Daren and Cindy Spence
July Newsletter
You may remember us mentioning the Carpenter family a few months ago. Here they are arriving in Pontianak when I picked them up at the airport terminal.
After finishing up their study of the Indonesian language and getting oriented to the province of West Kalimantan, Noel and Kathy began making preparations to move into a village with their partners, Tim and Andrea Ullum. They were able to actually find a house for rent in the village where the Ullums have been living and studying the language of the Jelai people group. Noel arranged to have screens put on the windows, doors installed (that’s important), and of course, a bathroom installed. Finally, moving day arrived. “Will it ALL fit into a small Cessna?”, they wondered.
Well…no, it didn’t (the rest will go on a future flight), but we did manage to get all the essentials in; most importantly, all of the family members.
After a prayer by my co-worker Gerhard, the engine was started and the Carpenter family was headed to their new home.
As I watched the airplane carry the Carpenters off into the distant skies of Borneo, I felt as if this was the completion to a series of steps the Carpenters had made to prepare for this moment; a series of steps we had joined them in. We first met Noel and Kathy in missionary training in Pennsylvania back in late 2002. Later, our two families moved to Missouri for further training with New Tribes Mission. At that time, we did not know where we, or the Carpenters, would end up serving. So, you can imagine our excitement to eventually discover that the Lord had led both of our families to Indonesia.
While this move is the culmination of much preparation, it is also the threshold of a new beginning. The Carpenters will now be immersed into a new culture, with a different language. Please pray for Noel, Kathy, Megan, Amy, Kyle and Matthew as they now face many challenges. They will be stretched in many ways and required to adapt and make many important decisions that will impact their relationships with the people around them. Please pray for them to experience God’s peace, joy, and contentment as they seek to make Christ known in a tribe with previously no gospel witness.
Thank you for your prayers for the Carpenter family, and for us as we support theirs and the work of other tribal church planters.
In Christ,
Daren
Serving with New Tribes Mission in Indonesia
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Daren and Cindy Spence
YMMP Box 1057
Pontianak, 78010; KAL-BAR
INDONESIA
Home ph. 011-62-561-763-107 (as dialed from the USA)
Daren's mobile ph. 011-62-812-562-6374
Cindy's mobile ph. 011-62-812-562-6375
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