The Higby Herald May 2009 Edition

Submitted by doug on Sun, 2009-05-31 13:59

Dear friends,

Greetings from Burkina Faso! Cloudy skies are bringing cooler weather but with increased humidity as we enter the rainy season. Our kitchen refrigerator lost the battle with the tropical heat of the past few months and we had to get a new one. Having now learned how to read the sticker on a new refrigerator, I (Doug) realized our mistake with the first one: it was only rated ST for subtropical instead of T for tropical climate, up to 110°. What a difference with the new one—things stay cold even with three teenage boys opening and closing the refrigerator door!

For two weeks in the middle of May, I taught a first-of-its-kind workshop for a number of our language teams here in Burkina Faso. All of the teams are involved in a Bible translation project and were looking to work on the lexical data that they collected through the years. Often, these are lists of words and definitions collected in a haphazard manner. Our new lexical database is called FieldWorks and has much to offer to keep the data consistent and allow for easy printing of a dictionary. Since this program was completely new to most of the students, I watched their reactions closely. They were most impressed by the ability to click on one of the words in their scripture translation and have a dictionary definition pop up for that word. Secondly, they were really wowed when I showed them that by linking their computers together in a small network, the separate computers could work together on the same project simultaneously—yes, even on the same chapter!

The Lobiri language team hopes to benefit from this technology in their village office, but they currently have two desktop computers that crash every time the power gets cut—which is very often. We’d like to pay them a visit the first week of July to install a network and battery backup system. I could use some help, got any spare vacation time?

P.J. & our growing men

Henry, P.J., Kevin, Roger

Henry and Kevin are passing the six-foot mark, with Roger anxious to catch up. This past year the younger two have discovered their musical talent! Roger has taken to the trumpet and has made his way to first chair in the school band. Kevin has taken to the guitar and has even composed his first song. Both performed in the school concert and made us proud! We need to find them instruments of their own in the US this summer. If you have any that are collecting dust in your attic, let us know—the boys would be interested.

The school year is almost over and we are all scattering in different directions. Henry and Kevin to the US for summer jobs, myself to Dallas for specialized software training, and then P.J. , Roger and I take some vacation time in Belgium on the way to meetings in England. The vacation will be very welcome because we have both been a bit stressed out and are looking forward to a slower pace in July. We will be visiting with some friends.

We asked you to pray for the lawsuit against SIL in Côte d’Ivoire. The court date was changed 3 or 4 times before finally taking place May 29. Unfortunately, SIL’s appeal of the first ruling (where they were not allowed to represent themselves) was not upheld. As a result, SIL has to pay $22,000. Although they have the option of trying another appeal with the Supreme Court, something tells me all this time, effort, and frustration aren’t worth it. This has already dragged on for over a year. Please pray for our colleague and branch director Tim Tillinghast as he works to resolve this situation. We know that our Lord is sovereign and that His plans are for the best. We thank you for standing with us in prayer both for this specific request, and for our various ministry endeavors. May God be glorified through your lives!

Partners in the Gospel, (Phil. 1:5)

Doug and Priscilla Higby

Prayer and Praise

  • We’ve been asked to help typeset the book of Genesis in Fulfulde, and soon after, the life of Moses. Praise God that these Scripture portions will soon be available for the Fulani!

  • Pray for Henry as he adjusts to his summer job at Camp Geneva, starting June 4. For those of you in MI, please consider stopping by to encourage him. You’ll find him in the kitchen.

  • Pray for safe travel for our family members this summer as we will scattered for the duration of the summer.

  • Pray for the Côte d’Ivoire branch as they deal with the court ruling against them.

  • Pray for Alhamdou, a Fulani friend from Mali who teaches literacy. He called to say he is going blind, so we invited him to come to Burkina Faso to help him get treatment. Pray for restored vision and renewed faith in Christ. The seed was planted while we were there, but has not been nurtured.