The Higginbothams
Missionaries to the Native Americans of North America
Fall 2024 News Letter
Halito! Hello!
It’s that time of year again when the long, hot summer is almost over. Fall is in the air! This verse comes to mind, (Jer. 8:20) The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved. And yet, this year has been a time of labor and travel, a time of seeing the Lord save and restore. It’s also been a time of strife in our nation concerning the Nov. election. It’s been a time of heartache for those involved in wildfires and the hurricanes. As we travel, I’m so glad we can claim this verse, (Prov. 18:10) The name of the LORD is a strong tower: the righteous runneth into it, and is safe.
The last newsletter had us heading for the west coast and Cowlitz Way Baptist Church in Kelso, WA. The folks there are a blessing to us and have supported us for many years. Pastor Dave and the church have been faithful to “keep the light on” in a place of deep darkness. As we left WA, we knew we were running out of time because we had to be back in OK by the 1st week of September. So, we made our way to New Mexico and the Navajo Nation to be with Grace Navajo Baptist Temple at Mentmore, NM. There Daniel preached and we tried to encourage the Believers. We love these people and always hate to say goodbye.
Upon getting back to OK, Elena had been asked to teach in the fall classes at the Baptist School of Native American Biblical Studies in Stilwell, OK. About thirty women showed up nightly for classes on the Book of Ruth, Biblical Counseling, and Women’s Ministries in the church. Such an encouragement to see Native’s working together and starting their own school where church members can come and take classes on certain topics. The goal is to grow stronger Christians and stronger Churches.
After that we were asked to go back to NM and sing for the Memorial Service for Pastor Jimmy Walters, his wife, Rachel, and son, Davis, who all passed away in 2020 from Covid. It was an honor to be asked by the family to help remember their loved ones. They were remembered with great testimonies of having lived for the Lord. (Rev. 14:13) And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them.
In Oct, we were blessed to be back at Concord Missionary Baptist for a revival in Concord, AR. Thank you for your faithful support. We were able to bring Mrs. Shirley’s eighty-six-year-old cousin, Ken, with us and it was such a blessing to have family close by. From there, we went home only to have our A/C and heat unit go out (the 1st night of the fall it dropped to the 30's), but, Lord willing, it will be repaired in a week or so. As this is wrapped up, we have more meetings coming up, the Native Men & Women Bible Conference, homecoming meetings, and other services, so even though fall is here, there are still fields to work in. Please help your missionaries pray that the Lord of the harvest would send forth laborers into HIS harvest. The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few.
Thank you in Jesus’ Name,
In HIM, The Higginbothams: Mrs. Shirley, Elena, and Daniel
(A printable PDF version is available here)
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Summer 2024
Halito! Hello!
As I write this letter, we are taking a few days breather in Yaak, MT, after being in services Saturday and Daniel preaching Sunday. This place is very special to us as we have been coming here for many years. Many of you have heard us talk about it and the church here. There aren’t many places you go where you see moose playing outside your door! We love the Yaakers!
When we finished our spring meetings back East (where the Lord met with us and His people) we began the summer work in OK. The summer work is a time of focus on children. The Choctaws do their VBS a little different in that they have adult classes and also close the VBS every night with a preaching service. We started June off helping at Grace Indian Baptist at Talihina, OK. The membership of the church is a blessing because they have stepped up and do their own VBS now. We hang out with them and I teach the mission story, Daniel helps in preaching, and Mrs. Shirley with music, but for the most part they are self-sufficient and I mean that in the best of ways! They rely on God, but have taken off the training wheels so to speak and are following the great commission like “white” churches! It’s like a family atmosphere and we saw four young people come to Christ!
We moved on to Indian Baptist Missions Camp the second week of June. We helped with the teaching, music, and preaching. The crowd was small this year, but we did have some Navajo come from NM. We pray the Lord will restore the ministry the camp has had to many tribes for 30+ years.
The 3rd week of June found us at Keota, OK and New Hope Indian Baptist Church. This church is among the oldest in OK and was most likely started by Choctaw Missionary Peter Folsom. In fact, he is buried here on the church property. It is around 140 years old, with no pastor and the decimation of Covid, the church has only a handful coming, but they are faithful. We were privileged to work with Grace Indian Baptist and help them with a VBS. The members from Grace worked their jobs and then drove the hour and a half one way to hold the VBS every day. The Word was shared and the people of New Hope encouraged. They are not alone and not forgotten by a Heavenly Father who loves them!
