Christmas

Two nights ago, we had a Christmas party at the Centre. We had over a hundred people there, and the evening culminated in a truly multicultural (therefore, Canadian) experience. We had sung some Christmas carols for and with the people (the girl from Memphis sang "Blue Christmas"), and the microphone was up for grabs at the end of the evening. A Chinese man sang opera in Chinese, and an Iraqi man told jokes and sang a couple of Iraqi songs. His son also sang a couple of songs and did a Donald Duck impression--in Arabic. We shared about the origin of several Christmas traditions and read the Luke 2 account of Jesus' birth in English and Arabic. I don't know quite how many different countries were represented there, but it was a really beautiful evening of spending time together without worrying about how different we are.

Praises

• Through the Lord's grace, I get to go home for Christmas. I will see my family and as many friends as I can fit in for a couple of weeks.
• The Lord has been teaching me some neat things about Himself and about relating to Him and other people. I think that the past ten months have probably had more to do with personal growth and learning than anything else.
• A couple of weeks ago, in a Bible study, a few of us saw an Iranian lady claim Christ as her savior. She has a long way to go, I think, but I hear that her attitude and outlook have been markedly different since that day. It is sweet to see God work through His Word in someone's life.

Prayer Requests

• Quite a few people want to hang out with me over the next week and a half that I'll be here. Pray for help keeping all that straight and wisdom as to how to use my time most effectively.
• Plans are afoot for starting ladies' discipleship in January. Please pray for me and Mahnaz, for wisdom. Pray for the church to be open, and pray that God would open a time and place for Bible study. Little obstacles keep popping up as we try to work these things out. Pray that God would open a door for us to do this.
• After I return from the US, I will likely have a difficult time readjusting to being here and missing home and family. I appreciate your prayers beforehand for protection and a sound mind at that time.
• Please pray for spiritual, mental, and emotional refreshing this month. Pray that God will help me to develop some strong goals for the coming year and that He will give me an excitement and passion for the work.

Thank you so much,
-Jennifer