Most people send out their holiday letters weeks in advance, so everyone they know gets it, in time for the actual holiday. I
however, am different (or just late.) I started to write a letter wishing all of my dearest and nearest some sort of holiday
greetings and wishes, but failed not once not twice not even three times, I wrote it 4 times… It was a grand failure (did anyone else
see that the word epic is now a banished word?) it greeted, and I wept. It was awful. It was full of cliché’s and utterly
disappointing. So, I decided to write a letter to you telling you what I’m thankful for:
1.    The gift that God has given me by letting me travel half way around the world.
2.    My awesome roommates.
3.    My dear friends Kyle And Sunny
3.1    Their Salvation
3.2    Their wanting God
3.3    Their baptism
3.4    Their Friendship

My last blog had some mentioning of Kyle’s and God’s first meeting. Well, let me paint a picture of it. It was a Thursday night; we sat
on our orange and black striped couch. Kyle had finally made the decision to meet God after 3 months of decision making and
questioning. my roommates and I were all there we asked him some questions to make sure that this was the decision that he wanted to make. Then we let him have it.

We had Kyle ask for God to forgive him in his own words. He discussed at length with God asking him to forgive him and to come
into his life. God who is always willing to show up did. We then laid out some things that we thought that God was saying. As I was
talking, Enoch was quietly talking to God in his(God’s) own language. We wrapped up our time & Kyle says to Enoch. “Hey, I
didn’t know that you knew those words in MY language. Enoch says “What do you mean?” Kyle replied “God, Would you use Kyle to doyour MAGIC, in his friend’s lives!” Now at that point I just satdown and thought to myself “Well, only God would say something like
that.”

Now, at this point this story is suspended. A week passes by, it’s Thursday night again. We are waiting at a bus stop, with Kyle on
our way to baptize him, its freezing cold it snowed that day. We get on the bus; ride 45 min to get to a place where we can dunk him. Weget there; the water is cold so we boiled some water to warm the water a tad(it didn’t do anything.) Kyle then was baptized a week to the day of him meeting God! I asked him what he felt like. And he simply made this statement “I feel Peace for the first time in my
life.” Even though the water was cold, even though, I was over an hour late, due to the bus. He felt peace.

So, it’s because you listened to God that I am here able to do the things that God asked me to do.  In this new year, I pray that God
would bless and keep you; love you bountifully and show you how much you are His.

I just realized that I haven’t given you an update about Jenny!  She is the one who accepted the Gospel when I told her about it in March.  I finally got to baptize her in my friends’ bathtub!  While we were filling up the bathtub, my roommate and I talked to her about baptism, the Holy Spirit, and anything else she might have questions about.  When we asked her about what she had been reading in the Bible, she surprised us with how much the Spirit has been teaching her.  She pulled out two passages – one about how it’s the sick who need a doctor, not the healthy, and one about the harvest being plentiful but the workers being few.  She explained to us that she thought God was telling her to go tell others about Jesus.  And we said, “Yes!  That’s exactly what it means!”  Since then, she’s been spreading the good news about God’s love, and I know God has big plans for her!

It’s so great to know that I’m not the one responsible for doing things in people’s hearts – God is.  He has been revealing that to me as I learn to trust Him more and more with things that aren’t in my control.  He is so trustworthy and faithful!  I am looking forward to Him using me more and drawing me closer to Him this summer.

Thanks again for all your prayers!  I look forward to talking to you soon!

In Christ,

~Cozy

Believe with me,

Acorn

PRAYER REQUESTS:

• Please be lifting up our Sunday meetings, that God would continue
to move in mighty ways in our midst and that we’d continue to see
fruit unto His glory!

• Please be lifting up our new believers, that they’d be
strengthened in their faith, and hungry, passionate to know Jesus!

• Please be lifting up my team, that we’d be able to maintain unity
and love for one another as we progress in what God is doing in our
midst!

• Please be lifting up my finances, that I’d be strengthened in
trust and in perfect peace of God’s provision!

We have a new church! I’m not kidding! For the last four weeks,
we’ve been meeting in the guy’s apartment on Sunday afternoons to
worship the Lord with our friends, and it’s been amazing.

