Maco April 2005 Letter page

-----Original Message-----
From: Bruce E Higham [mailto:bruce_higham@ntm.org]
Sent: Tuesday, April 05, 2005 4:05 PM
To: Bruce and Alice Higham
Subject: Higham Update

Hi,

Well, we just got back from Porvenir. Both ways, it looked like we
might get soaked, as we are at the beginning of rainy season, and it is
raining about every day now, but it held off, and we were able to stay dry.

Right after we got home today, it started sprinkling, and then poured for an
hour or so.

We had another good trip, and I was very happy with Walikilo's part of
the lesson. He did very well keeping to the theme, but speaking clearly in
his own words. To be honest, he did much better than I was expecting. It
seemed that he definitely did take whatever criticism of the practice session,
and applied it.

From what I could tell, the people were able to follow him very well,
and listened very well while he talked. It is interesting, because he is
someone that is very soft-spoken, and pretty reserved, but both here in
Marueta and in Porvenir, it seems that the people really listen and
respond when he speaks. His delivery can and will improve over time, but then again, so can
mine, both in English and Maco.

Yesterday, some of the group was missing, so I did a fairly extensive
review this morning, before teaching the rest of the lesson. They also have
everything from yesterday on tape, so the ones that missed can still
hear everything, not just the review.

So, this Thursday, Tali will be practicing his lesson. We would
appreciate prayer for him as he prepares. If he has taken to heart what we have
discussed when the other guys practiced, he is very capable of speaking
clearly in his own words. He feels very free to get up and share with
people, and often has very good things to share, that are well thought
out.

I am hopeful that he will study the material, and teach it in his own
words, without trying to say it exactly as the lesson was written. It was well
written, but I would like to see him study and digest the material, and
then teach it naturally, not be reading or reciting it.

So, thanks much for praying.
Bruce E Higham

-----Original Message-----
From: Bruce E Higham [mailto:bruce_higham@ntm.org]
Sent: Sunday, April 10, 2005 2:27 PM
To: Bruce E Higham
Subject: Higham Update

Hi,
How are things going?

Around here, we are definitely beginning to get into rainy season. It
is raining about every day, and the river is beginning to rise.

Well, Cindy will be heading out on Tuesday, to see the doctor, and try
to get some tests done. We would appreciate prayer that she would have a
profitable time out there, and be able to get some answers on the things
that are bugging her.

On another note, we had another good church service here this morning.
This morning I was teaching on Acts, on Peter's sermon at the temple after
healing the lame beggar. We got to the part where he mentions that
Jesus is in heaven till the restitution of all things. I mentioned that the
reason that he is tarrying is that he is waiting for more people to believe,
that he is waiting, wanting more people to be saved.

Well, afterwards, several of the guys got up and also shared. In our
services, although we have made it clear that the teaching is for
believers, we also have some unbelievers that always come to listen. They are
interested, but haven't made a decision yet.

Well, the guys were for the most part speaking to this group.
German was encouraging the people to not wait to believe, as there is no
other way of salvation, and nothing else to wait for.
Walikilo was talking about how God looks at the heart. He told those
that don't believe, who are just coming to listen and so on, that God doesn't
just look at the surface stuff. He doesn't see them coming out of
church and say, "Ah, this guy is doing good". He said that God knows what we
think, he made us and he knows exactly what we think.

Tali also got up, and talked about how cleaning up the surface so that
things look good won't help our problem. He compared it to cleaning up
a house and yard for when someone comes, so that people will think well of
you. He went on to say that our problem is inside where we can't clean
it up, that only Jesus can clean our hearts.

I was pretty encouraged by what they and a couple of other people had to
share.

Well, we are getting ready to head back to Porvenir tomorrow. This
week, Tali will be teaching part of the lesson. He has a lot of potential to
be one of our better teachers, and definitely has a strong desire to help.
Please pray for him that he would be able to clearly impart what he has
studied. On our Thursday practice session, he did ok, but had a
tendency to rely too much on the lesson book, rather than just teaching the material
he had studied and knew.

Next week, Netico will be taking his turn. I know that they all
appreciate prayer, as they are pretty nervous as they start into this.

Thanks much for praying.
Bruce E Higham

-----Original Message-----
From: Bruce E Higham [mailto:bruce_higham@ntm.org]
Sent: Wednesday, April 13, 2005 12:45 PM
To: Bruce E Higham
Subject: Higham Update

Hi,
Well, we got back from Porvenir yesterday, without any major hassles
except that we got poured on on the way back.

