Dec 17 2008
2008—What a Year It’s Been!
First off, can it really be Christmas time again? It seems like we just put away the decorations from last year, and now it is time to get them out once more. This Christmas, we are planning a cross-country trek to Northern and Southern California. We are looking forward to enjoying the mountains, seeing lots of family members, and sharing about our work with international students at one of our supporting churches.
This has been an awesome year and we are grateful we have been able to continue serving international students through ISI. Even during these tough economic times, many of our supporters have remained faithful, and God has met all of our needs.
It has been a busy year with our kids. All of our them participated in a sport this year. J-12 played winter basketball, and then C-5 played spring soccer. This past fall, T-8 played kid-pitch baseball. All three kids are signed up to play basketball this winter, so that should be an experience! In addition, they all participated in the Christmas musical at our church this year.
We hope that you saw God’s handprint in your life during 2008. Isn’t it amazing how one tiny baby coming into the world changed everything? That’s because He brought hope into the dark hopelessness of those times. Although our world seems crazy and unpredictable, may you look forward with hope to 2009 because God is in control as He always has been.
With love, Roy and Lisa
We are grateful for everyone who lifts up this ministry before the Lord and contributes their resources so students can be impacted. Recently we have seen the power of prayer in some key areas. Our colleague Ron was able to lead Alex, a newly arrived student from South Korea, to Christ within weeks of his arrival. Their relationship started with an early morning airport pickup and coffee that led to their first spiritual conversation. Also, Lisa has been able to minister to Grace, an older student experiencing some adjustment difficulties. After a week of intense prayer for her, it seemed that some of her depression had lifted and we saw joy in her expression. Praise the Lord! You also might remember Ting, a student from Taiwan who came to Christ earlier this year. We have learned that he is now studying in Australia, and our friends the Phillips’ have been able to connect him to a church in that country.
Continue to pray as we juggle ever-increasing family responsibilities with daily ministry realities. Now that Roy is helping a lot with the TCU ministry, we sometimes feel our time is divided between 2 campuses. On October 31, we were able to combine the two groups and help with a fall festival at a church in Fort Worth. Regarding TCU, praise God for bringing Cassie on staff as an ISI intern there now that the Willis’ are leaving. She is also getting married in January, so has a lot of transitions to look forward to.
Please pray for Lisa as she ministers to Grace and also to Carol, a new believer and young mother from Taiwan, married to a UTA professor. Also keep Charlotte in your prayers. She and husband Canon have returned to Taiwan for an extended visit and for Charlotte to get some medical testing. Though she isn’t yet a believer, she is trusting God for answers to some perplexing problems. Pray that He reveals Himself mightily in her situation. We are also excited about a young student couple from Iran who have been coming to Bible study. Pray that God would soften their hearts to the gospel.
Lastly we covet your prayers for our family. We are adjusting to teaching J-12 (7th grade) at home this year through a virtual academy. Though we have had some struggles, it seems that things are starting to smooth out. Pray that we’ll have patience with him and that he’ll have a good attitude. He has also transitioned into the youth ministry at our church. T-8 (3rd grade) finished a season of kid-pitch baseball this fall that was challenging for him, but we’re proud of him for sticking with it and seeing his skills improve. He also got baptized in October. It was a special day because Roy got to baptize him. Pray for him as he learns to live out his faith, especially with difficult kids at school. C-5 is doing well in kindergarten and has made some new friends. It’s exciting to see her learning how to read and write. Sometimes she struggles with thinking we love her less than her brothers. Pray that she will know that we love all of our children equally, and especially that she will know she is loved by God.
A second person who made an impression is Phillip who is a Japanese American ministry partner from the BSM. He is the new intern who, with his wife, will be interning working with interntional students. As I shared yesterday, one of the cool things about what we do is that we so many things together with others, working together in Kingdom work. The BSM has been one of our best partners and Phillip is no exception. He has a gentle but persistent way about him that I believe God will use greatly in touching students’ lives. It really is an honor to work closely together and its kind of funny how I see a lot of myself in this younger Japanese-American man.
Finally… I just wanted to say how much I appreciate my wife, Lisa. She is a real blessing to me. Her faithfulness, patience, love for me and the kids etc. are just so much of a blessing. One of the hard things about being away from family is that we often have to do things alone… I still miss everyone so much. And yet because we have been away, we have learned to trust each other so much more, seeing each other and having to depend on each other even when we are at our best and worst and that has been such a blessing. Praise God!
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