The last week of July was spent at Spring Hill Church in Honubia, OK. This week is more like a family camp. Day classes for all ages till noon, followed by lunch and then mandatory singing school learning Choctaw and English hymns. We have nightly services for all enrolled at the VBS, and those that live nearby come also. Mrs. Shirley had to teach the 2-5 year-old class for a couple of days when Mrs. Josephine had to work, and little did she know the young man helping her was one she had taught 30 or more years ago! God is so good! Some that have attended the camp for years have chosen to walk away from truth and the Lord. It’s an answer to prayer when they come back and also to see the Lord still save souls along and along like He did young Peyton, this week. This brings us to July and we had one more VBS to work in at Zion Missionary Baptist in McAlester, OK. Once again, we teamed up with Grace Indian Baptist.
Again, we had classes and a service after. We taught on the book of Daniel for four of the five weeks, so we were all familiar with our lessons and it all worked smoothly. The Higginbothams have been going to Zion for about 37 years or so.
Like most Native churches they were in need of a pastor, but they have had Bro. Ron Burning fill in for them in the winter months and now Bro. Ross is helping with preaching on Sundays. Because of this they have had more people coming. Zion has a Godly heritage and I know they were being cheered on by a great cloud of witnesses. Unfortunately, as you leave OK and began to head west this is not the case.
The Choctaws have had the gospel before leaving MS on their trail of tears. Whereas, most reservations have no church of any kind, and especially not a Bible preaching, fundamental church.
We went home to rest a bit before heading to Fort Hall, ID and the Shoshone Bannock tribe. We merged with Missionaries to the Sho-Ban Joe and Lela Copley, Hoopers Creek Baptist from Fletcher, NC, Missionaries Gerry and Sherril Locklear and us! Whew! We have worked with this team several years and it’s a joy as all hands are on deck. Faith Baptist Church has grown in number since last year! How wonderful! The tribe will not allow us to door knock so it’s up to the parents to bring the children, which some did! Or Mrs. Lela and Bro Joe to run their normal bus routes. The church was full to capacity every day, with people standing around the walls! We finished the week with four young people coming to know Christ and left some wanting to know more. We believe that God will continue the work started in these young and old hearts. Psalm 119:130 KJV. “The entrance of thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto the simple”.
When we got to Fort Hall, ID we found out that the next two VBS with the Kalispel and Spokane tribes in WA state had been canceled. The church that was going to be working with us locally were unable to work this year and unfortunately neither tribe was responding, leading us to believe that they were not interested in a VBS with their children. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 16:9 KJV. “For a great door and effectual is opened unto me, and there are many adversaries”. The Adversary does not want us to labor in these fields and there are times God shuts the door. We pray this is not the case. Does not Christ love these people? Is His arm to short to reach them? Is the Light of His Love grown too dim to shine in these dark places? Or is it that the churches of America have no burden for the lost? My mind goes to the pictures in the old days when a fire broke out on a building and the people would line up and pass a bucket single file, person to person, until the last person poured the water on the fire. That’s how it is when we partner with you, our supporting churches, and then those churches like, Hoopers Creek, and Grace Indian, and then connect with Missionary Copley, arm in arm until finally we drop the seed of God’s Word. And one, or two, or four people come to Christ. Praise the Lord for salvation that reaches to the uttermost!
As we rest a few days before heading to the west coast of WA and then all the way back to NM with the Navajo people, we are rejoicing in what our eyes have seen; people coming to Christ, tribes reaching other tribes, and, the Word of God being planted in new and old places. Pray for us that our strength and faith fail not. We have more miles to go before hitting Oklahoma again and we want to be faithful to Him and give our best for Him. We are thankful for your love and support and prayer for us and the Native people.
In Him, the Higginbothams,
Mrs. Shirley, Elena, and Daniell (A printable PDF version is available here)
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Halito!
Hello!
Spring 2024
Spring is here and we are thanking God for seeing us through the winter months.
I say “seeing us through” because we’ve had quite a bit of sickness this winter
and early spring, but are finally on the rebound. We are now preparing for the
months ahead and the road before us.
Imagine how it would be living in the USA in 2024 and the Bible you are holding
is printed in French. You couldn’t read it. It wouldn’t have passages marked by
your father or grandfather unless they were of French heritage. Many Americans
have an English Bible that’s been handed down and it’s marked with precious
notes from a relative or mentor in the faith. For most of us reading this
newsletter, the ability to read the Word of God has changed our lives. In April,
we were able to attend the Native American Camp Meeting in Great Bend, Kansas.
It’s a meeting for Native missionaries, or missionaries working with Natives, to
come and share their work and burden.
