(Lynn) I was saved through the efforts of missionaries who left their comfort zone in the U.S.A., and came
to live on my home Island in the Philippines. I was 8 years old when I was
saved thru their efforts by God’s Grace. Since I experienced the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ I had a
desire to serve our God. After my high school, I went to Manila and was able to learn about New Tribes
Mission. Even though I was a young lady, scared of almost every living creatures that bites especially
snakes, I determined to serve God in the jungles of the Philippines where tribal people live without any
Gospel witness.
(Us) A year after I accepted the Lord Jesus as my saviour and Lord I ,(Rich), was challenged by
missionaries with New Tribes Mission, NTM. The Lord put the Philippines on my heart for reasons only He
knows and I entered the Training of NTM in the fall of 1986. The summer before my first semester of Bible
College I went to the Philippines on a short term mission trip to build the foundation of a Missionary training
center. It was on that trip that I met Lynn. She was already a missionary with NTM Philippines, a national
branch of NTM. We met because the Lord wanted us too and we were married 6 months later. That was
23 years and four kids ago.
We married in Dec of 1986 and entered the training full time in august of 1988 after the birth of our first
child, Myra in Hawaii. Our next two children John and Anna were both born while we were at Bible college
in Jackson Michigan and the three of them went thorough the training with us.
We left for the Philippines in Jan of 1994. Our kids were 5, 4 and 3 respectively. After a year of National
language study we moved in as a family to live and work among the South West Palawano People. Along
the way we had our fourth child, Rich Jr., in 1996.
Presently Myra has graduated from John Brown University with a BS in pre-med Biology. Myra was by the
grace of God married to another MK (missionary kid), on August 1, 2009. John is a senior at Cedarville
University in Ohio studying Athletic Science width the goal of becoming a physical therapist and trainer.
Anna is a sophomore at Arizona State University studying to be a nurse. John and Anna made in the
Deans list. Richard Jr. is 12 and last year he made in the principal list at his elementary school.
MINISTRY
After finishing the New Tribes training in 1992 Lynn and I spent a years and a half raising support and
caring for Rich’s dad who was in the last stages of his fight against cancer.
After Rich’s dad went to be with the Lord the family left for the Philippines in January 1994.
Our first year and a half was spent in national language learning and Lynn and I were also asked to be the
supply buyer and guest house host/hostesses for that time.
In June 1995, we moved to the tribe as a family after receiving permission from the tribal elders to live and
work among them.
We were in the frying pan so to speak from the beginning as Rich started in on full time language and
culture learning.
Lynn started a fledgling medical clinic as the Palawano people were off the radar so to speak as far as
getting medical or schooling help from the Philippine Government as they live in a very isolated are of the
Philippines where there are no roads. The only way to our station is via small Cessna aircraft and the
airstrip we cut out of the jungle or find a ride for a two day road trip to the end of the road and then walk
for hours over rough trails.
The South Western Palawano people live in the rain forest of the southern tip of the Island of Palawan.
They were an oral culture, no written language, and semi-nomadic hunter gatherers. The palawano are
animistic culture given over to ancestor worship and spirit appeasement.
As we to gain trust and acceptance to the message of the Gospel we wanted to tell them we were involved
in many different projects beside teaching the word of God, which is our primary reason for being there,
but these other things help in making the Palawano people willing to listen to our message. These projects
include community development like teaching them how to wet rich farm so they could raise three crops a
year instead of the one crop a year their traditional methods allowed. We taught them to make fish pond
so they could supplement their protein intake and of course the clinic is totally indigenous with the
Palawanos treating other Palawanos and others.
A Palawano boy Rich and the Palawano men
Lynn is teaching the Palawano kids how to read and write
Our last project was to get the government to place a school for the Palawano kids in the tribal area so
that the children would have a chance of surviving in the national culture which has been steadily
encroaching on their territory. It took almost five years of loop jumping but by the Grace of God the
Palawanos’ have a school for their kids. We have worked among the Palawano’s for 15 years now and a
strong church of about 100 believers are established and we are working to get them to take the
responsibility to reach the rest of their people with the Gospel message.
The first grade year of Government school
It took us 15 years of living with them, growing with them, laughing and crying with the Palawanos to get to
the point of seeing maturing believers and we give all glory and honor to our Lord Jesus Christ who
allowed us to participate with Him in reaching the Palawanos for His name sake.
Rich is baptizing Indo (means mother) Rindona
Rich and Nilo on Palawano transportation
Looking at the world through Jesus’ eye, we are moved to COMPASSION which leads us to action: We
PRAY for workers, we GO to evangelize and make disciples or GIVE.
Eager eyes are watching, longing,
Some poor fainting, struggling and dying!
There are souls to rescue,
There are souls to save,
No time for delay
You may go or pray.
Or you may give to the missionary
to speed their way,
Oh! don’t worry all your spending
Jesus will repay.
If you would like to be involved in this ministry the Lord is doing please return to the home page and click
on the PARTNERS tab to see how you can be a part as you of the SW Palawano work.
God Bless you as you seek to Him
DOCTRINAL STATEMENT
WHAT IS NEW TRIBES MISSION?
