English, learn about life in PNG, and helped them move into their tribal locations.<\/p>\n

Gay went to PNG in October of 1975.\u00a0 After orientation, she worked in the Dom tribe for a year.\u00a0 Steve went to PNG in October of 1976.\u00a0 He helped out with construction at the NTM PNG Center for several months before moving to the lowlands early in 1977.\u00a0 Steve and Gay were married in August of 1977, and then moved to the Sepik Region orientation center, where helped new missionaries orientate to life in Papua New Guinea and get moved into their tribal locations.<\/p>\n

Steve’s parents were also missionaries with NTM in Papua New Guinea.\u00a0 Steve came to know the Lord shortly after they arrived back in 1957.\u00a0 He could see that what his parents had given their lives for, was also worth him giving his life for, so he entered Bible School and Missionary Training after high school.\u00a0 Gay was raised in Pueblo, Colorado, and Steve and Gay got to know each other<\/p>\n

As we look back over our time in PNG, praise the Lord for His faithfulness to us as we have served in a variety of ministries.\u00a0 We are reminded of what Paul said, \u201cThanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.\u00a0 Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord.\u00a0 1 Cor 15:57-58<\/p>\n

Some thoughts about why we are missionaries <\/strong><\/p>\n

Before the Lord Jesus left this earth, He told his disciples to take the good news about Him to every person in every nation.\u00a0\u00a0 He told them to disciple those that would believe his message, and to teach these new believers to observe everything that He had told them.\u00a0 He said that He would be with them in the person of the Holy Spirit, and that the Holy Spirit would empower them to do the job that He had commanded them to do.\u00a0 It \u2018s been over 2,000 years since the Lord Jesus returned to heaven and we have still not finished the job.\u00a0 The Lord raised up New Tribes Mission to focus on taking the message of the Bible to tribal people who have never clearly heard and understood the message of Christ and who live in some of the most isolated places on earth.<\/p>\n

Here in the USA, if a person wants to learn about the God of the Bible there are many ways they can do it. They can start out by buying a Bible at Wal-mart or at many other stores. They could read books about Christianity from their library, or buy them from a second-hand bookstore, or from a Christian bookstore. They could go to a church and ask about God, listen to Christian radio, watch Christian programs on TV, or they could search the Internet for answers to their questions about God. Granted, not everything they would read or hear would be the truth, but if they stuck to the information that was based on the Bible, they could learn the truth in a relatively short amount of time.<\/p>\n

In contrast to that, tribal people have no scripture in their language. For many, their language has never been written down.\u00a0 There are no churches or Christians living near them that they could ask about God.\u00a0 If they travel to town, a journey that could take them one or more days, they could visit a church, but they might not understand much of what they see or hear due to language and cultural barriers. Some may even have a church in their village, but often the message they hear is a mixture of quasi-Christian material and tribal beliefs. The result is not a message that conveys the Gospel of grace.
\nThese people groups will not hear the good news about Christ unless someone goes and lives among them, learns their language and their way of life, and then communicates that message to them.\u00a0 They also need to have the New Testament and key Old Testament passages translated into their language, so that they can read God\u2019s message to them in their mother tongue \u2013 the language of their heart. Needless to say, it takes a team, with many players to reach even one of these tribes.<\/p>\n

\u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 New Tribes Mission is currently working with 269 unreached people groups in more than 30 countries.
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Over 900 churches have been planted in the most remote parts of the world.
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 God\u2019s Word is being translated into more than 90 different tribal dialects. Already completed are 44 New Testament translations and 54 translations of key Old Testament portions.
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 2,400 missionaries and 500 missionary students are working around the world to “make disciples” and share God\u2019s love through each one\u2019s unique talents and abilities.<\/p>\n

In spite of this tremendous progress, we still have a long way to go.<\/p>\n

One of the ways that we can speed the job along is to get more people involved in the things that God is doing to reach the tribes.\u00a0 One of the ways we can facilitate this is to feed them vital up-to-date information via the Internet about the exciting things that God is doing in tribes around the world.\u00a0 Now that most tribal missionaries have email, we are able to post articles with photos to our website, the same week that the events happened.\u00a0 As people are exposed to what God is doing around the world, they begin to see ways in which they could become a part of this vital ministry.<\/p>\n

Becoming a prayer partner
\nBecoming a financial partner
\nGoing on a mission trip
\nGoing as a short-term missionary.
\nGoing as a career missionary.<\/p>\n

How about you? If you are interested, start asking the Lord what He wants you to do. Feel free to contact us if you have any questions about the ministry opportunities that are available.\u00a0 We\u2019d love to get together with you to talk about it.<\/p>\n

Contact us at Steve_Lawrence@ntm.org<\/p>\n

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You may be wondering how we are involved in this job.\u00a0 We\u2019ll start out by giving you a brief overview of our past and tell you about our current responsibilities, and then we\u2019ll work our way back through some of our previous ministries. Gay and I have been members of New Tribes Mission since 1976.\u00a0 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":199,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-2","page","type-page","status-publish","entry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/steve-lawrence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/steve-lawrence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/steve-lawrence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/steve-lawrence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/199"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/steve-lawrence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/steve-lawrence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/steve-lawrence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}