December 5, 2007

Dear Praying Friends,

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas! As I write this, it is snowing outside of the home we are renting here in W.Va. while we are on furlough. This is the most snow that we have seen since our last furlough. This is such a special time of year, and it will be great to spend it with our parents and other family members whom we see so little while we are serving the Lord in Kenya. Pam and I hope that this will be a very Merry Christmas for each of you, and a blessed 2008.

This past month has been busy as we have traveled over much of the eastern part of our country. As of this month, we have put over 9,000 miles on the car that the Lord blessed us with, and have been in more than thirty churches. We have gone from Michigan, to Indiana, Illinois, N. Carolina, Ohio, Kentucky, and back to W.Va. The encouragement and kindnesses that have been shown to us has meant so much. We really enjoyed the BFM Thanksgiving conference, and are praying that God will supply the $100,000 needed to meet the needs of the various missionaries and their ministries. Please give generously, so that our two newest missionary families, the Tates and the Judson Hatchers, can have funds to operate on the mission field. We are very excited about Roger and Julie Tate and their family joining us next year after they complete language school.

Pam and I have been reflecting about this past year of ministry, and have been thinking about what we hope to accomplish in 2008. We would like to build a block church for our newest church, Wananchi Baptist, which is located in the country, and was started in April of this year. From the E-mails that we are receiving from our pastors there in Kenya, the church is doing well, but is meeting in a rented mud building. Lord willing, we hope to buy about a quarter of an acre of land, and erect a block building for this church. We will need money to do this, but will have to assess the situation when we return to find out the exact cost. Please do pray for all of the churches, their pastors, and leaders, as well as the Bible clubs, and outreach ministries in the communities.

Lord willing, we plan to continue the hospital ministry to the premature newborn babies when we return, continue to go into the bush and minister there, and possibly start literacy schools in our churches, so that people can learn to read the Bible. The illiteracy rate in Kenya is high, as many people didn't attend school when they were young, so they never learned to read. Please pray with us about these goals, as we are always looking for ways to reach people with the Gospel for Christ, so that they can be saved, and serve our Lord.

If any of you have flannel graph materials or Bible teaching pictures that you are not using, please let Pam know, as we can use these pictures and flannel graph in our bush ministry, and in our Bible clubs. We don't need curriculum, as the Sunday School curriculums are written for Americans, and don't relate to the Kenyan culture, so just pictures and flannel graph are needed.

Thanks for your prayers for our newest granddaughter, Kailyn Rose Austin. Kaily was born at 28 weeks, and weighed 2 pounds and 2 ounces at birth. Although she is still in the hospital at this time, she weighs over five pounds now, and is off of the oxygen and her feeding tube. She is nursing, and taking bottles, so is growing well. The doctors expect her to be home for Christmas, so this will be a special year for us, as God has answered prayers for Kaily, and she is doing well. Thanks again for your interest in our family, and for your love and prayers for them, and for us.

May our Lord richly bless each of you during this holiday season as we remember our greatest gift, the Lord Jesus Christ. As we see the world situation becoming worse, and sin abounding everywhere, we know that our Lord's return is near. Let us all make a New Year's resolution to serve our Lord more than we ever have, and ask our Lord to use us in ways that we will bring glory to Him. Merry Christmas, and have a great year of serving our Lord in 2008. Thanks for your interest in missions, your prayers for us, and your encouragement. We appreciate each of you!

Remembering the reason for the season,

Mike and Pam