Sunday, April 22, 2007

Long Time No See

WE ARE BACK!!!!

Hi Everyone!
It's been a while. Lazy I guess. Was too depressed with India's dismal performance (non-performance) at the World Cup, but then things like the Virginia Tech Shootings make you feel small to crib about petty things like an Indian Cricket team loss at the WC...


Amazing what a depraved mind is capable of. It could be anyone... In the midst of all this we are happy to be alive and as Psalm 91 says "I will say of Jehovah, He is my refuge and my fortress; My God, in whom I trust... Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night.." What a comfort we have in Jesus. Nothing can separate us form the love of God. Nor death, torture.... nothing. We are more than conquerors!

LYNDA's LETTER

It is indeed a very long time since I sat down to write
We have probably had about a maximum of 7 visitor free days only since Keren and family came in Dec!! It has been a full on time for us as a family and the kids have experienced all sorts of displacements from their 'cozy corners'. But it has also been a time of praying for grace and strength that we might be Christlike in all our dealings with people ---the kids are learning too. We do thank God for them and their willingness to be inconvenienced, but they also seem unfazed by it!
This is a big year for Nia with grade 12 exams lurking around the corner and to think a quarter of a year has sped us by is scary .. Her heart is in missions, but the recent change to want to do medicine has been from within her own heart. It is always a source of wonder and amazement what God has in store for her --- we wait patiently for God to unfold His Masterplan for her life. It is a big call --even to want to do medicine in this country, but we know God knows what is best for her [our heart feels we would have her far from medicine] and so we continue to support her in all her ventures. Do pray that she would be able to work undisturbed and undistracted over the next few months and God would endow her with the wisdom and discernment she requires to make the right decisions. We cannot believe
we are
already there --as parents of a grade 12 kid, we now know what our parents and some of you guys must have gone through, at this stage.
Anisha has grown taller than Nia and is maturing in the Lord in a quieter way -- less articulate about her faith, but growing. Some of our conversations on a drive [my favourite times with the kids] reveal a heart that is growing and beginning to apply more of what she is learning to daily living. She is very different from Nia - Sammy/ Stephen come to my mind.
She is still going through the ‘read the Bible' in a year and sometimes has to play catch-up, but she is doing it. Her interest in sports and cars and music still remain very strong and she believes that she will make a future of it --haha; she is very passionate about all of it! We just heard she has received another award for her tennis in the club. . She has a couple of good Christian friends in youth and we pray that these friendships would develop even at this young age and go on through life to keep her encouraged in the Lord.
Shefan is fast catching up to Nia --she is the one they want to beat in height at the moment which is not very difficult. He is growing and developing a wider perspective to life and has changed a lot over the last 8 months-- he has been the most displaced person over the last 4 months , but has done it ungrudgingly and without complaining . He will join Anisha in the winter tennis tournaments from May - he is a true sportsman. We trust he will have more opportunity to develop his skills over the coming year, esp with his cricket. He loves school and is learning to research and getting more computer savvy in a different system of education. We trust and pray that all the input into his life spiritually will bear fruit over the years. The kids get along famously and there is never a quiet moment at home ---if they are not ribbing each other, they are sharing their interests in music [very different from ours] or watching sport together ---they keep busy.
We have started with JAMES in our homegroups --our homegroup has got larger and is now bursting at the seams with a great mix of adults in their 60s to about 10 kids and as we
discussed the recent trials we have experienced, Shefan says "Bob Woolmer ". We were in splits as he is so one-track about cricket, so passionate like Benj!! Church is fresh and vibrant, as it is a young growing church and we have the struggles of a growing church, but it is 'family'! We are starting with a small break from MATHEW on family before we step into another book from the NT. I am involved with the youth group and it is a good bunch of kids who are closeknit and esp the bunch of 16yr olds we have, are a solid bunch with a passion for the Lord --it reminds of our group back home, smaller but solid ! Benj is leading the Young Adults, a great bunch of committed people and we are studying through the "pursuit of Holiness' with this group. We pray that this group would become a more integral part of the church.
I am enjoying work --- I have enough of challenges and openings in my areas of interest professionally at hospital. But I have enough time with the kids and I enjoy just being a part of their lives esp with another two standing at the
brink of their teenage years.


Benj is between two hospitals and that can get tiring, though the whole night duty days in hospital are over. He is enjoying his consultant role with a new set of challenges and his mind is active as usual, but he does find the handling of adults 'not so exciting'.
Dev is in Oman and very soon we will lose another close set of friends to a shift.-the family will move out by June, we will miss them. Well, that is all about us - we trust things are fine with you. With the wedding preparation, it must be very exciting and a lot of action and emotion in the 'family. We do miss being a part of it. Yes, Deva, you are a teenager now --wow! that is special! Leena, thanks for all the mails and keeping us updated.

We praise God for His plan of redemption that runs through from Genesis of which we have been made a part of ---when we look at the many around us who are blissful in their ignorance of the One, True God and the others who willfully shun the knowledge of the Almighty, we realise it is His grace that found us and brought us back into the fold. We also thank God that we can find our refuge in the Fortress, and know He hides our soul in the cleft of the Rock where rivers of pleasure we see. What a joy it is to be able to know Him as an earthly family and be bound in His love's strong cord to one another.
Until the next mail ---in prayers.
With love
Lynda and Benjy