Atop Algonquin mountain

going to people’s homes…it gives me such a deeper understanding of who they are and why they might think and act the way they do.  I found a sweet, loving family in going to Jenna’s home.  One day, Jenna, her Dad and I went up mount Algonquin, one of the Adirondack mountains of northern New York. I’m not sure that I’ve ever hiked like that in the snow and ice before, and for that reason it was quite a unique experience for me.  I think we all took a tumble or two even with spikes on our shoes.  It is such a beautiful area especially during the fall season!  The Sunday evening I was there, Jenna and I, plus Penny and James Camacho who have

Sunday evening at Northside Baptist Church

worked in Paraguay for 12 years, all had the opportunity to share at Northside Baptist Church.  The love the church has for Jenna is very noticeable and can be seen, for one by the fact that they strongly stand behind her.  Although not having known me, I found them to be very receptive and friendly towards me as well, and for that I was thankful!  Northside Baptist is quite a large church with over 1,200 people in attendance each Sunday morning.  You can imagine the number of children that size church might have.  Each Wednesday night, Jenna does counsel time four times in a row with the Awana girls.  Those girls love Jenna and look up to her so much.  It’s so neat that while preparing for Paraguay, Jenna can have a ministry with these young girls and a few of them just may want to be a missionary like her one day!  Pray for Jenna, that the Lord would continue to use her as well as direct her each and every step…all the way to Paraguay.

I can’t tell you how much La Iglesia Bautista Betel has meant to me ever since I came to North Carolina and found them in January!  The people of the church

Jorge, teaching on a Wednesday night

have truly been a huge blessing to me.  Just a couple of months ago we were a small bunch who came faithfully, but the Lord has brought more and more of those faithful sort, some who are now contributing greatly to the leadership of the church.  One of these is a man by the name of Jorge (picture to left).  He started attending just a few months ago, very quiet and unassuming at first, but actually a former pastor.  The Lord has been using him in leading the Wednesday night Bible studies, and wow, the Lord is also using him in inviting the unsaved to church.  Pray that the Lord would continue to use both the people of La Iglesia Bautista Betel and of

At a Greater Vision concert

Bethel Baptist Church as light to the surrounding community.  A couple of weeks back, Bethel Baptist hosted a Greater Vision concert.  The picture to the right, are some of the volunteers from La Iglesia Bautista Betel who helped in seating people.  Adelaida, the middle of the three, has recently returned home to the Dominican Republic to care for her 92 year old mother.

As I continue with Partnership Development (deputation), pray that I would have a listening ear and continually depend on the Lord to direct my steps.  The Lord has been faithful to me; my part is keeping Him first in my life and being a willing vessel for His use.

We can trust the sun will rise each morning!

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding, in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight.” -Proverbs 3:5-6.  Is this a familiar verse to you?  Please don’t let me fool you into thinking that I have conquered this area of trust in my life.  I, too, struggle with trusting the Lord at times as it seems there are always new areas to trust Him for.  I’m thankful to have memorized the above verse; it is quite applicable as we continue to seek the Lord.  James 2:14 says, “What good is it, dear brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but don’t show it by your actions?”  So also, our actions should reflect our trust in the Lord.  The good thing is that the Lord is Truth and He cannot lie, as I was reminded just recently.  Whether it be big things or small details down the road, I can trust Him!

Just prior to asking the field of Mexico some much needed information, I received an email from the field leadership in Paraguay stating that they will now provide in Paraguay the training for new missionaries that had been done in Mexico.  The Paraguay field had lacked the infrastructure to set up such a program, but after discussing the pros and cons of having this training in Mexico, they have decided to develop the program in Paraguay – very exciting!  This will require a few months of preparation and due to the way the program will be set up, they want to stagger the arrival of new missionaries. With that said, they requested that Jenna and I arrive around the first week of June.  Pray for wisdom and discernment as they prepare this program and make some important decisions for those of us coming.

Some of the lovely youth!

