God Preparing the Way

The first month of 2014 has now passed and we have five very significant praises to share from over this past month!

1) Financial Partnership

One of the greatest blessings has been that we now have a means through which people can financially support us. New Tribes Mission cannot set us up with an account through them until after we have been enrolled at the Missionary Training Center for some time. This has proved to be a challenge as we will need support to attend the training program. However, the Lord anticipated this and already provide for our need! A gentleman at Cameron's church serves with Gateway Ministries and they have set us up with account! This means that people can give tax-deductible donations directly to them. This not only gives a tax break to supporters but also gives us more legitimacy as people do not have to write checks to us personally. Therefore, we invite you to prayerfully consider supporting us through regular monthly support or a one-time gift, as we prepare to go and preach the Gospel to those who have never heard.

If you would like your giving to be tax-deductible, then please send your checks to:

Gateway Ministries
P.O. Box 574
St. Clair, MO 63077

Checks should be made out to Gateway Ministries, noting on the memo line that it is designated for Cameron and Caitlin Neace.

New Tribes Mission has created an electronic funds transfer (EFT) account to enable you to give online. If you would like to give, please fill out the EFT form at: usa.ntm.org/eft  

When designating which missionary you are supporting, indicate:
Cameron Neace Account #900458


2) Prayer Cards Are Here!

Front

Back

Cameron and I are beginning to raise support and so we've
ordered our first batch of prayer cards! We were planning on waiting until we had a more "prayer card" appropriate picture (seeing as the one with my hair sticking straight up probably wouldn't be the best....) but realized that we needed some before then to give to people as we spoke with them. Therefore, these arrived just the other day! Now we have something to give to people so that they can stick us on their refrigerator or in their Bible and remember to pray for us. In April, when we have more pictures to choose from, we plan on making a second version. If you would like to receive one, please let us know by clicking on the Contact tab at the top of the page and we will be thrilled to send you one!

3) Power Point Presentation

Thanks to the encouragement and feedback of a sweet couple from Cameron's church, he has already put together a PowerPoint presentation to share with potential supporters. This PowerPoint explains the need in Papua New Guinea for the Gospel and our desire to serve the Lord by going there. Also, he explains how people can partner with us in prayer and support. He also put it in the form of a YouTube video so that people can view it after meeting with him. If you would like to watch it, click here.

4) This Blog!
Cameron set up this blog site (and I made it pretty) for us in order to better communicate our monthly newsletters. The MailChimp program we used last month did not have a URL that could be easily remembered and would not give us the ability to inform new supporters who we were and what our goals are in a couple of years down the road. Please click on the Follow by Email box located on the right-hand side of this page in order to receive our monthly newsletters straight to your email.

5) Beginning to Raise Support

Now that we have means through which people can support us, prayer cards to give, a PowerPoint presentation prepared and blog to communicate monthly updates, we are going to begin meeting with individuals and families to raise support both in prayer and finances! To be honest, this is an extremely intimidating task and we very much covet your prayers! Also, if you are someone who would like to get together with us to hear our heart's desire to serve the Lord overseas in Papua New Guinea and the training we will be beginning at New Tribes Mission's Missionary Training Center in August, please let us know because we would love the opportunity to talk with you!

Concluding Thoughts. . .

As I conclude January's update I am reminder of how incredibly faithful our Lord is! He is already preparing the way for us by placing people in our lives who can assist us in our goals of attending the Missionary Training Center this August with the ultimate desire to serve overseas in the country of Papua New Guinea. While I know that the months ahead seem daunting with the prospect of raising support, I am greatly encouraged by the fact that the Lord has already shown Himself faithful! I'm so excited to see how He works through our life together!

How great is our God!

Caitlin (and Cameron)

And So the Adventure Begins!

And now here we are today! Waiting to begin our lives together! So you may be wondering, "What's next? Now that you've graduated from Bible school and are getting married, what are your plans? Do you have plans?" And it is with great anticipation, enthusiasm and excitement that we tell you about what we desire for our lives!

As you know, we both graduated from New Tribes Bible Institute this past December. In August of this year we will be enrolling in the next step of training with New Tribes Mission at their Missionary Training Center in Camdenton, Missouri! Here we will be equipped for being overseas cross-cultural missionaries in tribal and support ministries. This program has just been revised and we will be a part of the first class to go through their new two-year curriculum. Our desire is to serve the Lord with NTM overseas in an unreached tribe in Papua New Guinea; Cameron as a Bible translator and Caitlin as a literacy teacher.

During our two years in the training program we will be unable to work as it is discouraged during this critical final phase of training. We have already begun raising support and, because we have begun support raising before our completion of MTC, we hope to be in Papua New Guinea as early as fall of 2016. We hope you will consider partnering with us.