One of the blessings that has been coming to fruition in the last couple of
years is the ability to get the Bible, or parts of the Bible, printed/reprinted
in several tribal languages. Most tribes have NO BIBLE in their language. This
is most likely because the government sent the children to boarding schools and
wanted them to assimilate English. God gave a language to each tribe and they
are now realizing what has been taken from them. These Bibles are being printed
as parallel Bibles, for instance, Ojibwe and English, side by side. They can be
used by the tribe to teach the language. The missionaries that labored in the
1800s translating and printing Bibles for the five civilized tribes, (Choctaw,
Cherokee, Chickasaw, Seminole, and Creek) gave the tribes a great light! These
five are considered the most Christian of the 574 federally recognized tribes in
the US. When we first went to the Choctaw reservation in Mississippi years ago,
I remember seeing the grandmothers bringing their Choctaw Bibles to church and
reading from them. These copies didn’t even contain the entire 66 books! How
different the reservations would be if this light had been available all across
North America. We’ve given thousands of ENGLISH John and Romans, but giving a
Native American a parallel John and Romans, in their language, is received more
quickly.
Maybe the time has come for this light to shine to more than the five civilized
tribes. Please pray for those involved in the translating and printing. This is
an expensive endeavor. For some people or churches in America there is no
shortage of money, but unfortunately there is a shortage of time. Thy word is a
lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path. (Psalm 119:105)
We have meetings coming up in May and then start the summer work. We look
forward to seeing you as we go to your area of the country. We just realized we
have been in our field of service for 40 years!! Wow! Thank you Lord, for Your
Grace and love that has enabled us to sew the seed of the Gospel for 40 years.
Thank you, co-laborers, for your love, prayer, and support these many years.
In HIM, The Higginbothams, Mrs. Shirley, Elena, and Daniel
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Dear friends and supporters, Fall 2023
As we bid farewell to the warm days of summer and welcome the crisp air of fall, we want to share with you the abundant blessings we have experienced on the mission field. Our recent trips to the West and Northwest have brought us closer to various Native American communities, where we have witnessed the power of God's love firsthand.
Our journey began in the West, where we embarked on a mission to work among the Navajo people of West Gallup and Crownpoint, NM. The harvest of souls was ripe and plentiful as we engaged in a week of Vacation Bible School and Evangelistic meetings. We are thrilled to report that several individuals were saved, and one of the new converts was baptized. The Navajo community exhibited great enthusiasm and a hunger for spiritual growth plus the church was filled every night. We rejoice over the team of 47 Choctaws and Cherokees that labored arm in arm to reach these people and obey the Great Commission. What a blessing to missionaries that have labored for years in the field to see the Lord raising up tribes to reach tribes!
Moving northwest, we arrived at Fort Hall, ID. We found the members of Faith Baptist Church excited, and we were ready to participate in their Vacation Bible School program. Their commitment to spreading the Gospel was evident when the tribe changed the rules and decided not to allow visitors (Christians) to knock on doors for VBS. So, the church members got the word out themselves resulting in just as many kids attending as when we knocked on doors ourselves! We had a successful week with the Shoshone-Bannock tribe, Hoopers Creek Baptist Church. Missionaries, Brother Joe and Mrs. Lela Copley, taught on the battlefield of the mind. Elena and Daniel had the privilege of sharing object lessons with all the children, showing how the enemy fights, but victory comes through the Lord Jesus Christ. We ended the week with a young lady receiving Christ as her Saviour. Praise the Lord!
Our journey further continued to the Kalispel reservation at Usk, WA, where we attempted another week of Vacation Bible School. The tribe decided to shut down the building they had allowed us to meet in and we had to leave, but glory to God for the time we were allotted! Sometimes it’s a stronger witness to be kicked off and respond in a Christ-like manner. The whole episode probably spread like wildfire through the reservation! Lord willing, next year we will see the Lord work in this tribe.
However, as we continue to spread God's word, we must address an urgent need. Our trusty companion, the 2013 Ford van that has tirelessly transported us to various mission fields, has recently hit a remarkable milestone of 300,000 miles. While it has served us faithfully, there is a pressing need for a new van to ensure the continued success of our mission work. We trust that the Lord knows our needs and will provide a solution in due time.
Upon returning home in September, we went to AR and Concord Missionary Baptist Church for their fall revival. The Lord came by and the altars were full. The week ended with a young man giving his life to Christ.
As the turn of winter approaches and since our return home in late September, there are numerous tasks to catch up on from weeks on the road. This week, however, we are blessed to be part of Native American Men and Women Bible Conference at Grace Indian Baptist, Talihina, OK. A time to encourage God’s Native American people to put their hand to the plow and labor for the Master.
In conclusion, this summer has brought a bountiful harvest of souls on the American mission fields. We have been blessed to witness a growing hunger for the Gospel among the Navajo people, and also blessed to have worked among the Kalispell, and the Sho-ban people this summer. We praise God for an encouraging revival at Cowlitz Way Baptist (Kelso, WA) and the fellowship with our dear friends at Yaak Community Church (Yaak, MT), Foundation Baptist Church (Coeur d’Alene, ID), Old Paths Baptist (Hays, KS), Grace Navajo Baptist Temple (Gallup, NM), Chi Ho Tso Baptist (St Michaels, AZ), and, First Landmark Missionary Baptist (Highland, AR). We are grateful for the love and support we receive from all our supporters, and we thank you for standing by us in prayer and encouragement.
