Christmas Letter

And He said to them, “Follow Me (or come here after Me), and I will make you fishers of men.” Matt. 4:19. I think an amplified paraphrase might say it like this- Run hard after Me in a singular, passionate pursuit. Come close in proximity and intimacy with Me, so that ALL of your choices, thoughts, and responses in life come from Me. Then you will catch men. You will catch them off guard, you will catch them by surprise, you will catch them wanting this for themselves.

As Phillip and I walked toward the last locked gate, that on that night only I could go through, he told me good night and goodbye as he was to be released on Tuesday. I challenged him to seek Him, desperately seek Him. Seek Him for your every breath, your every decision, your every choice, your every response. Let Jesus BE your every thought and movement. Oh how I wished for more time with Phillip. You see a few weeks before, Phillip had asked me, “So are you trying to tell me that my physical life and my spiritual life intersect, that they overlap?” I stepped up close and looked him in the eye and asked. “Can you take even a breath on your own?” “Can you make it to work on time without Him?” “Can you make the right choices all the time unless it is Jesus flowing through you?” Pray for Phillip and pray that he will find a man to continue mentoring him and hold him accountable. Pray for those in the prison Bible study.

On Dec. 7 we had 17 graduate from another Financial Peace University class. What a joy it is to see people begin finding the joy and peace of handling our finances as stewards and following the plan and design of the Father.

Mary and I recently spent 16 hours over 2 Fridays going through Hospice training to be spiritual care volunteers. This area has had one volunteer and at times run him pretty thin. We are looking forward to having the opportunities to talk to some of the clients and sometimes their families about God’s plan for them and His desire to redeem them; with others it will be a time of rejoicing with them.

In Aguilar we have been pleased with the “Coffee & Chat Time”. It is a good time of getting to know some in the community & about the community. We have also been able to meet some as we go around handing out surplus bread. Mary has taken some meals to the elderly that are having a hard time caring for themselves. We want the people of this little town to know we care and by that to see that Jesus cares.

Thanksgiving found us sharing our table with (from l-r) Gilbert, from Aguilar, Ray who has been living with us for about 6weeks, Bill Biss, Bill, and Wendy our neighbor. Mary treated us to a wonderful turkey dinner with all the fixins and a lot of love mixed into every part of this day. She has a special way of making everyone feel welcome and special in our home.

In the past couple of days our home has taken on the appearance of celebrating! Thanks to Mary’s wonderful decorating gift, we have a heightened level for celebrating “the Gift”, His Son, our provision for salvation and the power living in us.
“And when they saw the star, they REJOICED exceedingly with great joy.” Matt.2:10

SNOW!

Dear praying friends,
I can’t believe it has been a month since my last update to you. Winter is showing itself here lately. This means it is back to shoveling snow for several elderly and a friend who had knee surgery recently. We are enjoying our wood burning stove after gagging on $500+ gas bills last winter and not being warm. In working on cutting our wood supply for the winter, I have had opportunity to spend time with a couple other guys as we work on getting them some wood too.

Our Tuesday last week found us surprising many, in Aguilar, that we would plow through the snow to bring them bread and other commodities. We so desire them to see Jesus and to know that He desires to give them the bread of life.
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Wednesday night, as I was unloading my pockets so that I could pass through security without setting off the bells and sirens, the lady correction officer at the front desk asked me “so what makes your Bible study different than the other Bible studies”? The opportunities God gives us sometimes just amaze me! My answer- “I don’t really know what is taught in the other studies, but in ours we look at what the Bible teaches about and then life application of Jesus living in us. We talk about such intimacy with Jesus that when I am faced with choices He and He alone is my source. We learn to identify our pride, self-centeredness, and idolatry in order to run from them and to Jesus our hope.” I shared this with the guys in the study and there were many smiles and praise God as they told me “you know she’s not a believer”.

The attendance has been down the last couple of weeks as about a ½ dozen have been released. Would you join us in praying for these men as they go back home and around the environment that influenced them? Pray that they will constantly and desperately seek Jesus for all their answers and choices.

Building relationships is a big step here to getting to talk to people about Jesus. I have been building relationship with Simon this last year. Sometimes I wouldn’t see him for awhile.. But the week before Thanksgiving he found me to ask me to feed his horses for about 2 ½ weeks. The guy who was supposed to left town, and Simon remembered that I have told him numerous times that any time he needs help to please give me a call. :^)

Mary had a Christmas dinner for some ladies last Wednesday while I was in Prison. She is having another dinner this Wednesday with the desire to start up a Bible Study with those who have interest after the 1st of the year.

We look with great anticipation to the work that God is beginning, knowing that He will continue to completion what He starts.

REJOICING in HIM,
Bill & Mary

Steam Locomotive

Steam locomotive that comes through the town of La Veta, Colorado

This week will end with us celebrating our 28th wedding anniversary. Mary must be the most patient and tolerating person on this earth.

Last Friday & this Friday have been spent in training as Hospice spiritual care volunteers. There has been 1 pastor covering many square miles of southern Colorado by himself in this ministry. So we hope to give him some relief. Here we find ourselves again in something totally new to us. What an exciting thought to have the opportunity to bring Jesus and his desire to redeem, to people in their final days on this earth. With others it will be a time of rejoicing with them as they journey towards that long awaited homecoming.

