How You Can be Involved

We have put much thought into the question of involvement.  The roles played by us, our coworkers in the field, and believers back home will have a vital impact on the ministry we are training to be a part of and our collective ability to fulfill the church's role in God's redemptive plan.

There is great precedent for the discussion about the church's role in missions to include two things: prayer support, and financial support, and we certainly want to address those here, but there is something greater we wish to see from the church.

Love.  Simply stated, the world does not need a church that works out of obligation or gives of it's time or resources out of tradition.  We need a church with a passion for God's glory and compassion for those still waiting to hear of it.  Many churches have this love, and we pray for still more, for it is with this foundation that our roles are most fully expressed.  I love the passage at the beginning of Paul's letter to the Colossians because I think it is a perfect illustration of our goal.  Paul, in writing to the Colossian believers, addresses a church planted by Epaphras, a coworker whom he and his companions had sent.  We long to play the part of Epaphras to the church back home, and this is what we pray would be your heart toward the people we hope to work among:

"We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all the saints— the faith and love that spring from the hope that is stored up for you in heaven and that you have already heard about in the word of truth, the gospel that has come to you.

All over the world this gospel is bearing fruit and growing, just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and understood God's grace in all its truth. You learned it from Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ on our behalf, and who also told us of your love in the Spirit.

For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins." (Colossians 1:3-14)

Can you see it?  A church with that kind of love and that kind of prayer life for a people separated by oceans but unified in Christ?  I smile ear to ear just thinking about it.

From a logistical standpoint, what we will need initially are the two things mentioned earlier: prayer support and financial support.

Prayer

As I hope we have already communicated, missions is not about what we're doing.  It is first and foremost about what the Lord is doing to redeem people from every tribe, nation, and language.  Our activity, if it is to accomplish anything, must be in sync with God's work in us and around us.  That is why your prayers are precious to us.  Our hope is to be able to communicate with you often to make known specific requests, and also to let you know about some general things you can be praying for each week, so that you can seek the Lord with us about the trials and blessings we will inevitably encounter.

Some of the things you can be praying for already are:

• Focus in our studies
• That we would trust the Lord to provide for us in all things
• That we would clearly discern what people group the Lord is calling us to, and that He would already be preparing them to hear and respond to His redeeming message
• For the other students training with us as we grow together and gain a better grasp of who we may be working with

Finances

New Tribes Mission primarily works with people groups that live off the grid.  In fact, most of them don't even know there is a grid.  For most, no one outside their own tribe has ever bothered to learn their language.  There is no one within their group who can teach them the Bible, which means an outsider has to move in to do it.

Our training with New Tribes Mission is meant to prepare us for the type of cross cultural church planting involved in reaching a tribe off the grid, but we can't do it alone.  We will need believers to partner with us by financially supporting our ministry.  As Paul said in Romans 10:14-15:

"How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach unless they are sent?..." (emphasis mine)

We ask that you simply pray about if or how the Lord might have you partner with us.

We know that more than anything else, the Lord will provide for us by putting His love for the nations in the hearts of His people. But we do challenge you to get involved somehow - if not with us, find another avenue in which you can support God's work among the nations.

How to give:

Through New Tribes Mission: There are currently three ways to give through NTM - by check, credit card, or by electronic fund transfer. 100% of the money goes to our account (unless you pay by credit card, in which case we pay the 3% fee):

By Check: You can mail a check to

New Tribes Mission
1000 E First St
Sanford, FL 32771

Please be sure to reference account number 900059 and/or Jim & Rachel Jobe on the memo line.  If the check does not have the account number designated, it will probably be returned.

By Credit Card: Visit our donation page at http://usa.ntm.org/missionaries/jim-and-rachel-jobe to make one time or recurring credit card payments and find answers to frequently asked questions.

By Electronic Fund Transfer (EFT): This method is the most convenient for setting up recurring monthly payments.  To set up an EFT, download and print this form and follow the instructions to fill it out.  Then mail or fax it to NTM (address/fax number included at the bottom of the form).  For more information about NTM's electronic fund transfers, click here.

NOTICE: You will receive a receipt from NTM, but at this time (while we're still in training), donations made to us through NTM are not tax deductible.  For information about NTM's financial accountability click here, and for general info about NTM's financial support, click here.

If you have any questions or would like to talk to us about anything we are doing, please feel free to contact us.  We absolutely love to share our heart for missions.

The Mission Front >> A Foundation for Missions >> The Plan >> How You Can Be Involved