In
today's day of tweets, instagrams, and all the latest and greatest
timely information that can be put out there, you can find out what
is happening practically anywhere in the world right at the current
time! I have read that the best distributors of information are the
ones who tweet the most timely information the instant things happen.
Well, I must be one of the worst, because I am going to give out some
information that is already 2 weeks old! And if you think that is
old, wait until I tell you about something that happened 60 years
ago!
Today, we are able to fly by helicopter to many of the tribal areas to bring them the Gospel, as this family is getting ready to do. It was not so in the old days.
About
2 weeks ago, I was asked to speak at a funeral of an elderly
missionary who passed away. Her name was Emma Ronquillo, and she was
one of the first 3 NTM missionaries to the Philippines. Her story
goes all the way back to the beginning of NTM.
If
you have any familiarity with the history of New Tribes Mission, you
will know that a lot of crazy things happened in the first few years
of the mission. The first 5 missionaries were killed by natives in
Bolivia in 1943 (10 years before the more well known Jim Elliot and
his team in Ecuador). Then there were 2 plane crashes, and the
founder of the mission, Paul Fleming, was killed in the 2nd
crash. However, shortly before the 2nd crash, he had
commissioned a young single lady named Lorita Enti-Dizon to come to
the Philippines and establish New Tribes Mission. She boarded a ship
with missionaries from several other organizations, some of whom were
returning to the Philippines in the years following World War 2, and
crossed the Pacific Ocean at a time when travel by boat was still
popular enough to compete with flying.
She
arrived in the Philippines and got to know some people in a local
Methodist church (New Tribes is generally non-denominational). There
she met these 2 Filipina ladies, one of whom was Emma Ronquillo, and
told them about her vision to establish New Tribes, and then begin
taking the Gospel to the unreached tribal people all over the
country. They hired an attorney to incorporate the mission, and he
drew up the documents, charging them only the fee for the seal
that made it official. So in 1952 New Tribes Mission was incorporated
in the Philippines for only 50 centavos!
These
ladies moved to Mindoro, hiked up into the hills and opened up the
Gospel to one of the Mangyan tribal groups. Then a few years later,
they moved to Palawan, and opened up the Gospel to one of the many
Palawano groups that are there. They served there for many years, and
afterwards served the mission in various other capacities.
So
two weeks ago when Ate Emma (Ate means older sister in Tagalog)
passed away, the mission asked me to represent the expatriate
missionary community at her funeral. You can listen to my short sermon here (don't be scared off by the few Tagalog words I spoke –
it is mostly in English).
So
how is a funeral for an elderly missionary relevant to us in the high
paced world today, when the latest hot news is right in front of us almost instantly? I offer up this reason – it is good to reflect
on the life of someone who has been faithful to God for all those
years. As I see and hear things on the news, we Christians are more
and more under assault for our faith. We don't bear any hatred
towards others of an alternative lifestyle or any other religion.
After all, we recognize that we ourselves are sinners in need of
God's mercy and forgiveness. However, because we believe that God has
spoken truth, and that truth is held by holy Scripture, we are more
and more being villified by the anti-Christian forces of this world.
It has been this way since the beginning, and it will continue on
until Christ returns and establishes His kingdom on Earth. So this
funeral is a call to faithfulness and endurance on the part of the
saints.
We
called it a celebration of life instead of a funeral – Ate Emma served the Lord Jesus
with her whole life for many years, and has now gone to her reward.
She carried no thought of an entrance into God's presence based on
her own good works, but based entirely on the finished work of Christ
on the cross. She is a fine example. And even though today it is so
easy to get all the instant messages constantly bombarding our brains
of what is happening here and now, it would be well for us to step
back from time to time and remember that we too will one day face our
Creator. These times we are in will pass us by – will we live a
life of service and devotion to our Lord, and happily enter his
presence one day? Or will we compromise with what the world says, and
give into the current trends in order to avoid the trials of this world?
We
thank you all and bless you for continuing to support this mission
and lift us up in your prayers! God is at work all the time, here in
the Philippines and wherever you are!
In
Christ for us all,
George
Here
are some pictures of our latest events:
High School Retreat at Faith Academy - every year they have an afternoon where they play some kind of crazy game. This year it was Ultimate Frisbee - with a cow tongue! Here are some pictures of the kids tossing around a cow's tongue:
Here are some pictures of Ginny teaching missionary kids at Faith Academy:
Here are some pictures of the church and the funeral, and me with Ate Lorita, who started NTM in the Philippines:
