Dear Friends and Brethren;
Greetings in the name of Jesus the Christ.
Where Has The Time Gone
Even though I have used e.mail since my last newsletter there are many of you who have not heard from us and wonder if we are still alive or not, we are!
We have had a very,very, busy year here at Harding University and are winding down to returning to Vanuatu in June. During the fall school break we were able to make a trip up to Superior Wisconsin where our son Jason and his wife Melinda live. We took the two older grandchildren. We travelled through Kansas City and stayed with friends and spoke with the brethren in North Kansas City.. While in Superior they had snow and the kids got to play in it before we returned home. On the way home we stopped in St Louis with the Maryland Heights brethren who help support our work. It was a great time with the brethren and especially the grandkids. Contrary to my normal travelling style we stopped at every rest stop so that we could recover our sanity from time to time. We spent time picking up walnuts and pecans and stepping in piles of leftover from travelling pets. (Harrison now knows what "doo on the shoe means." Ragan kept telling him.) Over the past months we have had Ragan and Harrison a number of times for several days at a time. It has been really fun getting to know them. In April we were able to also have Jackson for a few days (without parents) now that he takes formula. Ragan is 3 years old, Harrison 2 and Jackson 9 months. We are really going to miss them.
Teaching at Harding
From August 1999 - May 2000, I has been Visiting Professor of Missions at Harding University here in Searcy Arkansas. Lord willing we will be landing back in Port Vila, Vanuatu - June 10th 2000. As mentioned in my last report, I taught two courses in the fall here at Harding University. One course was on the book of Acts and the other course I co-taught a course on Mission Principles and Practices. In the Spring session I have been teaching three classes; two on the Book of Acts and the other course on Mission Principles and Practices. Even though it takes a lot of preparation to teach the class, I found out it takes a lot more discipline to grade the papers from the classes, in an on-time fashion. It has been a wonderful experience this year but we are looking forward to returning to our work in the South Pacific. I think I have done my best to forward the "dumbing of America." These kids for the most part do not know how to write themes or book reports. Even when they use computers they don't use the spell checker. At least I had an excuse growing up, my spelling came from my head. I should have kept and complied the numerous excuses that I received as to why they missed class, lost their paper or report or did poorly on an open-book test. It would have made for a new "Kids Say the Dumbest Things" best seller book.
Health Checks
This year has also given us time to have our health checked out. We think we have finally gotten a handle on why Kathy has been feeling so poorly the last couple of years. We think she has Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. It is a hard disease to diagnosis. We both had typhoid the last time we were in Lae, Papua New Guinea and this may have triggered it. We visited with a couple who had worked in Papua New Guinea with the Pioneer Bible Translators and who are now living in Duncanville Texas. The husband had contacted CFS while in PNG and it has taken over 2 years to get a reasonable amount of health back. Most of it is related to the immune system being out of whack so the only treatment is lots of rest and getting the immune system back into sync. So we be poppin' the pills!
Trippin' and travelin'
For the first time in over 15 years we have also able to attend some of the brotherhood workshops.We were able to go to Lubbock for a Sunset Workshop. We saw a number of friends we had made when we attended 1971-74. One family, Jim & Nell Stamatis who were in our class, had always wanted to do mission work in Greece because his family came from there. They finally made it to Greece to work with SIBS extension school there.
We also went to a Mission's Teachers workshop in Dallas where Missions Teachers from most of the Brotherhood schools gathered to discuss better ways to instruct in Missions and help the Brethren keep focused on World evangelism.
During the Spring break we were able to travel to Texarkana, Dallas, McKinney Tx., Tulsa, Joplin and Lamar Mo. We also travelled to Ashdown Ark. and spoke. This congregation was the supporter of the first workers in Vanuatu when the church began in 1979. It was good to see people we know and talk about the work that we are involved in.
While here in Searcy we worshiped and worked with the Downtown congregation. In all the 25+ years we have been raising funds for our mission work they were the only one in this area who gave us a hearing. I was able to teach several classes and helped the congregation with a "Spiritual Gifts" assessment earlier this year. The assessment was to help everyone in the body to better understand how God has equipped us so that the "whole body might be built up in love as each part does its work." (Eph 4:16).
News from the Home Front
The work in Vanuatu is continuing well with Sombo reporting three baptisms last month in Port Vila. The Goman Mesa family came back with Goman after the Christmas break. He works with a satellite dish company and works with the Port Vila congregation.
The Yusi Miopa family (Yusi, Marika and children Anita and Jeramaia) finally arrived in Port Vila from Papua New Guinea to begin their work there in Vanuatu. Yusi lived with us in 1977 when we lived in Kundiawa in the highlands of Papua New Guinea. He took Terasa to pre-school and brought her home when I was nursing Kathy through her cerebral malaria. He also went out to the village with me on my preaching/teaching trips weekly. When we went on leave in 1978 he moved to Lae and worked with the church there for 25+ years. He will be an invaluable asset to the work. We are asking them to go to Santo where we have a number of struggling brethren. We think with his abilities and love for the Lord the church there will be built and fitted for greater service for the Lord.
