"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come." (2 Corinthians 5:17)
Wedding Bells - Steven and our granddaughter Ashley, were married in November in a unique setting and a very fun reception. Actually, there were no bells, but there was a Mariachi Band!
Newly Weds
It seems like the Lord moved Heaven and Earth to make it possible for us to arrive in California in time for the wedding of our granddaughter, Ashley, and Steven. We seldom have the opportunity to gather together with so many family members, and the occasion made it even more special for us. A few days after the wedding, we were blessed to spend Thanksgiving with our California family. Rich enjoyed running 10 K most mornings in the green hills just a mile or so from our daughter, Kim's, house and then often kicked back in the hot tub to ease the pain!
Tell me it isn't so!
A New Virus?
Following Thanksgiving, we flew back to Pennsylvania and then drove to Ohio to spend Christmas with our daughter Rachelle and grandchildren. Once again, we were so blessed to be with family for the celebration of the birth of our Lord. We enjoyed Christmas with all the trimmings, but this year there were extra trimmings! Several of us were experiencing symptoms that could have been . . . might have been . . . you know what! Two days after Christmas was Jo Ann's birthday and we spent part of the day at the Urgent Care facility in town. We were tested only to find out that we only had common colds. How boring! There wasn't even a fancy name for the virus we had. We do praise the Lord that most of the symptoms are now gone and we are back in Pennsylvania turning our hearts and minds toward Moldova.
New Semester
We are scheduled to fly back to Moldova on January 11. Please pray as many flights are being canceled due to the current variant of the infamous virus. We are looking forward to another challenging semester teaching at the Christian University (UDG) as well as strengthening existing churches like Imago Dei Baptist Church and other like churches in the villages. By God's grace, we may be able to form a worship team of students from UDG and travel with them to village churches which lack pastoral leadership. The students will gain experience leading the worship services and Rich will have the privilege of preaching. Perhaps the Lord will give us some young men who are ready to begin preaching which would be good experience for them. This is also a great opportunity to mentor some of these students in practical ministry. Thank you for your many prayers and support over the years. This coming year may be full of surprises and challenges, but the Lord is still in control. Together we can accomplish great things for Him.
New Website
The website that we have been using for over 15 years has been discontinued which obligated us to design a new website. We plan to continue keeping our news/prayer letters available there as well as current prayer and praise items. Hopefully, we will be ready to reveal it in our next prayer letter.