Lance and Laura Ostman Helping to equip the Higaunon People of North Central Mindanao
Us with Sona and Yanit saying "goodbye"
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 was all good.
Dear partners in ministry!
First of all, thank you all so much for praying for us. Many of you have shared with us that you pray daily. That is so humbling! Thanks also to all of you who give to us so we can do what we do.
There are a couple things we need you to pray for.
First some background on the first request:
Kabuhayon is the tribal word for “LIFE” and usually means “eternal life” – it’s something the spirits promised them in their old culture but of course were never able to give them.
Now however, they have found “Kabuhayon” through believing the good news of Jesus Christ and His finished work on Calvary.
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.”
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!
Pogong teaching
Pogong and his family
Thank you so much for praying for Lance’s work on the Psalms. He’s really been enjoying recording each chapter with Pogong, his translation helper. However, last week and this week he’s had to lay that aside as Pogong is away on a ministry trip.
Pogong has lived with his family in a village for a number of years where He has been teaching God’s Word to about 100 people. Last year he started living here more often then there handing over the responsibility to the people there. As Pogong and his wife phase out of that village, they will visit from time to time to check on the church’s progress. Their heart’s desire is to move to another village that needs the gospel. (more…)
Higaunon Children singing to their hearts content!
And the angel said unto them, “Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord.” Luke 2:10,11
Amy Carmichael said, “When you are facing the impossible, you can count on the God of the impossible.”
Thinking about all those years ago when Mary was going through the “impossible” in her life and all the things that passed through her mind – and in the end, what do we learn? We learn that with God, “All things are possible!” We are so grateful to the God of the impossible for the incredible things He has done and is doing in our lives.
It’s harvest time here in the mountains and people are busy bringing rice in from their fields!
This year has been a particularly good harvest for which they are all very thankful. They have had just the right amount of rain and sunshine at the right times to ripen it. The village is often empty during this time of year because people are working to get the harvest in before it rots with the oncoming rains or the rats get it. It’s important to get it in while the getting is good. (Speaking of good – it is delicious! Wish you could be here to enjoy it with us!)
Two Visitors
We had two visitors at the house the other day. The first one was all about “everyone is persecuting me!” Our neighbor was rather upset by the way he perceived people were treating him. We told him he needed to go see the church leadership. It has been many years since we have taken any kind of teaching/leadership role amongst the Higaunon. Our job is to provide teaching materials and translation of scripture. Not that we mind hearing what people have to say… not at all… like Alice who came later in the day. (more…)
Here’s the latest on Elias and his family for those of you who have been praying…
Thanks – Lance & Laura
Dear co-workers,
Finally we are able to write you an update! Not that we didn’t have the time at all to do so, but things were crazy from day one on. We had a great trip to Vienna and arrived two weeks ago. Our church has once again prepared a nice place for us to stay just a few minutes outside Vienna. It is a really small town in the middle of Austria’s veggie-basket, the “Marchfeld,” nothing but fields and onions, potatoes, and carrots. Right now it is onion harvest and everything smells like onions and our noses are running constantly . We really enjoy the place and our hosts, who are already very old but really nice and accommodating. We didn’t have much time to enjoy and get used to our new place, since we had to set up pretty much a new life her in Austria. On top of that we immediately had to look for all kinds of different doctors and therapists for Elias and also Carmen. So we have been really busy trying to get appointments, setting up schedules, starting school, and adjusting to a new environment, which was even for me, Richard,- being Austrian- quite different.
Now things are starting to slowly turn into sort of a routine. We have the needed therapists for Elias, including all kinds of information on how to develop his sensory-motor ability at home, which requires extra time and effort. But we are glad to be able to help Elias in effective ways. Lucas has started home schooling. Our teacher, who initially agreed to come and teach him again all of a sudden changed her mind which left me, Richard, teaching Lucas until we find someone else (hopefully). We tried to enroll him at a local school, but while checking the place out it was apparent by Lucas’ reaction that it would have been too much change for him. We are still looking for a place for Melissa, we feel that she also need some interaction and would love for her to put her in a local kindergarten for a few hours, that would also free Carmen up in the morning to do some exercises and eventually schooling with Elias.
Once things have settled down and we know who is doing what, when, and where, we will hopefully start to feel more at home and have more opportunity to connect with our church. Though, we have received much help already from dear folks from our church, organizing things, appointments, and doctors for us. This Thursday we are going to see a Neurosurgeon at a big hospital here in Vienna. We only need to get in touch with a doctor and a hospital so that we can carry on with Elias’ routine MRIs, every 3 Month and basically to continue from where we stopped in Cologne.
Especially our kids have had a hard time adjusting so far. One night Carmen was talking with them about it and they all three said they were tired of moving around, and mentioned at different times how much they miss the Philippines. Elias especially said that it is funny, if he is here he misses the Philippines and the other way round. And Lucas then said,: it takes time to adjust to the here and now.” So please pray for our Children! We are happy to finally stay at a place, at least for one year, and we really have been looking forward to that, but it still has its challenges and takes time to adjust.
We really appreciate your prayers for us as a family and Elias in particular. It is a weird feeling knowing that the tumor is still there and that he and we just have to live with it.
Because of Christ Richard and Family
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