Methods
Our objective is to plant churches by making God's design as clear as possible to the tribal people. This involves
being a learner for several years to understand culture and become fluent in the
language. This can also be a valuable time for building relationships and
setting patterns of discipleship. After language fluency is achieved workers
work toward Bible translation and teaching the Bible with Chronological lesson plans in the local language. From day one we try to keep in mind that this is God's work, not ours, thus we endeavor to develop tools (translation) and teach skills that will enable the tribal church to apply God's truth their own lives long after the missionary is gone. God alone changes lives for good. We are the messengers by which His word is made known to the remote people.
Tools & Equipment
Computers have become essential to rapid, accurate translation of the Bible. Aircraft also greatly speed the time it takes to see a tribal church functioning on its own.
Language and Culture Study
It has been proven time and again, even within NTM, that a person who has not taken the time to learn to communicate clearly to the understanding of the listener
most often does not effectively pass on truth to his audience. The end result is normally a
religion with a focus on human effort rather than a true Biblical church born of trust in the finished work of Christ. Thus NTM missionaries spend two or more years
learning the language and culture of the people with whom they will be working. To assist missionaries in language and culture acquisition, a series of consultant committees exist which consist of people who have training and experience in language and culture acquisition. The learner will go through four "checks" for evaluation of his or her progress in the language. The committee is part of the teamwork of missionaries established to encourage and help each other reach new tribes.
Bible Translation & Literacy
Bible translation is the key to establishing a church that will function on its own. Our purpose in going into a tribe is to show them that God has a message for them and a design for their lives. Translation makes that message available to each literate person in the tribe. Of course teaching literacy is a big part of that work, too!
Translation is quite involved. Usually a rough translation is made with a native speaker assisting with terminology and grammar. As material is translated it is tested against the understanding of other native speakers. Did the translation communicate to the native speaker the same information as the source document? Was it grammatically correct? What did the hearer understand?
After the translation is somewhat polished it will be checked by an experience translator for content, flow, understanding, accuracy, and readability using native speakers of the language and a Back to English translation. After correction and final checking the translated materials will be sent to the printer and distributed to speakers of that language.
Multiple languagues
