Dear Friends and Brethren
Greetings in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ who brings us into each new day for opportunities to share His great and wonderful news of salvation.
What can I say? I have sent out two e.mail newsletters since we arrived back but that does not help you who do not have e.mail. We have slipped back into the island routine pretty easy this time so I had better tell you what has been happening in our lives.
We finally made it back to Vanuatu after over 50 hours of flight time. This does not count the many delays, stopovers and the coup diversion. But I digress, so let me take you to the beginning. We finally wrapped up our duties at Harding University, May 10th and loaded up the car with all things remaining and returned to Joplin Mo where we spent the final 14 days at Bonnie’s (Kathy’s mom) house getting things packed and ready so we could leave. Chris, Terasa and the grandkids joined us in Searcy and travelled up with us as well. They stayed a few days and Jason and Melinda came down from Superior for a few days. We were all together over Mother’s Day. (But never for Father’s Day it seems!)
On May 19th a military coup overthrew the Fiji government and took hostages. (Keep this event in mind as it will play an important part later in our travels.) After everyone left I spent the last few days packing up the last few boxes and getting the bags we were taking as full as allowed. We went to Tulsa May 23rd and left early the next morning. London was to be our first stop. We were delayed at Denver for 5 hours because of thunderstorms on the east coast. We arrived in London at 7:00 am and took a bus to a hotel just around the corner from Piccadilly Square. We spent just over a day and a half there. Up early for our flight to Bangkok. After a short layover and plane change in Bangkok we arrived in Singapore May 28th 12 noon (Sunday). We stayed with Dave & Debbie Hogan. On Thursday we loaded bags into a taxi and headed back to the airport. We landed in Perth Australia at 12:30 am and the temperature was in the 50’s. After clearing customs we spent the first sleep with Sam and Margaret Kirkpatrick and the other three days with a Christian widow, Norma. I taught class Sunday AM and on the PM gave a report to the brethren at City Beach. We have known both groups over the years but this was the first time to meet them. On June 6th we flew from Perth to Sydney. The meal which they served had names that I didn’t recognize, other than “pumpkin” so I opted out for just crackers and cheese. The stewardess must have felt sorry for me because she showed me the business class menu which had edible food. When she offered me that meal, I ate! In Sydney we transferred to an International flight and after another layover we flew off to Nadi Fiji in a VERY empty plane. In the mean time another event occurred in the South Pacific which would alter our future travel plans. The Solomon Islands government was overthrown by a military coup. It just seemed like it was coup season in Oceania.
We arrived in Nadi Fiji at 3 am. Since the island was under a 8 pm-6 am curfew and we didn’t have an Army pass to operate a vehicle during curfew, we had a taxi take us to our hotel in Lautoka, about 25 miles from Nadi. We had to pass through two armed road blocks. The same taxi driver brought a young Harding student who arrived the next morning, Justin McCleary. Justin was with us for several weeks to see if what I taught in “Mission Principles and Practices” has any relevance. We spent two days with Josua and his family talking about the work, the coup and future plans for the English Bible School. We found that even though there was unrest in Suva and the coup leader was still ruling, most of the island was taking it in stride. We were asked to assist in the baptism of Anna’s cousin sister, which was accompanied with great joy. She was baptized in a small stream just down from Josua’s house next to sugarcane fields.
Our plane to Port Vila Vanuatu was due to leave Saturday night at 10:30 pm which was past curfew time. So we loaded up the rental car and drove into the Airport compound before the bewitching hour of 8 pm. After returning the car and getting our three bags out of storage we moved into the checkout area only to see that our plane had been cancelled.
The Solomon Airlines plane which was to transport us to Port Vila was not flying
due to their coup. Only after much running around and discussing till we were
blue in the face to airline agents did we get seats on a flight BACK to Sydney
and then on to Port Vila, Vanuatu. The plane left at 3 am and was full. Keep
in mind we had arrived around 7:30 pm the night before!