Earlier this month, I was privileged to make a visit to the Missionary Training Center in Missouri where I completed my training 9 months ago.  It was good to be back there and see friends I love and appreciate.  Ronda, my friend and mentor (while I was in training) made me feel at home at her place for those few days.  The people of La Iglesia Latina del Lago, had become very dear to me while in training, so it was nice to see them all again.  They gave me an opportunity to share there at the church which was good and hard at the same time.  My friend complimented me in saying that my Spanish has improved (thanks, friend) but too bad I didn’t get to practice more with the church people there as my stay was just too short.  Hopefully as time goes on, my Spanish will continue to improve and I’ll be able to talk about most anything with the Hispanic people!  And then, there is always learning the tribal language assuming that’s how the Lord continues to direct.

From Missouri, I flew to the Houston, TX area to visit my brother and family.

The family in Houston

My family is learning about Paraguay too

Surprise Venezuelan restaurant (= Thanks Micah, Erin & Liamcito!

We were all together as a family there as my parents and sister flew in as well for a few days – all the family time I can get, right?  Now that I will be leaving at a later date, hopefully I’ll get to see them a couple of more times before going overseas.

]]> http://www.ntm.org/wp/rebekah_huffman/2009/09/30/i-can-feel-fall-and-you/feed/ 0 http://www.ntm.org/wp/rebekah_huffman/2009/09/22/164/ http://www.ntm.org/wp/rebekah_huffman/2009/09/22/164/#comments Tue, 22 Sep 2009 18:47:55 +0000 rebekah_huffman http://www.ntm.org/wp/rebekah_huffman/?p=164 Sometimes I wish the Lord would say “do this….for the next several months.”  Maybe at times He is more glorified when we seek Him and then make wise choices ourselves.  Pray that I would be both obedient and wise these next couple of months in my decisions and in the way I use my time.  Also if you will, pray that I’d trust the Lord with details ahead that are unknown.  I so often underestimate the power of prayer, but the Lord can move what appear to be mountains through prayer and dependence upon Him.  Thanks for your prayers!

It’s amazing how much our circumstances and the people around us shape our lives. I’ve so much appreciated my sister Sarah’s willingness to share her home with me all these months. Ever since mid January she has been super busy working full time and going to school full time. As of a month or so ago, she has finished her clinical hours and graduated as an acute care nurse practitioner. Finally, she has had a bit of a break and was able to spend a week in Venezuela! She has just returned from Venezuela…her pictures and sharing make me long to go ‘back home.’ I’m afraid that it’s not the same as it once was, and I’m glad she made it back safely. Some things never change though – there are still great people there and the candy that Sarah brought back is as good as ever (= She stayed with family friends from Barquisimeto, a city where my parents served early on during their time in Venezuela.

My close friends (Motoi and Billy), who live here in the area have been a blessing to me in many ways. Motoi works as a nurse at a hospital nearby and Billy is getting his master’s of divinity degree. They plan to serve as missionaries to Japan or elsewhere if the Lord guides, in the near future. While studying towards his master’s degree, Billy has also worked several years for a company that houses many college students. His job primarily entails picking up beer cans, cigarette butts, broken bottles, and anything else that college students have ‘fun’ with. The end of July is when the students’ leases terminate and many of them move out during that time. The beginning of August is then time for the cleaning and refurbishing of apartments which the students have moved out of. Since Billy was needed to refurbish apartments for the first two weeks of August, I gladly took his other job. He may be used to it, but I was worn out by the end of each day’s work! During those 2 weeks, I was reminded time and time again that humility is such an honorable trait and Billy, I must say, chooses to possess it as he knows very well that his security is found in the Lord. I’ve been reminded of my need to continually seek humility over pride as pride is down right disgusting, yet so easy to get caught up in. Christ who is holy and perfect, came to us in human form – this is our ultimate example of humility…I can’t even imagine!

This last while, I’ve been cleaning the house some as well as sorting the few belongings that I have. It is a blessing to have few belongings, and even more so now when I think of moving in the near future. Shortly, I need to touch base with the Mexico field to get a feel towards when exactly would be the best time to arrive there considering all circumstances. My current level of support is 44%; the Lord has certainly been faithful to bring those behind me.

