October - December 1991
Dear Brethren and Friends;
WHERE HAS THE TIME GONE
It's hard to believe that another year is gone. When we got back to Tauranga
at the end of September it has been gooooogooo, GOOOOOOOOO! since our feet hit
the ground. The Printing shop was in dire straits and we had to get the books
back in shape and call those owing us to pay their bills. New Zealand is going
through an economic depression and many people were/are not paying their bills.
We have been able to get back on a more secure financial footing.
Kathy started working with me at the shop when we got back. We are still on speaking terms believe it or not. During the year our business was nominated for several categories as local business of the year. So Kathy and I attended the awards but didn't receive any. I figure we won just by being nominated. The Lord has truly blessed us.
VANUATU TRIP
While in the states we received a letter from the brethren in Vanuatu asking
that we come over before the end of the year to talk with them about their sending
Steven Felix to the South Pacific Bible College here in New Zealand for training.
They also asked if we could send Jab to work with them for a month.
Due to the extreme generosity of the brethren at College Street in Lebanon Tenn we were able to send a ticket to Jab to join us in Vanuatu. He arrived on November 25th. Kathy and I arrived November 28th. One of the current students here at the South Pacific Bible College is from Fiji, his name is Temo. He was a first year student who was going back to Fiji for the school break. We took Temo to Vanuatu and he worked with Jab and the brethren at Eton village for a month. Temo then went on the Fiji and will return to school in New Zealand in the New Year. Jab and Temo hit it off like long lost brothers. Temo endeared himself to the brethren in Vanuatu and the experience he gained was invaluable. It was good to see Jab again to get up to date information on what was going on in Papua New Guinea. For the first time workers from several Pacific nations gathered to be involved in evangelism in Vanuatu. A truly historical maturing effort!
We had many talks with the church leaders about the future of the work in Vanuatu and their plans about reaching out in Vanuatu and into the Solomon Islands as well. We have brethren in the Solomons but they are very weak and scattered and thus discussion was made on how we can best help the church there. Jab stopped there on the way back to PNG and is to coordinate with me on our next step there. This year (1992) we hope to be able to set Jab and Becky in the Solomons for a couple of months like they did in Vanuatu earlier in 1991.
The brethren in Vanuatu are very adamant that they continue to control their own destiny and work. They have shown a remarkable ability to run their own affairs without outside control. Praise God! Kathy and I were very excited that they asked us to be co-workers with their work and their planned outreach. They are very excited about Steven Felix coming to school in January. Steven is the son of Morris Felix one of the mature Christians at Eton village. The brethren made the decision to send Steven to Bible College after Jab had worked with them. From July to November the brethren collected enough funds to pay for Steven's airfare to New Zealand. Almost $600 shows a great commitment on their part. They will be providing $30 a month toward his monthly support and we are still trying to raise $370 per month for the next 2 years for his remaining support. CAN YOU HELP- WILL YOU HELP? We are also hoping that Temo and Steven will be able to board together as they became good friends in Vanuatu.
THAT AND THIS
After we got back we reprinted the BUK SONG (Pidgin song book for PNG). We are
doing 3500 copies and have added another 70 songs. It took over 170,000 sheets
of paper. Kathy and the other workers have been steadily putting it all together
and we should be able to ship the crate load to Papua New Guinea in January.
We took some to Jab when we met up in Vanuatu and he took them back to the brethren
to show them the new book. We are also going to be doing printing for the Vanuatu
brethren.
We have talked with the kids a number of times and they are doing well. Terasa is carrying a 4.0 grade average at Graduate school and working at a house for mentally and physically handicapped persons. Chris is working there now too. Jason is doing well at school and we hear a hit with a number of the girls.
Thanks for your prayers and support. Until we communicate next. Grace and peace be with you.
In Christ,
the Huffs