The Plan

We feel a certain urgency when we think about the task before us.  After all, people die every day all over the world without ever hearing God's word. We must, however, be purposeful in our approach to missions.  Our goal is not to rush in, get a few converts and call it a day.  Our goal is to plant a mature church which will reproduce itself and be part of a church planting movement among their people.  A mature church can feed itself spiritually from God's word.  Ideally, we will work ourselves out of the job.

While there are many characteristics of a mature church, there is one main foundational requirement: the Bible.  Every people group needs to have God's word translated into their language.  Of course, if you want to study the Bible on your own, you must be able to read it.  Literacy is a requirement.  Many tribal groups today do not have a written form of their language, which means that before the Bible can be translated, we must create the written form and teach [at least some of] them to read and write it.  For me, to think about all that has to happen for this mature church to come into existence is somewhat daunting.  Thankfully, we can trust in God to accomplish our task.  "Now go," he says, and "I will help you speak and will teach you what to say" (Exodus 4:12).

The Timeline

Here is what we are looking forward to (in phases, because it sounds official-like):

Phase I - Training & Preparation (current)

Our training will consist of two years of Biblical studies at the New Tribes Bible Institute (NTBI), followed by approximately two years of study at New Tribe's Missionary Training Center (MTC).  The MTC will involve learning how to plant a New Testament church cross-culturally, and studying how to learn an unwritten language and produce an accurate Biblical translation.  At this point we will begin to have an idea about who we might be working with in the field and what specific area we will be heading to.

Once we have completed the training, we will work to develop and complete our prayer and financial support, and begin preparations for moving to our region.  When we arrive in the region we can begin to study the trade language and get a general feel for the culture of the area.  This will be our chance to get over the culture shock and learn some of the basics about how to foster good communication in a foreign culture.

At this point we will also begin to survey tribes in the region to determine the best location for us.  We will travel out to meet with tribal leaders as we seek the Lord about where He will lead us.

Phase II - Language & Culture Study

The most immediate task before us as we enter the tribe will be acquiring the language.  This will be an intense time of developing a relationship with a language helper and working with him/her to become fluent in the tribal language.  Along with language we will begin to study the culture so that we can understand the worldview in which we will be working.  It is incredibly important to understand the worldview before we attempt to communicate God's message, because if we do not know how they will interpret what we are saying, we are in danger of communicating a very different message.  Once we have reached a certain level of language and culture competency, we will begin preparing for the Bible presentation.  The first step will be to develop the written language (if necessary) and begin literacy classes for the tribal people, and to begin translating Bible stories into the tribal language.

Phase III - The Gospel & The Church

If you are going to tell someone the life changing story of the Bible, where do you start?  For nearly all my christian life I probably would have said you start with the gospel.  After all, that's the important part, right?  The problem with that approach is that we fail to take worldview into account.  Would it do any good to tell a person who has no concept of the Biblical God or the nature and consequences of sin that God sent His son to die for their sins?  What could they possibly do with that information?

A while back I was talking to Doug Schiable, an NTM representative who previously spent 10 years working among a remote tribe in Papua New Guinea.  He was telling me about one of his early encounters with the people of a village on one side of the island who had had missionaries come through about 10 years prior and share the gospel in the trade language.  Out of curiosity, he asked them who Jesus was.  I don't have the exact quote, but I'll paraphrase.

"Sure we know who Jesus was.  He was a guy that came to the other side of the island and was a really good dancer."

You see, those villagers had no concept of the Biblical worldview in which the gospels make sense, and the story was told to them in a language that they only used for dealing with outsiders.  So naturally, they tried to reconcile the account of Jesus in the context of what they knew:

Jesus was killed, but why would anyone want to kill him?  Well, most likely it was because the other men were jealous of him.  But why would the other men be jealous of him?  Obviously it was because all the women liked him.  Why would the women like him?  Well the most likely reason would be that he was a really good dancer.  So Jesus came to the island, danced really well and impressed all the women which made the men jealous, and they murdered him and buried him perpendicular to the hill in the shape of the cross.

How important is worldview?

That is why we start at the beginning.  Who is God?  What is he like?  The Bible story starts in Genesis, so we start there as well.  God created.  Man sinned and learned that there were consequences for sin.  God promised a redeemer.  As you work your way through the Bible you see the character of God and the helplessness of mankind to deal with their sin.  You begin to look with anticipation for the promised one.  You see a shift in worldview that allows you to understand the gospel when it's presented.

We will teach chronologically through the Bible for approximately 5 months.  Only God knows what the result of that teaching will be, but we look forward with great joy to the start of a tribal church.

Phase IV - Discipleship & Completing the Translation

The start of the tribal church will bring another transition in our focus.  Our goal is not to lead the church, but to disciple the new believers to maturity in Christ and see who the Lord raises up to leadership among them.  During this time we will continue to work to complete the translation of the Bible, and encourage the church to be obedient to Christ's call to preach the gospel to their people.

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