We had a good trip, and the teaching time went pretty well. We had an
interested group of people, we have had a core group of around 20 people
that have been very consistent in coming, and some others that are
consistent when able to, but have had to be gone some for different
reasons.

Tali's lesson went pretty well, though with lots of room for
improvement.

This next week, Netico will be taking his turn.

Our teaching schedule did get a little shakeup. We have been teaching
Monday and Tuesday, and they seemed to think that it would be easier for
the people there to get their gardening work done, and still be able to come
to the teaching, if we were to come on Friday and Saturday instead.
So, we decided to be flexible, and change the schedule. Starting next
week, we will be going on Friday instead of Monday. It will be some
adjustment to that schedule change, but will be better in some ways.
Also, yesterday Cindy headed out to town. We aren't sure exactly how
long she will be out there, it will depend on the tests she has done, as well
as when there are flights available for her to come back in. We would
appreciate prayer that the tests she has done will be helpful.
Thanks for praying.
Bruce E Higham

-----Original Message-----
From: Bruce E Higham [mailto:bruce_higham@ntm.org]
Sent: Sunday, April 17, 2005 7:24 PM
To: Bruce E Higham
Subject: Higham Update

Hi,

Just a quick update to let you know what is going on.
Cindy has been able to get the results to some of her tests, and will go
back to see the doctor on Wednesday.

So far, none of the tests have really shown much that we can tell, but
wewill see what the doctor has to say.
We are hoping that it will work out for her to come back on the 25th or
26th. Here, we had a good meeting this morning, and things are basically going
pretty well. We will be going to Porvenir this week on Friday instead of tomorrow, so
there is a little more time this week.

I do have one major prayer request, it seems that the President has
asked for an investigation into New Tribes Mission here.
That we know of, there is no reason for an investigation, so if the
investigation is above board, there should be no problem. However, if
it is a political issue which is the most likely, I am sure something could be
drummed up. So, we would appreciate prayer for wisdom for everyone involved handling
this situation.

We would also appreciate prayer that we wouldn't have difficulty working
here because of the investigation, and that God would be glorified thru
whatever.
Thanks for praying
Bruce E Higham

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-----Original Message-----
From: Bruce E Higham [mailto:bruce_higham@ntm.org]
Sent: Saturday, April 23, 2005 8:03 PM
To: Bruce E Higham
Subject: Higham update

Hi,
How are things going this weekend?
For some reason, this just does not feel like Saturday to me. I am used
to going to Porvenir on Mondays, and coming back on Tuesday, so this just
does not feel like Saturday.

Well, we got back today, and had a pretty good trip. This time we did
stay pretty dry both ways, though it did pour yesterday afternoon, and it
sprinkled all night.

Unfortunately, there were several people missing again this week, so we
don't know yet the effect of changing our teaching days.

Here, it is required that all Venezuelans have an ID card, and this
weekend there is a mobile ID center downriver. They don't come around too
often, so it is a good idea to take advantage of the opportunity when they come
around. So, a lot of the village was gone, but we did still have a pretty good
group of between 15 and 20.

Netico taught today, and he did pretty well for it being his first time,
even though I was hoping that he would do better. He will have lots of
other opportunities, and I am sure he and the others will improve over time.

This next week, Lechu will be taking his turn.
One advantage of our going on Friday is that it gives our guys two
different practice sessions with our small group before they actually teach.
Before, they would practice on Thursday, and then work on stuff, and teach on
Monday or Tuesday. Now, with us going on Friday, there would be no time for
them to implement changes after the practice sessions, so they are practicing
a little over a week before, then once again the day before. On Thursday,
Lechu did his first practice, and will practice again on Thursday. I
assigned him a short section, as he is pretty nervous, and is not very
comfortable in front of people.

We also assigned the teacher for the next week, and it will be Walikilo
again. The section that he will be teaching will be challenging, but
from past experience, I am sure that he will do well. I am sure that both
Walikilo and Lechu would appreciate your prayer.

We would also appreciate prayer for Ba'aliyu and Maria, who are still
out in town. Maria is still having trouble with her foot, and we have never
heard what the problem actually is. The rumors range from Cancer, to not
Cancer, to whatever.