I continue to enjoy the fellowship with the Hispanic church I attend here in North Carolina. Please do pray for that ongoing work as well as for the English part of the church…the church has such wonderful people (both Spanish and English)! The Hispanic church does not have a pastor; however there is a gifted husband & wife and family in leadership. I have gotten to know them quite well – such a sweet family and in the picture to the left they had taken me along out to eat! I was encouraged this past Sunday by the number of people in attendance at Sunday school. Please pray for the hearts of individuals, that they would keep the Lord first in their lives.

college friend and her beautiful familyin Centerville, OH.  The following night I stayed with the Whitman family in Covington, OH. They have also just finished training with New Tribes Mission and are headed to Paraguay! From Ohio I traveled to Lincoln, IL to be with family friends for a night. The Denlingers are with the same mission my parents are currently with (Rural Home Missionary Association) and I was given the opportunity to share at their church that Sunday. I then traveled north to Elgin, IL where I stayed 2 nights with the Befus family – he was my 6th grade teacher in Venezuela! Following that, I also stayed 2 nights at my Grandma’s apartment in Elkhart, IN. My uncle Theron, Grandma and I then went down to Berne, IN for a night with Aunt Cindy and Uncle Keith. We arrived just in time for ‘Swiss days,’ a festivity celebrating the town’s history – there are many Mennonites and Amish in the area. I was then glad to make a night’s stay at the house of Rebekah and Lucas Hanna who graduated with me in Venezuela. They now have two very cute children (= Lastly, I was blessed to stop at Marianne Henderson’s for a night in Fairborn, OH. It was largely because of her that I ended up going to Papua New Guinea for 6 weeks back in 2002 and it was there that I learned that there are several thousand tribes living in darkness because they have no gospel witness. I’m so thankful for the great fellowship and many gifts given to me along the way…I was blessed at each stop!! My car has been a bit unreliable in the recent past and for that reason I had a tad bit of concern driving it all that way. Thankfully I had no problems with it. My friends in the area here (Motoi and Billy), lent me their GPS which came in extremely handy. I only thought that maybe it should have told me when to stop for a red light as well (=
Now, to change the topic to something I’ve been thinking about, one of New Tribes Mission’s objectives is to train and see that nationals carry on the work themselves. With that in mind and in looking at the long term needs of Paraguay, I’ve personally felt burdened with the need to see the local Paraguayan church carry out their role in reaching their own unreached tribes and beyond. The Paraguayan church is young, but capable of such a task with much awareness, motivation and planning. Mike and Trisha Goddard are fully involved in mobilizing the Paraguayan church to see that expatriates, nationals and tribal believers work together to finish the task in Paraguay. They need co-workers who are at a capable high level in the Spanish language…pray about that if you will. The Goddard’s have an informative website at www.ntm.org/mike_goddard if you’d like to take a look! Paraguay will soon have some of its first tribal missionaries – two single girls are currently in training; one at a training center in Bolivia and the other at a training center in Brazil. The Paraguayan church has begun to catch the vision, yet there is so much training on our part left to be done. With only 9 of its 17 tribes reached and no Paraguayan fully trained as of yet, I am thankful for the handful of families and singles who are looking to be placed in one of the 8 remaining unreached tribes within the next several years. Although learning the Paraguayan culture and language (Spanish) is an extra step for us that a Paraguayan national wouldn’t have before reaching the tribe, I appreciate the step of faith and willingness of heart of my possible future co-workers. The picture includes Jenna and I, plus three families all planning to head to Paraguay – plus there may be more on the horizon…yea! Could you pray that I would continue to be a vessel for the Lord’s use and also pray that my intimacy with the Lord would continue to deepen; that I would be quick to discern and respond to His voice. I so much appreciate you!!
Love, Rebekah

I will be traveling to see friends and family in Ohio, Indiana and Illinois from July 16th -26th.  Please pray for safety on the roads, that my car would do alright and that  I’d be an encouragment and blessing at each of the 8 or so places I’ll be!  I’ll be sharing in a church the first Sunday and I hope to share with friends and family along the way…you could pray for opportunities!  Thanks so much!!

follow-up:  I arrived just before midnight last night (26th).  I don’t think I could have asked for a better trip…thanks!

This past Saturday (5/23) a couple of the Hispanics from La Iglesia Bautista Betel went evangelizing in a very Hispanic apartment complex.  I came home a little discouraged as we distributed sacked lunches and tracts, invited them to church…but didn’t really get much further -conversation wise.  The next day 2 of the people from that apartment complex came to church…what an encouragement despite my lack of faith!  One of these (Carlos), made a profession of faith that day.  Pray for his growth and for both of these individual’s faithful attendance to the church.  Pray for others who are searching, as God is the one who stirs hearts and brings them to Himself.  Gracias!