Finances

Regarding Finances:  

We want to extend a special thank you to all of you who faithfully give us financial support! It is deeply appreciated.  Especially those who give the $5 gifts! It may not seem like much, but each of you together form the foundation that our ministry funding is based on and each gift is an essential part. We are deeply grateful.  

Please Pray for US!

Please pray for US!  

I feel that we miss so many opportunities because we don't have the energy to keep going... Just last night we missed the Friday Night Study. (A Bible Study for believers. A time of musical worship, study and then a dinner - deep fellowship.) We didn't go just because I was too tired.

It WAS a full day for me, with everything back-to-back:
-5:30am-10:30am-travel to Sacramento and back so Japanese student could travel to Japanese Christian Conference
-Some more Christmas dinner clean-up
-Lunch out with two housemates and the girl who traveled to share our Christmas
-Movie watching and a puzzle with the girls for  45 minutes... (breath catcher!)
-Take our visitor to the bus station
-Take a housemate to pick up medical reports needed when she leaves for home next Monday (of course, they weren't at the first or even second place we went!!)
-Finished just in time to take a young man to the airport.
-And, finally, I was ready to start My day!!! But David was home in 15 minutes... hence, we didn't make it last night...

Prayer is the Power making what we do effective!  

Please know that as you pray,  YOU are doing the real work of the ministry. Somehow God moves when we pray. He has allowed us the privilege of participating in what He's doing in the lives of others by letting us pray.

Christmas Updates! 

*Christmas Eve Service - We had over 10 students join us for the Christmas Eve Service at our church.  There was a lot of singing, with a choir, children's choir and ensemble.  Plus the pastor gave a talk at the end which students talked about afterwards - that none of us give as God gives: to the totally undeserving...  Instead we give to those we value, or those from whom we want to get in return... 

*Christmas Brunch - Christmas morning we served Christmas Brunch to about 20 people, including three new students from India who had arrived only the day before!!! (Please cover them in prayer! I'm sure it was not their expectation or intention to learn so much about Jesus and Christianity, especially so soon!) We presented the Christmas story to all of them before opening gifts, along with explaining why we give gifts on Christmas... They were a great group daring to verbalize many questions about Christianity.

*Holiday Hosts Report - A housemate from Thailand was invited to share Christmas Eve and day with a Christian family in Fallon. (She will be leaving for her home country on January 4th.) Two other students, plus an international family of three, were invited to share an American Christmas. One is a Buddhist from Taiwan, whom I have never known to not start a discussion of Christianity when she has opportunity. Please pray that these friendships will continue and that they will come to know our Lord as their own. 

*Our Christmas Guest! - And we had a former student travel to us to share our Christmas!!! She was with us for four days. It was enough time to connect deeply again.  Please pray for her as she seeks for information about spiritual things.

M to Japanese Christian Conference in San Diego!

A Praise! - We have a Japanese student going to a Japanese Christian Conference

M left yesterday for the Japanese Christian Conference in San Diego! She and I left at 5:30am to get her to Sacramento by 8, where she joined a Sacramento group. They were there by 8pm. She'll be gone until late on the First.  Please pray with us that she will obey what she's learned. Pray that she will receive the ultimate Christmas gift!

Another Praise! 

All of the money needed for the conference, her travel and food needs and any spending money came in!!!

More information about the conference can be found here:

http://cms.intervarsity.org/ism/event/1396

Trip to the CA Coast with Students 11/9-11/13

Trip to the CA Coast

Santa Cruz, Monterey Bay and San Francisco

Three students from Taiwan, China and Japan and a former housemate from China traveled with us last month.  They enjoyed the Monterey Bay Aquarium and the Santa Cruz Boardwalk.  

**Amazing highlight! We bumped into a visiting scholar from Reno who recognized the students.  Now he's a regular at Sunday Dinner!

Thanksgiving Report/Christmas Holiday Hosts

Thanksgiving Report

Over 265 people attended the International Student Thanksgiving Banquet the Monday before Thanksgiving.  Many students there were invited into Americans' homes for Thanksgiving.  Several students even ended up traveling as far away as Fallon, spending the night before and after with different families from Parkside Bible Fellowship.  God always amazes us with His ability to match people and He did it again this year.  One couple was given two of the few students here from Thailand, which is where the husband had served when he was in the military!

Christmas is Coming...

