LOOKING BACK It’s been a very full and very rich year. Looking back, we can hardly believe all the places we had the opportunity to travel to, the precious people we’ve had the privilege of meeting, and all the doors that were opened before us. We are amazed and deeply grateful to God for every moment of it and it is our delight and honor to recap some of it for you here in this newsletter - some of what we saw God doing f irsthand in the hearts and lives of people around the globe, including our own. “Now thanks be to God for His Gift, precious beyond telling…" (II Corinthians 9:15 AMPC)
2023 RECAP ITINERARY January Home for the Weekend Retreat - Oxford, Ohio February Women’s Retreat Three Rivers, CA
March Asia Outreach: Cambodia
April Asia Outreach: Thailand May Asia Outreach Report Night in Archbold, Ohio Driving truck/trailer back home to CA
August Oregon/Washington Tour September Newfoundland Scouting Trip Small Group Gatherings Women’s Bible Study October Visalia Oasis 2 Dessert and Coffee Fundraising Events November Home for the Weekend Retreat in Oxford, Ohio Small Group Day Retreat Creative Arts Worship Nights Sunday am Service and Ministry Report, AEC in Archbold, Ohio
June Israel Study Tour
December Women’s Luncheon in Morro Bay, CA Christmas in California
July Next Gen Leaders' Retreat for Believer’s Church in Pottersville, New York
January 2024 Oasis Retreat - Visalia, CA (TBA) HFTW Retreat - Exeter, CA (TBA)
Findin Meani the Des
One of the most treasured highlights of this past year came to us in the form of an unprecedented opportunity (thanks to a very generous FSM supporter) to take a 12-day study trip to the country of Israel! Daily, we visited 5-7 biblical sites, hiked many miles over rough terrain, listened eagerly to hours of historical and devotional teaching from our Israeli guide Dan and Tennessee Pastor Mark Whitehead (Arbel Ministries), and wept tears of awe and wonder that wouldn’t stop flowing as we experienced walking the very ground where our Lord Jesus did!
We were deeply impacted by what we saw and heard – places like the Emmaus Road, the site of Jesus’ baptism, the Mount of Beatitudes, sailing on the Sea of Galilee, walking on the streets in Capernaum where the woman with the issue of blood was healed, sitting under the 2000 year old trees at the Mount of Olives, standing in the possible site of Golgotha, and entering the Garden tomb – it was all profound beyond words. As one friend put it, it was like a “thin place” – where Heaven seemed so close that we could almost touch Him and where we were overcome with the deep assurance again that everything we’ve believed in, put our hope in, and built our whole lives upon is REAL REAL REAL! Realer than real! We came away with so many new insights and such helpful cultural context – information and impressions that we’ll probably be unpacking for years to come. One of those impressions had to do with our view of the “desert/wilderness”. Crazy how you can think a certain way about something and not even realize that you do.
“I WILL ALLURE HER AND BRING HER INTO THE WILDERNESS, AND I WILL SPEAK T E N D E R LY A N D T O HER HEART.” (HOSEA 2:14)
