Jody – In my home church, the yearly missions conferences have always been a highlight in my life. Meeting people from other cultures and hearing the stories of other missionaries have fascinated me through out my whole life, and they still do. It was through a request in a prayer letter of a missionary who had visited my church 20 years earlier, that I was prompted to ask more information a the possible position. In response I received an application form and 9 months later I found myself as a secretary for the doctoral program at the Evangelical Theological Faculty in Belgium!

Marc – God first led me to serve in missions during a church service, when I was 10 years old - don’t ask me how, but I suddenly was overwhelmed by the conviction that God called me into his service. My parents had the habit of taking me to special missions conferences throughout the Netherlands. I always felled compelled to respond to the “call”. At some point, at the age of 16 or 17, I told God that I would love to work full time in his service, but that I still had quite a few theological and pastoral questions to be answered. So he put into the heart of my Grandma to pray and sent four different people on my path to instruct me to go and have a look that the Evangelical Theological Faculty in Belgium.

In June 1998, we moved to the beautiful and historical city of Tours. Our goal: planting a new church in the northern part of Tours, above the Loire River. This we did with a French couple. In August that year we started our first church services… in a living room with a dozen people. Until August 2001, the church group was never stable. People came from all over and more went to just as many places! The core group stabilized at 5 people, including us and a wild kitten. We were stripped “naked” in some way, but it was then that God started building up a dynamic and loving church, drawing many and blessing people literally from all over the world!

Over the years we have witnessed God being faithful and generous, even in the midst of challenges and needs. There is nothing or no one in the church that we haven’t asked God for: musicians, children, evangelists, meeting places, finances, salvation, baptisms, disciples, etc., and God has certainly provided!

In October 2002, thanks to ECMI, we were able to rent our first church premises on the northern bank of the Loire river. The place soon became too little and in November 2004 we moved to our present building on the opposite side of the street. We went from a one room (225 sq ft) to a two room building (450 sq ft)! And now we are in the middle of completely renovating our new rental place (2000 sq ft)! We got the keys on the first day of August. That night, basically the whole church was present to get a first impression and to dedicate the new premises to God.

For years we have been praying for a location in the heart of Tours North at one of the main roads. Miraculously, after looking at many places and about giving up, one of the church members felt compelled to visit one more realtor. The manager overheard the conversation between the agent and David, and thought: “Isn’t that the church of Philippe and Mélanie? But it’s a good church!” Thanks to Philippe’s testimony, she helped us to get the place. It’s right in the heart of Tours North and very near one of the two main intersections! To top it off: it has its own parking lot (something that is very much desired and often required)!

More important than a building is people. One of the great joys of last year (2007) was Mélanie coming to faith. It has been a few years now that we have been praying for her. It was wonderful to hear her pray on her wedding day, which is also an answer to prayer! Another joy was the baptism of three students last June (2007).

Thank you for being partners with us in the ministry and work of Christ in France!

Contact:

45 rue de Beaulieu
37100 TOURS
France

marc.vaneijden@ecmi.org

www.ecmi.org

Both Sandi and I grew up in missionary families, and as children were exposed to the overwhelming need for people to hear the gospel, and we were exposed to the lack of church planting efforts overseas.  Knowing all the blessings we’ve been given in Christ, the love of Christ was very apparent to us and brought us to a place where the least we could do was to be a living sacrifice

When Sandi and I met we were both in the training with New Tribes Mission and we were both preparing to go to Guinea.  As we met and fell in love, we felt it was the Lord’s confirmation for us that Guinea was where He would have us to serve.  The Lord led us to Guinea separately, but impressed on us the same thing, that there was a great need as little had been done in the country of 9 million people with only 1% claiming an evangelical background.

We are presently involved in a ministry titled “business administration and government representation”.  I am the person on the field who represent our mission agency to the government.  I help foster good relationships with government officials.  I submit reports and information to the necessary agencies.  Also I’m involved in business representation.  I take care of all exonerations for containers or vehicles coming into the country for our missionaries’ interior.  I represent them when getting new visas, vehicle paperwork, billings, airport pickup and drop-offs, and I help transition new and returning members to the field.   I also am involved in contingency planning for our field for emergency events.