Our desire is to see not just the New Testament and key portions of the Old Testament translated into a tribal language but to give them the Word of God in its entirety! We recognize this is an immense task and so ask for your prayers.

We would be thrilled to meet with any of you who would like to know more about what we are planning to do! Also, if you would like to stay apprised of what's going on, you can follow Cameron's blog and also this one by clicking on the Follow by Email box to the right of this page. Please pray for us as we begin this life together and pursue our desire to glorify God in Papua New Guinea!

"But my life is worth nothing to me unless I use it for finishing the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus - the work of telling others the Good News about the wonderful grace of God." - Acts 20:24

Our Story

Our story begins when we arrived at New Tribes Bible Institute. It was January of 2012 and anyone who's been to Waukesha, Wisconsin in January understands that when we say it was cold, it was COLD. During our first semester we didn't really interact a whole lot with each other. Granted, with our class size being just twenty-eight people, we didn't completely avoid each other but we didn't really hang out a whole lot either. All we really knew of each other was that Cameron had his idea for "Freshmen Freshest Week" as an ice breaker for the class and Caitlin made her comment that water bottles shouldn't be shared because then you will contract mono.

The first time we really spent any time together was in May when we both began training to be school bus drivers. Sophomore year was pretty much the same as freshmen with each of us occasionally crossing paths. It honestly wasn't until December of 2012 that our friendship really began, albeit slowly. We attended the same school social events more and more often. Then in January we both attended the student leadership training at NTBI and were placed in the same small group which provided us with more opportunities to get to know each other.

But really, it was the spring break trip during our Junior semester to Pennsylvania to participate in NTM's week-long Wayumi program (which is similar to the Interface program but stateside) that everything started. We spent an inordinate amount of time together during this break, eating meals next to each other, playing game after game of Chess (all of which Caitlin won, by the way) and playing Risk (which Caitlin also won). This was when Cameron started liking Caitlin, but he kept it to himself. Later that month, we went on the Junior-Senior weekend trip down to Camdenton, Missouri to visit the Missionary Training Center. We rode there and back again together and continued to get to know each other more. This is when Caitlin started liking Cameron, but she kept it to herself.

Which leads us to our senior semester at NTBI which is the one you all really care about reading. We both arrived back to NTBI early in order to attend the student leadership training which gave us a week to renew our friendship before the rest of the student body arrived. Then, once the semester began, we hung out a ton. Whether it was volleyball or random talks in the stairwell or early bus driver breakfasts as 5:30 in the morning, we were seeing each other quite often.

One of the required classes for senior semester at NTBI is a speech class with the second speech being on anything you want. Well, ironically enough, we chose pretty much the same topic: Cameron spoke on celibacy and Caitlin spoke on singleness. Nearly everyone thought that was hilarious.

It was on October 10th, after going to the Green Letters book study at one of the staff houses, and after playing several games of volleyball that Cameron told Caitlin that he liked her. And it was that Sunday that Caitlin told Cameron she liked him. Then, exactly one month later on November 10th, they made it official! Cameron called and asked her dad if he could date her and then asked her by surprising her with a dozen red roses in their classroom.

***DRUM ROLL PLEASE***

And now THE story! The story that you've been wanting to read! Your diligence in reading through all of this has paid off because now you can hear how Cameron asked Caitlin to marry him! The story, the story! First, it must be prefaced by saying that Caitlin typed up the entire story of JUST the proposal and the final document ended up being 5,000 words..... needless to say below are the very short cliff notes. But the short version of the story is still awesome! On Monday, December 16, 2013 we were supposed to exchange Christmas presents with each other and then go ice skating and finish by eating dinner at Olive Garden. Well, we started with Cameron's present because he said his was a scavenger hunt and indeed it was! Each clue led to important places around town like where he told Caitlin he liked her and where he told Caitlin he loved her, etc. And after six of those riddles (all of which rhymed) we ended up at a bridge where he proposed! And he even had two people from school follow us around to take pictures and two others were stationed at the bridge waiting for us to snap some pictures! It was awesome! He did so good! And Caitlin didn't see this coming at all because he had made her think that he hadn't asked her dad! As he pointed out he technically didn't lie, he just allowed her to have the misconception because he had said earlier that day that he never had a good opportunity to talk to my dad.......so he made an opportunity! So a month and six days after we "officially" started dating we were engaged!


(If you want to hear a play-by-play of the entire proposal, just ask us anytime and we would be more than happy to tell you every detail!)

Cameron's Story

ὄνομα μοι Cameron ἐστιν.

The above is Greek for "my name is Cameron."

I was born to two of the best parents a Cameron Michael Neace could have. Out of three children...I was not the firstborn. I'm a MK. No, not a "missionary kid" a "Missouri kid" as I lived pretty much my whole childhood in Union, Missouri. 