Let me tell you about it. After the winter break ended, we realized
that we had an opportunity to bring our new brothers and sisters
together and pursue the ultimate goal of starting a first ever
fellowship on our campus. When we began preparing for this new
season, our team had gotten a word from the Lord that the church
here would be “simple and effective.” While praying and
strategizing as a team, we pursued two basic goals. The first is
that we can create a time where people can go to experience Jesus.
The second is that the elements and structure wouldn’t be dependent
on us – that they can be easily reproduced by our friends at any
time and in any situation.

The Lord gave us three basic components:  testimony time, worship,
and prayer for each other. We also have a meal together afterwards
and time to hang out or play games. And as we’ve walked that out,
we’ve seen a TON of fruit.

The community that we have together feels really authentic. The
feeling we’ve been sensing from our friends is that they especially
like being together, and that it’s quickly become a priority in
their lives. Yvonne even started calling me “sis.” We’re a family.

Our worship time is really Spirit led. We sing about five songs –
and only one of those is in English. My team has been learning how
to genuinely worship in another language and we’ve been able to
help our friends learn how to meet, hear, and speak with God on a
deep, personal level.

It’s growing rapidly. The first week we met, we had 2 people. The
following week we had 4; the third week we had 6, and last week we
had 12 friends come! Friends are bringing friends and God is
opening up people’s hearts.

And, most importantly, our friends are really encountering Jesus
and experiencing his love. Since we’ve started meeting on Sundays,
THREE GIRLS have made the decision to give their lives to the Lord!
Welcome to the family Amy, Ma Cool, and Polly.  Amy is a new
friend with an incredible amount of drive and leadership. Ma Cool
is a very new friend (we just met her for the first time last
Sunday, the day she got saved!). She is unique because she is froma  minority group that is heavily Islam. Polly is a special
friend to us too; I wrote about her several months ago. It’s been
amazing seeing the process that God has brought her through! She’s
already showing signs of rapid maturity and growth in the faith.

We’ve already baptized Yvonne, Helen, Yang Zai Jing, and Amy, along with our new brother Peter, and Polly will be baptized next Sunday.

So! I told you this would be an amazing update! I can’t believe
that we get to be part of the incredible things God is doing here.

Praise Him and Rejoice!

Love,
Autumn

Walter been coming to our outreach study every week for probably
the last four months or so. He said that he had an aunt that was a
believer and that she would teach him things, but he never believed
it. Well, a few weeks ago, I asked him what he’d gained from our
study. He said that he used to think that God wasn’t real, but now he
did. But he still wasn’t at a point of believing in and accepting
Jesus. Now we get to this Saturday.

For our study, we watched the movie the Passion. During the movie I
looked at Walter and saw the he was crying. After it was over we
broke up into groups and talked about what we were all thinking.
Walter began to share how he knew that believing in Jesus was an
important decision that he needed to make and that he was ready to
do so. So he gave his heart then and there. Here’s the crazy part.
After he did this, he told us that just several days previously, he
had tried to take his own life. Twice. First he tried to cut his
wrists, but they simply stopped bleeding after a few moments. He
didn’t understand at the time. So he then tried sleeping pills and
took twice the lethal amount before he went to bed. He woke up the
next morning as if nothing happened. He didn’t understand why he
was being kept alive. That is until Saturday night, when he
confessed God’s protection over him so that they may enter into a
relationship with eachother.

He was dunked the very next night, Easter Sunday. We’ve tried so
hard to get this guy to smile the last few months,to no avail. But
Sunday night after he came up out of the water, he wouldn’t stop
smiling. He told us it was the happiest day of his life. Also to
get dunked that night was my friend Peter who has been one of my
closest friends here for the last two years and one of our most
devoted to growth. It was a real privilage to be a part of it. We
also dunked two girls, Shadow and Zero. Shadow joined the family
just a couple months ago at the study and Zero joined that very
day! She was led into the family by one of our local believer
friends at the shop where she worked and wanted to be dunked that
night.

So it’s been awesome here. Our prayers are working and we’re seeing
the fruit of our labor. Once again, this couldn’t happen without
your support back home, so thank you. Another quick testimony.
Before I told of how I was in a deficit of over a thousand dollars.
Well I just got a financial update and the deficit is down to only
ninety three dollars! He provides. Thank you all who have helped to
meet this need.

This blog is kinda long, even though I told the shortened stories.
So I’ll leave it at that for now. Please write back and tell me
what’s going on in your world, and I’ll see you back stateside in
just six weeks.

