The Oliver Family Newsletter
Newsletter #24 December 1999
John & Paula Oliver -
serving at NTM Headquarters
New Tribes Mission
407-328-8400 (Home)
1000 East First Street 407-323-3430
(Mission)
Sanford FL 32771-1487
407-330-0376 (FAX)
or you can email us at: JPOliver@mail.com
Why Too Kay?
Why too what? Why too Kay, or, as most folks spell it, Y2K - the year 2000
computer bug. Who knows what the new year will bring? Minor headaches,
major disruptions, total chaos, or just another year? Who knows? God knows,
He's in control, and He's working out His plan.
Many computer programs written over the years used only 2 digits to
represent 4 digit years. That worked fine for a long time, but poses significant
problems when the two digits roll over from 99 to 00. Most of these programs,
if left unfixed, would not work properly. Fortunately, most companies,
including New Tribes Mission, are aware of this Y2K problem and have been
working to fix their Y2K bugs.
NTMAA System
For the past eight years, we have been developing a new NTMAA (NTM Accounting
& Administrative) system for New Tribes Mission. Our system, at present,
has 27 subsystems, including: general ledger, donor/receipting, vendor/disbursement,
transfers, adjusting entries, bank reconciliation, accounts receivable,
accounts payable, fixed assets, transaction processing, address maintenance,
sales tax, personnel records, purchasing/inventory/orders, subscription,
publications, medical insurance, computer equipment, representation, life
insurance, property, and SUMMIT (our short-term missions program).
As we have completed each subsystem, we have installed it here at NTM
International Headquarters, slowly migrating the mission off older computer
programs which had been running on a midrange computer and which were not
Y2K ready.
As we have researched, designed, and programmed each subsystem, we
have attempted to make it flexible (to meet future needs) and to enhance
our co-workers productivity (thus reducing the number of folks needed on
home staff). We also plan to add multi-currency support to the system,
so that it can eventually be made available to other NTM locations as a
worldwide accounting & administrative system.
Payroll Subsystem
Recently, our main project has been to complete our new payroll subsystem
(part of the NTMAA system). It is quite a complex subsystem, responsible
to calculate each missionary's monthly wage (based on total donations received
for him during the month), assess various charges, withhold federal, state,
and local income taxes, social security and Medicare taxes, disburse funds
to 403B retirement accounts, calculate parsonage allowance, print statements,
disburse funds either directly to the missionary, to his bank account,
or to his field, and print various payroll reports.
We are happy and thankful to report that in November we successfully
made the transition to the new payroll system. This was especially important,
since the old payroll system was not Y2K ready.
Our Growing Family
-
Nicholas turned six on October 1. He's in kindergarten this year and is
also enjoying his first year as a Spark in the AWANA program.
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Joy is a terrific two. She loves to play with Nicholas. She enjoys repeating
words and has even started using some short sentences.
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Hannah is still zero (or, more precisely, 0.52329 years, as of this writing).
She's growing well and is having fun exploring her world.
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ARTIE - well, he's doing well too. We hope to teach him soon how to send
account statements by email to our missionaries.
Prayer & Praise
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Praise for the good health that we enjoy and for the wonderful kids God
has given us.
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Praise God for sending His Son, Jesus Christ, to be a Saviour for sinners.
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Pray for wisdom and guidance as we finish the NTM Accounting & Administrative
system and then work toward migrating it to Visual Foxpro.
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Pray for wisdom for Paula and I as we seek to train our children and to
prioritize our time.
Thanks for your prayers, encouragement, and support. Let us know how we
can be praying for you also. Have a Joyful Christmas and a Happy Y2K!
By His Grace,
John, Paula, Nicholas, Joy & Hannah :)