Vehicle Fund Subscribed
The Lord has been great. We have been asking for funds for a vehicle when we return and the funds have been provided. Several individuals and a congregation in Vernon Alabama provided the $20,000 we were asking. Praise God!
If you had been planning to contribute closer to the time of our departure do not lose heart, we have additional needs which are in need of funds.
Travel Funds Still Needed
Even though we have our return tickets paid for we have other travel needs at this time.
Because of the nature of our future plans "Church Planting, Leadership Training and Bible Training in Oceania" there is a need for travel funds to travel to New Caledonia, the Solomon Islands and to outer islands in Vanuatu during 2000-1 to hold Leadership Training Classes, strengthen small pockets of struggling Christians and plant churches in areas where the Lord's church does not currently exist.
More leadership training is critical at this time because of the diminishing number of full-time missionary families as well as less of a need for full-time American missionary families living within cultures of the South Pacific. The Vanuatu work is unique among churches of Christ as this is the first work in Oceania which has missionaries sent from neighboring island countries. There are now three Papua New Guinea evangelists in Vanuatu with whom the Huffs are working. The year 2000 will also see the first Vanuatu graduate of the Melanesian Bible College in Lae, PNG. He will be returning to Vanuatu to help us evangelize his own people. It is good to see the receptivity of the Island people and the development and maturity of leadership in some of the island churches.
We plan to be instrumental in the scheduling of schools in Vanuatu, Solomon Islands and other Oceania Islands as requested.
New Caledonia is French speaking and as some of the Vanuatu brethren speak French and a French speaking World Bible Course is now available we are hoping to have a campaign there sometime in early 2001.
We have also been asked to be part of the teaching at a Workshop in American Samoa in July.
After talking with our sponsor it was felt that $6,000 would be needed to accomplish this traveling and one-time needs for an additional re-establishment funds of $3,700. This means a total of $9,700 for one-time needs.
We are also within $500 a month of the goal for our monthly support.
Update on Basic English Speaking School in Oceania
Though we have had great response to our dream of a located Basic English Speaking Bible School in Oceania we are not in a position to currently go ahead with it.
There have been some letters expressing concern as to "who will oversee?" "who will be responsible?" etc, etc. Please let me say that what we have put out up to now is a proposal of a dream. It may have seemed that the School was a done deal as we had set Spring 2001 to be starting. This was just a target date and only a date to be aiming for. On our return trip home in June we will be stopping in Fiji for a couple of days to talk with the brethren there and see how things have advanced in regard to their putting together a school board, finding suitable ground and being prepared to teach. The major priorities we have now are:
(1) A congregation who will accept the challenge of sponsoring the Bible School. This would include the majority (but not necessarily total) support of the school, help in planning, raising of funds, oversight of and the implementation of qualified personnel to operate and run the school.
(2) Finances -
a. $75-125,000 (for structural building and furnishings)
b. $3,500 per month (staff salaries, student and operating expenses)- for a five year period, at the end of which we hope to have established crops which will provide for the future operating expenses.
We have talked with our present sponsor and they don't feel that they are prepared to accept this challenge at the present time, but they do think that it is a reasonable and viable need. We also talked that it would be a good idea that another congregation accept this challenge as our personal work is more diverse than just teaching in a located Bible School. I am prepared to help set up and teach in this school like we did with the Melanesian Bible School in Papua New Guinea but think it would be wiser if others were responsible for the operation of the school proper. This school is bigger than a one man operation, and if need be should continue long after I have left this earth. Until we can find such a sponsor, this is just a proposal, a dream. And until we can find such a sponsor we are prepared to continue to travel around the Oceania region and hold Leadership Training Schools when and where asked to do such to help build up the Lord's church in that area. We just feel that to adequately meet the needs of the many congregations of the Lord's church who are struggling without proper leadership and direction in the Oceania region a located school is needed to better equip God's people for greater works of service. We need to be multiplying evangelists and leaders for the Lord's church. We have placed our desire into the hands of God and believe that if it is His will that in due season it will come forth. At present it is obviously not due season but we still hold to the dream.
We solicit your prayers that this be God's will and that a Basic English Located Bible School will be brought into existence in Oceania.
As this is our last newsletter before we return to Oceania please consider our needs and especially pray for our return trip as we will be travelling (starting May 24th from Tulsa) through London, Bangkok, Singapore, Perth and Sydney Australia and Nadi Fiji before landing in Port Vila, July 10th 10:30pm.
God Bless,
Tobey & Kathy Huff