Posted in Ministry on Sep 13th, 2009 | Discuss This Post
To our beloved siblings in Christ there in America,
How are you doing in the Lord? How is your faith in Christ? If you are wondering how we are doing here in our village, we are doing well thanks to the Lord’s love and watch care over us. He shows that same love to each one of you as well.
Now then, even though we have not met and we speak different languages, I really wanted to write to you because I know that you are the Lord’s children just like us. We are all one in Christ since we all have put our faith in his perfect blood.
Now then, the purpose of my letter is so that you know that we are really happy and thankful for your help with our Bibles. We praise the Lord for you giving of yourselves and finances to be used for God’s purpose. We are the recipients of that blessing as well as others who have yet to accept God’s Word. This is why we are so happy, especially me. I cannot thank you enough for allowing the Lord to use you in regards to our Bibles.
My siblings, we do not have anything to pay you for what you have done in the way of worldly things but there is a God who will reward you and repay you for the money you spent for God’s purpose. He will exchange that with heavenly wealth which is stored in heaven.
God is trustworthy to fulfill his promise that he gave to his children. However we can help you by praying for you. We pray that God will continue to watch over you and that He will bless you with the things you need.
Now then, siblings in the Lord, we also ask you to help us by praying for us. Please pray for us that God’s purpose will continue to be fulfilled that we will continue to minister his word to others.
As for us, we will persevere in our praying for you all.
That is all I have to say,
My name is Sonà and I’m one of the church leaders here amongst the Higaunon. My wife is Yanit and we have 5 children.
Tags: church growth, Higaunon, New Testament, Philippines, Prayer Request, thank you
Posted in Ministry, News Article, Prayer Request on Sep 4th, 2009 | Discuss This Post
The boxes have been picked up!
Forex is a company we have used on a number of occasions.
They deliver “door to door” but that doesn’t mean they’ll deliver to our door here in the village. (haha!) They usually estimate 6 weeks delivery time.
Pray with us for a speedy and safe travel.
Tags: Forex, Higaunon, New Testaments, shipping
Posted in News Article on Sep 4th, 2009 | Discuss This Post
The inside cover of the Higaunon New Testament
Su Libdu ku Diyus ha Kabuhayon…
That is the title of the Higaunon New Testament. Translated it literally says, “God’s Book that is Life” one could say in smoother English, “The Book of God for Life.”
God is not some nebulous being out there who has no interest in the everyday happenings of mankind. He loves us with an everlasting love. His love is so awesome and He has given us a book that tells us about that precious love.
The Higaunon are excited as they anticipate the arrival of the New Testament in their language. While we wait for the shipment to arrive, we’re working on a rough draft of the book of Psalms. It’s been fun watching the language helpers as they hear some of this for the first time. Yes indeed, this is a book for life written by the Living God! It is clear as we go through the Psalms that He is indeed interested in each of us.
The New Testaments have been packed and are scheduled to be picked up today, Friday September 4th. Thank you for your continued prayers for safety as they make the journey here. The church has scheduled a thanksgiving celebration in November. We are praying that they will arrive in time for that.
We were blessed to learn just today that Lowe’s Hardware waived the cost of cutting the plywood when they learned it was to be used for making boxes to ship New Testaments. It took them one and a half hours to make all those cuts!
To each of you who are praying we say “THANK YOU.” We have seen God answer many prayers already! We also thank each of you who have given financially so the Higaunon can have God’s printed Word in their language. If there are those of you reading this that still wish to participate financially, simply drop us a note and we’ll tell you how you can do that.
Ready to be sent!
Secure in Christ’s love,
Lance & Laura
Tags: God's Book, Higaunon, Kabuhayon, New Testament, shipment, The Book of God
Posted in News Article, Prayer Request on Aug 31st, 2009 | Discuss This Post
64 New Testaments per box
Each box will weigh 53 kilograms or 118 pounds.
Please pray that everything goes smoothly. That the boxes will be sent soon and have a safe trip here.
Tags: church growth, Forex, Higaunon, Lance and Laura Ostman, New Testaments, packing
Posted in News Article on Aug 29th, 2009 | Discuss This Post
Please be praying for the packing and shipping
Of the Higaunon New Testaments
Pray they arrive here by the end of October.
getting the plywood from the hard ware store and letting THEM do the cutting!
