Lance and Laura Ostman Ministering to the Higaunon People of North Central Mindanao 
The “Precious Cargo” of Higaunon New Testaments arrived safely at our NTM Guest House on Tuesday this week. Later today the shipment will be put on a truck and dear friends of ours will bring the shipment TOMORROW. They plan to leave at 4 AM, (4 PM Thursday EST) and the Lord willing, they should arrive somewhere around noon.
Posts Tagged ‘Higaunon’
The Last Leg of the Journey
Thursday, October 29th, 2009An Apple a Day
Tuesday, October 6th, 2009
An apple a day!
We are packed and ready to return to the village! In our boxes of supplies are enough apples for us to have one a day until we get our next supply shipment. That’s what the diet list said! We’re allowed one apple a day! Praise the Lord, Laura is feeling MUCH better!
We remember the days when an apple cost a dollar and it was a luxury. We would carefully cut it in fourths, a piece for each of us. These days, however, apples are no longer that expensive here so we’ll enjoy them.
We have to wonder though, how many people around the world don’t know what an apple is and if they did, could they afford one! Much more than that, there are many in this world who have never heard the name of Christ! The gift He brings was costly to HIM but is FREE to ALL mankind! Scripture says, “Whosoever believes in Him…” What awesome truth!
Thank you for praying for us as we get back into our routine. Please be praying for the following:
- For that precious cargo, the Higaunon New Testaments to arrive safely.
- For the Higaunon as they plan a thanksgiving celebration for their New Testaments.
- For Lance as he works on Psalms
- For Laborers, amongst the Higaunon and around the world!
Thank you to those who pray, thank you to those who give, thanks to each of you for your part in this ministry.
The Higaunon Church says, “Thank you!”
Sunday, September 13th, 2009To 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.
On their way!
Friday, September 4th, 2009The 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.
God’s Book
Friday, September 4th, 2009
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
The packing begins!
Monday, August 31st, 2009
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.
Boxes for precious cargo of New Testaments
Saturday, August 29th, 2009
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!
Three Pallets of New Testaments!
Sunday, August 16th, 2009Pallet 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
where there seems to be no way, God makes a way!
Tuesday, June 30th, 2009
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
Ostman Update
Sunday, February 15th, 2009
Exciting news was shared with us recently from one of the Higaunon Bible teachers.
Over the past few years, Muyiku has been teaching his family group in a village down river from us. Since 1984 this group has outright refused to listen to God’s Word! Now, however, his father, brothers, sisters and spouses are listening and have believed the Gospel message! They are now challenging others to listen to the teaching as well. Praise the Lord with us for this wonderful news!
A CLOSED DOOR
We mentioned in our last update that we were praying about making a “quick” visit to the US. Thank you to all of you who prayed for us in this.
We spent hours trying to figure out a way to use our miles to make this trip but have gotten nowhere. We also checked on purchasing tickets, but the cost is too much for just a one month trip. We and our children are disappointed, but we trust God’s hand.
The Higaunon New Testament
Work continues on preparing the Higaunon New Testament for print. Thanks for your prayers! We hope to see this finished up soon and on its way to the printer in the US!
Thank you for your partnership in this ministry! Thank you for continuing to PRAY.
Secure in Christ alone,
Lance & Laura
