Hello Family and Friends,

It’s been awhile since you heard from us…the last being an update from Jon after he returned from Peru! So here is a little more on what we have been up to.

October was a month with a lot of travel. We visited a number of churches including a new partnering one in Massachusetts. Since that is my mom’s home area, she flew up here to PA from Florida and then we all drove up to Massachusetts for a long weekend. We visited with family and friends and got to see some history as well. We went to Plymouth Plantation and toured the Mayflower II. We also got to see various stages of the cranberry harvest which was fascinating. As you know, Jon was then in Peru for 2 weeks. During that time, the kids and I spent a weekend with Jon’s parents. It was a wet Saturday but we did get to rake leaves and jump in the pile, damp as it was.

Thanksgiving and Christmas meant concerts and family time. And snow! We had three different family gatherings over Thanksgiving and after celebrating Christmas early with the Eager side, we drove down to Florida to spend some time with my mom. It was wonderful to be with her, visit with other friends and family in the area and to be able to be outdoors in warm weather! The guys spent a day at Legoland and the girls went to Sea World. We also enjoyed the juiciest, sweetest oranges from a tree in my mom’s back yard.
The kids are all doing well in school. Rachel’s reading is coming along really well under the wise instruction of her second grade teacher, and her ‘American R’s’ are getting better with help from a speech specialist. We’re thankful for the godly Christian teachers there who are pouring in to all the students.

The holidays were fun and not too overwhelming. Now we are looking ahead and very much aware of how much time we have left here in the U.S. We have just over 4 months here in PA before we start our trip out west. Please pray for me as I work on the planning and scheduling. We have a rough draft in place for this trip but we have almost zero flexibility. We are simply trusting that the LORD will work things out for us to see the people we need to see. Some of you will be hearing from us soon with regards to specific dates that we would like to see you. For those of you closer to “home” here in PA, we have
scheduled another open house on Friday, April 24th. This will be a time for you to stop in and visit and share a meal if you have time. We will also be sharing the LORD’s work in Magambua. If we have not had a chance to see you yet, please mark your calendars! This may the only chance we have to visit. Our time truly is short and we very much want to connect with you, our dear friends. We will send out more on that later.

We give thanks to the LORD for His overwhelming blessing in our lives. While at times stressful, we have very much enjoyed being back here in the U.S. It’s not so much the place but the people. Our kids are doing well in school both academically and in making friends. We have had sweet times with family, met with old friends and made some new ones. We are especially enjoying being connected in our home church through Bible study, Sunday School and a small group made up of other families in our stage of life. Both of us have also been involved in an evaluation of the short term missions program. And through it all, we are learning to know and love our God more and more. This is our hearts desire for each and every day. It is what we long for in our own lives and in the lives our children. How wonderful this year has been, together as a family, a precious time. Thank you all for your prayers for us as we continue on for His Kingdom!

In Him
Melissa for us all

Pictures:

1) Rachel playing princesses with her cousin Melanie
2) Thanksgiving with Jon’s side of the family
3) Enjoying PA pumpkin patches
4) Taking in the Blue Angels air show in Baltimore
5) Raking leaves at Mimi and Poppop’s house
6) Watching a movie in the cozie living room
7) Sea World Orlando
8) First cousins Ryan and Michael at Thanksgiving
9) Cutting our own Christmas tree (in the rain!)
10) With Melissa’s mom, Shosho, in Massachusetts seeing the cranberry harvest