Some assembly required!
these boxes will hold precious cargo!
This job took 4 hours!
We hear they enjoyed a high cholesterol breakfast first.
Looks like they did a fantastic job!
33 boxes to ship the New Testaments.
These New Testaments will go into those boxes!
Tags: Aloma Baptist Church, Higaunon, New Testaments, Philippines, shipping, translation
Posted in Ministry on Aug 16th, 2009 | Discuss This Post
Pallet of New Testaments
No sooner had we sent out our last update and we received word that the New Testaments were being shipped to our international office in Sanford, Florida. Praise the Lord! There are 3 pallets of books ready to be checked and then boxed for shipping.
Members of our church in Florida will be constructing 33 boxes to ship them in. (Thank you Aloma Baptist Church!)
Once they arrive on the island they will be trucked to as close as possible to the village and people will hike them the rest of the way here. You did realize there is no road into the village, didn’t you? Each box will hold 60 New Testaments and weigh just over 100 pounds. PLEASE PRAY for a safe arrival. We know the enemy does not want this to happen but we also know that Greater is He that is in us than he that is in the world.
In the mean time, we received a ‘dummy copy’ of the New Testament. This was a blessing as an error was found. Page 135 had smaller print than the other pages! We hope that the company that did the printing will supply us with 2000 copies of that page. Since the binding will be done here, it will be relatively easy to insert the newly printed page.
All of this is for the Higaunon church to be able to have the Word of God in their language. It is a culmination of almost 30 years of hard work! Please do not take your copy of God’s Word for granted!
Please be praying for the villages where the Higaunon church is ministering. There is one place in particular that is experiencing some peace and order problems. Please pray for safety for the believers and wisdom for the church leadership. We live in a very volatile world and the enemy would like nothing more than to put an end to what God is doing. Pray that the believers in these outreach areas will be encouraged in the Lord. Please do not take your freedom to worship for granted!
Ron bound this copy that we received.
Thank you for praying for us!
Lance & Laura
Tags: Aloma Baptist Church, book binding, Higaunon, New Testament, shipment, translation
Posted in Ministry on Jun 30th, 2009 | Discuss This Post
Faith comes by hearing the Word of God! That’s what we’re all about, communicating clearly the written Word of God to people who otherwise do not have opportunity to hear or read it.
Printer Problems: Some of you will remember that we have a large HP LaserJet printer in a humidity controlled room in our office. We use this to print curriculum, visual aids, song books and scripture. When I turned it on the other day the LCD screen was lit up but blank! Needless to say my heart sank and we all felt a bit sick to our stomachs thinking,
“Oh no, how do we fix this! There are no HP technicians around the corner. Do we send it out on the plane?“
along with numerous other questions…
Well, to make a long story short, after some research on the internet, we think we’ve found the problem. We ordered a part and it is on the way! It should be in hand and installed on the 16th of this month. Please pray that this fixes the problem.
The Higaunon New Testament: Thank you for your prayers for the printing of the Higaunon New Testament. We also praise God for those who have given financially towards this project. After quite a lot of communication back and forth we understand the printing is going to start soon. Please pray that all the details will go smoothly.
Ron and Michelle would like to take a furlough later this year. They will not leave until the New Testaments arrive. The church has stated that they want to have a celebration when this precious shipment arrives. Do any of you want to come and celebrate with us?
Thanks again to each of you who pray for us and the ministry God has given to us. I stopped a Bible teacher on the trail recently who needed a dozen song books. He shared with me that there are new listeners in the village he works in. Praise God! Hearing these reports excites our hearts.
Secure in Christ’s Love,
Lance & Laura for the Higaunon
Tags: Higaunon, HP, HP LaserJet 9000, New Testament, printer problems, technician, Word of God
Posted in Ministry on May 30th, 2009 | Discuss This Post
Saying goodbye is something we do a lot of in our line of work. A week ago we said goodbye to Bill & Carol Hart after working with them for 21 years. We’re rejoicing that Jennings and we have worked together with Bill and Carol and that we have enjoyed precious unity and harmony.
