MISSION PROGRESS REPORT

January 1991

FINAL FRONTIERS FOUNDATION, INC.

MISSION PROGRESS REPORT

January 1991

FINAL FRONTIERS FOUNDATION, INC.

Thailand, Burma, Laos, China, Bhutan, Tibet… no country seems to be immune to the ministry of Jimmy Tachinam (adopted name) and his army of trained church-planters, who storm the gates of hell daily, preaching the Gospel to the Akha, Rawang, Jinghpo, Lisu, Karen, Wa, Lahu, and Hmong tribes (and that’s just a partial list).

From remote, mountaintop Bible schools, these preachers and their helpers go forth to boldly proclaim the Gospel to those who have never before heard it. For over four years, it has been the privilege of FINAL FRONTIERS to help subsidize the ministry of this valiant servant of God.

MISSIONS INFORMATION

The MISSIONS PROGRESS REPORT is a monthly publication of the FINAL FRONTIERS FOUNDATION, INC., and is distributed free of charge. The purpose of FINAL FRONTIERS is to effectively take the Gospel to those who have never before heard it, over three billion souls!

Currently, we minister in Thailand, India, Bhutan, Tibet, Burma (Myanmar), Cambodia (Kampuchea), Vietnam, Laos, China, Nicaragua, Honduras, and Mexico (primarily in countries closed to American missionaries, but open to FINAL FRONTIERS because of our unique method of missions).

Various outreach ministries include:

• Bible translation and distribution
• Radio and television broadcasts
• Camps and Bible schools
• Outdoor evangelistic campaigns
• Prison ministries
• Correspondence courses in Biblical studies
• Medical relief
• Child feeding and education programs
• Most importantly, church planting through the efforts of our missionaries and the national and native preachers supported by this Foundation.

Additionally, for missionaries and believers in America, we also offer mission trips and missionary training.

It is our belief that the training and subsidizing of national and native preachers is the most efficient and effective method of global evangelism. As such, we seek to raise prayer and financial support from believers in America for God’s servants abroad.

Selection of those we sponsor is dependent upon their doctrinal beliefs, need, and worthiness. We seek to support only those who are serving by faith, never those who are waiting for a salary in order to serve. Worldwide, the average preacher in a third-world country needs as little as $25.00 each month to survive.

FINAL FRONTIERS, as a non-profit, religious corporation, is governed by those serving on the Board of Directors, whose names are:

• Rev. Jon Nelms, founder-chairman
• Mr. Greig Vernon, vice president
• Mr. Jack Nelson, secretary-treasurer
• Rev. Nelson Baker
• Rev. Robert Wynveen
• Rev. Tommy Tillman
• Rev. Gene Carpenter
• Mr. Raymond Chin
• Rev. Michael Corsini

Contributions and gifts to this ministry are tax-deductible and are applied to the ministry’s worldwide evangelistic outreach. FINAL FRONTIERS is classified as a 509(a)(1) non-profit, tax-exempt corporation under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.

WOMEN’S PRISON UPDATE

Written by Joycelyn Salanguste, the women’s leader in the Bangkwan Women’s Prison, Bangkok, Thailand.

Joycelyn’s sponsors: Pat Kordusky – WV, Shannon Miller – GA

My mother and I are doing fine and surviving, despite our condition here. Thank God we have our Savior to protect us and give us joy, peace, and many blessings. He is wonderful, and I can’t thank Him enough for all the blessings He’s pouring into my life.

Our church is still going on; most of those who attend are from Catholic background. They thought they were saved because they know who Jesus is. I recently spoke to them on the subject, “Are you prepared for the judgment day?” You should have seen their reactions as I read the different scriptures. After the Bible study, they all got scared when they knew where they would go if they died in their sins. They realized they were not saved, and nine of them accepted Christ that day! One of them was a Muslim.

Pat Kordusky is still in contact with me, and she sends me books and Chick tracts, which everybody likes to read.

THE JON NELMS FAMILY

Jon, Juanita, Daniel, Sara Beth

The work continues to grow! All along, it has been our desire to subsidize the works of national and native preachers. At first, tradition caused such a “concept” to be a hurdle too high for many to jump. As more and more has been accomplished with less and less (through the sacrifices of these preachers), many have adopted this philosophy into their missions budget. It has been proven to be an effective method of spreading the Gospel, especially in closed countries.

Yet in all of this, we never want to give the impression that we are opposed to the sending of a non-national to the mission field. Of course, there would have to be guidelines and a willingness on the American’s part to live like the people he ministers to. I knew the day would come when such men would contact us wanting to serve in this work, I just never thought it would happen so soon. This week, I have been contacted by three such men and their families. I am asking you to pray that God will give us wisdom to know how to approach this expansion of the work. But be assured, we will never defer from our main purpose of subsidizing the national preachers!

