Grateful to God!
Hopefully today you are all filled with thankfulness, with time together with family, and of course, with turkey! I was going to say, “with football” but it doesn’t start with “t” and…Bears-Lions? Seriously?
We also know that some of you, for whatever reason, are prevented from being with the ones you love during this time. We pray that you would experience in a tangible way, the nearness of your Father in Heaven. And we want you to know that we thank God for each one of you, for your friendship, for the way you proclaim the excellencies of Christ in your own lives, for your prayers and for the many other ways you have supported us and our family. Happy Thanksgiving!
We just finished up the first term of the 2021-22 school year. Most of the students have left campus bound for places all over the world where they will spend the December holiday. You can imagine the job our student travel person has to do to figure out the ever changing airline and country requirements to get hundreds of students to their final destinations!
I finished up my class at Moffat yesterday as I turned in final grades. I really appreciated my students and the opportunity we had to study every book in the Bible, even if we couldn’t dig in too deeply to any one of them. We learned the main theme of each book as well as how it fits into the storyline of the whole Bible.
I also want to report that $750 has been raised so far to purchase Biblical resources for the class. This is just $250 short of the goal of $1,000, which is the minimum amount for our mission’s project fund. If you would like to contribute a tax-deductible gift to this project go here. I’m hoping to purchase the books and distribute them at the beginning of next term, January. I’ll give an update when they are handed out. We’re also still working out details for how these students can encourage the security guards at RVA next term. Stay tuned…
Late last Sunday night we heard from Tiana that she was having considerable abdominal pain, and a few hours later was taken to a hospital in Hungary by her Team Leader. By Monday morning they determined she had an appendicitis and took her into surgery. She is now back to her apartment recovering after spending four nights in the hospital. It’s interesting to see how different things are done there from what we are used to. She’s had some complications with one of her incisions and would appreciate your prayers.
The rest of us here in Kenya, Jonathan, Lilli, Josh, and Sophie, plan to visit Tiana in Hungary and be together for Christmas – that is if the current spike in cases throughout Europe doesn’t prevent us from coming. Austria, where we fly into, is currently on lockdown once again. Please pray that it would be possible to visit.
For many years on Thanksgiving Day we would each get a piece of paper and write down a few things we were thankful to God for. Last year we came across them in storage and it was so fun to read what each of us had shared through different seasons of life. Here are some things we’re thankful for this year…
We Thank God For…
- God’s mercy to open our eyes to the beauty and sufficiency of Christ even while we were yet ungodly
- The privilege to serve here in Kenya and partner with missionary families
- For each of our parents who have cared for us, prayed for us, and have been faithful to point us to Jesus
- For our family and extended family here, and in Hungary, Minnesota, Iowa, Arizona, Illinois, Pennsylvania, and beyond
- For God’s awe-inspiring creation that proclaims his glory with beauty, majesty, and wonder
- For deep friendships to share joys and sorrows and bring encouragement
- For these amazing students we get to interact with each day
- For the sacrifice of so many that have supported us, prayed for us, and helped us in practical ways
- For the gift of enjoying God’s blessings of food, sports, music, conversation and so much more
Snapshots
