November 2011
Dear Friends, Brethren and Family
Out to the Village
We have made a number of trips out to Eton village this past month on the motor
bike. Morris and Rebecca are normally in town looking after the baby while Rose
Hanna works. But Rose Hanna took a couple of weeks off work so Morris and Rebecca
have been staying out in the village.
Morris is building a native style house to use as a language/culture centre.
He has talked with me at length about his concern that they are losing the use
of the local language. He has asked for my help typesetting and publishing primers
when he can get them written
Top:Thatch roof cultural centre; Below:Weaving the thatch roofing panels
Building
We bought 375 cement blocks for the bottom half of the house.
The block company wanted 40 vatu a block to deliver (the purchase price per
block was 115 vatu. This would have meant another 15,000 vatu ($160) for delivery.
So Morris talked with one of the village trucks and they offered to pick them
up and bring them back to Eton the next trip they made to Port Vila (which is
pretty much every day). They said they would do it for 5,000 Vt ($60). Then
they said they could only care 250 blocks so that meant we would have to figure
how to get the rest of the blocks out at the same time. We made one of the trips
out the Eton was using Stephen's truck.
Slab at Eton with cement blocks
Morris called that the village truck was coming to pick up the blocks so I went out help them load the truck. I was able to get 300 of the blocks on the village truck and I went back with Morris to get the remainder in Stephen's truck and take them out to the village site.
If the road into the block place had been better we could have gotten all 375 on the truck but I did not want to break a spring.
I just had to send this. It is the sign at the cement block company. See if you win the price!
I should start building on the cement block part of the house at Eton within
the next week or so. We have to buy some more reinforcement rods, haul sand
up from the beach and stockpile some water. After that available funds will
go for the framing and roof. Then tile for flooring...interior walls...toilet....sink...plumbing....cabinets...doors
The plan is for 1 meter high concrete block wall on the slab (5 blocks tall) with the rest being wood/siding construction. Morris is still trying to find someone with a sawmill who will cut up some trees on their farm for the wood we need to frame up. For you who are metric challenged the size of the house is 19'8" x 27'3". (Just large enough to swing a cat around!)
The Lord continues to provide
We heard good news from our sponsor that their Missions Day was a success and
that we will should be getting an increase in monthly support in 2012 as well
as $10,000 toward the school needs. This $10,000 is in purposed funds and we
will get some of the funds on a quarterly basis as the funds come in so we will
not be getting the funds as a lump sum. But that is okay we will build as we
have funds, it will just take longer! Thank you Mt Hope brethren! Several other
amounts have been given toward this need as well ($1200 + $200).
Keep tuned for progress reports.
Motorbike mishap
Almost severed my left Achilles tendon Nov 23rd. I had to go to a hardware store
for a light bulb for our security lighting. After leaving I was stopped on the
bike waiting for a small truck to pull out left into traffic. I decided after
(it seemed like 4 hours of waiting) to go around him to the right on into town
but forgot that the tray on the motorbike sticks out. I nudged the back of his
pickup. So I put the brake on to stop, my left leg slipped off the foot pad
on to the ground and the bike rolled forward a bit before I could get it stopped.
It rolled forward enough to trap the back of my left ankle under a piece of
wood I have for Kathy's footrest. I had to then reach over the bike and put
the transmission into reverse (since I didn't have a free left foot to engage
it). After about a minute of more and more excruciating pain I was able to back
the bike off my ankle. The truck went ahead after he figured I had not damaged
him and I went on into check mail, get the paper and go back home. If I had
jerked my ankle out I know I would have cut the tendon on the sharp edge of
the board. It looks like I garroted the ankle and it is still swollen so much
it looks like I don't have an ankle. It doesn't hurt (much) and I can walk on
it so I guess I will live.
Rainy
After a dry period the rains have arrived and we have more rainy days then clear
ones. This make for fun riding around on the bike as I have to suit up with
weather gear. The great news is that the house we live in here does not flood
like the house did in Fiji.
