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January 8th, 2008 From: - Management [from: Kelli Wilson]
Hello!
I pray that you all had a wonderful Christmas and New Years. Mine was so refreshing. I got to see my dad, my dog, and my family. It was so much fun and a very busy time. Usually there is a day or two to downshift and do nothing, but not so this holiday—but that is OK too. In fact it is perfect, because that is just what the Lord planned for me. I love it when His plans turn out to be so much better that what I had anticipated.
Looking back, December was an EVENTful month. I'm not entirely sure I can remember everything that took place. I know that we have a wonderful turn-out at the Community Christmas. That is where our church and several other churches in the area put together a play and music program and then we serve lunch here at the school to the community. We also had Christmas at our Chapel—we all exchanged names for gifts and once again had a big meal. My favorite Christmas though was School Christmas. All year people send new toys, games, hats, scarves, toothbrush, tooth paste, stuffed animals, etc here to the mission. Then a few weeks before Christmas, two faithful ladies (Becky Knopf and Ruth Bloom) work hard to divide all the gifts up into a bag for each student. The last day before Christmas break, we have a chapel message with John Bloom and then we go back to our class where each person was handed a huge back full of gifts. It was so much fun for me to watch my students open their bags. You could hear their shouts of joy all through the halls. One of my students said that he was going to put all the gifts back in his bag and then open it again at home on Christmas (in front of his younger brothers and sisters!).
All the week of before Christmas we had been memorizing Rom 6:23 "For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." We just began to memorize it, and we are continuing it even now. Please pray for us as we try to memorize this verse but also try to grasp what it means. It seamed that many of my students either don't realize that they sin or don't want to label it as SIN. They did seem to begin to see the connection between baby Jesus and the gift of God—but I want to really study this verse more in the coming weeks. Pray that I will explain it clearly. I don't want to simplify it so much that they miss the message, but neither do I want to add conditions to the gospel that God never intended. Pray also for soft hearts to hear the message. Pray for everyday situations that I can use to point out the wages of sin and the gift of God. Pray for Star, Bill, Joy, Tia, Shantel, and Shane to open their hearts and accept the gift of salvation.
Thank you all so much for your support and prayers. It was very nice to see friends and family over the break and have you ask about my class and my life down here. Even the ones I didn't get to see send emails and letters of encouragement. I love to see the body of Christ work in such an obvious way in my own life.
In Christ,
Kelli
P.S. I never expected to see so much snow in Arizona. It snowed twice before Christmas—and then today we got at least 4-6 inches!
January 2nd, 2008 From: - Management
[from: Greg & Kathy Staley]
"Thanks be unto God for His unspeakable Gift"
Hello All,
So, what did you get for Christmas? How many of those things will you be re-gifting? You know, wrong color, wrong size, wrong style, just plain WRONG? For all of us who know a little about God's supreme gift Jesus, it isn't trite or extra pious to say that He truly is the best gift of all. We experience this amazing gift everyday of our lives. He is perfect. We do want to re-gift, but not because we are dissatisfied and want something different. He's just such a wonderful gift that we are eager for others to also enjoy what we enjoy in Him. Recalling the past year, I thrill over the impact Jesus had in our days, both major events and minor. (I can't actually remember any really major events for last year, truth be told). There were:
Opportunities for times of refreshment and pleasure. Greg and our son Matt ran the Grand Canyon. (Yes, they did consider this a pleasure!!!!!) I, Kathy, got to spend two weeks with Jonathan and Robyn and our three grandkids. The Lord also provided for me to go to a ladies conference in the Bay Area, where I was loved and renewed.
People to serve. 1) God gave Greg the desire, and Jesus' heart of mercy to go with it, to build a house for a young widow and her four children. The house is coming along and so far, there has been money for materials and occasional help with the work. It is going to be beautiful. 2). Greg led a group of people interested in archaeology for a week into our back country, sharing his expertise on the Anasazi Indians who lived a thousand years ago in our area. He loves doing this kind of thing but it is also a tool to share the Gospel with unbelievers. These people are amazed that Greg who gave up the prestige and salary he could have had as an archaeologist, is willing to live out here serving God without any monetary incentive. One man wrote a letter after leaving here telling Greg how refreshing it was to see someone not taken up with "acquiring possessions and advancing in position." What a gift from God to be able to display things that can only be explained supernaturally. 3). Kathy had a great chance to teach a junior high girls camp in Kansas. It was a real personal growing experience as well as the daily sharing of God's Word to girls.