There are many other aspects of our ministry, but I would sum it up in saying that what we do keeps the church planters in the tribes and hard at work without having to take unnecessary time out of the tribe to get these problems resolved.  We feel very much a part of the church planting effort in Guinea.  We are in daily contact with many of the interior missionaries to see that their needs are met.  The missionaries here are a team and family, and we work together to accomplish the goal of church planting among people groups that have never heard the gospel.

We live in the capital city, but it is unlike most cities in the world.  There is no electricity in the daytime and it only comes every other night.  Also in the dry time of the year, there is no water, so you have to haul it by hand.  So from the outset, the living conditions in the city are quite challenging.  Sometimes the water and electrical situations improves to a point where you think it will remain consistent, only to see it deteriorate again.   A good theme here would be “inconsistency”.  We have developed certain systems of “off grid” electricity for the home and office as well as water reservoirs on our roof.  Our ministry is one of dealing with planning and coordinating with people as well as a whole lot of last minute problems and emergencies that arise.  I’m the “go to” guy for those things.  I usually begin the day early and end around 6ish.  We spend the evenings together as a family.  Occasionally, I’m helping families get through customs at the airports and can be gone for the evenings with that. 

Recently we were relocated out of the country due to protests against the government.  It was a real test of trusting the Lord amidst hard circumstances, as well as resting in Him to give us the wisdom to handle what is before us, and the peace to get us through.

God is giving us opportunity to live before our children what we feel is important to us and we follow the Lord. We just had a nice break with both our families in the US and are ready to get back to serving the Lord alongside our co-workers in Guinea. 

We have been blessed with great co-workers, The Duecks, and recently the Yao’s (an African family).  They have been a great help and encouragement to the work.  Through their help, we have opportunity for a lighter load to enable some side time for ministry of encouragement to the national church.  Telecommunication improvements have made for better communications with missionaries interior and have improved the ability to meet needs and keep people at their posts longer.

The Guinean church is weak as it is very young and falling prey to many of the same problems Paul was finding in the Corinthian church.  The number of nationals turning to Christ seems to be increasing however.   Here in the city we are surrounded by many of these believers.  As we have opportunity we want to be used of the Lord to encourage them in reaching out to their own people groups interior to spread the gospel.

We have many works interior that have begun small churches.  These small pockets of believers are seeing persecution on a daily basis.  As they stand up for Christ it is beginning to have an impact on the region of Boke where our mission works.  Those persecuting them are beginning to see that their faith is real.  As a result there has been more opportunity for these believers to share their faith and become established.  This is a fragile, yet important time in these young churches.


Overseas Address: Mission Evangelique-NTM  
                         O30 BP 826 Conakry  
                         Republic of Guinea
                         WEST AFRICA
Statesode Address:  103 Woodrose Way
                           Venice, Fl 34293

E-mail: caleb_nicholson@ntm.org

Mission/Support Address: New Tribes Mission
                                 1000 E First ST
                                 Sanford Fl. 32771

 

How God first led us to serve in missions

Shane grew up as a missionary kid in Indonesia where his parents did church planting. The Lord used this first hand missions experience in his life to foster an interest in missions. As he attended Bible school in the U.S., the Lord confirmed in his heart that serving as a missionary overseas was His plan for Shane.

Libby went on two short term missions trips to Bolivia in 1992 and 1993. These trips are what God used to help her “catch the vision” for what God is doing in the world.  


How and when He led us to where we are

In 1996, after hearing about the Quechua people and many needs to reach them, we as a couple along with another couple and several singles began to talk and pray together about going to Peru. As we researched this people group the Lord began to direct us more specifically to information and other missionaries who knew of the specific needs.