Daily Routine
When Morris and Rebecca are in town I usually hop on the bike, go pick up the
daily paper and go by and talk with Morris about religion, politics and whatever
every morning. One of the things he and I are planning to do is go around and
talk with Christians who have not been in service for some time. We want to
find out why they are not meeting and if we can help them get back together
with the brethren. This involves several congregations who meet in various villages
on the island of Efate where Port Vila is located and where we live. All the
congregations have common roots as they are joined together with family members.
It will mean borrowing Stephen's truck and spending a couple of days.
Also when Morris and Rebecca are in town they are looking after the kids at Stephen's house. I get to see them all the time when I am there. Stephen has three girls the youngest being Alviola. She is not walking yet but can sure scoot along the ground. She always wants to be down in the dirt. At first she was shy with us but now just beams when she sees me drive up on the bike.
Stephen brought back sand from the beach and has made several sand pits for her to play in. That doesn't last very long before she is out in the grass and dirt. Besides the dogs have learned to like the sand pits and leave fleas when they sleep in the sand.
Rebecca with Alviola
Rebecca also looks after other grandchildren one of them is Aunt Thelma. She likes to play make believe in the pile of coconuts. She makes herself a little nest and sits down there talking with herself.
Aunt
Thelma
Counseling, chatting, reading, sharing ........
being family
I have been spending time (during the week and weekends) talking with Morris
and other brethren here on spiritual growth and freedom in Christ. Eton wants
me there every Sunday so I stared teaching a series on Paul's Letters which
I put together and taught in Fiji before we left.
I put together this series of lessons after I read the book Beyond Radical by Gene Edwards.
Here is a sample of the book:
"It is virtually impossible to really understand what the New Testament
is saying and why. That is because (1) we approach it wrongly; and (2) in your
New Testament Paul's letters are not arranged in the order they should be. Change
these two facts and we will all see a revolution. Change these two facts and
find yourself in a thrilling new relationship to your New Testament.
You will find yourself in for a spiritual revolution and a revolution of church
practice.
Could that really be important? Yes, the future of Christendom hangs on breaking
with the present tradition of arranging Paul's letters the way they are arranged
in the New Testament. We desperately need a New Testament with Paul's letters
arranged in the order in which he wrote them.
The first letter Paul wrote was not Romans. In your New Testament the first
letter Paul wrote finds itself appearing as the fourth letter. In your New Testament,
all of his letters are out of their chronological order. If this goes on forever,
we will forever be kept from understanding the New Testament! ......
Repeat: A major reason we are in the mess we are in is the way we are taught
the New Testament. Learning the New Testament the way we presently learn the
New Testament is what keeps us from ever learning the New Testament.
Long ago we abandoned any concept of seeing the actual story of the first century.
Long ago we abandoned the idea of seeing the letters of Paul in the totality
of their original setting. In such a chopped-up setting, never seeing the sequence
of events, never knowing the story, all of us are left in the dark as to what
the New Testament is revealing. Total contextual ity - that is, seeing the entire
setting - is not, and never has been, a factor in New Testament studying.
The story . . . the story . . . is neither taught nor known. Not by laymen,
not by scholars.
Not known, not taught, not learned, not even an awareness of the lack. Most
of all, never realizing the greater catastrophic problems created by not knowing
the story.
The consequence of not being able to follow the story brings us to the other
great tragedy which prevents us from knowing the New Testament: the way we approach
the New Testament.
For 500 years Protestantism has had a field day with verses! That is ... with
sentences. Numbered sentences. No one has had to deal with the constraints of
the immovable story. Contrariwise, we have created havoc with those very movable
verses!
We can prove anything with numbered sentences.
We could not do that if we knew the story.
Total contextuality is unknown.
Chronological exposition is unknown.
New Testament Bible study by a timeline is unknown.
The result: The story is utterly unknown.
Yet, if you come to know the story first, you must then abandon virtually all
the present practices of Protestantism. They were built by verses. If we knew
the story first, we would either change, or live the rest of our Christian life
knowing we were living outside the practice of the church first-century style.
These present practices of ours can find no justification for existence within
the story. The entire story renders our present Protestant methods utterly unjustifiable.
Paul's first epistle was Galatians. His second letter was to the church in Thessalonica.
