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Dear Family and Friends,
It’s hard to believe that another year has almost passed and we are again at the time set aside for the celebration of the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. With all of the negative publicity these days about how people should be greeted in stores, and what our children should be allowed to sing in schools, and how we must be careful not to offend anyone we scratch our heads and wonder what happened to the true meaning of Christmas???? We pray that you will join us in asking God to help us share Christ in such a way that people may see His light shining through us and know that it is all about Jesus Christ and that He alone is why we should be celebrating. We know the importance of sharing time and gifts with family and friends but we must never forget that it is only through the love He shared that any of those things are possible and give Him the praise, the honor, the glory for it all.
We have had a wonderful year and been blessed in more ways than words could ever begin to express. At this time last year we were serving in Gulf Shores, AL in the aftermath of Hurricane Ivan. We were able to assist with some of the clean up there at Camp Baldwin and serve with Jeff and Thea Ford as they minister to the “Snowbirds” in the local RV parks and the state park. We thought we might return there this year to serve with them as chaplains at the state park but there were only 100 of the 400 sites there restored and still no building for worship service. God was gracious in keeping us in the south where it is warm in the winter and we are serving this winter in Brunswick, GA with Golden Isles Ministry. This is their first winter having missionaries on site for the entire season so it has been a learning experience for them as well as for us. Butch has preached one evening service and will be preaching the morning service on Christmas day at one of the churches. We began by helping with the Fall Festival and then I developed Shingles and have been keeping a low profile (imagine that??) while he has been assisting in other areas. He has helped out at the associational office one day a week, helped out at the Manna House several times, worked with Northside Baptist (we are parked here), and we are also helping with a new church plant called River of Hope Baptist Church. There are four other couples and the two of us and they have just completed a Bible study that lasted ten weeks and will begin another the first week in January. We will join them with that as well as knocking on doors and inviting others to join. This is very exciting for us as we have not been part of a new church plant before. Please add this to your prayer list.
We hope that each one has a great time with their family and friends during Christmas and the holidays that follow. We will remain in GA and continue to serve in any capacity needed. There is another MSC couple serving here from West VA and they are in the second county that is part of the Southeast Baptist Association. They do a fantastic job of sharing Christ through their ministry using illusion and every day stories connected to Biblical references. We have developed a close friendship with them and will spend some time with them. We will all miss our family but God provides fellowship in other ways.
Butch and I have both had a few physical set backs but things are looking better each day and we thank you all for your prayers and concern. Being missionaries brings home the reality of the need for intercessory prayer. We go through times of feeling down and alone and a scripture verse, a phone call, an e-mail, or just that warm feeling presents itself and we realize that there are those who are continuing to pray for us when we least expect it. We miss our church family and our family throughout the United States because as missionaries God has expanded our family to include so many. Our two summers in West Yellowstone, MT gave us college students scattered from OK to IN, from TX to GA, and brothers and sisters from all states including Alaska. Can’t ask for much more than that, can we? Not this side of heaven anyway.
We chose to leave off the pictures with this newsletter. We really haven’t been very busy with the camera but will include some with the next newsletter. I am including an e-mail I received from a dear friend that I think we could all benefit from sharing. (Click Here To Read) I hope you will enjoy it and take it to heart as it is intended. Again, may God’s richest blessings be yours as you celebrate the birth of Jesus this year. We love you, we appreciate your support and prayers, and we pray for you.
One great surprise that we need to share before we close this newsletter.!! Our son and daughter-in-love Juli will be adding to our family in June of 2006. They had given up the idea of having another child and accepted that was not part of God’s plan for them since even fertility treatments several years ago had not been successful. When we went to visit them in October before coming to GA they asked us to stay with our eleven year old granddaughter Carly the next day while they went to the doctor to be certain when our next grandchild was due!!! I think they were both still in a state of shock themselves but are now very excited and looking forward to finding out whether this will be a boy or a girl. They had gotten rid of all the baby furniture and other things about 3-4 months ago so this will be like planning for a first!! Anyway, this baby is due in June and Carly will be 12 in June so you can understand the shock and surprise for us all. This is a blessing none of us were expecting but are thankful and as you to join us in praying for a healthy pregnancy and a healthy baby.
In Service to Our Lord,
Vi and Butch
Our love should not be just words and talk; it must be true love, which shows itself in action. 1 John 3:18
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