And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good
news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this
day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” Luke 2:10-11
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| Our kids were grateful to spend Thanksgiving with their cousins. |
The holiday season is upon us, and our family is so thankful
that we get to spend the holidays in America once again this year. Our kids are
looking forward to Christmas and are praying that the snow comes soon because
they so long to experience a truly white Christmas. I too would love to see some snow, I was
looking forward to introducing my kids to the joy of sledding, and so we are
praying for lots of snow before winter is over. The holiday season is truly one
of my favorite times of the year and I get so excited to sing Christmas carols,
drink hot chocolate, decorate the Christmas tree, and buy presents for everyone
I can. Christmas is a special time of the year but many of us will get caught
up in the holiday cheer and forget what Christmas truly is about. This year our
family is reading about the true meaning of Christmas and spending time discussing
together the wonderful gift of Jesus Christ and what His birth, life, and death
mean to all those who seek Him. It has been fun sitting around the cd player
and singing Christmas carols together, the theology in those carols is amazing
and I encourage you to set aside some time to really reflect on some of those
amazing truths presented in those old carols. One thing that our family has
been talking about lately is the blessings we have received from God and also
the opportunity we have to pass those blessings onto others. I am grateful that
our family has the opportunity to once again spend the holidays here in America
and am also so grateful for all that God has blessed us with during our times
in the States. In this SHORT letter I would like to share three things with
you. First, how grateful we are for all that we as a family has received over
the past two years. Second, we would like to share a little bit about some of
our upcoming plans for the year 2013. Third, we would like to present to you
some special requests for needs our family is currently facing. I ask you to
please take a few minutes and read our short list of three, and then if you
feel comfortable, email me with a short list of what you are thankful for, what
your plans are for the next year, and
any prayer requests or needs we can join with you in seeking God to provide.
How thankful we are for all our family has been blessed with
over the past two years. We moved here with a lot of questions and a lot of
needs, but God was faithful and through the gifts of so many people we were
able to live and minister full time for the Lord during our time here in the
States. We have been blessed with a wonderful house to rent, a car to drive,
furniture and other necessary items to help make our house a home. We have been
blessed with the opportunity to make many new friends and also reconnect with
some old friends. I am thankful for the health of our family and the chances we
have been experience some of the natural wonders of Idaho. Our family is extremely thankful for
the opportunities we have had to minister to international students, the
children in our church, and also young families who have been a part of our weekly
Bible studies. I am extremely thankful for the chance to work on my Master’s
degree and also become better equipped for ministering to families and the
local church when we return to Thailand. There is so much to be thankful for
and I would love to share them all with you, but I wanted to keep this letter
short so I will just add one more thing. Our family is so thankful for all the people
who have prayed for us, opened their hearts and homes to us, and given
sacrificially to provide the finances needed to help our family live and
minister here in America.
After looking back on the past two years and all the blessings
God has given our family, now I would like to share with what are some of the
future plans our family is working on. For those who do not know yet, our family is
planning on returning to Thailand on April 3rd, 2013 Lord willing.
When we return to Thailand we will be looking at starting a new ministry which
will focus on helping local churches and the families of Thailand with the
truths of God’s Word through the use of biblical counseling. I do not want to
share too much with you right now, because we are working on a ministry name
and information packet which we will introduce at the start of January. We are excited
to return to Thailand and begin ministering again with the people of Thailand.
I still have two years left in my schooling, which I will continue from
Thailand and I am looking forward to applying what I am learning in my studies
as our family seeks to help counsel other families with the lasting truths of God’s
Word. From now until April our family will continue to minister with our church
and to the international students at ISU. We will also be traveling to visit as
many friends, family and supporters as possible before April and finally
packing up our house and preparing for the move back to Thailand.
The next four months are going to be busy for our family and
we are in need of some extra help from others. We would like to visit with as
many as possible before we leave and so we need people who would like to visit
with our family to contact us so that we can schedule a time to meet. Also we
are in need of some help emptying our house of things we will not be taking
back to Thailand, so if you are in need of couches, tables, beds, dressers, pot
and pans, etc. let us know so we can schedule a time for you to come and take
our things. We also are in need of some financial help. When we return to
Thailand we will be looking for a house to rent and since the houses in
Thailand come unfurnished, we are in need of raising some extra money to buy
basic appliances and furniture. Our family is also in need of help financially
to help cover our living expenses during the time remaining here in America. The past three months our support level
has been low, and by God’s grace we have been able to pay for all our expenses.
We are asking you to please prayerfully consider giving a special one-time gift
during this holiday season to help cover some of our families living expenses
and maybe some of our upcoming moving costs. Our family has been
blessed to be able to serve fulltime in the ministry during our time here in
the States through the giving of so many people. We are eternally thankful for
all that we have received and are trusting that God will continue to meet our
monthly needs and are inviting you to join Him in providing for our family.
Please consider giving special during this holiday season and contact me if you
are sending something special so that I can share the good news with our
family.
Thank you again for taking the time to read this blog post
and I am looking forward to hearing back from you soon. May you and your family
have a wonderful holiday season and a very Merry Christmas?
Your fellow servants in Christ:
Dan, Mam, Gracie, Joy, Hope, and Kyle Rutledge
