Introducing New NTP MTW missionary Luke Smith

Luke grew up on a farm in west central Illinois. He went to college planning to pursue a career in agriculture. Through a couple of short-term missions trips with a campus ministry while in college at Western Illinois University, he started thinking about missions. Toward the end of graduate school at the University of Missouri, he was impacted by the missionary biography Through Gates of Splendor by Elisabeth Elliot, and his burden to be a missionary continued to grow. After completing graduate school, Luke went to Dallas Theological Seminary to further prepare for the mission field. While in seminary, he began to have a vision to serve in an area that was unreached and poor. He has continued to prepare by working with refugees in Dallas and serving in his church, New St. Peter’s Presbyterian . Luke has been called to work in rural Cambodia training pastors. The majority of the country’s population of 13 million live in villages spread throughout rural areas. It is a country struggling to recover from years of famine and civil war. Currently, fewer than 1 percent of the people are considered Christian.

You may contact Luke at LBSmith62@hotmail.com to find out more about his intended work and to schedule him to speak at your church.

Doug Serven's MTW Vision Trip to Greece

Note: North Texas Presbytery's MTW Committee provides Teaching Elders and key Ruling Elders of our presbytery with monetary assistance to go on MTW's Vision Trips. See here for information on MTW Vision Trips.

Last week I returned from Athens, Greece. I went there with a group of RUF campus ministers and with some MTW workers.

We arrived in Greece on Saturday night after the long flights on KLM from Atlanta to Amsterdam to Athens. We were picked up by Yodis, one of the Greek pastors in Athens. We stayed in a church near the port, and we had excellent accommodations there, especially the food from the woman who cooked for us - Vicki.

Unfortunately, my bags didn't arrive until Sunday afternoon, so that put me out of sorts for a time.

On Sunday, we worshiped with Yodis at his church, the biggest in the Greek Evangelical Church. It was a blessing to worship together with these dear brothers and sisters. The church was full, and it was Reformation Sunday, so we sang A Might Fortress Is Our God in Greek. To think of the worldwide church in every tongue and language, did my heart good.

I preached on Sunday night in Pastor George's church, which is nearby. They were excited to have just finished a project at a nearby town where they had planted thousands of olive trees to replace those burned in a huge, devastating fire. There was a passion for service there, a heart for people, a love for the gospel.

One of the days we were there, we trekked up to Volos, a mountainous port city in the north. We met Pastor Melatus there, and he took us to an excellent lunch while we discussed his work, his church, and his need for help. There are 5000 college students in that town, and they're trying to reach out to the city in love and service.

I might mention that these three pastors (George, Yodis and Melatus) all went to Gorden Conwell Seminary in Boston. All either have or are working on their PhDs, this is is a well-trained, educated pastorate. They are sending two more to seminary, and are wanting to plant churches in Athens - one to a university part of the the town and another to an immigrant community.

We toured two of the campus with the man who has been heading up the campus work there, Tim. He showed us around, explaining his heart for Greece, Athens and the university. We were able to meet many students, all of them who were passionate about the gospel and about getting together in fellowship. service and outreach.

We also had fun. We were able to tour the Parthenon, Acropolis, Temple of Zeus, Hadrian's Gate and Mars Hill. The historical value of Athens cannot be understated. To stand where Western Civilization began was truly breathtaking. Perhaps my favorite part was on Tuesday, when we were able to go to Aegina, a Greek island only an hour's ferry away. We rented mopeds and tootled around the island, trying not to get lost. The Aegean Sea always on our left, we circled the island until we stopped at a restaurant for one of the many great Greek salads I had.

I'd recommend you consider going to Athens and joining in what God is doing there:

* Church planting

* Campus ministry

* The faithful preaching and teaching of God's word

* Training and sending men to seminary

* Works of good for the community - food shelter, clothes, ministry to prostitutes, helping the city

* Involvement in a Bible college in Athens

There is much good to participate in. To learn about more opportunities, please contact Opal Hargrove: opal.hardgrove@mtw.org

November, 2008 Reports From Our NTP-MTW Missionaries

Note: we have not listed reports from NTP-MTW missionaries serving in sensitive areas of the world

OUR FEATURED MISSIONARY THIS QUARTER
Scott & Mary Ann Nelson #015418
MTW/Wycliffe Trinity Presbyterian, Plano

Scott and Mary Ann Nelson have been serving as missionaries with MTW and Wycliffe Bible Translators since their acceptance as members in 2000.Their first assignment was with the team in Nairobi, Kenya which provides the Scriptures in the heart language of unreached people groups in Africa.
Now based in North Carolina serving translation teams around the world, Scott provides computer support for Bible translators working in Africa, Europe, South America and parts of Asia. He maintains the servers and services to provide email, language/scripture text version control, remote collaboration and other tools used by translators and support staff. Mary Ann serves as a counselor for missionaries and their families with the stresses and issues they face.
With a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Texas A&M University, Scott worked for 12 years in computing before joining MTW. Mary Ann received her undergraduate degree from Wheaton College, an M.A. in Biblical Studies from Reformed Theological Seminary and an M.A. in Marriage and Family Counseling from Southwestern Seminary.
Together with MTW and Wycliffe, they seek to take God's Word-Life!-to those still waiting.
The Nelsons have three children: Leigh Ann, Drew, Peter
Scott_nelson@sil.org

Rick & Pam Box #010519 Bogotá, Colombia Christ Presbyterian, Flower Mound
In Colombia, Rick is working with the Colombian leaders in training and church planting. Rick pastors the only English speaking church in Colombia and assists in the development of three church plants. They are beginning training centers in English and Spanish in their church building this fall.
On a more personal note, Pam was able to be with her father when lung cancer took his life. Our condolences go to the family and praise for his Christ honoring life..
rbox@mtwsa.org / pamelajbox@yahoo.com

Dawn Brady Sparks #010572 Ukraine Fifth Street Presbyterian, Tyler
Dawn is currently in the U.S. on HMA. She and her new husband, Steve, are living in Austin as they seek to determine whether God is sending them back to Ukraine in the near future.
Meanwhile, Dawn is continuing many of her country-wide financial and administrative duties from the U.S. as she supports the Ukraine team from this side of the ocean. Please pray for Dawn and Steve as they seek to follow where God is leading. You can keep up with them on their ministry blog.
dbrady@mtwukraine.org www.sparksministry.org.