When we arrived in Sydney we had a layover and when we finally were able to
try and get seat allocations we found out that we were “phantom”
travellers. After a bit of searching we found that we had been allocated the
only seats available on the flight to Port Vila, BUSINESS CLASS!
So only 15 hours later than we were to have originally arrived, we landed in Port Vila Vanuatu at 3 pm. Outside the terminal we were met by our Papua New Guinea brethren. There was one Vanuatu girl there as well. We loaded the bags into our little truck and went to the motel we were booked into until we could find housing. Jab Mesa showed up that night from Brisbane as well. He was passing thru from a reunion of the Bible School in New Zealand.
By the end of the week we had to shift from the motel because tourists are coming here instead of Fiji and the Solomon Is (which are still being affected by the coups they had). We located an apartment and moved. It is so much fun moving, NOT! All the things in storage had to be cleaned and the container stuff (some of which was infested with ants and water damage) has to be cleaned and fumigated before getting put in the apartment. It is a 3 bdrm unit which has great views over the city and the seafront. We are on the third floor. We shifted on a Friday and as no one works on the weekend, it was 6 days before we had phone service. We have been able to park the container just across the street. Getting a company to move it was another story. Just suffice it to say that after 4 days and many trips to the company it was finally moved. When they moved it out of Steve's property the container truck got stuck and they had to get their forklift up to help pull it out. The next day I went there to fix a leaking water pipe for them and got our truck stuck on the wet grass. With the truck stuck I had Kathy get in to drive and I was out with a couple of other people trying to push it out. I put a piece of wood in front of one of the rear tires to give it traction. Well..........when we pushed it onto the wood and Kathy hit the gas that piece of wood came scuttin' out and I just happened to be standing right behind it. Yep, that 2x6 hit me right in the middle of my left thigh. That took me down, I thought I had broken the bone. It took three weeks for the knot and the bruise to finally go away. (Yeh, yeh I knew better and I know better now!)
Thanks to the generosity of the brethren at Christian Chapel in Vernon Alabama
we were able to get better transportation. We have gotten a pickup truck that
used to belong to a former Prime Minister. New trucks have climbed in price
to over $30,000. So we opted for a good used one. It is a 1994 Ford Ranger club
cab with a back cover. We took it to the village and it travels very well on
the road.
I finally got my office into shape. It is amazing how much electrical stuff
doesn't work right anymore. The answerphone tapes refuse to rewind (the rubber
belts were melted). One of the laser printers refuses to even blink. At least
I can go out on the verandah and watch the boats come into Port Vila harbor.
We have yachts arriving from all over the world, container ships weekly and
cruise ships come in every week or so for a day stay (1100+ passengers).
I have put the shelves back together, putting lugs in the walls (they are concrete)
for Kathy to hang pictures and I put up clotheslines on the verandah (otherwise
it is 3 flights of stairs down to the lines). Kathy has gotten everything in
the kitchen and the books and knick-knacks out.
On July 2nd we had combined worship services at Eton village. We had 134 there.
The week before, the group which had refused to move when the new building was
built there in Eton, got together with Morris' group and decided to come back
together to the new building. So that Sunday was the first time in over 18 months
the Christians from Eton, Port Vila and Ebau have really been together. It was
a great time of renewal and rejoicing. One of Morris Felix's brothers, Alex,
was baptized that week as well. Yusi Miopa preached for us. Yusi Miopa is a
recent arrival from Papua New Guinea where he served the church in Lae for over
20 years as an evangelist. He and his family (wife Marika, children Anita and
Jeremiah) are Papua New Guinean. The brethren at Blue Hole on Santo have asked
for them to come and work with them.
The Port Vila brethren have moved from the rented denominational church building.
I am renting a large open room which I have divided for our needs with storage
of materials and printing. The congregation will be using over half of the building.
