Some of our faithful website followers may have noticed that nothing has happened here in a while… for those interested here is a recap of our HMA over the last few months.
August 2009 William and Isabel started school. What a delight and blessing school has been in the lives of our children!
September 2009 We started the month celebrating with our dear friends in Demopolis, Alabama. It was a 60th birthday party for the Rev. Tommy Carr. We were also able to share about our last 5 years in Japan at their church, First Presbyterian of Demopolis!
We also visited University Presbyterian Church (upc-orlando.com), Lake Baldwin Church (lakebaldwinchurch.com), and Redeemer Presbyterian Church of Titusville (myredeemer.cc). We loved being at UPC and having so many people recognize us as ‘their missionaries’. We are so grateful for their partnership with us! We enjoyed spending time with our dear friends, Bart and Judy Johnson, who are members of Lake Baldwin Church. We had a wonderful day in Titusville with the Repps and getting to know the wonderful people at Redeemer Church as we shared about our team’s church planting work in Japan.
October 2009 We started the month in Qunicy, FL at New Philadelphia Presbyterian Church, Robert’s home church, for their Homecoming Celebration. We were able to share our stories of Japan and help welcome their new pastor, Rev. Jerry Dodson.
We had the pleasure of traveling to Locust, NC for the missions’ conference at Carolina Presbyterian Church (carolinapca.org). We had a wonderful time staying with and getting to know the Burris family. We SO enjoyed getting to know this congregation. We heard from so many that their missions’ conference is the highlight of their year. What a blessing it is to partner with those who are so excited about missions!
with the Burris Family
We were able to see many friends – and lots of nature – along the way to and from Locust!
at the Ueckers' house in Columbia, SC
We met the kittens at the Cottrells' house in Hickory, NC
Dani's passion is horses!
Our first experience picking apples.
A visit with old friends... but new friends for W and I in Rock Hill, SC
We ended October with a trip to Baltimore, MD! We were able to spend a few days with our new church planting team. Our family, along with Craig and Ree Coulbourne and family, will be moving to a new town to start a new church when we all return to Japan in the fall of 2010. We had a few days with the Coulbournes to talk and dream and pray about what the future could hold. We are praying now for churches to be started in the Shin-Urayasu area of Japan.
The kids loved attending the Fall Festival with the Coulbournes and Dingles.
October was quite a busy month! When you factor in school (though we missed some) and a few friend’s birthday parties, I’m amazed at all we did in October!
November/ December 2009 We spent most of November and December visiting and catching up with friends and family. The children had many holiday school events as well. We enjoyed worship at Orangewood Presbyterian Church (orangewood.org) several times in the holiday season. We love this church! They have welcomed us back to the US by providing so many things we would have had to buy for ourselves when we returned for this one year HMA. We have been so encouraged by the Body of Christ at Orangewood!
We spent Thanksgiving week remodeling Robert's parents kitchen. Marvel at the finished product! Yes, we did it all ourselves!!
Before heading back to Orlando after Thanksgiving, we got to participate in the annual "Making of the Christmas Pudding" event with Robert's family. Everyone has to stir the Christmas Pudding!
My very own "Shaggy, Smelly Sheep"
William loved helping with our prayer letter mailing project.
Isabel was Mary in the Maitland Community Preschool Christmas Parade.
Thanks - Lenore Stephens - for taking this picture at Orangewood Presbyterian Church.
A night with the Sauls in Kingsport.
A visit to the Biltmore before Christmas.
...and dinner with dear friends
Finally on to Knoxville, TN to spend Christmas with Lisa’s family. Thankfully, Robert’s parents were able to join us in Knoxville for Christmas! We were also able to worship at West Hills Presbyterian Church (whpca.net), another wonderful ministry partner!
The first gift opened was William's gift for Jesus; a picture he drew at school showing what William can give to Jesus... his praise of God for who He is and what He has done for us!
We can look back at 2009 and see God’s leading and great provision for our family and ministry in Japan. We have had many struggles and disappointments in our personal lives as well as in our ministry in Japan and so far in this HMA. We can do nothing but trust that God, who has been faithful, will continue to be faithful! Our prayer is to return to Japan, fully supported, by August 2010. May it be so!!
