Entering a New Year

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

And I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year:
“Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown.”
And he replied:
“Go out into the darkness and put your hand into the Hand of God. That shall be to you better than light and safer than a known way.”
 - Minnie Louise Haskins

These lines of poetry were read by King George VI during his 1939 Christmas broadcast to the British empire. We know them because our Vicar, Gavin, would offer them as a point of reflection at a service around New Year's Eve each year. While I’ve always found these words powerful, they seem especially poignant as we look ahead towards 2016. Our focus this year, is to move towards our call to be missionaries in France. We will be actively working to build a team of people to partner with us in prayer and financially to move us towards this goal. This work can be challenging, especially because the path ahead (the way towards France) isn’t very well lit. What a wonderful blessing to need to trust in God! 

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A Fun Video!

Each year during Advent, we teach our sons a new Bible verse by using some fun actions—the promise of advent chocolate doesn’t hurt the learning process either! Isaiah 9:2 is a key verse in our vision for the people of France who do not know the love of God in Christ. Even as we are constantly in need of God’s light for our path, we pray that the people walking in darkness in France would see the great light of Jesus. Here’s a fun video of our boys sharing their Advent verse:  

“The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light, for those living in the land of deep shadows — Light! Sunbursts of Light!”  - Isaiah 9:2