October 2009 Newsletter

Time for

C hange

Thailand is less than 1% Christian

Sharon showing off the Indian Taco she just made.

Building relationships with her language helper has really helped her get the Cherokee language data she needs to analyze the language.

NEWS FROM THE MINISTRY OF RIC AND SHARON BRUCE

Our current support level:

17%

Greetings from Tahlequah, Oklahoma!

We have some important news... we are now headed toward Thailand.

We found out only a few weeks ago that NTM will no longer be expanding the field of Cambodia under the current setup. After considering the options, meeting with our leadership, talking with our churches, and praying about the situation we have decided to pursue a new avenue to ministry in Southeast Asia: Thailand, Cambodia’s western neighbor.

We realize this may come as a shock to many of you, as it was a shock to us. Since learning of this change we have been calling, writing, and talking with as many of you as possible and are now sending this letter to

Ric and Sharon Bruce 617 Haslett Rd. Williamston, MI 48895 517-490-1032 ricandsharon@gmail.com

make sure everyone has heard about the change.

Despite the change of location, we still plan to head to Southeast Asia during this coming summer (2010). The switch to Thailand will not affect our current financial partnerships, adjust our vision to reach the lost, or alter our heart to impact Southeast Asia. In fact, Thailand may prove to be a more strategic place from which to accomplish our goals. The tribal groups in Thailand are more numerous, more influencial, and more often flow into areas that are off limits to western missionaries.

After a bit of research we are specifically interested in the tribal groups of Northeast Thailand which flow into Laos, Vietnam, and even China.

You can help us accomplish this seemingly impossible task by praying for us or by giving to our ministry. To give please send a check made out to “New Tribes Mission”, note that it is for “the ministry of Ric and Sharon Bruce” and mail it to 1000 E First St, Sanford, FL 32771. Thank-you.

www.ntm.org/ric_bruce

Where Ric went in 30 days: Springdale, Arkansas

Camdenton, Missouri

Jackson, Michigan

Tahlequah, Oklahoma

Calera, Oklahoma

Sherman, Texas

Haslett, Michigan

Tampa, Florida

Tontitown, Arkansas

Harrison, Arkansas

Siloam Springs, Arkansas Atlanta, Georgia

Hitting the Road and Hitting the Books: Traveling with Gracia During the past few weeks a friend and I had the unique opportunity to represent NTM at three churches in Arkansas.

Each church had booked meetings with NTM’s best-known representative, Gracia Burnham. In 2001 Gracia was taken captive

by Abu Sayaf militants in the Philipines where she and her husband served as missionaries.

At these meetings our job was to answer questions about NTM at a table we had set up with literature, pictures, and artifacts from overseas. Gracia announced our names from the podium and allowed us to pass out our personal prayer cards. It was a fantastic opportunity to challenge people into missions and to meet some wonderful people.

Heading to Florida To better research Thailand, Trinity Church sent me to Tampa, Florida to visit Trinity missionaries to Thailand Mike and Sandy for a few short days. I had a great

Sharon’s Linguistic Statistics:

time talking with them and meeting their family. They really helped me understand what’s happening in the country. They had some wonderful stories about the people group they are working with in Northeast Thailand.

Sharon’s Lingusitics Tahlequah, Oklahoma

What’s Next November will be very busy for us. We will travel to Maryland, Virginia, and Tenessee for meetings with churches, family, and supporters then head back to Michigan for a few weeks before another trip to southern Oklahoma to visit family. Getting ready to go to the mission field means putting a lot of miles on our car! Please pray for safety as we travel and for our car to make it!

A sample of Cherokee:

In the past 7 weeks Sharon has: Spent 68 hours with the language helper Spent 49 hours planning her next session Spent 250+ hours processing the data Spent 30 hours cooking and cleaning Gathered 1000 + words Gathered 8 minutes of text Contrasted hundreds of words

Analyzing the Cherokee language fulfills the final requirement of Sharon’s course in advanced linguistics. Each day she has been meeting with Bobbie, her language helper (pictured). She uses that data to draw conclusions about how the language works.

It’s Not Over!

This is our final week in Tahlequah and we will be returning to Michigan at the beginning of next week. For Sharon, however, the work has just begun. She will be turning all the data she has gathered into a final “write-up” of Cherokee. The final document will be hundreds of pages long!

NEW TRIBES MISSION 1000 E. FIRST ST. SANFORD, FL 32771 ACCT # 202455 * Translations are under the words