Luttmann Family Update--Fall '20

Above: Jesse & Ginger testing out the FREE BVI Advent Calendar coloring pages. DOWNLOAD HERE

Journeying through 2020

Dear friends,

Our last update came in July and life has flown by since then despite the shutdowns and quarantines of our Covid-sphere.

Near the end of the summer our church hosted an outdoor three-day VBS using a shortened version of the BVI Voyage of Grace curriculum. It was my joy to share the John Newton story and be reminded of the greatness of God’s grace in Newton’s life and my own. My challenge was packing a five day story into three! It was also a joy to see our newest BVI board member, Bruce O’Neill, sharing a BVI Bible lesson. Betsy, as always, put together a short VBS video and you can watch it here.

In August, Samuel and David and I took a few days to get away. Having two more teens in the house is a little scary but also a reminder to enjoy and maximize these days we get to spend as a family under one roof. During our retreat, the twins and I stayed at Camp Hebron and enjoyed a day trip to Lake Tobias, paddle boating and a quick hike along the Appalachian Trail.

Ministry travels have been few and far between this year, but there’s been plenty to tackle in the office especially as we pivot our resources to help ministry partners affected by the Covid crisis. In September we shared about some of our 2020 opportunities through a livestream event hosted at our home church in Lancaster. Several friends from the church helped to provide beautiful music and the technical know-how to pull this off. If you didn’t get a chance to watch, the recording is here.

Not all of our Gospel opportunities in 2020 have come through the BVI ministry. In a past newsletter (July ‘19) we mentioned some evangelistic opportunities with those in our community. God had given us a friendship with our boys’ piano teacher and allowed us to share the Gospel with her several times. In March, she was unable to continue lessons due to the Covid shutdowns and then in August we received the shocking news that she had passed away due to the virus! Although we do not have certainty regarding her salvation, we thank God for the opportunities to share our faith with her and for some evidence she gave of faith in Jesus.

But, the story doesn’t end there . . .

Our friend left behind a husband who she always told us was an atheist. In our weak faith, we didn’t think that he would ever accept a dinner invitation. Instead, he has become a regular guest in our home! Please pray that God would give us boldness to speak to him of the hope found in Christ. And pray for Bill. I recently read John 12:32 where Jesus says, “And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” That includes atheists. God can save this man!

With Covid restrictions, we've been unable to visit Nova Scotia this year, but we did add a bit of NS apple farm flavor with a few bins from a local farm. Our guys have enjoyed playing on them just like I did with my cousin Josh.

Usually the fall season involves some travel and representing BVI conferences. Since we have been limited in that area, we’ve worked on some other ways to introduce people to BVI resources. One way has been through an advertising campaign with World News Group. If you’ve never read World Magazine or listened to World’s podcast (listen to the 11-20 broadcast for an Easter egg) , you are missing a refreshing presentation of the news from a christian worldview. A marketing campaign might not sound like ministry work, but as a supply line ministry, it’s essential that we connect these materials to those reaching children with the Gospel whether through the venue of children’s ministry, a church, a school or the home.

All of those venues have been part of our efforts this fall. We continue to work in the office on a Bible curriculum (Journey of Faith) to supply partners in Papua New Guinea with materials for religious education in the public school system. Currently we're helping missionary Tim Hawes print sample copies to supply members of the PNG parliament. If they approved the curriculum, we will be helping to print up to 2000 copies of each book in the curriculum and then shipping them to PNG. This is a huge opportunity but may involve some huge expenses too.

Our office team and illustrators also continue work on BVI’s first Family Worship book on the Gospel of Mark. I am super excited to see it take shape. How family has served as guinea pigs as we’ve worked through several of the studies. I’ve also enjoyed working on our new mission story called Beautiful Feet Upon the Mountains. I’ve been reminded that biographies are a great way to frame a picture of God’s big work of transforming lives, spreading the Gospel and building His church!

If you are receiving this email on or ahead of Friday, November 20th, you have time to join us all day for ExtraGive. This is a special day of giving hosted in Lancaster County. Through our BVI Youtube channel we’ll be visiting live all day with ministry partners around the globe. Any donations given to BVI that day through the ExtraGive website are stretched further by a gift from the ExtraGive Sponsors. Betsy created a short profile video for this event that you can watch below.

Thank you for your prayers, encouragement and support!

Tom & Betsy and family