Sombo, Yusi, Kathy and myself took a trip to Blue Hole, Santo on July 17th. (Blue Hole is located about 25 miles outside Luganville on Santo Island, a 45 minute flight North from Port Vila.) Over 2 years ago, the brethren there asked for us to find someone to come and help them. The Lord raised up a congregation there in the States who are supporting the Miopa family from PNG. We needed to make this trip to assess when would be the best time to send the Miopas and to make things ready for their arrival. Kathy and I only spent a day there but Sombo and Yusi spent 3 days. Wow! The Lord has been preparing the ground. Joel and his family at Blue Hole are excited of the prospect of the Miopa's coming. Sombo and Yusi also made contact with a Peter Ngwele who is a member of the Associated church of Christ (out of Australia). They are affiliated with the Disciples of Christ. Peter talked with the guys and when he found out they were evangelists with the church he was overjoyed as their group has recently had a major split. Many members are wanting to get back to more Biblical teaching and he had been praying for helpers. Well, Sombo and Yusi took a side trip up island and visited the village where Peter's mother lives. They spent the night there and talked long into the night. The village (Billion Village) used to be all members of the church but recently because of the take over of the Associated coc, one family left and joined the Seventh Day Adventists and a couple of other families started their own Assembly of God church. What has happened is that the Associated coc have taken over the original coc but there are a lot of brethren who do not agree with the new fangled teaching and have quit attending. (The Associated coc is trying to stay up with the rock'n'roll style of the Pentecostal groups who are having an impact on the youth.) The brethren have completed a new concrete building there in Billion Village but have no preacher or full time worker. At Big Bay they were told the same story and we were invited up for a full scale gospel meeting. Sombo & Yusi were told that many want to get back to Biblical preaching and teaching. They are tired of the Associated coc headquarters telling them who they have to accept as a pastor and what they have to believe. They are looking for a revival and we can't wait to get the Miopa's up there. Before leaving Santo, Sombo and Yusi met up with Joel in Luganvile and visited the many scattered Christians there. Please pray for this effort.
Joel, Sombo & Yusi at Blue Hole, Santo Vanuatu
I taught my "Spiritual Gifts" class on Sunday nights here in Port Vila and the brethren have asked me to hold a three day intensive "Biblical Leadership" seminar later this year for a combined island-wide men's get-together. I am now teaching a series on Stewardship and will follow that with a study of the Book of Acts. I may be teaching an ongoing Weds night class out at Eton village later in the month. Kathy has re-started her Ladies' Class on Saturday mornings here in PV and may be teaching an afternoon class at Eton to the Ladies.
Please continue your prayers for the proposed English Bible School in Fiji. We have been told that a religious group there is recommending that a parcel of land be sold to us for this school. This will happen in October and we will have to move quickly when it happens. A national board is to be in place by this time and we will be needing $20,000 to finalize the deal and build initial facilities there. The coup is over in Fiji and life is trying to get back to ‘normal’. We really need your prayers and help with this need!!!!!!!!!!!
With over 50 years dedicated to mission work Joe Cannon has a number of books he has written. Because Joe’s books are out of print and we don’t have the money to re-print them, he gave me permission to put them on the WorldWideWeb. They can be downloaded for free at: <http://www.harding.edu/missions/resources/> or for $20 I will send you a CD with all four books and the application program (Adobe Reader PC and MAC) to read them on most computers. Three books (“For Missionaries Only”; “The Heart of the Missionary” and “Go For the Globe”) have been formatted PDF to date. I am still working on “The Experiences of a New Guinea Pig”. All four will be on the CD. The $20 will go to Joe.
It is great to be back where one can expect free meat in all the flour products. Our work permits which expired June 16th were finally renewed August 20th. Last year it took 4 months. They are getting better - that’s progress!!! We are talking about "island time" here. Not forgetting the 10-28 days it takes to get Airmail from the USA of which part of the delay of this newsletter was getting the parts to repair the laser printer to format this report.
Again, sorry for the delay in reporting. Healthwise we are..... Thank you so much for your prayers, letters and support that make it possible for us to live and labor here in the Lord’s vineyard. Next report...More Pictures, I promise!!!!
In Christian Service,
Tobey & Kathy Huff