Remembering 2010, Looking towards 2011

Hello Family & Friends,

Happy New Year!
Much has happened in 2010 that we would like to briefly share with you some snippets from our lives. Enjoy!

Eli Lee, Our Baby
Eli is 14 months now and he is such an amazing baby. He is blabbering away in his baby talk and has learned several words so far. At the moment, Eli really likes saying “car” and “cat” with an extra-strong “T” sound at the end. He is also walking and trying to run at times. Whenever he hears music he starts dancing and he really loves food! He also likes talking on the phone to whoever is on the other line. It truly is amazing to see how joyful Eli is and how much delight he brings to those around him. It really is a pleasure to be his parents and to watch him grow.

Discipleship Training School
It has been a great privilege to have run 5 Discipleship Training Schools in the past few years. This past year Sam started off with visiting our Justice DTS team in Argentina for few days, encouraging them to finish strong in their outreach. Recently, another team was sent to Haiti & Dominican Republic. The team was able to serve in Port-au-Prince and was also there during the Cholera outbreak. Thankfully everyone was ok in the midst of it and was able to distribute water during the crises. It was great to hear the real impact they were able to make in the people’s lives in Dominican Republic and Haiti. It truly has been an honor to teach, disciple and serve the students this past few years.

YWAM’s 50th
2010 was the 50th anniversary of YWAM. We had a celebration conference in November in the Dominican Republic and while there we were able to meet up with the DTS team we sent. We all were able to hear from Loren & Darlene Cunningham (YWAM Founders) as well as some of the notable leaders in our organization. It was inspiring to hear the different stories around the globe and what God is doing in the world. We were also privileged to run a breakout-session/workshop on “Social Injustice” more specifically in the Caribbean context. The session went well and we were blessed to see people with a similar heart for God’s justice to shine through. All in all, conference went well and it was a pleasure to be around such great friends from the Caribbean.

A Chapter Coming to a Close
As you may know, our commitment to YWAM Barbados is coming to an end as 2010 draws to a close. It has been amazing times as we have witnessed young lives transformed and as even our own faith in God have been challenged and developed.

We are very grateful to the YWAM Caribbean Leadership, the Board of Directors and especially for David Harper, Martin and Ann-Marie Rice for giving us the opportunity to lead the YWAM campus/base in Barbados at such a young age. These are people who truly believe in the youth and we appreciate them and the time we had in Barbados. Martin & Ann-Marie decided to come back to leadership earlier this year and we have been working together to ensure that there is a good solid transition of leadership and for us to leave the campus in the best possible state. We really are going to miss YWAM Barbados and will continue to help as we can in the future.

Moving to America
Earlier in 2010, Sam petitioned for Kezia’s immigrant visa for USA. It was a long and expensive process, but we had great friends who really helped us out, including Sam’s parents who came through with additional documents. A few weeks ago, Kezia got her Immigrant VISA! This has been such an answer to our prayers. This means that we will be moving to Florida very soon. (Eli already has his US passport.) Sam will go first to prepare things and will be there from the 14th of January then return to Barbados. We will move to our new home by end of January or beginning of February. There are still a lot of details to be worked out, but the two important areas are job and housing. So please pray for us and for a smooth transition. (To find out how you can help in our transition please click here)

The Future
So the question is what will we be doing? There are other brilliant opportunities for us to be involved with YWAM, but for now we want to settle down for a bit. We want to refocus. We want to pray and get some time to revive and debrief the last several years with YWAM. Sam came to do his DTS in 2002, staffed since 2003 and Kezia since 2004, so it has been good few years that we’ve been with the mission. Sam will be getting a job and finishing his business degree. Kezia will also be pursuing further education. At the same time we want to say that Missions and Justice are a calling on our lives. It is a strong part of our identity and destiny. Trust us when we say we are long-term missionaries. (There are prayer points at the bottom)

God’s Faithfulness
There have been many ups and downs this past year. There have been few difficult times for us in ministry, financially and in life. However, God has continued to provide and strengthen us through our many wonderful family and friends. In times of confusion and chaos, He brought peace and calm. In times of fear, He reminded us of His perfect LOVE. God has continued to speak to us in trusting him for everything and we mean everything.

As the New Year is here, remember God’s faithfulness.
Our Father is with us and He is with you.
Therefore, let’s boldly and in full confidence move forward into our future.

Peace & Blessings,

Sam, Kiz & Eli

Prayer Points
Please join us in prayer for:

• Wisdom and understanding for us as parents
• Eli to continue to grow and develop in good health and in the Lord
• An affordable apartment in a safe neighborhood
• A good job for Sam
• Finances for the move
• A healthy transition from missions and ease in settling into our next step
• Good home church we can be a part of

(To find out how you can help in our transition please click here)

Advertisement