Just before my junior year of high school I gave my life to the Lord. I thank God for placing me in a family that knew the value of being in church but, for most of my life, I felt that I had it all figured out and knew the Bible inside and out. You can imagine the shock that I had on August 10, 2008 when God opened my eyes to see my depravity apart from Him and to receive the grace that He offered me on the cross so many years ago.

Throughout school I was always obsessed with taking the art classes. I had a desire to go to college for graphic arts and as a senior in high school I just knew that was going to be my life career. After my first semester of classes, I applied and paid for the fall semester classes, yet God cancelled them all. I was pretty discouraged because I didn't know any other trade in life and I thought God was making a mistake, but it turns out He was doing exactly what needed to be done. You see, after serving in a trailer park ministry for three months that fall, I began to feel like I never have before, that I needed to go to Bible school.

However, I didn't know where I should go. I went in my room and fell to my knees. I remember my prayer like it was yesterday. I said, "Please show me the school that You would have me attend and open it up for me. God allow me to go in January because I just can't wait until the fall. I know it's impossible...but I know You are God. Send me to school this coming spring semester. I don't know where and I don't know how, but just do it. Lord, do it!"

Well, as you guessed, it was that same night that God showed up. I hadn't told anyone that I prayed that prayer but a friend of mine called me and said, "Hey, I am wanting to take a road trip up to the Bible school I went to. Would you like to come along?" We went on my birthday weekend in November and I applied while I was there!

I joined the January class and it was in this class that I had the privilege of meeting my future wife, although neither of us knew it yet. Throughout Bible school, I found myself continually humbled at all I didn't know that I thought I knew. But, even more than that, I spent my time trying to invest in the lives of the teachers and staff. I saw in their lives something better than just head knowledge. I saw Christ and I wanted Him to penetrate my life as He did theirs.

It was during the next year (two semesters) that I just wanted to spend time getting to know Christ. I became burnt out on just head knowledge and I saw how vain it was if that was truly all it was. I became much more people oriented after that summer as a result of the brokenness that God put me through, but I know that I still have a ton more to learn and if its anything like that summer I know it will be rough.

Towards the end of our junior semester I began noticing Caitlin. My eyes were opening to see truly how beautiful, both spiritually and physically, she truly was. We were part of a group that went to a place in Pennsylvania called Wayumi for Spring Break and were pretty much were inseparable. It was at this that I began thinking this could be a possibility of pursuing a relationship, but I definitely didn't want to rush anything.

Fall of 2013 was our senior semester and, about five weeks in, we had a speech class which required us to talk for six to eight minutes on whatever topic we chose. We think it's hilarious that both of us chose to speak on singleness! October 10th, after days of stalling and fearing rejection I finally got up the nerve to tell Caitlin of my love for her. She was surprised and didn't answer me for three days. Because of her delay, I had prepared myself mentally for the world famous "No."

But she said yes! We started to intentionally get to know one another and officially started dating a month later on November 10th followed quickly by our engagement on December 16th! We think it's rather ironic that our engagement was almost seven times longer than our dating as our wedding wasn't until July 19th!

Now we are in the midst of the program here at the New Tribes Missionary Training Center  as we desire to serve the Lord in overseas tribal missions in Papua New Guinea. I am very interested in translating the entire Bible for the church that Christ alone will build as we, by His grace, will make disciples of Jesus Christ.

It has always been my ambition to preach the Gospel where Christ was not known, so that I would not be building on someone else's foundation. Romans 15:20 

That is His story using my life for His glory.

Caitlin's Story

I was born to two wonderful parents (who, yes, are going to read this) on a cold wintry morning in July - because I was born in Juneau, Alaska. Two years later my brother Ryan was born. He was born on such a great day that Cameron and I chose it as our wedding day - a perfect 21st birthday gift for him, don't you think? We lived in Alaska for six years, four of them on a boat.

My family and I then moved to Connecticut to take care of my Daddy's father who was in poor health at the time. It is in Connecticut that my mom began homeschooling my brother and I. Those years of homeschooling were perhaps some of the most fun memories I have from my childhood. For example, I will always remember the week that one of the television channels was showing a marathon of Star Trek episodes every day from noon until midnight and my mom allowed us to skip school because, after all, it counts as "science."

The summer before my freshmen year of high school we moved to Florida. The reason we moved here was not because of family or a job but because we simply felt that the Lord wanted us to and, in retrospect, I am so glad He did! It was during that first year that I began questioning what I believed about God, Jesus and the Bible. At that time, I learned that a friend had posted that she was an agnostic. Concerned for her, and knowing that she was a big reader, I began what turned into a year-long quest to find her the perfect book. At the conclusion of this year spent researching and studying dozens of books, I selected three to send to her. Regardless of what she did with them, my own faith was crystallized, and, as a result, within two years, I went from someone who did not know what she believed to a girl who wanted to go into missions!