We’ve been through a lot over the years and it’s all those things that have drawn us together. We laugh when we hear people say, “Aw, they’re all the same!” Hardly! The three of us units on this team are as different as night and day! The thing that has helped us to get along is that we maintain our unity by meeting together daily for a time of fellowship and prayer.
Now though, Harts have come to a point in life where they had to make some changes. Bill’s folks are getting up in years and have asked Bill to take care of them during the time they have left on this earth. Also, they have 2 daughters who have finished school and need to be “settled” in Canada.
When we think of Bill we think of someone who has discernment and knows how to come along side and be an encouragement. When we think of Carol we think of someone who has said to God many times, “Bring it on, Lord! Do whatever it takes to make me more like you.”
Daily team meeting.
The Hart family has been a tremendous example to us and the Higaunon. They will be sorely missed. Please pray for Bill & Carol and their family as they adjust to a new phase of life away from the work here in the Philippines.
Please continue to pray for the Higaunon church, for Jennings and ourselves, as we carry on with what God has for us in getting His Word to these people. We are in the final stages o
f having the New Testament printed in the US. Please pray for all the details involved with the printing and shipping the New Testaments. Work continues here with Bible comics, curriculum development and translating Old Testament portions in rough draft.
Thank you so much for standing with us in prayer and financial support.
Secure in Christ’s love,
Lance & Laura
Here we are fooling around!
Tags: Bill and Carol Hart, goodbye, harmony, Lance and Laura Ostman, Ron and Michelle Jennings, team work
Posted in Ministry on Apr 21st, 2009 | Discuss This Post
Jason & Shirley were the first white people the Tala Andig of that remote region had ever seen. Some of those people had never even seen a logging truck.
The Birkins moved into the jungles during the mid 80’s and have labored there faithfully ever since. Today there is a strong church who now, for the very first time, will be able to open up and read a New Testament in their language.
Pictured here is the very first bound copy of the Tala Andig New Testament. As you know from our last update, Jason & Shirley spent several days with our partners Ron & Michelle Jennings, formatting the layout of the recently completed translation.
Lance has been busy printing copies on our big printer and now that a number of copies are printed, Higaunon believers are binding the New Testaments. It has been neat to work together as a team in seeing this job accomplished.
Please pray with us for the completion of this project. We have experienced quite a number of paper jams. Ron and Lance have looked for the cause and think it’s a combination of the quality of the paper we’re using and the humidity. One thing is for certain, the enemy of our souls does NOT want this printing to happen!
Please pray that we’ll get all copies printed and bound by the deadline. That’s a month away from now so there “should be” plenty of time.
Rejoice with us and the Tala Andig church as they receive their first completed copies of the New Testament in their language!
Thank you for your partnership in this ministry!
Secure in Christ’s love,
Lance & Laura for all of us here who are working together for the furtherance of Christ’s kingdom.
Tags: Church planting, Jason and Shirley Birkin, New Testament, paper jams, printing, scripture translation, Talaandig, translation
Posted in Ministry on Apr 11th, 2009 | Discuss This Post
The Lord brought us safely back “home” to our village on Thursday.
We had a good time with our friends who were visiting from Hawaii, plus we got to surprise our coworkers, the Harts, when they got back into the country at the end of March!
We visited three islands that we’d never been to before and enjoyed the beauty of God’s creation anew. Thank you for praying for us over the past couple of weeks while we traveled.
Lance was able to finish up his part of the last check through the Higaunon New Testament. Our coworker Ron wasn’t able to finish up his part yet, due to a previous commitment to help a fellow missionary who is here for a few days to get his own New Testament ready for print.
We are going to do the printing of Jason & Shirley Birkin’s Tala-Andig New Testament here with our big printer, God willing! They want 100 copies initially. Upon printing the first copy this morning of the Tala-Andig New Testament Jason said, “It will be such a blessing to have the New Testament in one book for the Tala-Andig Church to study from!”
Jason & Shirley Birkin
We would appreciate prayer for this project to go smoothly, as well as the finishing up of the Higaunon Scriptures so it can get sent to the printer soon. We appreciate your part in our lives and the ministry to the Higaunon people.
Have a blessed Resurrection Day!
Secure in Christ alone,
Laura & Lance
Tags: Church planting, New Testament, Ostman, Talaandig, translation
Lance and Laura Ostman Ministering to the Higaunon People of North Central Mindanao 
