New Year News

I had intended to go back and catch up on news I didn't get around to posting last year, but following Paul's example, "Forgetting the things that are past...", I'll start with a clean slate, except to say that God's hand was evident throughout 2010, and we expect it to be no less so in 2011.

First Sunday of the New Year: to counterbalance the expected lower-than-normal attendance on this day (especially being the 2nd day of the year) due to some of our members who go to the mainland to spend holidays with their families, there was a large increase in our Russian-language services---attendance doubled! (From 3 to 6)

Abbie & I with our Russian-language congregation in December:

(front) Lidia and Pedro, Nadezhda (in back)

The newest attendees are two neighbors of Pedro and Lidia, Helena and Svetlana, and one of the Ukrainians I've been ministering to for three years or more. Mykola was just released, and although he has been ordered to voluntarily leave the country, he has filed an appeal with the immigration services, asking to be allowed to continue living in Madeira. Another Ukrainian lady, Larisa, who lives next door to the church, came once to church, then went to Ukraine for a couple of months. Her husband died in late November and we pray she will begin attending regularly when she returns to Madeira at the end of this month. I'm challenged to work harder on my Russian. This may be a new direction taken by the work in 2011.

Last night, we presented the English version of this year's Christmas cantata. Besides the choir members, there were no more than 10 members of our church present (because the service was all in English), but every seat in the church house was filled. Friends, family, colleagues from work, visitors to the island...we were encouraged by the number of those who came to listen, some of whom we know never go to church anywhere, anytime.

We cannot pretend there are no challenges. The financial crisis is affecting the work, mainly in that we see no way to continue sending out monthly mission support of approximately $3000. We know that none of our missionaries is meeting all their expenses as it is, and to have to reduce our support will only make it more difficult for them. If God's hand was evident last year, there will be even greater evidences of it in the year ahead of us.