Christmas Greetings from Jonathan Abels

FROM  JONATHAN & TAMBA ABEL

Warmest wishes to our dear friends and family

Whether in our very warm-hot summer here in Brazil or in your cool-freezing winter in the US, we can share this one thing in common today: REJOICE! We rejoice for many reasons.

• That another year has gone by with God's abundant blessings over the many areas we are involved with.
• How delightful was the teaching at our Seminary and seeing enthusiastic students wanting to learn!
• Watching kind people come all the way down from the US to help a little with the Miriam Infant Home (with gifts of time and things they made/collected back home).
• To see some good Bible Camps happen at our Camp with eager campers! 
• The prayer for selling our church property to buy another more practical one, was answered!
• Our 2 oldest children (Tom & April) have had an exciting year in their lives, with studies, friendships, travels and ministry.  Our youngest one (Michelle) has been growing up so fast, enjoying the company of her puppy that  was an answer to her prayers.
• And of course, having friends and family visit us, for those of you faithfully praying for and supporting us (thank you all)!  Yet the most important reason that we rejoice is because we have the hope found in the birth of our Saviour!  

Let us REJOICE in this New Year, living in this blessed Hope of JESUS!

Wagner Update

Dear Amazing Team,

Wow. We know so many of you have been praying, not only because we were flooded with messages of encouragement and assurance of prayers, but also we sensed them every step of the journey in our move to Makeni, Sierra Leone.

- The sale of our car in MN was smooth and convenient. Gotta love craigslist.

- Elijah slept on every leg of the journey (car, plane, plane, plane, boat) and has adjusted beautifully, considering all the changes.

- We had very gracious ticketing agents and flight attendents with no extra fees along the way. It could have been hundreds of dollars.

- Our welcome to the capital, Freetown, was very warm and eased by our Sierra Leonean partners and LBT supervisor.

- More was accomplished in Freetown than expected, enabling us to move to our home in Makeni on Day 8.

- We've had many helping hands and new friends to help us set up the basics of our home - including water filtration, running water, screens to keep mosquitoes out, stove and fridge, beds, etc.

- ALL our luggage and barrels made it safely to our home. Many contents from one barrel were quite moldy, but thankfully it was the barrel we would have picked if one had to be moldy. :)

- Ruthie was sick (stomach issues, weak, and fainty) for a day... it took an injured ankle, thankfully not broken, and a trip to the hospital to discover we're expecting!!!

- Elijah LOVES our new "home home home." He's been playing a lot in the back, hugging neighborhood kids through the front porch bars, and calling himself "Obotu" ('whiteman') because that's what he's been named by all the kids. *eyeroll*

I know many of you praying aren't sure what to pray about (it's okay, neither are we), Be assured, your prayers are an enormous support, and we consider the above answers to prayers.

Please continue to pray with us during these initial days, especially as we begin formal language learning, which will be our primary task over the next several months.

Lovin' it,

Josh, Ruthie, Elijah, and baby on the way!

And to All a Good Night

From the days of bursting seams, when we had more children in the Miriam Home than we had beds, we have now settled into a bit of a lull.  That is because the juvenile court is trying their hardest to have every possible child with their family (parents or blood relatives) for Christmas. We only have eleven children in the Home right now and the probability is that seven of these will be released to their families within the next two weeks.

Though many of the children will be leaving the house, they obviously don’t leave our hearts. Please pray for. . .

Click here to read the entire newsletter.

Merry Christmas from the Jores

Check out the Jore’s Christmas greeting here.