Over the next few years the Lord changed the first original “team”, we joined Pioneers mission and we were put us in contact with some SIL missionaries in Huanuco Peru who had an interest in helping us. By 2002 we our team consisted of us and our children and our partners, the Casteels. We moved to Peru in July of that year and began studying Spanish with the goal of moving to Huanuco to begin learning the Quechua language.

In 2003 we moved to Huanuco and since then have been in the process of getting to know the Quechua people of the Ambo-Pasco dialect region, beginning to understand the needs and opportunities to meet those needs. Currently we and our partners are beginning to learn the Quechua language and culture. This language is a difficult one and has not been written down in a way that we can just take classes to learn it. So we are in the process of learning their language and culture by spending time in a Quechua village with the people.

The goal of our team is to learn the Ambo-Pasco Quechua dialect well enough to teach the Bible in a chronological approach IN QUECHUA to the people. In this particular area the Bible is only being taught in Spanish to people who don’t speak it very well. The Bible is being translated into Quechua and we desire to also use that when we begin teaching.

Our ministry

We are currently involved in learning the Quechua language and culture and developing relationships with the people, especially in a small village about 2 hours from Huanuco. The Lord has also brought along opportunities to help one of the churches in this village, sometimes with groups of people from the church or just individuals or families. These opportunities have provided a way to also get to know them and their culture better.
Here in Huanuco we have also been able to be involved in reaching out to children who have been abused or abandoned, many of them are Quechua.

Everyday life

Our everyday life consists of working on our goal of learning the Quechua language and culture. We sometimes have a Quechua couple come down from the village to help us for a few hours every day for a week with practicing simple sentences, words and phrases in Quechua, as well as listen to them read or tell simple stories in Quechua. In addition, we spend time asking them questions about their culture so we can begin to understand it.
Shane has been given the job on our team for the time being to wade through the information we have on Quechua grammar and begin to develop lessons for all of us on our team to use in Quechua language study. This is a HUGE task and it has been hard to make progress at this point not knowing much Quechua. We are praying that as we meet with our Quechua friends and begin to understand some of the simpler things that the Lord will give Shane and all of us creative ideas for making this huge task of learning this language a little bit easier.

Libby also home schools our two older boys everyday. We usually spend our mornings working on school when our minds are fresh. ☺ Of course cooking, cleaning, laundry, shopping and caring for the little kids is also part of her everyday life.  

What God is doing in our life, family, & ministry

We are beginning to learn that God’s timing in our lives is perfect. So many times over the past few years we have made our plans and then God has show us His. And over and over again we realize just how much better His is!

Another thing we are learning is that we are in a battle here! Satan is NOT happy and does not want to give up his territory. He does not want the Quechua people to hear and understand the Truth. We are therefore constantly under attack. Even though many times we feel overwhelmed with this we also know that we are more than conquerors in Christ. More and more we are realizing how much we need to cling to Christ and ask for His help and His strength as we face the enemy.

What God is doing in the lives of believers and non-believers

One young Quechua couple whom we have been getting to know have expressed to our team their burden to teach their own people in Quechua so that they might really and truly understand what the Bible says in their own language. It has been neat to see how God is leading believers like this couple even as we are in the beginning stages of language learning. What a help they are to us in this process!
As we dip our toes into Quechua we are beginning to realize just how confused these folks are when it comes to the Bible. 

Contact info

libandshane@eroam.net

Our mailing address:
Shane and Libby Rosengren
Casilla 345
Huanuco, Peru

I (Dan) was in seminary studing to be a pastor in the US with no intention of going overseas. It was in January of my last year when a missionary came to speak in our small church group. I was at that time getting my resume ready to send out. When we compared the need in the US to the need everywhere else in the world we knew we had to reconsider our plans. As we prayed the Lord gave us a peace about going overseas. At about the same time my brother who is/was a missionary in Portugal came home on furlough. He was all by himself and desperately needed help. It was a logical place to start praying about.

