Looking back I feel like Christmas Day for us was a good reminder of all that God has done for us. As we look ahead to the next year, I wanted to take some time to write down some of the ways God has been at work.
The day started off with meal preparations for all our neighbors. Since we get meals on all other religious holidays from our neighbors we wanted to return the favor on our holidays. So we cooked up chickens and prepared meals for 9 of our neighbors. It made me thankful for our neighbors and the relationships we have with them. It was also encouraging that we are comfortable with life enough to be able to do this meal preparation for them. God has brought us a long way!
God gave us this family to help us integrate into life here. Words can’t begin to tell you how much they have done for us. They have accepted and loved us as one of their own.
His journey is full of challenges, but God continues to work faithfully in his life.
We will call him JJ. JJ is a believer from one of the villages where our coworkers have been working. A couple Christmases ago they were able to teach them God’s story in their own language. He is one of the fruits of this teaching and our coworkers put us in contact with him when he came up to our town. He has been up in our area working for about 6 months and over that time we have brought him with us to church and to holiday events when we could. Seeing him is a reminder that though the spread of the gospel here is slow, God is changing lives. We have enjoyed getting to spend time with him these past few months.
His wife and children have come with us every year, but this was the first year he came to celebrate with us. We continue to pray that God’s light will shine through us.
One more way we saw God’s faithfulness was in our visit to another family in the village that we are close to. After leaving we all felt like it was the best visit with them we had ever had: great conversation, lots of laughter, the kids played well together, and everyone just as a whole seemed so comfortable. That is a testimony to how God has worked and how far he has brought us on this journey.
Thanks for the pictures and stories. You do such an amazing job of relating it so well to us! I like Tyler’s new frames, and Bruce sure is beginning to look like a village elder! It is so wonderful to see the boys just lolling all together with the other kids, like a bunch of puppies. The world could learn some lessons here.
love and prayers
Merry Christmas (even though it has passed), and best wishes for a very happy New Year. I loved your pictures and your stories. Please tell Abe hello, JJ too, though he is new to me. I’ll be praying for them and for all of you. You are amazing and richly blessed . And besides that you all are a rich blessing to us. Carolyn
Merry Christmas. Thank for your gift of sharing.
You serve an awesome Savior. It is a blessing to see how our Lord blesses you as you serve Him. Thank you for sharing with us. May the Lord bless you richly in this Christmas season and throughout this new year.
You are an inspiration and joy to us. May God continue to bless and use you in the years to come. To God be the glory, great things HE has done.