God bless,

Shamgar

A few weeks later we met to baptize Jenny in our friend’s bathtub. Before the dunking, I went over a few things with her, and asked her how she’d been doing. “Every day before I go to bed I talk to God and read a little of my Bible.” Then I asked her what He’d shown her and my eyes began to fill with tears as she shared. “The verse that meant the most to me is the one about the big harvest but only a few workers. I think it means that there are a lot of people that need to hear about Jesus but not enough people to tell them. This is so important! If I tell my friends about Him and they become Christians like me, can I baptize them?”

“Absolutely!” Cozy and I responded in unison. God had been so faithful to reveal things to Jenny by His Spirit – things that we had never taught her. It was so encouraging to see how her passion for the Lord has continued to grow this past month. I’m praying for the day when I see this same fire in the rest of our friends! Each week we’ve watched our friends grow closer to making a decision. Pray that any obstacles that are holding them back from choosing Jesus would be removed and that they would have powerful encounters with the King of Kings!

Sydney

We had lunch together and then went to the guys’ home where there was a bathtub.  Autumn led us in singing worship songs, lifting our praise and thanks to our Creator for all He’s done. Then I shared the story about the loving father and his son who returned home after going his own way.  Oh, it was so cool to see the understanding on their faces that they were coming home, that they were part of God’s family.

We baptized each of them in the small bathtub, and before each one we prayed together.  It was precious to hear them pray for each other as they acknowledged what Jesus has done for them.  Each with her own special story of coming to know God, Helen, Yvonne, and Jane know that this is a starting point for the rest of their lives.

It was a wonderful day, but I can’t say that it was without  bloopers.  No one brought a towel, but that’s ok, we were prepared for that.  Yvonne and Helen both wanted to wear dresses to be baptized, and Yvonne said she wanted to wear something beautiful for her special moment   Jane somehow thought that she was not going to get completely wet and needed to borrow some clothes at the last moment.  Jane is also a little taller and as I put her under she didn’t quite go all the way- you can see on the video my slight hesitation, and then an extra push to get her all the way under.

When I think about these small things it reminds me that we make mistakes in showing God to people all the time.  But that those small things really are small.  It is God who makes the seeds grow, it’s Him who changes hearts, and He’s the one who brings them home, back to Himself.  He is pretty amazing!

We will be going to Thailand soon for our company retreat.  I’m excited about this time of getting to see friend who are currently in other cities, as well as having time to seek the Lord together and hear from Him.  Please ask for rest, refreshing, and vision during this time.  Thanks!

All for Him,
Skittles

My point is that sometimes things are already prepared for you. All
you have to do is take it that last step to make it into a delicious breakfast.

My  friend Ken, a student at the university, reminds me a
lot of instant oatmeal. Rocky, Hans and I have only met with him a
few times. Rocky and Hans met him at an english corner before
Christmas and invited him to our party. I met him for the first
time at that party and was able to chat with him for a bit. What I
found was a package of instant oatmeal.

In short, he had lived in the States as an exchange student and
lived with a family of believers. He would go to church with them
every Sunday but had never made a decision to receive Christ. Upon
coming back to Asia, he realized how much he missed going to
church. He felt God close then, but not since being back. He wanted
to know God. Time to add the water!

Due to a busy time of studies and exams, he was pretty much
unavailable until the day before he left to go home for beak. I was
away for the afternoon but came home in time to greet my new
brother in Christ. Rocky and Hans spent the afternoon with him and
shared the Good News with him again and answered some questions he
had. In the end, Ken got saved! That’s some good oatmeal!

It’s been quite a finish to the semester over here! Our friends are
trickling back to there hometowns and every day the campus grows
more and more quiet. But that hasn’t stopped God from continuing to
move! Last Sunday we had a baptism party for some of our new
believers. A few days ago Ken got saved. We’ve even had some new
friends decide they’d like to come to our Bible studies when they
get back! God is on the move and I can’t wait to see what lies
ahead!

Acorn

PRAYER REQUESTS:

1. Please be praying for the new believers! They’ll be home until
the end of February on break for Spring Festival. We’ll be in
contact with them as much as we can, but we’re believing for the
Holy Spirit to be teaching, guiding, strengthening, edifying, and
preserving their faith!
Guys:
Li Yang
Yang Zhi Hao
Ken

Girls:
Yvonne
Yang Zai Jing
Helen
Sophia

2. Please pray for wisdom for me! As the team leader, I’ll be
responsible for making the decisions as far as planting a church on
the campus. Turns out, I’ve never done that before! I’m trusting in
God to lead and provide wisdom in that.

