Winter 2024

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth. (John 1:1-2, 14)

Christmas is the time of year when we focus on the humanity of Jesus Christ who "became flesh" so that He could experience life as a human and die a human death on the cross. But praise God for Christ's deity and sinless perfection, through which He paid the price for our sin and rose again!

Ministry Update
The ladies fall outreach was held in November with over 35 in attendance. The theme was "A Life like a Diamond," and Ruth enjoyed decorating the church, organizing the craft time, and preparing gift bags for the ladies.It has been wonderful to see attendance grow through the years as the women now highly value this time together.

The church held its annual family photo outreach the first and third weeks of December. During the second week of December, our team took the teen choir to share the Christmas program in another Roma church with whom we fellowship.

Ruth had the privilege of organizing the Children's Christmas program, based on "The Story of the Three Trees." She selected five children who regularly attend church and helped them memorize their lines. They did very well, and we had many parents and siblings in attendance. Afterward, Dave gave a short message, and then we distributed 80 gift packets, which were individually prepared by Ruth. This year was no different as Ruth spent many hours selecting and packaging age-appropriate gifts for the boys or girls while taking into consideration their interests, and home situation.

On Christmas Eve, we welcomed back the community for a special service, and Dave shared a message about the obedience of the shepherds. Then we distributed approximately 50 gift packets with the family photos, homemade jam, treats, grape juice from the grapes harvested in our yard, and other items.

Family News

Shortly after our return from celebrating our anniversary in September, we were faced with the difficult decision to put down our dearly loved dachshund, Peanut. She was especially close to the girls while they were growing up, and now that they are grown, she had become especially close to Ruth.

Celeste is enjoying her career in dog grooming and recently moved to a new location in Madison (WI), which just opened in November. The store is located in the ground floor of an apartment building, so many of her new clients live in the building. How's that for service!

We enjoyed having Amber home during the Christmas break. She had another strong semester at Miami, making the Dean's list once again. She is continuing to make plans for her semester abroad in Japan in the fall. Pray for her to find the best program and for the right person to sublet her apartment.

Thank you for your faithfulness in prayer and support in 2023!

Dave, Ruth, Celeste, and Amber

Paver Project Completed!

After numerous starts and stops over the past year and a half, we are thankful to have pavers installed on the church parking lot and new steps to enter the church property. Although we anticipated the work begin done much earlier in the year, the team worked very hard in difficult conditions right up to the weekend before Christmas, and we are very pleased with the results. As with any project of this magnitude, there is some finishing work and clean-up that will need to be done as the weather improves. Thank you to everyone who has prayed for and given to this project!