There was a great deal which happened before the Galatian letter was written.
Do you know that part of the story?
About nine months passed between the time Paul wrote Galatians and 1 Thessalonians.
A lot happened in between the writing of those two letters.
Do you know what happened during those nine months? Do you know that part of
the story? Does anybody? Does anybody care? It is time for us to care, to learn,
to know. We so desperately need to know the story-the whole story, from beginning
to end....."
Book recommendations
There are a number of books I would like to recommend for you
who want to know WHY?????
Beyond Radical
, Gene Edwards (The History of present day church practices)
Radical, David Platt
- (Taking back your faith from the American Dream)
Pagan Christianity,
Frank Viola and George Barna - (Exploring the Roots of our church practices)
Reimagining Church,
Frank Viola - (Pursuing the Dream of Organic Christianity)
The Untold Story
(of the New Testament church), Frank Viola
From Eternity to Here,
Frank Viola
Finding Organic Church,
Frank Viola (his website: http://www.ptmin.org/mediography)
The Pastor Has No Clothes,
Jon Zens
How to Help People Change, Jay Adams (The Four-Step Biblical
Process)
Vietnam: Triumphs and Tragedies,
Ralph and Gladys Burcham (A story of their mission work in Vietnam) I
found this of interest because it was the same time I was serving in Vietnam
and I remember a man in my squad who said he could not worship on base with
the interdenominational group but worshipped just off base (Tan San Nhut) in
Saigon with a group trying to follow the pattern of New Testament Christianity.
I was not a Christian at the time but still remember Cycil and his Christian
lifestyle. The Burchams had to leave Saigon after the Tet offensive in 1968
(I was sthere and left in Jan 1969 to Okinawa) but their story is very inspirational
and I recommend this book very much.
Vietnam and Tom Tune
Even today I have contact in Vietnam where Tom Tune is working there with the
church and orphans. Tom and his family first did missionary work in Hong Kong
in the 1960's. As well as supporting orphans to attend school in Vietnam he
has also been sending young people to Christian schools for training so they
can come back and help the church. He recently sent me an email and he wants
me to come over there and run his Bible school in Can Tho. He said he was working
with the congregation in Saigon but the police broke up the meeting and he moved
to Can Tho where he was able to purchase a building for a meeting hall and another
building for a Bible school. The Saigon group is still meeting in homes going
from place to place trying to keep ahead of the police. Don't think I am ready
for that yet! His email address is <tom@dorcasue.com> if you would like
to keep up on what he is doing. He is in his 80's still doing pioneer mission
work, God bless him!
As a reminder: the end of the tax year is coming up next month and you can minimize your contribution to the US government by maximizing your contribution to the Lord's work. We would like to ask for your consideration to our needs and the work here. If you would like to contribute to a specific need or project please state such when you send your contribution. Contributions can be sent to our sponsor (marked for us) or mailed to us or electronically sent to our account here in Vanuatu. (Send for account details.)
Needs
As you have read moving here has been expensive and living here will be expensive.
We really need to increase our monthly support $500-1,000. If you can or know
of someone who can help this need please pray about it and let us know.
A more urgent need is a vehicle that we can both ride in as well as provide transport for Morris when Stephen's truck is not available. We have seen several vehicles from 300-800,000 vt ($3500-8500) but still lack the funds to purchase them.
I repeat some of the needs we have as we move forward: house ($35,000),
guttering, water tanks and pumps ($1,800), a solar hot water unit ($2,800),
a generator ($5,000), a solar/wind power unit ($2,500), septic system ($1,200),
a classroom ($12,000), a student duplex ($15,000), another vehicle/small truck
($3-10,000).
Thank you so much for all of you who are supporting us and have contributed to our needs. God bless you!
Your seed sowing workers in the Kingdom.
Tobey & Kathy
Contributions for Huffs and building the Bible school, vehicle and house can be sent to:
Huffs/Bible School
c/ Mt Hope church of Christ
2830 Mt Hope Rd
Webb City MO 64870
or
Mailing Address:
PO Box 3239
Port Vila, Vanuatu
South Pacific
Ph:
(678) 710-1617
(678) 594-7248