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| From October 2009 |
Tonight is our last night at the conference in Maryland. We are headed on to our next destination: Virginia. There we will be sharing at my brother Sam’s church on Sunday morning and spending time with Sam on his birthday. I am getting my presentation notes together for church and Sharon is still working on her linguistics paper.
We’ve been in Baltimore, Maryland for three days now and are having a great missions conference with a church here. Each night this week we are standing at a table in the back of the auditorium answering questions about our ministry and passing out materials we have made. The people we’ve met have wonderful questions and make us feel right at home here.
This is just the first stop on a very long route that will take us from Michigan to Maryland, Virginia, Tennessee, Missouri, Arkansas, and Arizona before we head back to Michigan for the winter. Please pray for safety in travel and for our meetings. We desire to be clear, helpful, and informative during this time and we always seek to be a blessing to those we visit. We will be posting pictures in the next few days of our time here.
Tags: conference, connection, Maryland, news, Prayer Request, Thailand, travel
Thailand: the land of smiles
If you haven’t heard by now then let me be the first to tell you: Sharon and I are now headed toward Thailand. We recently discovered that NTM will no longer be expanding the field of Cambodia under the current arrangement, leaving us with a tough decision: to pursue Cambodia with another mission or choose another field. After talking with our home churches, seeking wise council, and meeting with missionaries from Thailand we decided to begin pursuing ministry in Southeast Asia via Thailand.
Thailand is a natural choice for many reasons including its close proximity to Cambodia. Thai culture is similar in many ways to Cambodian culture and the minority people groups within the country are numerous.
It’s been great to see how the body of Christ has come around us to help us make this decision and support us during this time. Continue to pray for us as we sort through the implications of this change and seek to keep all of you up to date with the latest!
Tags: link, Ministry, news, Prayer Request, Thailand
Here are some funny comics that have been in the past few editions of our local newspaper. Sharon’s mom cut them out for us, so I thought I’d post them for everyone to read.
Stone Soup by Jan Elliot
Tags: comic, Family, Fun, jan elliot, Lansing, MI, Michigan, soup, stone, Thailand
Sharon sitting down to sort through mounds of Cherokee data.
As Sharon sits behind me she alternately scratches her head, bounces her knees, and bangs some phonetic writing out on the keyboard. Today is her first full day of work after four full days of packing, cleaning, traveling, visiting, and unpacking. Outside the orange leaves on the trees are almost gone and rain is in the forecast for the next three days. In the kitchen is a pot of hot coffee and under Sharon’s feet a small space heater breathes warmly on her feet. Ideal conditions.
Now if only the computer would work right, the data would fit together perfectly, someone would spoon food into her mouth, and the kitchen would clean itself. Then it would be perfect, but that’s probably asking too much isn’t it?
Please pray that Sharon will be able to focus on her studies and finish her analysis of the Cherokee language before we hit the road in a few days!
Tags: bruce, daily, day, language, Lansing, linguistics, MI, Michigan, pictures, Sharon, study
Standing at the border of Michigan and Indiana
Have you seen the new sign at Michigan’s borders? We took this picture in front of it while we stopped for a much-needed break on our way back from Oklahoma. Maybe it’s a play on words with two meanings, one indicating that the state is very environmentally friendly and the other making it clear to all crossing the border that Michigan is not two states, but in fact is just one state (despite the fact that a lake separates its two main halves).
We are back in Michigan for a few days while Sharon works on her write-up of Cherokee. It will take a lot of concentration and effort on her part! While she is doing that I will be working on the house we’re living in with my dad and preparing for our next round of travels to Maryland, Virginia, Tennessee, Missouri, Arkansas, and Arizona.
Tags: bruce, linguistics, Michigan, oklahoma, pictures, Sharon
Here is a sample of the Chrerokee language written phonetically courtesy of Sharon. See if you can pronounce the words!
Tags: cherokee, language, linguistics, talehquah
Sharon made some delicious indian tacos on Saturday with her language helper (Bobbie) and some of her friends who are also in the linguistics course. The time Sharon has spent with the Cherokee friends she has met here in Tahlequah has been priceless, but we are ready to move on and be completely done studying. Sharon still has a lot of work to do! Breaks like this one are much-needed and well-deserved.
Tags: Fun, language, linguistics, pictures, Sharon, tacos, tahlequah
This post is just to let you know that we are in the process of sorting out a major change in our ministry location. We will be posting more information here as it becomes available. We have been able to talk to some of you in person, and would be more than happy to give anyone a call that is interested in hearing more about these changes. This in no way affects our desire to head overseas next summer or our existing financial and prayer partnerships.
Right now we feel about like this fish being devoured by a shark but very soon we will be getting information out to you. If you’d like more information now please send us an email at ricandsharon@gmail.com and we will reply promptly.
Wow. It’s hard to believe what a whirlwind September has been for us. I can’t believe it’s October already honestly.
We started in Michigan, drove to Missouri for some meetings with our field leader and church there then proceeded to Tahlequah, Oklahoma where Sharon began studying Cherokee.
Since then I (Ric) have driven 3,823 miles through 8 states, bought 169 gallons of gasoline at 15 locations, and been on four flights. During my travels I have been representing New Tribes Mission, speaking at various churches, meeting with pastors and mission leaders, and building a fence (don’t ask). Sharon has spent countless hours gathering language data with her helper, putting it into the computer, and playing back the audio. We are both ready to be home for a few weeks before beginning our next round of partnership visits in November.
Below are some pictures of the famous people I’ve met during my travels:
Sharon attended a Powwow on Saturday and had a great time watching the dances and seeing the costumes. She was able to try Indian Tacos and even some of the dance moves. Cherokee culture is rich and intricate, so Sharon went to the powwow to learn some important culture that will help her with her analysis of the language and understanding her language helper. I will be posting some video of the event tomorrow.
Tags: culture, Fun, language, linguistics, oklahoma, pictures, Sharon
Here is a really simple video tour of the camp we’re staying at here in Talehquah, Oklahoma. I’ve sped parts of it up, but it’s still a bit long. Make sure you watch the end, when we talk to Sharon about the work she’s doing in linguistics.
Tags: camp, linguistics, Sharon, tour
This wouldn’t necessarily be notable, except that I think the pictures of the gar with the fish in his mouth is amazing:
While Sharon is back at the camp meeting her Cherokee language helper I’m spending some time with my family in southern Oklahoma. It’s been great to see them and even more fun to live life with them. Today I went to church and ate a huge lunch with my Aunts, Uncles, and cousins then visited Lake Texoma with my grandparents. Here are some photos I took today:
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Ric and Sharon Bruce