Prayer Mail

Dear partners in prayer,

Merry Christmas! ¡Feliz Navidad!

This is our weekly public prayer mail.

This week's overview:

1) We are between "live courses". Having arranged for students to take courses by Internet, they may finish the 24/7 version of the courses whenever they need to. Which means: students are hiking at different paces along the ministry trail, so to speak.

2) Julie's dad, and our daughter Ruth have joined us for Christmas day. Julie's dad returns to Colorado shortly, but in the meantime, Julie and I were able to enjoy with holidays with Ruth, Hannah, and Lydia. This coming year should be interesting for all of us.

3) Lydia has passed through the Advent season with a look at the past, while heading towards the future. She has navigated around a major landmark reasonably successfully, at least as far as we can tell.

4) We have enjoyed the services we have been attending (or leading), and we have enjoyed telling people what we do. Apparently, it seems to some people that we move about quite a lot. In hindsight, it has been God's plan for us, and I wondered what God was saying to us in all the comments. And then, as I was preparing a sermon on Monday morning, it occurred to me that what we are doing as SAMS missionaries is somewhat like what the Apostle Paul did. He was in Ephesus for about as long as we were in Peru, and we have moved from place to place just as the Holy Spirit led Paul from place to place in his missionary adventures. However, there are differences, as is befitting the times: our missionary home base is Wynantskill, instead of Antioch, and we use the Internet a lot instead of Roman roads.

Prayer requests:

1) For our family members during the Christmas season. Julie's dad will be staying with us to the 27th. We believe that he has enjoyed his stay with us. It was a bit cramped, but on the whole, we have navigated through this time rather well.

2) For the students who are concluding their courses, and for the development of the upcoming courses during the live course break.

3) For safe and timely travel in the first half of 2013: to visit the Diocese of Western Tanganyika in Tanzania in April, and for the next trip to Belize in May.

4) For increased financial support.

Your prayers are really important for us. I pray for you every day.
God bless you, and thank you for praying.

In Christ,
Shaw+, and on behalf of Julie+