Posted by Lance and Laura Ostman on Friday, May 4th, 2012
Tata was one of our first language helpers.
To borrow a phrase from Paul’s letter to the Colossians: To the saints and faithful brethren in Christ which arescattered around the world: Grace be unto you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. What a blessing to experience God’s grace and peace day by day and know He is in control of all that is going on around us, no matter where we are in this messed up world. What a privilege to serve Him wherever we are.
Our neighbor, Wiki, with one of his many grandchildren.
Thank you so much for praying for us. We have had a great time reconnecting with the believers here and we praise the Lord for allowing us to accomplish our goals! Lance finished all that he had prepared to do and is now working on the book of 1 Samuel. It has been a lot of fun watching the translation assistants’ reaction as they hear a lot of this for the first time in their language.
We have a lot to praise God for and to ask prayer for. Here are some items on our list:
On the 14th of this month, Higaunon church leaders and their wives along with others involved in church planting will gather from across the region to attend the biannual Higaunon Church seminar. Please pray for safety as they travel and for their time together that it will be an encouraging time around the Word of God.
Lord willing we will leaving the village on the 23rd of this month. Please pray as we visit friends in this country and then travel to see our daughter and her family. Nicole reports that they are doing well learning the language! (Click here to see their Facebook page.)
Please pray for Laura’s family on the home-going of her Aunt Olive Morse – affectionately known as “Auntie”. She was more than ready to go be with Jesus! Pray for her husband Jim and their 3 sons. Jennifer, (Lance’s niece married to Laura’s cousin) did a wonderful job taking care of her over the last 7 weeks in their home. Please pray for them during this time of adjustment of not having her around.
Please continue pray for Lance’s trip to Haiti in July. We praise God for each of you who have given towards his trip. We are confident that God will provide what is lacking. Please write and ask if you are interested in the details.
We praise the Lord for each of you who pray and give towards this ministry. What a privilege it is to be co-laborers together in that which has eternal value; the lives of PEOPLE!
Secure in Christ’s love,
Lance & Laura
Have you heard the account of the birth of the Higaunon church, or maybe you want to hear it again? For those who are interested, click here to listen to a podcast of us telling the story of the Higaunon people’s journey from Fear to Faith.
Posted by Lance and Laura Ostman on Friday, February 3rd, 2012
Thirty years ago
1 Thessalonians 5:24 – Faithful is He who calls you who also will do it!
Some of you remember that this is what we looked like thirty years ago – the rest of you are probably laughing! Who would have guessed then that we’d be looking back from this vantage point having experienced so much in life!? God is faithful – that’s for sure!
Thirty years ago on Super Bowl Sunday we boarded a plane in Chicago for Manila, Philippines. Maybe you can imagine how much reminiscing we’ve been doing, as our daughter and her family have now begun their own “adventure” on the other side of the world! (they arrived safely Feb 3rd)
Posted by Lance and Laura Ostman on Thursday, January 19th, 2012
Act 13:3 “Then, having fasted and prayed, and laid hands on them, they sent them away.”
Dear prayer and financial partners,
The above verse was part of the text used during daughter and son-in-law’s commissioning service last week. What a privilege to be here for that and know that there are lots of people praying for them.
Saying goodbye is never easy and this time is no exception. We have had 3 wonderful months with our daughter and her family and it is now time to say goodbye. They are scheduled to leave two weeks from today for Asia. Please pray for them as they will have a lot of adjustments over the next few months. Praise the Lord with us for how He has lead them and how He will continue to work in and through their lives.
We have really enjoyed our time here and especially appreciate First Baptist church of Memphis, NY, allowing us to use an office during our stay here. This has allowed Lance to get a lot of work done with very little interruption. He has finished Joshua and is now starting on Judges.
Thank you for praying for us over these past few months and especially now as we say goodbye.
Our schedule:
As most of you know, we never tire over sharing what God has done and continues to do amongst the Higaunon people. Victory Bible Church in southern New Jersey has invited us to share this ministry with them this coming Sunday. From there we will be making a few stops on our way back to Florida.
We will be in Florida only until middle of March, when we’ll depart for the Philippines. This will be a 3 month visit to do checking on the scripture translation Lance has been working on. Ron and Michelle are looking for a native speaker to work with us full time to check over his work. Please pray we’ll have the right person for the job.