On a side note, here is something that happened that some of you might
find interesting. There is a young gal here (I would actually guess her to
be around 15, they marry young here), who is from Porvenir, but married a
guy from here and they live with his family here. Anyway, this gal, who
also happened to be pregnant, heard that we were going down yesterday, and
coming back today, so decided she would take the opportunity to go visit her
mom. Well, unfortunately, her mom happened to be one of the ones who had gone
to get her ID, so she didn't get to visit her. However, did I mention that
she was pregnant? Well, she had a baby boy at around 4 this morning. Then,
when we were getting ready to come back, she came walking up to the
river carrying her baby, and got in the boat to go back with us. So, that
little boy got his first boat ride at the ripe old age of 8 hours, and his
father got a little surprise.

So, that has been our weekend up till now.
Thanks much for praying.
Bruce

-----Original Message-----
From: Bruce E Higham [mailto:bruce_higham@ntm.org]
Sent: Tuesday, April 26, 2005 7:32 PM
To: Bruce E Higham
Subject: Higham Update

Hi,
Well, unfortunately Cindy wasn't able to come back in today like
planned, but on the good news side she was finally able to find some answers.
She found out that she has hypothyroid, which we were kind of
suspecting, but hadn't been able to confirm. One of the reasons that she went out
was that she was having some of the symptoms of thyroid trouble, but up till
yesterday, everything was appearing fine. Then, she started having some
symptoms of it again yesterday, and went to see a Christian doctor that
some of our friends out in town know. The wife also has hypothyroid, and she
said that Cindy's symptoms were classic hypothyroid, so they set it up
for her to see a specialist today, and she confirmed that Cindy does indeed
have hypothyroid.

So, we have finally found out something, and Cindy will be starting on
the medication soon. Unfortunately, she will probably be on the medication
long term, and it isn't as cheap as we might like, but that is life. Right
now we are just happy to know something to treat.

So, current plans are for Cindy to camp out in town for another couple
of weeks, while she gets started on her treatment, then she is supposed to
see the doctor again, and then is supposed to be able to come home. We are
very happy that she developed the symptoms again yesterday, before flying
back in, rather than today after getting back.
Thanks much for praying.
Bruce

---
-----Original Message-----
From: Bruce E Higham [mailto:bruce_higham@ntm.org]
Sent: Saturday, April 30, 2005 7:28 PM
To: Bruce E Higham
Subject: Higham Update

Hello again from Marueta.
Well, we got back from another trip to Porvenir.

Unfortunately, most of the group that was gone last week was still gone,
as apparently they weren't able to get fuel in time to be back. They
planned on being back on Wednesday, but as often happens here, plans get
modified.
However, we did still have a good group of around 20 people, many of
whom seem to be very interested, and to be understanding the truths we are
teaching. Lechu taught his part of the lesson yesterday, and to be quite honest, I
was quite pleasantly shocked. Both of his practice sessions were quite
rough, as he does not read aloud well, and was very dependent on his lesson
book.

So, I gave him a few suggestions, but I was expecting it to be quite
rough there, and to have to cover the same material in a summary of what he
had just been saying. I figured that you can only expect so much from a
first sermon or teaching session, and was hoping that he would improve as he
got more used to speaking in front of people. The topic he was teaching on
was the ten plagues, and I was quite pleasantly surprised to see him have
his book closed most of the time, looking at the people as he explained the
plagues.

Next week, Walikilo will be teaching a quite long session, as he teaches
on the crossing of the Red Sea. He did very well in his first practice
session, and I am very hopeful that he will do even better as he teaches
on Friday. This week will also be the first practice session for Camico,
who will be teaching the following week.
I have been encouraged recently as the guys seem to really be catching
on to the idea of studying and digesting the material, and then teaching it in
their own words.

One of the things I have tried to stress to them recently as we have
met, is that we aren't overly concerned that the people grasp all the details of
what we are teaching, what we are concerned about is that they really
grasp the themes. I told them that knowing all the details won't save them;
the Pharisees could have told you the Old Testament history better than we
ever could, but they rejected the one that everything pointed to. I told
them that even if they can't tell me who Abraham or Isaac were, but do have a
clear understanding of their sinfulness and need of a savior, that I
will be quite happy.
Well, I better close down before I break my email size limit.
Tomorrow, I will be teaching here again on Acts, teaching about the
stoning of Stephen.

Cindy is still out in town taking her medication, but they have said
that it could take a while before it actually kicks in. They said it could take
from 2 weeks to 2 months, and we would appreciate prayer that it would
be more the 2-week variety.
Thanks much for praying.
Bruce E Higham