Wednesday I received a long awaited call telling me I could go back into the prison, as they had been on lock down for 2 weeks. We had some great learning and praise time in both the morning & evening. During the Bible study we focused on the prodigal (wasteful, lavish, extravagant) love of the Father for us, Luke 15:11-32. This is very difficult for many of these guysto wrap their hearts around. Their backgrounds give them little to relate this to.

The evening ended with very mixed emotions as one of my “brothers” told me goodbye & thanked me for coming & giving to him. He will be released on Tuesday. Pray for Phillip & his wife. I know a great Pastor where Phillip lives & have contacted him, praying they will get together.

Continue to pray for the family staying with us, that God will provide the right job & also reveal His great design & desire for their lives,compelling them to seek Him in every area of their lives.

Update on our regional director; Stan was diagnosed with colon cancer & is going through chemotherapy treatments. Pray for Stan & Jan & for the new people God has brought into their lives as they share the truth of Jesus with them.

At the Cross,
Bill & Mary

Psalms 42:1

Stonewall, Colorado

You know I can't pass up a yard sale!

Dear Friends,
Just in case you are kind of tired of listening to the news lately, can I, as Paul Harvey would say, wash your ears out with what God is up to in SE Colorado.

Tuesday we had the "Coffee & Chat Time" in Aguilar with 4 people showing up. Some great conversation was had. We then took some surplus bread to the low income housing and were blessed to meet 9 new people. One man expressed a desire for a Bible study and several young women are looking for practical helps on being a better wife and mother. Pray with us as we seek what all God wants to do as He moves us through these opening doors.

Along with the Wed. nite Bible study, last week I began leading a Wed morning study called, "The Power for True Success- How to build character in your life". This takes place in the Faith Pod at the Huerfano County Correctional Center. This week I came in as the men were finishing their praise and worship time. What a joy it was to hear 35 of them sing and lift praises to Jesus. We had a good lesson on Joy vs. self pity. The interaction with these guys is great, and they have no problem going for 1 1/2 hours. This time abruptly ended with a call for an emergency lock down. And you know what that means - no one leaves. The biggest problem here was, it was lunch time and I was ready to eat.

That evening at the Bible study as we looked at our justification, we had some great discussion, and I believe we all went away with our relationship with the Father a little deeper. A real highlight for me was hearing several express how really grateful they were to be at this prison. I know that doesn't sound quite logical until you hear them explain that they are learning the real meaning of being a follower of Jesus and deepening their walk with Him. This coming from guys who are not new to the prison system, they are frequent flyers. But deep in their hearts they desire a transformed life, a life under the control of the Creator of the universe, with Him flowing from them. I don't know if I can fully communicate, to you, the gratitude they express weekly to me for coming to them. I always tell them it is because of some of the greatest people I know, our supporters, who make it possible for me to be there. Would you consider yourselves thanked by these men and me for your generosity, until the day we can all face to face thank you.

PRAYER REQUESTS:
1. Pray for our regional director, Stan Spiess, he is in the hospital with a lot of abdominal pain. The doctors are looking at the possibility of tumors causing this.
2. As I write this we are working with a family, (they are presently staying at our house) who are in a lot of need. Mostly they need to fall at the feet of Jesus and let Him BE in control of their lives. I will say there are some serious financial needs that we believe will be met as they choose to live in God's design and plan for them.
3. Tomorrow we will travel to Denver Seminary on a recruiting mission. Pray that some will consider the mission field of the U.S. and hear God's call to them.

Seeking Him,Bill and Mary

Prison Stint!

Well I just got back from my latest stint in prison. Hope this doesn't effect my "reputation". That was some of what we talked about tonight. Am I more concerned with building my own reputation (as the Pharisees were) or is it about "Christ in me, the hope of glory".

One of the best questions of the night was "so do you mean that my spiritual life & my physical life overlap, that they are not segmented?" YES!!!!!!!!!! Don't you just love it when we get right down to the meat of the issue. That we would begin to discover that Christ in me encompasses every breath I take, every word I speak, every move I make when we get ourselves out of the way, surrender to Him, and seek Him.

Pray for these 17 guys. Some have a very good knowledge of the Bible(lots of time to study). What is needed now is for it to trickle down and their hearts to get a hold of who they are in Christ. One other guy boldly expressed that he is looking for a God that will change his life, he is tired of his old life. He is a believer, and desires to become a follower.

Tuesday was the first coffee time in Aguilar. We had 7 people show up and all were so appreciative of us coming out to their town just to have coffee and get to meet them. Julia called later that day again just to say how very blessed she was that someone cares for this little town. Extra bread from Dorcus CIrcle was handed out and we hope to see what other ways God desires to meet the many needs of Aguilar.

Mary is in NM for about 10 days. She is speaking at a missions conference, taking care of mowing and upkeep at the Tulie house (please keep praying for a buyer to come along!) and then has a wedding to attend next Saturday before heading back home.

Seeking Him,

Bill and Mary