Merry Christmas from the Ostmans

December 11, 2023

Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Romans15:13 (NKJV) Peace Peace is the word God was impressing on my heart and mind the other day. I was feeling stressed, and it was as clear […]

Another sequence of events

March 16, 2021

It is not in man who walks to direct his own steps. Jeremiah 10:23b A sequence of events: Have you ever had one of those days in which everything culminated in one of those God appointments? We shared one with you in January and now we have another one for you. I (Lance) hadn’t seen […]

A Man’s Heart Plans…

July 8, 2020

The heart of man plans his way, but the LORD directs his steps. Proverbs 16:9 At the beginning of this year our plan was to remain in Guinea for another 18 months or so before returning to the U.S. for our home assignment. We were making good progress in Bible translation and other aspects of […]

Praise the Lord

January 7, 2020

Happy New Year: Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord! Psalm 150:6 Many of us remember twenty years ago before the New Year dawned there was great concern about Y2K?! Well, here we are in 2020 and it’s definitely a praise on our lips that God is good and worthy of […]

Merry Christmas!

December 20, 2019

Luke 2:10 -11 Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. What a blessing to know the Savior! […]

It is Finished!

April 18, 2019

So when Jesus had received the vinegar He said, “It is finished!” And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit. John 19:30 Easter: It’s Good Friday as I type this update. Earlier today my mind went to SM Lockridge’s message, “It’s Friday but Sunday’s coming” – what a marvelous thing to know that our sin […]

Translation work, 67 Visitors and things to pray for.

August 12, 2018

Translation: Another annual trip to the Philippines to work on checking scripture is coming to a close. This is the 6th year we’ve returned to our village to check the translation Lance worked on while at home in the US. Between our return to the US in May of 2017 and our return to the […]

Let’s talk moonshine

May 22, 2018

Julie and I have just returned from our annual visit to a great little retreat center in North Georgia that is free for pastors and missionaries. This year our visit was … well, strange, with highs and lows and a few weird things thrown in. Like moonshine. North Georgia has a lot of attractions, like […]

We’re back in the Philippines

April 27, 2018

Now may the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you complete in every good work to do His will, working in you what is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be […]

At work in Africa

February 21, 2018

I think that in the days before I left home for Africa, I must have said to Julie at least three times, “I like being overseas. It’s the getting there I’m not fond of.” Suffice it to say, that was even more true this time. But I must say, being rerouted onto Emirates was a […]