New Tribes Conference!

The Holidays are over and we have settled back into normal routine. The weather is great though. We are having very cool evenings and mornings and the temps are not too hot during the afternoons with a nice breeze all day.
Last week we enjoyed a nice conference with New Tribes Mission in the Philippines. Allan and I led the conference for the Elementary School kids. We enjoyed getting to know the kids and other missionaries. New Tribes Missionaries are on the front lines of missions. The vision of New Tribes Mission is to plant tribal churches to reach people who have never had a single opportunity to hear the Gospel. These missionaries go to the far reaches of the world to live among and minister to unreached groups of people. They live out among the tribes in very basic conditions often with sporadic power and water. 12 of our 17 kids at the conference live out among tribal people and are homeschooled. I don't know what I expected from kids who live in the far reaches of the Philippines, but surprisingly they seemed to be well adapted to their environments.
Allan got to do a little doctoring and trouble shooting for some of the missionaries and even removed an ingrown toenail, performing before a crowd of missionaries who wanted to watch. These missionaries often have to take on the role of doctor out in the tribe just by the presence of their white skin. Scott and Larry Holmes and now Allan provide a valuable resource to the missionaries who need medical help and advice through email, phone and even in person.
During the week we heard many stories of what life is like out in the tribes and what ministry is going on there. Some places are harder to reach than others. Some groups are unreceptive to the gospel and conditions are dangerous, often due to Muslim influence. But we heard many stories where the people are embracing the gospel and communities are being changed. One couple we met have lived in the northern region on the island of Mindanao for the last 22 years. They moved there in 1983 and their partners moved there in '81. This was the first entrance of a white man into this culture. The religion there was animistic requiring frequent sacrifices of animals and even young children. Unwanted babies or those with birth defects were often buried alive. These 2 families, and later a 3rd, moved into this area and began learning the language. Relationships developed and after a few years they began to share the message of hope that we have in Christ. The church in this area is now self sufficient. The original 2 couples remain to finish the translation of the Bible and developing some Bible teaching. They hope to completely move out of this area in the next few years. That is the goal of church planting missionaries--to work themselves out of a job. To see the Church become self reliant and begin to stand on it's own. Our week was encouraging and relaxing and we loved it. If you would like to see more pictures of the kids we spent the week with you can go to a new page in our website and click on the New Tribes conference picture. We hope to be adding even more pictures there in the next few weeks of our life here.
The photos are at http://www.philippinemission.com/FamilyFun.html