Hello Everyone! I trust that you had great week. We are still trying to get adjusted to being back home. I haven't completely gotten back on schedule but we are progressing. We started school Monday morning with Teddy and for the most part that went really well. Especially considering that he had 3 weeks of vacation! :-) We are right on schedule with school though and I am thankful for that.

Tony made the 6 hour trip to the town of Buena Fe to preach at the Ecuadorian Fellowship meeting. He took Wilson and his son Julio from our church with him. They left Friday afternoon and drove to Santo Domingo, where they spent the night with Joe and Sylvia Wells and then drove the hour from there Saturday morning into Buena Fe. Tony said things went well and they made excellent time on the trip home yesterday afternoon arriving back around 6:15 or so.

We had great services this morning. There were 100 in attendance for our Worship service! The terrace was very full. We had 72 adults! We had several first time visitors. Some of course are from other areas, just visiting our city, but we had several that live here in Manta. That was a blessing.

This Saturday the ladies are having a fellowship time in honor of those who have birthdays in January. Please pray that there is a good turnout for this. I am excited as this is something that they have taken the imitative in and are doing all the planning for.

We will be starting up our weekly small group meetings again this week. Usually we meet in different homes, but this month, we are just going to have one meeting at the church on Wednesday. We hope to start back up in at least a couple different homes the next time around. Please pray that people will take advantage of this opportunity for fellowship, prayer and baby study.

I would also ask you to be praying for me this week. I really need to get the next semester of Sunday School material organized and ready to hand out. We start a new semester the middle of February, and since Tony, Teddy and I will be taking a short 4 month furlough this spring, I need to get the whole semesters worth of material done, instead of the usual 13 week quarter.

We are thrilled to see how full our calendar is for the planned furlough in the US. We are thankful that the Lord has given us the opportunity to not only visit many of our faithful supporters but has also opened the door for us to be in several new churches. Please be praying with us that the Lord would prepare the hearts of those we will come in contact with and that we will be able to raise the money necessary to begin construction on our new church building. We are excited because we just about have enough money raised at present to pay for the plans and permits we will need!

Thank you so much for your prayers for the work here in Ecuador and for our Family around the world! :-) I had the opportunity to "chat" with Mandie a couple times this week and they are doing well. She and Ioan both had check-ups last week and they are both doing great! Ioan is over 11 pounds now and has already grown an inch! Ashley and Lexi are both doing fine. They are both getting ready to start classes again. They are both excited about their upcoming weddings and both spending a lot of time making plans! In case I didn't mention it before, Lexi and Jonathan got engaged right before Christmas and they are planning to get married on Jan. 1, 2009! So we will have 2 weddings in the not to distant future.

God Bless you as you serve him this week!
Joy

Happy New Year!

Well, I'm only a week late! :-) I hope that each of you had a wonderful Christmas and that you enjoy a Happy New Year! I flew back to the US from Korea on Christmas Eve. Mandie, Mike and Ioan took me to the airport in Seoul and my flight left at 2:00pm... I arrived in San Antonio, TX the "same day" about 7:00pm! I am thankful that I didn't suffer very much from jet-lag. Friends had told me to try to sleep at the beginning of both flights, (going and coming) and I have to say that it worked pretty well.

Tony and Teddy were waiting for me in San Antonio, with flowers! What a great welcome home! We enjoyed Christmas Day with Tony's mom and then on the 26th we all drove up to Hutchinson, KS and met up with Ashley and Lexi and both of their fiancees and both of Tony's sisters and their families! We had a great time with 18 people in the house. I doubt the house will ever be the same, but we had a wonderful time!

We left Hutchinson on the 31st and drove back to San Antonio and then caught an 8:00am flight on the 1st to head back to Ecuador! We know that New Year's was in there somewhere, but feel like we kind of skipped it! We flew into Quito and enjoyed spending a couple days with our friends, Glenn and Sherri McGhee. Flew into Manta on Thursday evening, the 3rd.

It was so great to be back at church yesterday! Everyone seemed so excited to see us and welcome us home! We had 80 in the church service, with a few visitors. Please continue to pray for our church here. We are in the process of raising money to build on the new property. Please pray that God's people would respond and that we could make this a reality this year.

Pray too, for Teddy and I, both of us are a little under the weather with colds.

God Bless you!
Joy

Baby Ioan is 1 month old today!

Tidings of Great Joy

"...And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not" for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying. Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men."

I just love Christmas time! This year is no exception. Even better because this year, we have the added joy of welcoming our first Grandchild into our family. I love the decorations, the baking, the traditions, and of course the presents! But this morning as I sat in church and listened to the beautiful music and message, the Lord really impressed upon my heart, that although all of those things are fun and special, you don't need any of them to experience the "joy of Christmas!"

Anyone that knows me well, knows how much I love decorating my house for Christmas. There is not one room that goes "untouched". I love baking and having people over. I love making up plates of cookies to give away to neighbors and community helpers. I love planning and having special parties and programs at church. I love being with my family! These last years have been harder for me as the girls have grown up and are starting lives of their own. Last year it was such a blessing to have Ashley and Lexi back "home" in Manta with us for Christmas. It was the first year for us to be separated from Mandie.

This year, I have missed a lot of the "Christmas traditions" I have always loved so much. I have had the incredible blessing of being able to be here in Korea with Mandie, Mike and Ioan, but I will admit that I have also missed "home" at this time of year. Enjoying the kids here, but in a part of my heart, wishing we could all be together at "home."

This morning as I listened to these verses being read, and thought about the message of Christmas, I realized that I haven't really "missed" Christmas at all! Christmas really is all about...

Good tidings of great joy! God sent his angels to earth to announce the birth of his son and the only people the angels found who had time to listen to the announcement were lowly shepherds out in the field.

"Those who missed His Majesty's arrival that night missed it not because of evil acts or malice; no, they missed it because they simply weren't looking." -Max Lucado

Dear Lord, Please help me to remember that the Joy of Christmas is a choice... It is focusing on you and the Good tidings of great joy! that you sent to us over 2,000 years ago. May I not get so wrapped up in all the "trappings" of Christmas that I forget that it is You and You alone that put the Joy in Christmas.

God Bless you and Merry Christmas!
Joy

Welcome Baby Ioan

Ioan Michael Lewis was born, Friday afternoon, Dec. 7th at 4:25pm. He weighed right around 7Lbs. 3oz. and was about 20 inches long. Mother and Baby did wonderfully well. Daddy and Nana were allowed to both be in the delivery room and see the miracle of his arrival! What an incredible experience!

We brought them home from the hospital on Sunday morning, and have enjoyed having them here and taking care of them. This morning Mandie and Ioan both had a doctor's visit. Mandie is healing very well and got a good report from the doctor. Ioan is very healthy. He has gained a little more than a pound these last 4 days, so he seems to be thriving.

To be here in Korea with the kids, to see this amazing miracle and have the chance to be with Mandie has been a blessing beyond words.

Please keep Mandie and Mike in your prayers as they continue to adjust to this new life God has given them. Pray that Ioan keeps healthy and continues to grow stronger each day. Pray for Tony and Teddy as they are in Manta. Pray for Ashley and Lexi in the US. Both girls are finishing up Finals as this semester comes to a close.

God Bless each of you!
Joy
the new Nana! :-)