Here in Portugal my wife and I work in two churches, both quite small. I am also the Field Chairman for Portugal. We also helped start a ministry to drug addicts that has been turned over to Portuguese and we also were on the ground floor of a ministry to couples here in the north of Portugal. We are still involved in the second ministry. Our day here is similar to a day in the US only everything starts later. We get up at 7:30 rather than 5:30. I do things most pastors would do in terms of planning and sermon prep. We also teach English several times a week. In the evening we have meetings and most begin at about 9:00 pm. They can go on to midnight with no problem. Both Deb and I have luncheon appointments most weeks, but never a breakfast meeting. That would be unheard of.

God is working in our lives here and in the lives of the Portuguese in the churches. We will have a baptism in June and 5 will be baptized. We do some marriage counseling and discipleship. The focus here though has to be evangelism. At the beginning of the year we had everyone put the name of at least one person (non-believer) in a plastic easter egg. We keep them in a big bowl in the church. We have been praying for these people since then and recently Deb and I had over for dinner a young man whose name is in the bowl and a cousin of his. I think they are close to becoming believers.

Jeff and Kathy met in 1973 and where married in 1975. They both attended Florida Bible College and Jeff graduated in 1977. He and his wife, Kathy, were both missionaries to Bolivia, South America from 1989 to 1997. They have been with the mission since 1987. Currently Jeff is Partnership Development Director at the South America Mission.

South America Mission began in 1914 with an emphasis on reaching the tribal peoples of inland South America with the gospel. Rural and urban ministries grew as missionaries sought to witness about Christ in their changing contexts. Today we intentionally and strategically plant churches and train leaders across South America- churches that will transform communities to the glory of God. We are seeing the emergence of South Americans who are taking the leadership to plant churches and lead the way for the local church.

South America Mission is based in Fort Mill, South Carolina.

Website: www.southamericamission.org

When comparing the backgrounds of Sylvia and Rocky, the only conclusion is that they shouldn’t have ended up together, striving toward the same goal. She grew up in the Midwest, got good grades, and stayed away from sports and guys with long hair. Rocky spent his time wrestling and playing Frisbee in New Mexico, with his flowing locks restrained by a leather headband. He did go to class on a regular basis. As they got to Arizona State, both of them found Christ and through a conference became interested in the world. Their relationship grew alongside a global fascination (and improved academics for Rocky). After graduation, marriage, and some work experience, they headed to Africa, but godly counsel sent them to Dallas Seminary for four more years to learn some theology. As they approached graduation (again!), they considered France, Venezuela and Uganda. Sylvia said she would never go to a Spanish speaking country and voila, God shipped them off to Caracas.

Michaela (21, studying secondary education in Longview, TX) and Matthew (19 with engineering aspirations at NAU) came along, and they left in 1991. Whether working with college students, disaster relief or professionals, the Engels have never strayed far from their mission to start local congregations with Latin leadership. The most recent new church, Confraternidad Cristiana, has been blessed with male leadership and a visible location. In 2005, the church moved into a rented facility, which was renovated and now houses a variety of ministries. The two primary objectives during their next term (2007-2009) will be to mature this leadership and facilitate growth with a target of long-term viability. With this in view, there is always lots of relational time, administration of the church, and time invested in maturing the local believers. Recently there has been an increase in the male participation, which is a big boost.

As a family they have been changing due to both children being in the States working on their college degrees. This is the first term of “empty nest” in Caracas. Though they know this will provide additional flexibility, they will surely miss the contributions of the children to the ministry and the energy they provide in the house.

Just as their ministry has changed form without changing focus, so has their mission agency. With over 60 years of ministry in 60 countries, WorldVenture has worked to be effective in the areas of greatest need, both physical and spiritual. When the Engels joined, it was known as CBFMS, but in 16 years it has morphed into a diverse tribe that focuses on establishing communities of believers in lands where the gospel has yet to make its impact.

For more information the Engels can be contacted at rockyandsylvia@yahoo.com.

