Lance and Laura Ostman Helping to equip the Higaunon People of North Central Mindanao Answered prayer!!
typical boys
In previous updates we have asked that God would send Higaunon to go teach in villages that have expressed interest in listening to teaching of God’s Word. Here is a report on how God is starting to answer our prayers.
Tags: Chronological Bible teaching, Church planting, discipleship, Higaunon, Old Testament, outreach, unreached
Good things happening…
Meeting house extension
We thought we’d share with you some of the good things that are going on in the village while we have been working on Old Testament translation.
2 Timothy 2:2 “…the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.“
Tags: Bible, Bible teachers, Bible translation, Chronological Bible teaching, church construction, Church planting, discipleship, Higaunon, teachers, translation
Why we love our job…
Happy Easter Everyone!
We are half way through our time in the village and have seen quite a bit accomplished. We are very conscious of the fact that many are praying for us.
Imbos
One of the reasons we love our job is seeing people who were once bound by the power of evil spirits, now set free by the power of the Gospel! That’s the true message of Easter! Dag-ay and Imbos were two such people. The gospel had such an impact on them that they freely gave of themselves to help with scripture translation. They loved their job but at the same time, they were looking forward to being with Jesus! Two years ago, God took Imbos home to be with Him but Dag-ay continued helping with translation during our visit last year. After we left, she moved to another village to be near other family members.
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Tags: Church planting, Dag-ay, death bed, Exodus, finished, Genesis, heaven, Higaunon, Imbos, Old Testament, Pray, thank you
Two weeks and counting.
Innovation in the jungle! WIFI via a tin can!
In this fast-paced world we live in today, two weeks without internet was quite the adjustment! Our only way of communicating with “the outside world” was via our 2-way radio. How thankful we are that our line of communication with our Heavenly Father is never “offline!”
Lance and I arrived in the village two weeks ago. Rats and bats had taken up residence in our house during the time we were away (at least there were no snakes this time)…so it took a few days to get things cleaned up and for us to feel settled in. Lance has finished checking through 1 and 2 Samuel and continues checking in other books he’d been translating while in the US this past year. He’s thankful for his two language assistants who help to make sure the meaning is clear, while they endeavor to stay true to the text. We so appreciate your prayers for this huge task of translating the Old Testament into the Higaunon language.
God had different plans than the ones we had made for our daughter and her family! There was much disappointment that they were not able to visit the village. The weather was not good on the only days they had available to fly. They returned to their city in East Asia only hours after we flew back to the village. They are back into full time language study.
We so enjoyed the time we had with our daughter and family, as well as their coworkers, during a conference they attended. Lance and I took care of the little ones while their parents were in meetings. There was plenty of time for us with our three grandchildren and we made lots of fun memories. After being together for more than 2 weeks, we really missed them when we parted. We’re so thankful we had that time together.
Please continue to pray for wisdom for us in the work God has for us to do. Our hope is to get Genesis and Exodus through a final check so it can be printed and distributed to the people. Imagine getting these books in your language for the first time! We take our copies of the Scriptures very much for granted, don’t we?!
Once again we want to express our deepest thanks for your partnership in this ministry to the Higaunon people.
Secure in Christ’s love,
Lance & Laura
We had a great time with our daughter and her precious family.
Tags: Church planting, Family, Higaunon, Old Testament, tin can, translation, wifi
In the Philippines…
A sunset we saw since being back in the Philippines
Thank you to all who prayed for us as we returned to the Philippines.
1Corinthians 1:9 God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son,
Jesus Christ our Lord.
- We arrived safely in Manila the end of January and got over jet lag in time to help with child care at a conference Justin and Nicole attended. Their conference went well and we enjoyed having the grandchildren in tow (along with a few other children) We are back in Manila and tomorrow we will be traveling with them to our island. We are scheduled to fly into the village on Monday so they can show the children where mommy grew up. They plan on spending 2 nights and then out again as they have to get back home and back into language study. Please pray for the weather to cooperate for all the flights and that our time in the village together will be a blessing and encouragement to all of us. We have really enjoyed being with our daughter and son in law and are encouraged with how they are doing after one year in East Asia.
