My wife, Megan, and I never felt like we were called to missions. We did not have a feeling, or an emotional experience as some do. We were not called in any fantastic way; like writing in the sky or an audible voice telling us to go to the Philippines. Rather, we saw God’s heart for the lost pulsing throughout His word to mankind, the Bible. We listened as Jesus spoke to his disciples expressing His desire for them to go throughout the world, and we simply longed to be one of those to whom he was speaking.
How do you get from being college kids, living in Southern California, to tribal missionaries living on a remote island in the middle of the South China Sea? We had no idea. We knew that we needed some help, so we decided to join New Tribes Mission (now called Ethnos360). What we loved about NTM was that they trained you for at least two years before you set foot in a foreign country. Our days of training were packed studying a variety of things, from the basics of language learning to how to build your own house and wire a solar system.
By the time we finished our two years of training, Megan and I were chomping at the bit to get on the plane, but a huge hurdle was still in our way, DEPUTATION! Before that point in my life I had no idea what the meaning of that word was. Now it was something I carried over my head every day; how to raise enough support to sustain a family living overseas. We had two things going for us that many new missionaries don’t. First, we had a home church that supported us, and we had NTM representatives, Lester and Laura Black, who helped us gain access to churches looking to support new missionaries. Looking in the rear view mirror, we are so thankful that God placed those two foundations in our lives.
We moved to Manila, Philippines in October of 2006. It was my wife and I along with our four-month old daughter, Haddie. We felt crazy. Did we really just move halfway around the world? For the next twenty months we immersed ourselves in the national language and culture of the Philippines. Our goal; learn to speak Tagalog well enough to use it as a bridge language to master a tribal tongue. The people we were longing to share the Gospel with spoke Tagalog but not well enough to fully understand God's story. So, we battled with Tagalog for twenty months until we could communicate.
In 2009, after a short furlough, we returned to the Philippines. This time, moving our family to a remote island to live among a people group called the Tagbanwas. Taking the time to first learn their language and culture, we were able to understand their world-view, which helped us to better know how to tell them where they fit into God’s story.
For centuries the Tagbnwas worshiped the spirits in the ground, sea, and air. Always vigilant and always fearful, the Tagbanwas built their lives around appeasing these spirits in order to ward off sickness and provide for their families. Not knowing the God who spoke the world into existence, they continued to be manipulated and bullied by these spirits.
The island that the Tagbanwas lived on was still a ten-hour drive and two-hour boat ride away from our main supply base. A team from our home church came, and together we built a house among the Tagbanwas. We told them that we had a message so important that we wanted to learn their language well enough to explain it. It was a message from the creator God and He longed for them to hear it.
Another two years passed as we painstakingly learned to speak the language of Cuyonon. Each day we gained in our fluency and understanding of both the language and culture. Finally, the day came when we were ready to tell them God’s story.
After spending years learning the language and culture of the Tagbanwa’s, we had the privilege of inviting them to hear God’s story in their own language for the first time. What a privilege! Beginning with Genesis, we slowly taught through the Old Testament culminating with the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus. As each story unfolded, we highlighted the major theme of man’s separation from God and the need for His promised Redeemer. We urged them to place their trust in this Redeemer to make things right between them and God.
We were thrilled as we watched many of our neighbors and friends put their trust in Jesus as their Redeemer, and move from darkness to light.
Now that there were believers, we wanted to make sure they were grounded in God’s story. So, we started over, but this time we incorporated them into the teaching. Spiritual gifts began to emerge before we had even taught on them. We marveled at how the Holy Spirit was changing the hearts and minds of those around us.
Once we finished teaching chronologically a second time, we began to slowly work our way, book by book, though the New Testament. Through the hearing and teaching of His word, God raised up elders and teachers. As time continued, they became more and more confident in guiding and protecting the body entrusted to them. We saw them rightly handling God’s word, and protecting.
Seeing them firmly rooted in God’s word, and functioning as a church body, we knew it was time for us to move on. In 2017, our family left the island and moved back to the United States. It was incredibly sad for us to leave people we loved so dearly, but we were confident in God’s protection and provision.
Learn more about how we help families like the Ingvolstads make it to the mission field…