Answers to prayer. There are too many to recount them all but here are a few things we praise God for. 1). Keeping our brother and sister Lula and Ranson strong in the faith when Satan was determined to destroy them. Last year Ranson's sister in law was killed, leaving three young children. Then Lula's brother died suddenly. Three weeks later another brother was bludgeoned and left for dead. The latest report is that he will probably live but sustained a lot of bodily damage. Ranson has chronic back pain, their son had to have emergency surgery, they were in a car accident. It seemed too much for a couple to stand up under. So we watched and agonized over our friends, and God answered. He truly is bringing them forth as gold. 2) Our brother in law in California was very ill for months. During all this their house flooded and sustained enormous damage. Because asbestos had to be removed, my sister and Jim had to live in a motel for over a month. The Lord heard our prayers during that time too and the last I heard Jim was doing well physically and the house has been totally refurbished. 3). All of our needs were met this year, as well as many bonuses along the way.
Blessings in our home, in our children's lives, in Navajo believers. We have just returned from Phoenix where we celebrated Christmas with our sons Matthew and Jeremy. Jeremy and his wife are eagerly awaiting the birth of their little son. Denise said she can sure sympathize with Mary and would NOT appreciate having to ride a donkey 90 miles in her present condition. This little Staley person is making his presence known, stretching and kicking and rolling from side to side. There is already pain and discomfort to his mom as he grows and is equipped to survive outside the safe place he now knows. With the end in sight, we can't help but focus on this big event that will both change and enrich all of our lives. I love Galatians 4:19. "My dear children, for whom I am again in the pains of childbirth until Christ be formed in you." This is what life is all about. Yes, because Jesus came, we do enjoy refreshment and pleasures, the chance to serve God through serving people, amazing answers to prayer, God's abundant provision day by day. But the greatest thing has to be the awesome truth of Jesus, this unspeakable Gift, come to reside in us. Jesus, taking control of every part of our being until it is His form, His likeness, that God sees. The beauty and joy in welcoming a new little baby is something tangible that we can understand. Surely the spiritual reality is indescribable. Galatians 6:15 "The only thing that counts is a new creation."
Now that is some GIFT!!!!
Our heartfelt thanks to you for giving gifts to us all year, those of love, prayer, finances. THANK YOU.
Greg and Kathy
January 1st, 2008 From: - Management [from: Megan Thurston]
Hello!
Happy New Year to you all! I hope that God makes Himself known to you and encourages you in the coming year.
We at Immanuel Mission have had a good year and a growing year. At the beginning of 2007, we didn't have enough teachers, my back hurt so much that I couldn't drive the bus at all (which meant that John Bloom and Anne Denny drove twice a day…after teaching all day), we didn't have a maintenance man, and our bus mechanic's back also hurt all the time…he continued (and continues) to work in the bus barn. At the beginning of this year, we had enough teachers (provided none of us drop dead or get seriously hurt) and enough bus drivers (although we are all teachers, as well) to be comfortable in our main jobs. However, we still don't have a maintenance man. Our bus mechanic, Ranson, has a helper, someone that seems to be doing well, Running Feather Hosteen. Just when Ranson really couldn't finish the year, Running Feather came and told John that God had laid it on his heart to come here and work in the bus barn. He is a former student who has lived in Idaho for several years and moved home in the fall. I think he was working in town when he came out here to work. He is a missionary without a sending church. This means that he is relying totally on support. He isn't paid a salary.
This is so encouraging. We see a lot of students make a profession in grade school (usually girls) then fall away in their teenage years. Some people even say that their profession of faith wasn't sincere because they were trying to please loved ones. Feather is a young man who has followed the Lord and has a good testimony. He's not a fair weather Christian. I wish all my students were like that.
Now we have five and a half more months of school. I look forward to seeing what is going to happen between now and May 16. I don't know what I"ll be doing at the end of this year. That's all I'm going to say about this.
I hope you all have a good year as well.
Love, Megan
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