December 2001 -
January
2002
Dear Pastor and Praying Friends,
Greetings, from Spain, in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus
Christ!
As we finished another year and have begun a new one, we are continuing
to
see God's mighty hand move in the lives of lost sinners. Two more
precious
souls came to know Christ as their personal Saviour in the church
here.
Please pray for Carmelo and Cristina. Cristina is the daughter of
Marisa,
a lady that was saved in November that we reported on in our last
prayer
letter. Carmelo is a single man in his 30's. Pray for him
as
the attacks come from his family and co-workers.
In Spain, they celebrate Three Kings Day on January 6. This is
when
the children receive Christmas gifts just as we do on December
25.
The Christmas program went very well, due to much hard work on the part
of
everyone involved. We used all the children of the church to
depict
the characters of the Bible. We had hopes of having a few
visitors
come to the play and hear the Gospel message. That night we had
twenty-two
visitors come to the church and Brother Cooper preached a tremendous
message.
Only one man got up and left, but the other twenty-one stayed and
listened.
We give God all the glory for this wonderful opportunity and trust Him
for
the increase.
The Lord has given me the privilege of studying Spanish one-on-one with
a
young man here in Lebrija. We are doing what is called
"intercambio"
or exchange. I am teaching him English in return for Spanish
lessons.
He is a young man who claims to be Communist. He is educated, but
in
great need of the Saviour. I would ask you to pray for him as we
continue
these classes. I believe that the Lord is opening the door to his
soul.
Patsy is doing well with the expectancy of our new child. We were
concerned
when something as basic as a simple blood type test came back
incorrect.
Thankfully she knew her blood type and the second test came back
accurate.
Our faith is not in the doctors or laboratories here, but in the Great
Physician.
Our boys have adjusted very well to their new environment. They
have
made friends in the church here and are all coming along with their
Spanish.
Our oldest son, Garrett, has begun piano lessons with another
missionary
in a nearby town. He and Seth are doing well with home schooling
and
we are preparing Christopher to start K-5 next fall.
We want to thank each and every one of you for making our first
Christmas
here a blessing. Being away from our families was tough, but the
kindness
shown by so many of you through cards, gifts, and prayers was a great
help
and encouragement to us. God bless you.