Andrew & Rebecca Bronson #010731 Thailand Park Cities, Dallas
“We are well into our first year of seminary work at Covenant in St Louis. Classes are going well, and we've quickly realized we have so much to learn! Andrew is working part-time for MTW while in school, continuing to support the work of MTW Thailand from the States assisting in fund-raising and administration. We continue to pray about the specifics of God's plan for us after seminary, even though that's a few years away - and we plan to spend next summer in Bangkok supporting the team.”
bronsons@mtwthailand.org www.mtwthailand.org

Ruth Dinkins #011718 Brazil Christ Presbyterian, Tulsa
“I arrived back in Brazil the 16th of July and in Patrocínio the 19th. Classes began the 4th of August. I have 2 classes with the first year in their field work, and 2 classes of Christian Education Theory with the 1st year. The rest of my time is observing students in their field work, helping in our work shop, translating materials, producing materials, and informal counseling. I am sorry that I was not able to get to TX to get to know you folks. One of these times it will work out for me to get down your way.”
dinkinsmr@hotmail.com

Peter Dishman #011731 RUF-UNAM, Mexico City MTW/RUM Town North, Richardson
“We are past the midpoint of the semester and headed into the final stretch. The Lord has brought some new students to the group and some newer students to faith. Pray that our group might finish strong this semester, and in particular for interns Josh and Amy Oettle as they finish their term of service here and head back to the US.”
pwdishman@gmail.com http://www.rufmexico.org/ (English) http://www.curunam.org/ (Spanish)


Caleb & Aimee Dunn #011783 Mexico Church Planter Training Park Cities, Dallas
Back home in Monterrey (after HMA), where he grew up; Caleb continues ministering as the Director of the Theological Institute of Ministry in partnership with RTS Charlotte. The institute currently supports church planters and lay leaders with a B.A. in Theology, and also offers continuing education for presbyteries. He also continues to work toward his D.Min in Pastoral Counseling at WTS Philadelphia.
caleb@mtwmex.net / aimee@mtwmex.net

Ben Graber #012803 Eastern Germany Fort Worth PCA
At the end of his first year of two: “How do I talk about a year like this? We were a little church meeting in a cafe when I got here….. But we are a little church with a home, a team of missionaries who have Done Ministry In the Community…. So here we are, trying to grow into the bigness of what He seems to be doing.”
Ben.graber@gmail.com http://bengraber.blogspot.com

Josh & Amy Oettle #015711 UNAM, Mexico City Park Cities, Dallas
The fall semester is well under way for students at the UNAM. Josh and Amy and the team are working with Bible studies and English Clubs and getting in touch with old students and new students. Josh and Amy are soon to finish their short-term mission and return to the States. Pray that their decisions about their future be always glorifying to God.
Josh.oettle@gmail.com http://joshandamyoettle.wordpress.com

Howard and Deidre Shelden #016816 Wycliffe/Dallas New Covenant Presbyterian, Dallas
Deidre directs personnel administrators in the Dallas office of Wycliffe USA, helping with the difficult decisions needed to care for and deploy Wycliffe missionaries. Howard writes promotional and publicity materials about Wycliffe missionaries' achievements and milestones to enhance credibility in academic circles and in foreign government relations.

Doug & Masha Shepherd #016819 Ukraine Christ Presbyterian, Tulsa
Doug and Masha have finished a busy summer training 6 American two-month interns in L'viv. The team also hosted a one week English Camp in the Carpathian Mountains for 53 Ukrianian university students. The team is now busy following up these contacts and starting a few bible studies. The Shepherds are scheduled to visit the States (Home Assignment) for three months this winter. Continue to pray for converts. Free2travel98@yahoo.com

NEWS FROM BEAMM Border Evangelism and Mercy Ministries

Steve Milvain, Village Seven PCA, is the Chairman of BEAMM Partnership.

Next Partnership Meeting – November 14-15 at Redeemer PC, Overland Park, Kansas.

BEAMM Partners NTP Are: 5th St., Tyler, Ft. Worth PCA, Redeemer, McKinney, and Westminster, Gainesville. steve@milvain.com

The search for land for a community center in Juarez continues.

The donated 14,000 sq. foot building for Dios Soberano (Sovereign God) Mission, Mexicali, Western Region has been dismantled and is being stored at El Centro, CA, in preparation for being exported to Mexicali.

Missionary Units or Church Planters now headed for the border: Jeff & Heather Vaughn are now settled in El Paso; Charles & Bonita Davidson are scheduled to join the team in January 09; Ray & Michelle Call are in language school in Edinburg, Texas; Rick & Sharon Marooney, Julio & Arlette Navarro, Gary & Kay Whiting,.

Personnel Needs: BEAMM Regional Director - Eastern Region: Career:
English Language Trainers: Intern, Two-Year, Career:
Seminary Instructors: Two-week, Two Year, Career:
Contact Gene Bowman, 915-838-3747, glbowman@BEAMM.org
Summer Interns to host Summer Mission Trips – 2008,
Contact Luann Bowman, luannbowman@BEAMM.org

Check in at www.BEAMM.org to keep abreast of events on the border.