Oaks Bible Church + Oaks Bible + Santa Barbara, California

WARM HOLIDAY GREETINGS FROM THE TROPICS!

Dec. 15, 2011 100 degrees today, 850midity

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Our family, celebrating Thanksgiving week with a trip to a rock island near our village.

This tree is full of Tarzan-worthy vines that the kids love to swing on!

DEAR FRIENDS & FAMILY,

When is the last time you stopped to thank God for the “simple things” in your life? Like the fact that you woke up this morning and could breathe. Like the fact that God spun the earth again so that we would see the sun in the morning. Like the fact that He bought you back with His Son’s blood and that alone. It is next to impossible to be among the Bagwido believers here, when they are praying, and not hear them express an attitude of gratefulness for their physical lives and their spiritual standing. When they pray, their focus is almost always on THANKING God and recounting their unworthiness of the Gospel being real in their lives. This morning:

“Oh Great Creator Being, only you, only you, only you, you truly are way up. Thank you. You have given us a good day. Thank you. You have brought us around to the sun again. Thank you. We look over to the mountains and they are blue. We clearly see them. Thank you. The breeze you are giving us is cooling us. Thank you. The trees that you made are giving us good air to breath. Thank you… “

DISCIPLESHIP & LEECHES IN YOUR EYEBALLS

We know the hustle & bustle is happening in the western world this time of year, but out here it is …just a little bit different. Instead of squeezing in last-minute Christmas shopping this Saturday morning, Mark spent the morning with the 12 men who call themselves the Discipleship Group. These guys meet twice a week to pray together, to discuss the week’s Bible teaching and practice teaching it to each other, to talk over church and body-life issues, and to encourage one another. We are seeing God raise up men who will one day be the elders & deacons of this body. Holly spent the morning cutting pineapples, pumpkins, and greens (which are in abundance this time of year), and spent a few hours with 3 tribal ladies, 2 of which were from our sister church in Anganamai. They were full of questions – and as a side note, one of them was picking a leech out of her eye as we spoke. Yes, you read that correctly. Leeches like to get in your EYES when you are out in the swamps working, so watch out.

FISHING SPEARS & HOLIDAY TRADITIONS

Our kids were busy this morning making Christmas presents for each other – which include carved canoe paddles and new fishing spears! We do work hard to preserve some American tradition for our kids, and the house is happily decorated for Christmas. Turning the Christmas lights on is a tricky balance with living on solar power, but when we have a very, hot sunny day, our batteries are nice and charged & the lights can be on J. Holly’s cousin, Nate Bramsen, was able to come for a 1-week visit over Thanksgiving week and it was such an encouraging time for all of us! There was a lot of laughing as we celebrated thanksgiving with our whole chicken that we affectionately referred to as a turkey.

OFF TO SCHOOL …

Big News! We are going to be sending Allie to the international boarding school in January. Wow, that sounds so formal. No, she doesn’t have to wear a plaid uniform, but she will be living in a dorm style setting with 12 other high school kids. This is a huge leap of faith, but God has given us peace that this is the right thing to do. The boarding home parents are good friends of ours who we totally trust. Allie is very excited & pushing hard to get her last term of 9^th grade homeschool work finished so she can transfer in.

Lots more going on here … here are some POINTS FOR PRAYER:

· Continued spiritual growth among the body here…growth is sometimes messy & not easy.

· Coworkers, Holmquists, who are preparing to come back next month!

· Allie’s transition to dorm life; our transition to not having her home.

· Trust & Rest in our Great Creator Being for daily life & provision.

THANK YOU for standing with us here; We appreciate each of you very much,

Mark & Holly, Allie, Brandt, Bryce, and Brock Woodard

CONTACT us at Mark_Woodard@ntm.org

Mailing: PO Box 625 Wewak, East Sepik Province, Papua New Guinea

Business: 1000 E. First St, Sanford, FL, 32771, USA

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