Feliz Natal!

Downtown Porto

We have been in Portugal now for six months! As we celebrate the birth of our Lord, we are thankful for so much.  We have been blessed with a wonderful home, a loving church family, opportunities in ministry, opportunities to teach, and a tremendous network of partners alongside us.  We are very encouraged to see the movement of the Gospel here, and are humbled to be part of God's work in Portugal.

After spending several days with my parents in Connecticut, I returned from the States on the 16th of November.  Praise the Lord my father is doing great following his surgery, and his rehab is going well.  I also was wonderfully blessed with the opportunity to share with North Haven Bible Church family.

The Lord has graciously brought so many awesome partners to this ministry.  We are praising the Lord for your support, as the needs mentioned in the last blogpost have been met!  Finances were given for our winter necessities, and another generous gift given enabled us to pay for the car we've been using.  We marvel at how the Lord always provides for our needs.

The last thirty days have been a busy time in the life of the church.  I continue to have the privilege of spending the weekends with the young people, and have greatly benefited from theological training every Monday and Friday. Additionally, the Lord has provided Portuguese lessons every Tuesday through the English school I work for. These lessons have already greatly improved my ability in the language, which of course is a huge help as I communicate with the youth.  Meanwhile, Pastor Figueira has had the opportunity to minister to several Portuguese communities in the region.  There are church-planting movements in both the Azores (Portuguese islands), as well as in Luxembourg. Pastor has recently met with key leaders in both those areas.  Please be in prayer that these growing partnerships will be used of God to spread the Gospel throughout the Portuguese-speaking world.

The girls are all well and are enjoying their first Christmas season in Portugal.  The church family has wonderfully embraced our family, and the girls love to spend time with them.  We see almost daily improvement in their grasp of the language, and its great to watch them become a part of the culture here.  Caryne and the baby are also doing well, praise the Lord.  Please pray that the Lord would watch over this pregnancy.

As year 2012 comes to a close, we reflect on all the Lord has done.  We are thankful for His love, grace, and provision.  We are thankful for each one of you, as your partnership is absolutely vital, and its a true joy to share our passion for this country with you.   We rest in the knowledge that He has everything in hands, and we look forward to what He has in store for the future!