The past 4 months have been a time of spiritual growth for us. There have been a lot of trying times. It seems God is again stretching us beyond our limits, but His grace is sufficient. Physically, we have been going through some difficulties. Frank had some major oral surgery. It was somewhat more complicated than was expected, but it has all turned out very well. His dental work should be completed in about 2 weeks time. God blessed us with a dentist that is doing all the dental work for free, although we did have to pay for the surgery. Frank, Margaret and Tamara have all been receiving chiropractic care; Frank for some shoulder, wrist and back issues; Margaret for her back, neck and wrist, and Tamara for ongoing wrist and knee problems. It has been a wonderful blessing to find a chiropractor who is a believer and willing to help out our family without pay. Praise God.

Margaret’s back was not improving, so she went to a medical doctor and had an MRI done. The revealed some degenerated discs and also some bone spurs. She is presently getting cortisone shots in an attempt to relieve the pain. So far it has not been effective, but she is thankful for all of your prayers. Please keep praying.

Due to her back situation, Margaret has not been able to attend church on a regular basis and misses the fellowship. Her ministry at the Bible Institute has also changed. She is helping to grade papers. She enjoys doing this as it continues to teach her spiritual truth.

As most of you know we are also grieving the loss of Frank’s sister Anne. We were so thankful that we could spend a little time with her before her passing.

This past August our daughter Josie and Josh Dyck moved to Indonesia to be involved with NTM in a support ministry. The have one more week of language study left, then they will be moving to Pontianak where their ministry will involve accounting and guest house, etc.

Franz and Kristie are living in Florida and seeking direction from the Lord to possibly get involved in overseas ministry.

Rachel and Ryan are in the process of preparing to go to Dryden, Ontario, to serve at Camp of the Woods in full-time ministry.

Kara and Nate live in the Milwaukee Area and doing well.

Tamara is doing great at her studies here at N.T.B.I. She is also working part time as a teller at a local bank.

Financially things have been going a little more difficult. It seems we have gotten behind a little since last summer and have had ongoing extra expenses.

We are so thankful for all of your financial support. We have no doubt that God will continue to provide for our needs. He has never failed us.

In all of these situations we recognize the sovereignty of God in our lives and realize that all things are for our good and His glory.

Our prayer is that we will continue to glorify God in all we do.

Last weekend we were privileged to be part of a missions conference in our local church here. The theme was church planting. The main speaker was a missionary from PNG involved in a church plant. It was very encouraging

Our reason for being here at N.T.B.I. is to train people to reach unreached people groups with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. To this end we are at peace that this is where God has us to minister at this time. We would covet your prayers about the possibility of us returning to the field of PNG in approximately 2 years. In His service, Frank and Margaret Martens

(NTBI Waukesha)