I (Ron) am a missionary kid from Guatemala. I helped my parents in their outreach work, and from an early age the Lord gave me the desire to be a missionary and spread His word and the knowledge of Him. I studied a Bible major at Asbury College, and during summers I went to Guatemala, Spain, and Italy to be involved in evangelistic outreaches. At Asbury College I met Brenda, a R.N. who was also studying Bible because she believed God was calling her into missions as well. We were married in 1977 and came to Spain in 1978 as 23 year old missionaries with European Christian Missions, International.

European Christian Mission, International is a 100 year old mission that is European in origin. It began in a prayer meeting in Estonia. ECMI has worked in Madrid for the past 35 years in the area of pioneer church planting. We began our personal ministry in Puente Genil, Cordoba of Andalusia, in the south of Spain. This town is 30,000 in population, and had a small group of believers, about 12, when we began working there. After 6 years, we began a work in another town, that of Montilla, about 30 km away. There were no known believers in this town. We had many outreaches in these towns and others, and the Church began to grow. We prayed for God to bring a team of missionaries together to help us in the work God had laid upon our hearts, and today there are 60 missionaries working in Spain with ECMI in church planting ministries. From 6 different hubs, we reach out into the surrounding towns in Cordoba and in Castellon provinces, as well as Madrid capital.

At the present we are in Madrid, where we have lived for the past 10 years. Ron’s main job description is that of being the Director for field ministries of 20 European countries, and being in charge of training and forming church planting teams. Apart from this responsibility, there is administration, vision casting, pastoral care, and representation in America. All of this involves quite a lot of travel. Brenda is coordinator for care giving to the missionaries in Spain, does counseling and mentoring/discipling, and hosts many visitors, does office work, etc. Ron is also deacon of missions for our local church, and we both teach Sunday School classes occasionally.

We have 3 children, 2 of which are married. Rachel is married to B.J. Whitaker, and they are at the E.C. Seminary in Myerstown, PA, and work in the Mt. Joy E.C. Church with the youth. Rachel is also a social worker therapist. They are preparing for mission work in the near future. Jenny is married to Philip Biddulph, and they are in Columbia, S.C. in a Hispanic church plant work. Phil is a translator, and Jenny is a R.N. in a newborn intensive care unit in Columbia. They are preparing for mission work in the near future, as well. Mark is still at home, beginning his junior year in high school. He is a basketball player, and teaches English classes, apart from being very busy with school and church activities.

Prayer Requests:

We are in spiritual warfare. Please pray for us to be effective in our work, and to live a life of faith and obedience and closeness with the Lord Jesus. Pray for Mark to grow spiritually, as well, and for the Lord’s protection and guidance over all of us as well as Rachel, B.J., Jenny, and Phil.

Pray for Ron as he travels, for the Lord to help in the work of forming church planting teams, training of leadership, representation in many meetings and all the administration that goes with the job. Pray for him to transmit encouragement, vision, and give help to the missionaries we are responsible for. Pray for the Lord’s help in the mission, for future growth and for the Church to be prosperous in Europe.

Pray for the missionaries in Europe. It is difficult and discouraging at times. There is only at most in Europe in any given country, 3% who confess a personal relationship with Christ. Most are agnostic and indifferent. Europe is not a 3rd world area, mostly, but the spiritual poverty is unbelievable. If only we could paint a proper picture of it so that others would be burdened for the spiritual needs! Please pray for workers to come to join us, and for those here to be effective.

Pray for Brenda as she disciples believers and reaches out to nonbelievers in the area where we live and move. Pray for her to continue learning in the counseling area, and to help others learn how to be effective in care giving, as well. Pray for her and Mark as Ron is away frequently. Pray for health and strength.

Would you like to help in our ministry? We have a current deficit of $900/month in our support fund account. We need a new car, as well. If you feel God is leading you to help in support and prayer, we invite you to contact us to be on our prayer letter list, or to email one another. You can reach us at
our field office, or our home, as well.