New Tribes Mission is steadfast in its goal of reaching people who have no access to the Gospel. It is a
mission sending organization totally focused on reaching the indigenous tribal people groups around the
world.That was the vision for our ministry when we were founded in 1942, and it is our vision today.Paul
Fleming and five others had no funds or organization behind them when they dared to trust God to
establish NTM. "It seemed that the Lord had pushed us into something, and we were confident that no man
started New Tribes Mission; the Lord brought it into existence in spite us,” Paul wrote.New Tribes Mission
continues to trust God, and God continues to be glorified. Today more than 3,000 missionaries serve
throughout the world, and training programs in more than a dozen countries prepare missionaries for
service among the thousands of tribes who have yet to hear. We thank God for the rich heritage passed
on to us by a small group of people who decided, in Paul Fleming's words, "New Tribes Mission's efforts
shall be directed ... where no witness of the Gospel has yet reached."
We believe…
· In the word-by-word inspiration, sufficiency and final authority of the Holy Scriptures.
· In one God, eternally existing in three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
· In the Lord Jesus Christ as true God and true man; His virgin birth, sinless humanity, vicarious death,
bodily resurrection, present advocacy, and His personal, imminent, bodily return for His church.
· In the fall of man, resulting in his complete and universal separation from God and his need of
salvation.
· That the Lord Jesus Christ shed His blood and died as a sacrifice for the sins of the whole world.
· That salvation is a free and everlasting gift of God, entirely apart from works, received by personal
faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
· That the Holy Spirit regenerates with divine life and personally indwells the believer upon his faith in
Christ for salvation.
· In the bodily resurrection of both the saved and the unsaved.
· In the unending life of the saved with the Lord and the unending punishment of the unsaved.
We hold and teach the following positions:
· In the pre-tribulational, pre-millennial return of Christ for the church
· In the historical-grammatical interpretation of the Bible.
· That a soul once saved can never be lost.
· We practice believer’s baptism by immersion.
· We do not practice what are commonly known as the “sign gifts”.
STATEMENT OF FAITH
The Bible is the inspired Word of God and the sole foundation for faith and practice of all
believers. It reveals a triune God: God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. The Father sent
the Son to be the Savior of lost mankind who were separated from God by sin. Jesus, the Son of God, died
a substitutionary death on the cross, was buried and rose again the third day according to the Scriptures
to save a lost humanity from eternal separation from God. Those who place their faith in the finished work
of the Lord Jesus Christ are regenerated with divine life by the Holy Spirit. It is the responsibility of all
believers to work together to share the Gospel Message with all, that in all things God may be glorified
CORE VALUES
The Word of God as our final authority
A Spirit-controlled life
Dependence on God
The role and responsibility of the local church in the Great Commission
Readiness to sacrifice for Christ and His church
Godly relationships and interdependence in ministry
The potential of all believers to be used by God in the Great Commission
Excellence and urgency in all we do to finish the task
PARTNERS
If the Lord is leading you to become partners with Rich and Lynn Bright in the Lord’s work in the
Philippines there are a few ways to become involved.
You could become prayer partners with us by e-mailing to this address, rich_bright@ntm.org, and
requesting to be put on our prayer update list. We would then send you a quarterly update on the work
and things happening in our lives.
If the Lord is challenging you to become involved in our ministry in a financial way here is how you can
send your support. Send a check to the following address
ATTTn.
NTM Finance Office
1000 E. First St.
Sanford FL, 32771-1487.
Make the check payable to New Tribes Mission and in the memo space write for the ministry of Rich and
Lynn Bright. 100% of all funds received will go to our account
A tax deductable receipt will be sent to you as well as other options for donating to our ministry. ie.
electronic payments etc…,
You could also visit www.ntm.org/give, then look up Rich and Lynn Bright and follow the instructions given.
God bless you as you enter into His work with us.
CONTACT US
If you have any questions for Rich & Lynn Bright regarding their testimony or the work the Lord God has
them involved in the Philippines with New Tribes Mission you can contact them in the following ways.
E-MAIL – rich_bright@ntm.org
Postal -
Mission Headquarters : Field Address:
Rich and Lynn Bright Rich and Lynn Bright
C/o New Tribes Mission New Tribes Mission
1000 E. First St. P. O. Box 261
Sanford, FL. 32771-1487 5300 Puerto Princesa City
Palawan, Philippines
To donate please visit us at: www.ntm.org/wp/rich_bright/give/
Our transportation to the tribe
| New Tribe Mission "Go ye into all the world…" Mark 16:15 |
| Meet the "Bright Famiy" Missionaries to the Palawano Tribe in the Phillipines |
The Southwest Palawano Church
ABOUT US
(Rich) I was raised in Hawaii, the 5th child of seven. Our home
was mixed so to speak in that
my Father was raised Irish Catholic and my mother was Jewish.
Religion was not a subject brought up in the house. I was saved
through our Lord putting me in certain situations which made one
ask serious question about where ones’ life is heading. It took an
automobile crash to finally get my fully attention and the Lord sent
an old high school friend to share the Gospel with me. I was 25
when I became a child of God.
(Rich) I was raised in Hawaii, the 5th child of seven. Our home
was mixed so to speak in that
my Father was raised Irish Catholic and my mother was Jewish.
Religion was not a subject brought up in the house. I was saved
through our Lord putting me in certain situations which made one
ask serious question about where ones’ life is heading. It took an
automobile crash to finally get my fully attention and the Lord sent
an old high school friend to share the Gospel with me. I was 25
when I became a child of God.