Because of Jesus, we are... "members of God's holy family" (Ephesians 2:19 (NLT))
This Christmas we're celebrating family. The nativity paintings often bear the title, the Holy Family, featuring Joseph, Mary, and the infant Jesus. But as the picture widens, we also find that this holy family welcomes the poor shepherds, the aged worshippers (Simeon and Anna) and the wealthy foreigners (the wise men from the East). And as the historical picture has enlarged through the ages, the holy family has expanded in diversity, so that we find ourselves in the Global Family of God, celebrating Christmas in more than 2000 languages. No matter how small our biological family, we belong in God's family because of Jesus Christ. So, celebrate with us this theme of family.
Felicia and Scott: In May Paul got to celebrate with his brother, Scott, a little Borthwick heritage at the Borthwick Castle outside of Edinburgh, Scotland. Then, in August, Christie & Paul celebrated a special birthday for Christie's sister, Felicia, by taking her on a tropical dream vacation.
Africa: Ever since our start in ministry with Development Associates International, Africa has factored heavily into our ministry and travel schedule. 2009 was no exception. In June Paul joined the international DAI Team in Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire as our DAI Team from 18 nations prayed, planned, and coordinated in an effort to expand our mission – to enhance the Christlike integrity and Kingdom effectiveness of leaders worldwide. October featured a first-time-ever trip to Ghana. Through the generous coordination of Jude Hama, a long-time friend of DAI and CEO of Scripture Union-Ghana, Paul met leaders from across the spectrum of our Christian family. Watch your newsletters in 2010 for the launch of the DAI Masters program in this strategic African nation! And early December concludes DAI Ministry trips for 2009 with a trip to Egypt as DAI associates from Egypt, Uganda, and USA (Paul) meet with our DAI President, Jane Overstreet to discuss DAI strategy for 2010 and beyond.
Ministry together and apart: In February and November, we journeyed together to Colorado Springs to be with our USA DAI family at our DAI Headquarters. How we thank God for the diverse and gifted team we're a part of. In March we facilitated a spiritual refreshment workshop for Christian sisters and brothers from Egypt, Ireland, Spain, and the USA who are working together to reach out to Moroccans working in Barcelona. In April Paul taught a course on "Globalization" at Sydney Missionary & Bible College (Australia). In May Christie completed her training in the Selah program, adding a certification as a Spiritual Director to her ministry as a professional Christian counselor. Paul continues in his teaching as an adjunct professor at Gordon College (4 courses, over 100 students) and Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary (coordinating the Overseas Ministry Practicum program). And we both stayed involved with Grace Chapel – including Spiritual Direction opportunities for Christie and mission leadership & preaching opportunities for Paul.
India: Paul served twice in 2009 as a course facilitator in the DAI Masters program in India. In February he introduced the Culture, Ethnicity & Diversity course in Assam State to a DAI cohort that included brothers and sisters who spoke 18 different languages – including a brother from Bhutan. In August he introduced the same course to the DAI Nepali cohort – leaders who are ethnically Nepali and Bhutanese – serving and living in Nepal and India.
Love and Life: 2009 included the celebration in May of 30 years of marriage, as well as our first year with the longhaired feline pair, Sophia (Sophie) and Zephaniah (aka: Zephyr or Zeph) who provide us with lots of fun (not to mention cat fur).
You & the Year ahead: How we thank God for you, our extended Christian family, who support us and the ministries we undertake through prayer, encouragement, and financial support. You, our family team, play an essential role in making our ministries possible.
A few words about the challenges we're facing in the year ahead: 2009 will conclude with Paul's involvement as a seminar leader at Urbana 2009 (December 27-January 1). Travels in 2010 will include expanding global family ministry in Sri Lanka, India, Colombia, Nigeria, and South Africa.
And related to expanded global ministry is the issue of financial support. Many of our faithful support team members have been hurt by the economic downturn. If you're already part of this team, thank you for staying with us! If you are interested in joining our financial support team, we'd welcome your participation.
Our greatest challenge is to enlarge our prayer-support team. We're feeling an increased need to have a team of people who make a specific commitment to praying for us. Interested? Please let us know.
Most of all, we're thankful to be members with you in God's Global Family.
Merry Christmas to you, our sisters and brothers in Christ!
Christie & Paul
We deeply value your prayers & consistently need your financial support.
If you'd like to join us in financial partnership, tax-deductible contributions designated "Borthwick Support" can be made payable and sent to:
Development Associates International
P.O. Box 49278
Colorado Springs, CO 80949
OR go to www.daintl.org, hit "Donate" & follow the directions
OTHER TECHNOLOGY UPDATES:
- You can check our schedule, most recent newsletters, and lots more at www.borthwicks.org
- If you're on Facebook, we are too. You can see pictures of "2009 in Review" on either Paul's page or at the group "TEAM BORTHWICK"