Along those lines, we are about to welcome the pastor of one of our supporting churches, to the ranks of those volunteers who actively involve themselves in raising funds for the ministry and in visiting the mission field themselves (more on that later). Such involvement guarantees this to remain a “local church” ministry.

As you read this report, I am in Central America, preaching the Gospel in Honduras and Nicaragua. We are prepared to preach at a military base, in villages during the day, and in arenas at night. We expect to be filmed and aired on national television as well. Pray for a great harvest of souls for the Lord, for the ten newly supported preachers there, and the fourteen newly supported preachers in Bombay and Calcutta, India.

Yours for souls,

Jon Nelms

A PICTORIAL UPDATE

All the photographs below are in reference to various articles from last month’s MISSIONS PROGRESS REPORT.

JIMMY TACHINAM

Edited by Jon Nelms

My name is Jimmy Tachinam. I was born in 1940 to an ignoble family in the region where Burma, Tibet, China and India meet, where the snow never melts. When I was very young, my parents died. During World War II, I saw two planes flying in the air and fighting each other.

After finishing Middle School (grade 9), I studied the Bible for two years and taught at a school where I also served as Headmaster for five years.

In 1965, I was appointed at the Rawang (tribal) Bible Translation Center in Putao to assist American missionaries in translating the Scriptures. For seven years, I worked on hymn and Scripture translation while I studied in High School during the evenings. In 1971, I moved into Thailand and began making radio sermons for the Rawang and Kachin tribes. I am Rawang.

While living in Thailand, I began evangelizing among the Akha and Lahu tribes. During that time, I trained young men to do the work of the ministry. In fact, I trained 120 men and Bible-women (helpers) and established churches in 40 Akha villages and 26 Lahu villages. We converted and baptized over 2000 Laotian refugees in Thailand. Of those, more than 100 families have been relocated in the state of California in America. During this time, I translated hymnbooks for the Akha, Lahu, Rawang, Naga, and Hmong tribes.

While I have been very busy in evangelism, I have also felt it important to be training others to preach the Gospel.

About five years ago, I started the Zion Hill Short Term Bible School, after the pattern of the Putao Bible School I had started earlier in northern Burma. The students are all preachers and Bible-women who help start churches. They do not all have the Bible in their languages, so we began the school to help teach them. Because we had problems with the Thai local officials, they required us to close our school. Soon they allowed us to reopen, but we cannot meet continually. Therefore, the students come for training one to two weeks monthly, then return home. I now have 60 young preachers working with me. Seventeen of these are in Yunnan, China. Together we evangelize in Thailand, China, Laos, Burma, India and Tibet. Upon establishing a church, several men will remain as the rest of us continue on to other villages establishing more churches. Sometimes these preachers have to travel many days to attend our classes. Because of this, we have begun making cassette recordings of the classes and sending them to the churches. For this project, we need many used tape recorders.

Several years ago, while I was very busy, my wife became ill and this discouraged me. Something has happened to her brain, and the doctors cannot help. It was during this time that I met Brother Jon Nelms, and his (FINAL FRONTIERS’) gifts greatly encouraged me and helped to pay our medical bills. The $100.00 sent each month also enabled me to assist four Lahu evangelists. The help came at the right time. So far this year, my wife has not been troubled.

Since 1986, we have built bamboo houses which have helped us to train 20 young men and ladies of the Akha tribe. Paul, who I led to Christ, and JaVong, my father-in-law, assist me in training these students. Our plan is to use these students to reach the Akha in Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, and China. There are many who have not heard the Gospel. In China, there are more than 90,000 Akha waiting to hear about Jesus. I hope you can help us with support for these young preachers. For the 20 students, we need only about $300.00 monthly ($15.00 each).

Recent reports from the students returning from China stated that more than sixty people accepted Christ among the Rawang, Zewang and Ganong tribes. All this by our missionary-evangelist students from Thailand. They were able to give Bibles and hymnbooks to some, but we need many more.

Please pray for my family and our ministry for Christ, that together we can expand the kingdom of God on this earth. If God leads you to help in our project, please do so. Since we are independent, we have nobody else to turn to but you. Maybe you are God’s instrument for us. There are so many more to tell about Jesus, so we need encouragement and strength in our task.

Aw Tu, Baw Du, Ya Tu, ABo, Paul, Simon and Ja Pe send their greetings. We are hoping for your next visit with us. The church at Nonghpam which Ai Yi began is strong. Ai Sing and Ai Khum, who are working with the Laotians in Nan and Chiengrai provinces, still need sponsors for their works.

POSTSCRIPT

When I first met Jimmy Tachinam, I felt that I had come in contact with one of God’s choicest servants. After more than four years, I still feel that way. Jimmy is untiring in his service for Christ. In fact, among the preachers, is the agreement that no one works harder than Jimmy.