We need others to participate with us in forming part of a church planting team. This could be for as little as 6 months, or as a career missionary. If you know Spanish, you could be involved in a short-term missions opportunity, by contacting us. We look forward to hearing from you! Thank you for partnering with us in the way that God would have you to.

Stateside office contact:

Curtis Edwards, director ECMI/USA
161 Strasburg Pike
Lancaster, PA 17602-1323
U.S.A.

Telephone: 717 397 5455
Email: Curtis.Edwards@ecmi.org

European Christian Mission: www.ecmi.org

Birthdays:

Ron: March 17
Brenda: November 19
Mark: January 13, 1989

Anniversary: September 3, 1977

We are Todd & Tammy Comstock.  In the fall of 1981, one member of our church showed some slides of tribal people who have never hear the name Jesus.  After seeing these pictures, our hearts were touched with the fact that God has loved us enough to die for us but these people knew nothing of this great love.  After much prayer and considering what God would have us to do, we entered the training of New Tribes Mission with the purpose in our hearts to reach a group of people who were outside the reach of the gospel.  After finishing the training and preparations for the mission field, we felt very strongly that God was leading us to Bolivia, SA.
 
Since 1984, we have called Bolivia our home.  We have come to love the people of this wonderful country and we have been able to reach out to a tribal, the Ese Ejja Indian, in the northern most part of the country, along the vast river system.   For almost 20 years, we have been able to ministry to these people in many different ways.  From teaching them the Bible to help them plant crops; treating their sick to teaching them to read in their own language.  We have been blessed to be a part of the work God has done in the lives of the people.  Today there are several churches growing among the Ese Ejja and many born-again believers.  Working along beside one other couple, Mike & Cher, we have see God do many great and mighty things.  It has been our privilege to live and raise our families in an Ese Ejja village and be a part of God's wonderful plan to see His church established among this people.
 
Today, we are involved in helping other missionaries in Bolivia in the ministries that God has called them to do among the tribal groups in this dear country.  Using our experience, we are able to give some insight and understanding of how to serve the people better and see the church grow.  At the same time, we are still able to be involved in the on going ministry with the Ese Ejja, encouraging the Christians and making regular visits to be with them.

We are Scott and Nichole Welsh and we have two children, Stephen (9), and Giovanna(7).  We work in Peru, South America with the Caquinte people.  My (Scott’s) parents were missionaries in Colombia, SA with NTM and that is how I was exposed to missionary work and felt the Lord leading me in this direction starting in about the seventh grade.  Nichole grew up in Michigan and God led her into missions through the different missionaries that came to share at her church when she was younger. 

We met each other at the NTM Language Institute in Jan. of 1996 and were married in July of that year.  We went to Peru with the goal of partnering with some of the Indian believers there that had invited us to help them reach some of the isolated tribes there in the jungle.  We arrived in Peru in Jan. of 1998 and began our partnership with these believers.  A large part of our ministry at that time was on-site training of these believers in the area of cross-cultural ministry, as well as trying to locate the isolated people groups. 

Through God’s grace that partnership has been a tremendous blessing and an encouragement to us as they now have taken on that ministry on their own.  We ourselves have now moved into a different tribe called the Caquinte.  They have just recently received the NT in their own language, but they have not had much actual teaching in their language.  The Caquinte invited us to come and teach them about God and His Word.  Right now we are in the process of learning their language and culture with the goal of being able to teach and disciple them.  Ultimately we would love to see some of them then go on to be missionaries just as we were able to see happen among the other tribe we initially partnered with.
   
Most of our day, while in the village, is spent in language learning and building relationships with the people.  Also, Nichole is homeschooling the children in the mornings, and so that is a big job.  We have really been enjoying the Caquinte people and their friendships with us.  God has blessed us with their positive attitudes towards us.  We are looking forward to the day when we can begin to teach and disciple them in their language.  We really do cherish your prayers for us and the ministry that God is doing among the Caquinte.
 
Contact info:
Email: snsgwelsh@gmail.com
Phone: 011-51-61-57-8147
Address: Apartado 601
            Pucallpa
            Peru