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| Shepherds |
Dear Friends and Family,
We’re on the brink of
Christmas break—just one more week! Hilltop had a heart-warming Christmas
program last Thursday night. The kids were cute (as usual), and the
“mistakes” just made it more fun. The best part was sharing the Christmas
story with the family members of the students, and it was quite a large crowd! We
prayed in class all last week that our voices would bring glory to God just like
the angel voices on the first Christmas. We were praying that God would
bring people who did not know Jesus and make the message clear to them.
The program was a success, and we pray that there will eternal consequences.
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| So Sweet! |
With our program behind us,
we now focus on Christmas celebration (special classroom activities and a party
on Friday) and, most importantly, on communicating the Christmas Story more
clearly to our students. One student wrote she believed in Santa and
Jesus. We want them to understand as best they can the mystery of the incarnation (challenge spelling word in 3rd/4th
grade.) Our Bible verse is John 1:14. We are eager for our students
to respond with awe and worship as they marvel at the truth that the Word became
flesh and dwelt among us. It is not about the “natural” order of the world
or the gods of the world. It is about the Creator God becoming man for us.
Amazing truth, amazing love!
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| We had snow on Saturday. |
The 3rd and 4th
grade has been reading The Best Christmas Pageant Ever (highly recommended
Christmas reading). In the story some ruffian kids take over the church
Christmas Pageant. The ruffians hear the Christmas story for the first
time, and the pageant takes on a whole new meaning as the church people
experience the story through the eyes of children hearing it for the first
time. The truth is: We don’t just want our students to understand
Christmas. We all need time to meditate and wonder at what God has done for us.
Please pray for us this
week as we try to make Biblical Christmas real for our students. Also pray
that our students will see the immense ramifications of this truth and respond
with faith and love.
I wanted to share this
also. Last time we asked prayer for a young missionary who suffered some small
strokes. And now the rest of the story, which I just found out. Before the
strokes, our staff was at a retreat where one of the speakers talked about how
to talk to a person who was contemplating suicide. Scott, at the hospital that
evening, was lying next to a man who expressed his hopelessness and wish to end
it all. Scott said, “All I could think about was drawing my next breath, but I
knew the Lord had prepared me for just this moment – to make a difference for
this man.” Wow!
May God Bless you richly,
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| Our friends get married! |
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| With boys from last year's class. |
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| Enjoying the wedding festivities. |
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| My girls from last year are growing up! |