- Once Justin and Nicole leave, we will be back into full time checking of scripture. Please pray for us as we adjust to living in the village. Pray for wisdom and strength to accomplish all God has for us to do. Thanks to those of you who pray for us and for those who have given extra finances for our time in the Philippines. What a blessing each of you are to us as you partner with us.
Tags: childcare, Church planting, grandchildren, Higaunon, Old Testament translation, Ostman, Philippines, travel
We need your prayers!
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Romans 15:13 “Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.“ What a wonderful message! This month has been quite busy. The first week, Lance continued translating the book of Leviticus. The second week, we both attended a workshop to learn how to talk with the media during a crisis, which our leadership team in the Philippines asked us to attend. It was very challenging, but also very enjoyable! The third week started with our helping good friends get to and from the funeral for their father-in-law/dad in Greenville, SC. Now Lance is back to work on translation as well as our least favorite task – PACKING! Please pray as we leave for the Philippines on the 30th of this month. We have been blessed to live in the church missionary house while in the US. With the prospect that a new pastor might need to use the house, we are packing away our belongings. Please pray for us, as we get ready to leave. One of the things we are excited about and hope to accomplish over the next 4 months is getting Genesis and Exodus ready for final checking, so it can be officially published for the Higaunon church. We just received word that the satellite company that we use in the village for email is “down” with problems. This leaves our co-workers without internet communication. The company has ordered a part from outside the country that will be expensive for them, as it has to get through customs. Please pray! We are very thankful for your partnership with us in prayer and financially. Secure in Christ’s love, |
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Lance & Laura PS – we have been made aware of a need that our daughter has for their ministry. Write us if you’re interested in helping. |
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Tags: Church planting, Higaunon, Lance & Laura, Leviticus, missionary, Old Testament, Ostman, packing, Philippines, translation, travel, workshop
Merry Christmas!
Merry Christmas!
The birth of the Savior so long ago is why we celebrate, not only during this season, but the whole year long! The first thing the angel said that night was, “Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people” (Luke 2:10.) What a wonderful message of hope for a world in crisis!
Crops flattened by the storm
Tragedy:
You have heard by now that a super-typhoon (Bopha) made a direct hit on Mindanao. With today’s news reporting the death toll at “902 with hundreds still missing,” we are grateful that there was no loss of life in our valley.
The main concern with them isn’t so much about the damage to people’s houses; it is about the loss of their crops. The food supplies they depend on have been badly damaged. Please pray that they would “Fear not” but trust their Heavenly Father to care for them. (Some have asked what they can do. Let us know if you want to help.)
Merry Christmas:
Since we are here in the USA, we decided to give ourselves a Christmas gift: We are flying out to spend an early Christmas with Robert, Ean and some of Laura’s family. Please pray for safety, good weather for those travel days especially and a great time with loved ones.
Our wish for you is a Blessed Christmas with CHRIST as the focus! Thank you so much for praying for us as Lance works on Old Testament translation for the Higaunon.
Secure in Jesus,
Tags: Bopha, Christmas, crisis, Fear Not, Higaunon, joy, message, Old Testament, Pablo, storm, tragedy, translation, typhoon
Got Hope?
Have a Blessed Thanksgiving!
The third Thursday of November is marked as Thanksgiving on the American calendar. What are you thankful for? A couple of verses from Paul’s letter to the Ephesians are a tremendous encouragement to us:
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ”
“And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins”
Then Titus 2:13 “looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ“
We are thankful for HOPE! The advertising slogan “Got Milk?” has been around awhile and I thought, why not “Got Hope?” With the American Thanksgiving holiday just around the corner, what better thing to be thankful for than the HOPE that we have in Christ? May God encourage your heart with the message of HOPE in this seemingly hopeless world.
Please pray for us as we travel for the holiday. We are looking forward to being with Robert in Oklahoma and some of Laura’s family in Texas. We will be gone for about 10 days.
It is exciting to think of the Higaunon getting more of God’s Word in their language. Thank you for praying for Lance as he translates Old Testament books. He has finished 2 Samuel and is working on a couple of other smaller books.
Finally, we are thankful for YOU for your part in this ministry.
Secure in Christ’s love,
Lance & Laura
Tags: alive, blessed, got hope?, Higaunon, hope, hopeless, lance and laura, Old Testament, Ostman, thank you, thankful, thanksgiving, translation