Kris recently returned from a ministry trip, and here is her report to you! (PLEASE read the following the post following this one regarding a prayer request for our daughter, Cassie.)
Dear Partners,
Whew! The week before Thanksgiving I was in White Mountain and Elim with my new friend, Karlene, Joel and Rob. Thank you so much for your prayers. I've been looking forward to writing this update just to let you know HOW God answered your prayers-above and beyond imagination!! Last week was, of course, Thanksgiving. And I have to confess to you that I always go WAY overboard on everything. Thanksgiving is my very favorite holiday. I love having anyone and everyone who needs a place to go at my house, I love cooking the turkey and all the trimmings, making homemade bread, pies, cookies, fudge. . . You get the picture! I even made homemade eggnog this year! That was my favorite food item.
Anyhow, on to my report on my trip. . .
We flew into White Mountain on Tuesday afternoon and were greeted by an absolutely gorgeous sunset-that’s right the sun sets very early these days! We only had a few hours until our Ladies Tea so we made short work of unloading the plane and transporting our stuff to the Fryer's home. That had to be the coldest four wheeler ride I've ever been on! Karlene and I literally buried our heads in our coats and just held on for dear life as we "flew" down the winding road from the landing strip to the Fryer's home.
We were welcomed into their warm home and spent our first few minutes just sitting and visiting-very sweet fellowship. The Fryers haven't been in White Mountain much over a year and are still building relationships with the folks who live there. God has blessed their efforts and we could easily see how the folks in White Mountain have come to love and appreciate James and Damaris in the short time they have been there.
We had 15 ladies, young and old, attend the Ladies Tea. Many tiny babies joined us too. Including James and Damaris' baby Jacob. It never ceases to bless and amaze me how God uses the environment of a Ladies Tea to inspire sweet fellowship. Karlene and I were welcomed in their midst, they even sang a beautiful song for us in their native tongue-that was extra special!
God even allowed me the opportunity to have lunch with a lady from White Mountain I had met and became friends with two years ago while attending the SALTS Seminar in Cooper Landing. Shortly after lunch Karlene and I pulled Damaris aside to spend some time just praying with her. That is one of my favorite parts of these trips.
The weather started getting a little rough so we decided to head on over to Elim before too late in the afternoon. It only took us about half a hour to get to Elim and just in time before the snow started really flying! Once again we landed just a few hours before the time set for a Ladies Tea. A family from Elim, who happened to be out of town at the time allowed us to stay in their home while we were there. This turned out to be a real blessing though we would have preferred to stay with the Jarrett's-that enables more time to just sit and visit. Mary wasn't feeling too good when we arrived on Wednesday so we fixed our own dinner and got ready to head over to the church.
We had 18 ladies join us at the Elim Tea. We were even blessed to have 2 Elders in our midst. One, I was told, is the oldest person in the village. And she was a character! What a blessing to be with these dear ladies from Elim and to watch Mary interact with them. Karlene and I were once again blessed with a song in their native tongue as well as the Welcome song. I think everyone of us left that evening feeling blessed beyond words.
The sweetest time came on Thursday shortly before leaving when we were able to join Mary in her home for a few minutes. Mary really opened up and shared her heart with us and we were able to pray with her for a few minutes. As we hugged on our way out of her home she looked at me and said, 'You folks really do live up to your name, Barnabas".
Thank you for your prayers!
As always, our hearts are overflowing as we think of you and your partnership with us. May God's blessings just overwhelm you like He has overwhelmed us!
Joyfully Serving,
Kris
Gary Harris