May God's love and grace surround you in these last days before He comes! Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. Hebrews 12:2.
In Him,
The Higginbothams; Mrs. Shirley, Elena, and Daniel (A printable PDF version is available here)
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Dear Supporting Churches, Spring/Summer 2023
We hope this newsletter finds you in good health and high spirits. We wanted to take a moment to update you on our recent spring trip back east and the time we spent visiting supporting churches. We are truly touched and grateful for your continued support and encouragement.
In late February to early March, we faced some unexpected challenges when the rear differential of our van needed to be replaced and worked on in Paris, TX. In April, during our stay at Bristol, TN, it had to be rebuilt the 2nd time. Thank you, Lord, for Brookside Baptist Church in Bristol letting us stay and pointing us to the right shop! Then again in May, while at a revival at Levelcross Baptist, Levelcross, NC, it had more problems with the same issue. We had to leave it in the shop at Bristol, TN for two weeks, and utilize the mechanic’s rental discount to continue our journey to Woods Hole, MA, where we rode a big ferry over to Martha’s Vineyard.
Our time on Martha’s Vineyard allowed us a rare opportunity to meet with the Wampanoag Tribe and hold a three-day meeting inside the historic Aquinnah Community Baptist Church. Established in 1693, this is the oldest Native American Baptist Church in North America. The original wood framed building, built in 1698, was moved to its present location, “up the hill” in 1850. We met with missionaries; Gerry Locklear, Glen Holman and sidekick, Vic, , Larry & Regina McKinney, & Joe, Lela, and Mya Copley, for a three-day meeting and were blessed with a chance to sing, testify, and preach to the congregation. It was a great time to spread the Gospel and encourage the church to keep on keeping on till the Lord’s return.
The next Sunday, back in America, our family and Bro Gerry, visited Mashpee Baptist Church, also part of the Wampanoag Tribe. Daniel had the incredible opportunity to preach in the historic old church, which was a truly humbling experience. While in Rhode Island, we saw the grave of Adoniram Judson, missionary to Burma in the 1800’s, Daniel stood behind the pulpit where Wampanoag Native, Blind Joe Amos, preached the Gospel to his people, and we saw a plaque for Stella Abiah Ryan, a Wampanoag lady that went to Donga Sudan, Africa in the early 1900’s as a missionary. It seems America has come so far, but now fallen so far. With our time there over, we left the Wampanoag people and headed back to Bristol. We were relieved to finally have the van repaired and hurry back to Oklahoma.
With our return to Choctaw Nation, we had two days to catch up on yard work, unload and reload the van and start the month of June with VBS at Grace Indian Baptist Church in Talihina, OK where Daniel preached one night and a young boy accepted Jesus into his heart. We moved on to Indian Baptist Missions Camp at Canadian, OK. It’s a family camp where the workers try to provide a VBS experience for the kids as Elena taught teen girls, we worked with the music, help run sound, worked with the crafts, and Daniel spoke in the Men’s Missions hour.
The end of June saw us at VBS/camp at Springhill Presbyterian Choctaw Church. It was a great week of teaching about putting on the whole Armor of God. We truly thank God for all He has done and feel blessed by His Presence in our journey.
We are home now preparing for the big trip west. Please keep us in your prayers as we hope to make the trip in our faithful, old van that has almost 300,000 miles on it since it was given to us in 2014. We praise the Lord for the help to cover expensive costs by friends in Randleman and Greensboro area. Also, friends at Brookside Baptist Church in Bristol, TN are helping with the newsletter from now on. Thank you all in Jesus Name.
We thank our friends at West Park Baptist, Jacksonville, FL for their faithful help, printing and mailing our newsletter for over 40 years. They were the 1st church to put us on for monthly support, helping with repairs and tires for the “old bus”, buying Bibles to be given out, and praying so faithfully that God would save sinners where we minister. May God bless those involved for your faithful service to Him!
In looking back over the past three months, there were other churches we went to and others saved. We thank God for the ability to go and help people, love them, and warn them. You may be reading this and say, well not many are coming or not many are being saved, but it’s really up to God to give the increase. He just told us to “Go ye”. (Mark 16:15) And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. Once again, we want to express our sincerest gratitude for your unwavering support and encouragement. Let’s continue to work together until Jesus comes and we’ll be so glad we were faithful.
In Him,
The Higginbothams, Mrs. Shirley, Elena, and Daniel (A printable PDF version is available here)