Dear Friends,

Janice and I send you Christmas greetings from Jakarta. It is our prayer that you folks will have a wonderful Christmas.

Over the years, I have come to really enjoy the Christmas season here in Jakarta. One of the things I like about Christmas in Jakarta is the weather, always hot and humid with none of that cold wet stuff that other people seem to hope for around Christmas time. Also, I like the emphasis our churches here place on Christmas, as this is our best opportunity to get rather vocal without getting crushed by the fanatics. However, mostly, I like getting to preach on the incarnation. During one early Christmas season here in Jakarta, I preached on John 1:14 and that verse has had a profound effect on my life ever since. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth. With the real meaning of Christmas on our mind, let me share the news of our ministry here in Jakarta.

This Christmas season we have had already had several Christmas programs. On December 2, we had the Christmas program at Cipulir Baptist Church. All went well with a big crowd in attendance. We have just finished three days of meetings on Batam island with Pastor Andar and his folks at the Kasih Karunia (Grace) Baptist Church. Over the three days while we were there, we had four different Christmas services. The services went really well with many of the parents of the Sunday School children in attendance. Pastor Andar's church is doing well, it is suffering growing pains, but God is clearly blessing in the work. Please remember to continue praying for Pastor Andar, his family and his church.

While we were in Batam we were able to get together with Brother Desa Sihombing and his wife. They have also started a church on Batam island. They have a good group of folks gathered, but they are facing a lot of personal challenges in their ministry. Pray for this young family and the work they have started.

Last week the students at the Bible school took final tests. For the most part the students in my classes did well. Please continue to pray for our Bible school students. One of the new graduates this semester will head off to start a new work, while the rest of the graduates will be involved in ministry in established works.

I do, once again, want to ask you to be involved in the effort to get a complete Bible into the hands of each junior high student on Nias island. Brother Daley and I continue to sweat it out as we wait for the Lord to provide the funds through you folks. Thanks to several churches, you can see that the progress arrow now shows the December payment met. Brother

Daley has the money on hand to make the December payment which gets us almost half way in the process of getting the Bibles printed! Several churches keep sending in various amounts each month. We do appreciate you folks that have really put your heart into helping us with this project. Please continue to pray for the funds, but also begin to start praying for the distribution of these Bibles. There are 76 junior high schools on the island of Nias, and it is our aim that each student will personally be handed a Bible. On the second page of the Bible is a place for the name of each student and a place to paste a picture. We hope to have enough personnel on hand to write the name of each student and paste their picture in the Bible when it is presented. Moreover, the logistics of getting the Bibles shipped to Nias and safely storing them before they are distributed must still be worked out. Pray with us that this project can be carried out in a God honoring manner! Gifts for the project should be marked, "Nias Bible Fund."

This Friday, Janice and I are leaving Jakarta to spend Christmas with our children in New England. We plan to return to Jakarta on the 20th of January. We do appreciate your prayers for us as we make this trip.

Many of you folks have been sending us Christmas gifts and Christmas cards. We do appreciate your love toward us. The Lord bless you.

For all your faithful prayers we are truly thankful.

In Christ,