2008 – November/December Update

First, off – Merry Christmas!

Secondly – you might be thinking – What? A letter? We know, we usually send out our monthly newsletter but we decided to try something new and write a personal one. This month we wanted a format that allows us to share our hearts and what’s going on with us.

Just so you know – what this IS NOT is a letter to ask for money. As missionaries we believe in asking for money; but that’s not what this is. This is, as we have already said, a good ol’ fashioned note from us to you. You might want to go make a cup of tea right now and sit down in your favorite chair so that you can relax and enjoy it to its fullest.

The best way for us to describe this past year would be to say that it has been a lot like 2001. Do you remember what you were doing back in 2001? Probably living a fairly normal life, right? So were we, until…

2001 was the year that our lives were completely turned upside down. We were in school at Houghton College, Heba was a freshmen and I was a sophomore. We had just started dating each other but other than that, life was normal.

I had recently recommitted of my life to the Lord and I wanted to really understand what it meant to live whole-heartedly for God. To make a long story short, that was the year that we started leading nightly prayer meetings on our campus.

So what’s the connection with 2008? Consecration.

When we started praying every night back in 2001 we discovered that we had to make choices about how we used our time. 7 years later, here we are in 2008 and this time we feel the invitation to consecrate not only our time, but also our finances (how we spend money), our lifestyle (living more simply), our spiritual life (more fasting and prayer), our health (eating and exercise), and godly entertainment (feeding our spirits on only what will bring us closer to God).

Another goal we have is to get out of our comfort zone of what we consider to be “our rights” as Americans. For example, we decided to actually move out of our master bedroom (I know, crazy huh?) and into our downstairs/basement. It’s like your typical studio apartment – living room, bathroom/laundry, office, etc. We just moved a week ago and already we are feeling the impact. Especially with our desire to live more simply and get out of debt, this move has been HUGE!

We Thank God For

· Taking care of us for the last three years of full-time ministry

· Teaching us to live simply, especially in light of the current financial crisis in the earth

· Your support – we are truly indebted to you

Join Us In Praying That

· Our lives would be in alignment with God’s heart. This is the reason we all exist and that He extends the number of our days, so that we have more time to learn to follow Him.