3. Please be praying for our unsaved friends as well!
Guys:
King
David
Wen Bing
Jack
Gary
Yang Ming
Peter Huang

Bless you guys! Much love in Christ!

As Orchid thoroughly explained to May once again what it meant to be baptized, I felt a strong impression on my heart that the three of us should lay our hands on May and ask God what He wanted to speak to her as she was making this significant step in her relationship with Him tonight.

We gathered around May and spoke of the love that our Father has for May and how He wants to lead her. Beautiful tears ran down her face…tears of realization of His love for her, realization that He knows her and has always wanted her for His own.

In preparation to baptize May, Orchid placed her hands on May’s shoulders, looked into her eyes, and told her how excited her God was that she had chosen to follow Him.  The tears continued to roll down May’s stained cheeks.

Once May came out of the water, she was beaming.  “May!” I asked her as I stood behind a camera, “How do you feel after coming out of the water?”

“I feel fresh!” was her fitting reply.

As May was drying her hair, she poked her head out of the bathroom and said, “Girls, my phone got baptized!”  Unfortunately, May’s phone had gone into the water with her…and was no longer working.

With Christmas in only a few days, as we share the story of Christ’s birth with friends, am I brought back to May’s response as she came out of the water- “I feel fresh!” Jesus came to make us fresh as newly fallen snow- clean, pure, light and no longer weighed down by the burden of our sin.  He has taken it all upon Him.  What a beautiful gift He has given us!

In His Love,

Ginger

I do want to let you know that our team member, Orchid, needed to end her time here and returned to America this past week.  Please pray for Orchid as she adjusts to life back in the States, and that she will be able to receive everything our Father has for her in this season.  Also, please pray for our team as we cope with the loss of a friend and team member; especially for me and Razzle as we adjust to Orchid’s absence in our home, and that we would have grace to adjust to my new role as Razzle’s partner.

Please also pray for:

1. My team members Razzle, Ben, and Leonidus as they experience their first Christmas here in C-land.  Pray that each one would be blessed, especially as they continue to share the true meaning of Christmas with their friends here!
2. Our friends as we share with them the Christmas story and present opportunities for them to receive Jesus – pray that their hearts would continue to receive the truth, and that no plan of the enemy would prevent them from receiving it.  Please pray especially for: Jojo, Racheal, Deane, Rong Jie, Liu Si, and Tom.
3. Me as I adjust to balancing my roles as team leader and now Razzle’s partner.  I need wisdom for time management, and I need to be led by the Holy Spirit!
4. I have also been quite homesick this year, especially with Orchid’s departure.  Please pray for the Lord’s comfort.

I remember you back home and my heart is overwhelmed with thankfulness!  I pray that you have a wonderful Christmas, full of joy.  May you be reminded of the precious gift of Jesus.  You are in my thoughts! Merry Christmas!!

Kelsey got baptized last weekend. I got to baptize her. It was an amazing night as 4 of our close friends got baptized in water. It was truly truly one of the most awe inspiring moments I have ever been a part of. Before I dunked her in a small inflatable pool of water, I asked her, “Do you believe in Jesus? That He is the Son of God and that He died for you, that He rose again and is with you now?” She replied with tears streaming down her face, “Of course. He is the love of my life. I will serve him all of my days. I love Him so much.” By this time, both of us were crying and at that, she went in the water and came up, washed anew.

Kelsey is leading her first Bible study with friends on Sunday. God is doing a great work here that is unexplainable and so real. Our team has witnessed 8 friends, some from this year and some from last year, choose to believe in Jesus and give their hearts to him. How awesome! God is so faithful to lead us to those that are hungry.

Updates:

-Happy Thanksgiving! I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! We had a feast and it was great. I made my mom’s famous sweet potato dish! I played football and caught my first ball!!

-Our team has started writing a discipleship curriculum and teaching a class to coincide. We are aiming at having it translated as well. We need your prayers for this to go smoothly and that nothing would prevent us from completing it or keep the students from attending.

-Christmas season is upon us!!! We will be having many events. Keep us in mind as we share the true meaning of Christmas with our friends.

-I’m thinking about you all at home. You are always in my prayers!

Lots of love,

eva