In addition to being a strong preacher, he is also musically gifted and can play almost any instrument given to him. Besides translating hymns, he also composes hymns and scripture songs according to the tribal melodic intricacies peculiar to the twelve tribes, whose languages he speaks. Jimmy himself has a strong bass voice. The believers refer to him as a “songbird.” Every visitor I have taken to see his works has stood in amazement, listening to these “stone-age” believers singing in four-part harmony.

Jimmy could live comfortably on the $100.00 we send him monthly. Instead, he shares it with other men who do not yet have sponsors. Sometimes, he will purchase several acres of land for a tribal church, so that they cannot be forced off by the local Thai and lose their crops. Two years ago, Jimmy completed a nice wooden house, protected from floodwaters by being perched on stilts. Before long, there were more preachers needing support. Jimmy sold his house and gave the money to the preachers. Now he lives in the border town of Mae Sai. His house is made of concrete blocks. His bathroom and water supply is outside. His floor is dirt, and he is happy.

HOW MUCH DO YOU KNOW ABOUT THE NATIONS OF ASIA?

BANGLADESH: The modern missions movement began in this nation nearly 200 years ago. Today, the estimated Christian population is 0.1%.

BHUTAN: All public worship, evangelism and proselytization is illegal. There are about 1,200 Protestants meeting in house groups. There are only about 10 known believers among the Drukpa majority. Only the Gospel of Mark is available in Dzongkha, the national language.

BRUNEI: Islam is the state religion. The free practice of other religions is guaranteed, but missions are not allowed to operate. No evangelism is permitted among the Muslims, and there are no known believers who have come from this community.

BURMA: Buddhism is no longer the state religion, but it comprises 87% of the total population. Missionary work began in 1813 with the work of Adoniram Judson, and today Protestants comprise 4.7% of the total population. The church has experienced steady growth at nearly 4% annually. The most remarkable growth has taken place among the tribal people.

CHINA: China is by far the largest nation on the earth, comprising about 22% of the world’s population. The elimination of all religious groups has always been the ultimate aim of the Marxist government. Present government policy is to tolerate religious belief and allow worship under government supervision. At one point, there were 8,500 missionaries in China. Today, there are none. Possibly 500 million have yet to hear the gospel for the first time. Seventy percent of the population have only lived under Communist rule.

HONG KONG: With 5,108 people per sq. km., this nation is one of the most densely populated areas of the world. There are over 900 Taoist and Buddhist temples in Hong Kong. Ten percent of the population is involved in the underworld of crime and secret societies. The countdown to 1997 dominates the thinking of the citizens. Pray that the church will be larger and stronger before this rapidly approaching deadline.

DID YOU KNOW…

…the “piggy bank” was originally created by mission societies as a fundraising method to provide missionaries in China with money to buy piglets?

…early missionaries to Africa packed their belongings in coffins because they had such a short life expectancy?

…tropical diseases generally claimed their lives within only one year of arriving on the mission field?

…medical missions originated with the intention to prolong the life of missionaries, not the nationals?

…that given the present conversion rate to Christianity, it is estimated that by the turn of the century, black African Christians will outnumber those in the West?

…according to the Sudan Interior Mission, the Christian population in Zaire, during the decade that spanned from 1968-1978 (a time when all missionaries had been expelled), grew from less than one million to more than six million?

…that by the year 1900, the Christian population in the Pacific islands comprised a larger percentage of their population than did the Christians in America or Canada?

…in New Guinea, there were once more missionary graves than there were native converts?

SPEAKERS SCHEDULE

The following cities will host men representing the ministry of FINAL FRONTIERS from January 1 through February 20, 1991.

For information on the times, dates, and locations, call 1-800-522-4324.

JON NELMS:

• Summerville, SC
• Melbourne, FL
• Columbus, GA

Pray for Jon’s Central America trip in January.

LEWIS NELMS:

• New Buffalo, MI
• Mattawan, MI
• Hershey, PA
• Mechanicsburg, PA
• Danville, PA
• Pittsburg, PA
• Greensburg, PA
• Uniontown, PA
• North Platte, NE
• Luverne, MN
• Cedar Rapids, IA

YOUR TURN

Please apply my contribution to:

__ I can help with support each month for:

___ a native or national preacher (name: __________) ___ a FINAL FRONTIERS missionary (name: __________) ___ wherever most needed

Through the funding and prayers of American believers and the labors of national and native preachers, we endeavor to effectively present the Gospel of Jesus Christ where it has never been preached before. Pray for us as we do.

• Churches started to date: 131
• Salvation decisions: 20,000+

In order to help, I have: ___ read the MPR ___ prayed for the workers ___ sent in a contribution ___ referred this ministry to a friend or pastor