Finally, we are praying that God will allow us to visit our daughter and family in their new location before we return to the US. Please pray with us for the finances, timing and all that will be entailed in that. To us it seems impossible but we know if God is in this He will do it! If any of you are interested in helping us with our upcoming trips along with some equipment we would like to take with us, please let us know and we can share with you more details.
Thank you all for your part in this ministry. May God bless you in this New Year!
Posted by Lance and Laura Ostman on Tuesday, November 22nd, 2011
For those of you in the US, Happy Thanksgiving. We have so MUCH to be thankful for.
This past month has flown by and the things we were looking forward to in the future are now past. When Justin and Nicole asked us to help with their children while they attended their last pre-field training, it seemed so far into the future. Now, those 11 days are past. We really enjoyed helping out and are THANKFUL to the Lord that we could be here for this time.
Our daughter and son-in-law have now asked that we stay and help with the kids as they pack and sort in preparation for leaving to work overseas. We are of course more than happy to do so. Lance continues to work on translating Deuteronomy and is close to finishing it. We are THANKFUL for an office at their church where he can work undisturbed.
Thanks to all who are praying for the tuberculosis situation in the village. Ron and Michelle are busy getting things organized with that. Sansuwa is doing much better on his medication. We received a letter from him recently. He shares, “I thank you for praying for me while I was sick. I thought I was going to die and though I would have liked to have gone to heaven, the Lord has a purpose for me here.
We were really surprised when God allowed us to have our daughter Dina back while I was in the hospital. Thank you so much for praying for us and her!”
Yandang, pictured here with Ron, remains in a TB quarantine house in the city. He wrote a letter letter recently that was such an encouragement. He is thankful to all who have been praying for him. You can read his letter by clicking here.
Over the past several weeks we’ve been THANKFUL to be able to report to several of our supporting churches in the Western New York & Pennsylvania area. We have one more meeting set up with a supporting church this coming weekend and then a meeting out in New Jersey the first weekend in December.
Finally, Thank You to each of you who pray for us and give financially. We are so grateful for everyone who partners with us financially and in prayer for the ministry to the Higaunon.
Posted by Lance and Laura Ostman on Wednesday, July 13th, 2011
Enjoying the grandchildren
Greetings from central Florida!
We trust this finds each of you encouraged and rejoicing in the Lord. Thanks to each of you who are praying for us as we adjust to life here.
What exciting days we are living in; so many are re-defining “truth” as something fluid that changes with time and circumstances. What a privilege to serve an unchanging God! “Malachi 3:6 For I am the LORD, I change not!”
Posted by Lance and Laura Ostman on Monday, June 13th, 2011
Us with Sona and Yanit saying "goodbye"
We’re home…
They say home is where the heart is and our hearts are where we are so I guess that means we are home! We are grateful for our church here in Florida that has provided a wonderful place where we can live and work on the Old Testament translation for the Higaunon. We are also thankful for all of you who have been praying for us.
We did have some bumps on the way here… but that wasall good.
Posted by Lance and Laura Ostman on Tuesday, March 22nd, 2011
Returns and Rejoicings
I had a wonderful time with Nicole, Olivia, Jacob and Owen. Being there with them for those weeks met the desires of my “mother’s and grandmother’s heart.” Thanks again for praying for us both, especially during the time I was away, through my sickness, and for my return to the Philippines.
Our son-in-law Justin returned from his trip to Asia before I left their home. He came back excited about the work that is going on and which they hope to join by early next year, the Lord willing. Justin & Nicole continue to do pre-field ministry and their support level is now at 72%! This is cause for rejoicing. Please join us in prayer for the remainder of their support, for the contacts and meetings to see more partners in their ministry. We rejoice in those who have already joined their “team.”
Posted by Lance and Laura Ostman on Saturday, February 26th, 2011
Please pray for Laura.
She was scheduled to return home to the Philippines earlier this week. However, last week she came down with the flu and developed pneumonia. Consequently, she had to cancel her return flight. She saw the doctor at the urgent care clinic twice and after two prescriptions, one for flu and one for pneumonia, she is finally improving, albeit slowly. Because she was traveling alone, I thought it best to get her trip insurance. Praise the Lord with us for that! Please pray she gets well so she can return home! In the mean time, she is enjoying the grandkids and Nicole isn’t disappointed to have her mom there a bit longer!
Lance and Laura Ostman Helping to equip the Higaunon People of North Central Mindanao 
Who would have guessed then that we’d be looking back from this vantage point having experienced so much in life!? 
For those of you in the US, Happy Thanksgiving. We have so MUCH to be 