"Missionary" was never on my list of possible career choices. Nope. I didn't even know missionaries were still around until I was in high school and, even then, I thought those were just the crazy, whacked out Christians. Clearly, not someone like me. As you can see, I was a prime candidate for someone who needed God to work on their heart. One evening during my junior year of high school, my church had a missions night and that was when I heard about New Tribes Mission for the first time. A representative from the Mission came and spoke and unrolled the gigantic scroll that listed all the languages that had yet to hear the Word of God. That image became branded in my mind and I felt the Lord beginning to change my heart. About a year later, after reading multiple books, meeting with missionaries so I could "interview" them and praying tons and tons, I concluded that I wanted to become a part of what God was already doing around the World to bring the Gospel to every people group.

Because I had been homeschooled my whole life, I decided to earn my Associate's degree before heading on to the New Tribes Bible Institute in Waukesha, Wisconsin. The May-June after I graduated in 2011 with my AA degree I had the opportunity to participate in New Tribe Mission's five week Interface missionary training program. While there, I learned so much about tribal missions, the body of Christ, and the people of Papua New Guinea. It was an awesome trip! After I returned, I submitted my application to NTBI and was excited to get started that August. However, the Lord had other plans.

You see, despite everything I was trying to do and how hard I was working, He didn't open the door for me to attend that fall. I was devastated, angry and frustrated. I mean, why would the Lord NOT want me to go Bible school???? However, God not only grew me so much in those five months, He had another plan in the works: if I had gotten it my way I would not have been placed in the same class as Cameron. I now thank God so much for holding me back even when I was kicking and fighting the whole time.

For me, my time at NTBI was one of the highlights of my life thus far. The friendships I formed with my roommates and classmates were life impacting and I will always treasure those late night talks and uncontrollable fits of laughter over something that really wasn't even that funny. The hours spent in classes and on homework were challenging as I learned more about the Word of God and the character of the Lord. The faithfulness of the Lord has encouraged me in my relationship with Him and given me confidence in His sovereignty. I am truly grateful for all the staff at NTBI who make such a training program possible! And I am extremely grateful for NTBI because that is where Cameron and I met! True, we didn't really start becoming friends until the spring semester of 2013 but, being that our class was less than thirty people, we had the opportunity to observe each other and get to know each other as friends. I am so thankful to the Lord for bringing Cameron into my life! He is a man of God who desires to know Him deeply and serve Him with his life. I love him so much and cannot wait to spend the rest of my life with him! He is the best "change to Caitlin's plans" that God has ever made!

Expand the Reach of the Gospel

What's Next?

The Second Phase

Well, it's official! I am officially a graduate of New Tribes Bible Institute! So what's next, you may be wondering? Well...I am getting married this July to my beautiful fiance.

Many of you know how strongly I voiced my opinion about living a single life for the Lord; however, while I was praying for the Lord's will, He began to bring about circumstances that would change my status - Caitlin Ryerson.

I have truly found her to be the absolute best change of plans and I thank the Lord constantly for her. I am excited to journey through God's will with her in this life as we walk closely with Him, and as we are pursuing the overseas mission field.

Where are we going?

We are headed roughly about seven thousand miles away to a place unheard of. To an area unreached. To a place unwanted by men, but craved for by GOD! These people have not the Gospel. They know not the Savior of the world. They are sick with disease and infested with sin.

Their sins have been paid for, but they don't know it yet. They can't taste it or feel it or even understand it because for the last four thousand years or so they have been set aside. The world says they are nothing, and by the actions of the Church we have agreed.

Who am I to say that they are not worthy to come and dine with Him who gave Himself for them? I apologize if this is harsh and I ask that you please show me grace, but its time that we give them the blessed opportunity of tasting and experiencing the abundant and eternal life of our risen Lord and glorious Savior Jesus Christ.

"For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call on Him; for 'WHOEVER WILL CALL ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED.' How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher? How will they preach unless they are sent? Just as it is written, 'HOW BEAUTIFUL ARE THE FEET OF THOSE WHO BRING GOOD NEWS OF GOOD THINGS!'" - Romans 10:12-15

Remember, you have the gospel and as such will never suffer the torments of hell because somebody brought it to you. Please pray for Caitlin and I as we spend our lives serving the Lord in Papua New Guinea planting churches and making disciples among those who have never heard the name of Jesus Christ.

This coming August we are beginning the second phase at the Missionary Training Center in Camdenton, MO. Until then we will be raising support in order to experience the absolute best missions training that is available for tribal church planting. A big part of that training will be teaching us how to learn a language that has never been written down or recorded before.

 We ask you to pray for us and especially for those whom the Lord will have us ministering to. Thanks again for praying and God bless.

United together in Christ,

Cameron & Caitlin

Monday, December 30, 2013