Current Newsletter: Christmas 2011
Great is Thy faithfulness O God my Father... Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not... Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow, Blessings all mine with ten thousand beside!As we reflected on all His blessings throughout this year we have found ourselves thinking about the words of this old song, Great is Thy Faithfulness. And as we prepare to celebrate Christmas we remember He was faithful to His promise to send His son, Jesus. Our God is f-a-i-t-h-f-u-l. Family of God: Our brothers and sisters around the globe speak dozens of languages, live in diverse cultures, and live in many contexts - poverty, affluence, opposition, freedom, and hardship. We thank God for this global family and how they expand our vision. Adventure: We love being out in nature; it refreshes and renews us. This year we re-discovered hiking, added several new birds to our "life-list," snorkeled with sharks, and kayaked together in places as diverse as Cape Cod, St. John (USVI) and Doubtful Sound, New Zealand. The song states it well: "Sun, moon, and stars in their courses above join with all nature in manifold witness to Thy great faithfulness, mercy, and love." 2011 was an exceptional year. International Team: God has allowed us to be part of a diverse and amazingly effective team. Christie shared in hosting Lucy Engjadim (from NE India) in the Lexington area, and Paul got to visit on location with Marianne & Vadim Babashkin in Finland and Nagi & Suzy Said in Egypt. We love working on the International Leadership Team with others from the US, Australia, India and Uganda, and teaching in the DAI MA (Masters) program with colleagues from India, Nigeria, Uganda, Cameroon, and the US. Training, Teaching, & Travel: 2011 included two DAI MA courses (India & Nigeria), four courses at Gordon College, and two at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. What a privilege to be given the opportunity to invest in and have an impact on students preparing for and leaders continuing in a life of service! We deal with the diversity of travel (ministry in 22 states & 10 countries in 2011) by taking life one day at a time. "Morning by morning new mercies we see." Hope: The hopeless voice echoing in people's minds asks, "Do I have a future? Am I significant?" The faithful God responds "Yes… a future and a hope." We love helping people understand that God is faithful to bring about positive change in and through us. This is the message we desire to communicate through Christie's counseling and spiritual direction ministry and Paul's time investing in students. This message comes out in a slogan developed to advertise Urbana 2012: "you were made for something great." Whether in personal interactions at the IFES World Assembly (July 2011 in Poland) or from the platform at the Student Mission Awareness Conference in Ghana (December 17-23, 2011), our message is simple: our faithful God is our source of hope: "strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow". Finances: Continuing with the hymn, "all we have needed Thy hand hath provided." God has been faithful to provide what we needed. We need to stop and say thank you to our faithful prayer and financial support team. When we needed encouragement, we heard from individuals who were praying for us and of a prayer meeting group that had dedicated time to remembering us. When we were short of funds for a ministry trip together, two special friends came forward to meet the financial need. We thank God for you - because God's faithfulness gets expressed by other people caring for us. Under-resourced: Our focus at DAI is to serve and train leaders in "under-resourced" areas. The DAI logo is a depiction of servant leadership - Jesus washing a disciple's feet, but it also looks like a shoe salesman fitting shoes on a customer. In one sense that's what we are: we work with global leaders helping to equip them with leadership "shoes" that will take them to places we can never go -like the Ugandan leader into Sudan, the Kenyan leader into Somalia, the Nepali leader into Bhutan, and the Indian leader into Burma. Listening: Christie's practice of spiritual direction focuses on listening to God, endeavoring to discern what He is saying in our everyday lives through prayer, the Bible, circumstances, etc. While Christie was reviewing her talk in New Zealand, she sensed that God wanted her to speak about something other than her prepared message. We listened to God together and felt that He was saying we should encourage the students to stay faithful in the race. We did this by dialoguing together, describing our mutual 40-year journey and struggles following Christ. According to students and leaders, our interactive vulnerability turned out to be the best contribution we made to the conference. Unchanging compassion, daily forgiveness, enduring peace, ongoing strength, and a hope-filled future: great is God's faithfulness! We pray that you will know God's faithfulness this Christmas season and in 2012. Always Grateful, Christie & Paul An end-of-year request: We deeply value your prayers and consistently need your financial support. End of year gifts have helped us make budget every year so we welcome your participation. If you'd like to join us in financial partnership, tax-deductible contributions (designated "Borthwick Support") can be made online at http://www.daintl.org (“Donate”) or by checks designated "Borthwick Support" can be made payable and sent to: Development Associates International P.O. Box 49278 Colorado Springs, CO 80949 PS: Check out Paul's article "Everyday Witness" in the December issue of Billy Graham's Decision magazine - on line at http://www.billygraham.org/articlepage.asp?articleid=8317