Share your Holiday with International Students

This is an ideal way to share our customs, traditions, heritage and faith with students,  Over 70% of international students in the US are never invited into an American home.  Reno has over 900 international students and scholars at UNR alone.  Part of ISI's vision is to see every international student befriended.  If you'd like to help change that statistic here in Reno, sign up to be a Holiday Host for Christmas or New Year's on the coupon below.

Sick... A Long Time...

Wow...  It's been a LONG time since I've posted...

I've been sick for awhile now.  It started the end of February.  And I was down most of March!  For the last two weeks of March I was only letting myself get up for 15 minutes, and I was only letting myself talk for three minutes in a row... (Yes - VERY challenging for me!!! L.O.L.!!!)

It was just a sore throat - got to be a cough and hard to breathe deeply.

Well, I'm finally feeling better...

I jumped on here to share a verse for today:
"Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another." I John 4:7-11 NIV11

Highlights from the time:
SUNDAY DINNER CONTINUED JUST FINE! We usually have 50 or more coming! David's done the cooking since he came on the scene!  And we have a great crew of WONDERFUL VOLUNTEERS!

TRIP TO NEW ORLEANS:  My daughter's husband was going to be gone for a week...  I told her I was sick and she said both kids had ear infections already - come anyway!  So off I went! And I had a Grand time! I didn't do much, rested a LOT, and truly enjoyed my Grandkids! (and daughter, too!) (4/1-4/13)

NORTHWEST REGIONAL ISI CONFERENCE IN SPOKANE:  We came back encouraged, motivated and excited about the opportunities before us! (4/5-9/13)

Hopefully I'll find time to backtrack and get some pictures and information up about these, but for now...  those were the highlights!

3/14/13 -
I had lunch with a girl from the House today. As we were talking, I was able to tell her about the inspiration of the Bible.

First we talked about about how not all churches teach only the Bible and all of the Bible.  I told her about how the Bible was challenged in the 1800's and 1900's.  At that time many churches began picking what they liked in the Bible, instead of teaching all of the Bible.

Then I was able to tell her that we believe God inspired Bible, that it is Him talking to us. We talked about how God oversaw what each writer wrote, assuring that exactly what God wanted communicated was communicated, even though each writer's writing reflected his own personality, and their different statuses in life...

Once again, this same verse is impacting my life:
"All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work."  2 Timothy 3:16,17 NASB

San Francisco (Again!)

We enjoyed another day in San Francisco with international students.

This time we had 9 of us altogether with two from Reno and Virginia, and five from China.  Our Chinese friends had been here from just a couple of weeks to several years.  The one who had been here only a few weeks had a wonderful time.  It was a blessing to see her joy and amazement that she is actually HERE!

We started on the Golden Gate Bridge:





We had a great sunbeam!
My Photo:


A captured it better than me, though:


But David captured it best!


A was amazed to find that she perfectly matched the Bridge!


We caught some great pictures on the beach:


Loved watching a sailboat move into the Bay:







Meanwhile, our students made it all the way to the beach:




We meandered a bit by ourselves...


This wee, small flower caught my attention - The air was heavy with its scent...


David started looking around - he couldn't believe that such a small bloom could send out so powerful a fragrance.
  
But when you have so many together, even though each individual is so small (and insignificant), it's POWERFUL...

Makes me think of the following Bible passage:

I Corinthians 12:12 For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. 13 For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.

14 For the body does not consist of one member but of many. 15 If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. 16 And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less apart of the body. 17 If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? 18 But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. 19 If all were a single member, where would the body be? 20 As it is,there are many parts, yet one body.

21 The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” 22 On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, 23 and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, 24 which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, 25 that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. 26 If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together.

27 Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it. (ESV)

Of course, I truly enjoy the architecture in San Francisco:

  

I think this guy must be the grandson - doesn't he look the part?!!!

(The Shrimp and the Crab were Excellent!)

On our way out...

At the end of the day, we realized we'd hit 6 spots!
Golden Gate Bridge
Beach
City Architecture (we had to pick up a key from my Landlord!)
Japantown (no pictures there, sorry...)
Lombard Street (The students walked down it!)
Fisherman's Wharf

So glad we were LEAVING the City, not Returning...

        

(all the oncoming cars were stopped - or barely moving!)

We were cozy at home by 10:30... (we started at 5 am...)