Month: December 2009

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Merry CHRISTmas! Blessed New Year!

TODAY IN THE CITY OF DAVID THERE HAS BEEN BORN FOR YOU A SAVIOR, WHO IS CHRIST THE LORD.  LUKE 2:11

[2010, Can you believe it?!  Anyone noticed where 2009 went?  It was here a moment ago]

Dear friends,

Out here at Immanuel Mission, the daily temperatures are freezing (!) and we have entered into the ‘brouhaha’ (make that brou-ho-ho-ho) that is the end of the year.

Community CHRISTmas will be celebrated Saturday, the 12th, Lord-willing.  Mr. John encourages each Elementary class to do something for the celebration.  My class is attempting to do a stable scene ‘tableau,’ with passages from Matthew and Luke being read.  Miss Denny has the chapel body practicing a couple of Christmas songs in Navajo.  Mrs. Ruth has been setting aside little crafts [involving gluing, cutting, twisting, coloring, stringing, etc.] for small children to work on during the event, as it involves sitting for 3-4 hours, basically, for everyone else.  She sets tables up in the hallway just outside the gym and I usually help HER out there.

Children’s CHRISTMAS, the last day of school, is on Dec. 17.  Ruth and I are working on the bags of gifts for the students.  It is a thrill to see God provide the exact number of a kind of gift needed for that class.  We love seeing His provision daily.

A month ago, Anne and I went to a small rodeo for ‘local’ Jr. High/High School students.  One of our students was in the bull-riding event (!)  I had a great time watching those fearless young people.  “Woolly-riders” were new to me, but what a HOOT they are!  Their cowboy outfits were complete and made of (get this) ,satin!
Be freshly amazed with me at Jesus Christ’s birth.  Take in the words of the carols written so long ago, and so familiar to us.  Fairly recently Chris Rice (I think) wrote a song called “Welcome to Our World”   My favorite verse says,

Fragile finger sent to heal us, tender brow prepared for thorn,
tiny heart whose blood will save us, unto us is born, unto us is born.
What a miracle His love is . . .

P.S. Thank you for your checks, notes of encouragement, prayers, and Box Tops.

Becky Knopf

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Now is the Time

Recently our assembly held its fall camp meeting. This is like a gospel outreach and conference all in one. One of our Jr. High girls, Shantelle, responded to the gospel and accepted Christ as Savior. She is the granddaughter of one of our Navajo elders. It is fun to see the change in her countenance. Immediately she wanted to get her cousins and siblings together on Sunday morning for Sunday school which she taught. Also, we heard that recently an older grandfather, Dean Paul, has trusted the Lord. His wife has been a believer for many years but he has always seemed hard to the gospel. His two grand-daughters are in our school. We are rejoicing that God’s word is bearing fruit in our community. Another lady, Lucy, approached me at fellowship lunch about taking communion. She had trusted the Lord years ago but had strayed away. Recently she has come back to the Lord, been attending regularly on Sunday, but was not sure about taking communion. It was neat to see her excitement in taking part for the first time in many years last Sunday. Please pray for these new believers.
John Bloom