Dear Friends, Family,
Teammates, Encouragers, Supporters in prayer and finance and in so many other
ways,
I just finished a
conversation with our granddaughter, Wynnie. She’s five now. We were talking
about possible names for her new cousin (Kate and Jordan are expecting a boy in
February!). Wynnie had many creative suggestions ranging from “Zig Zag” to “Puppy.”
Something tells me Kate and Jordan are not going to relinquish their right to
choose their new son’s name! At least not to Wynnie! But it reminded me of
something I read in Timothy Keller’s new book, Hidden Christmas. It’s a part of the Christmas story we don’t
usually pay a lot of attention to.
The angel tells Joseph what he is to name his boy. In
that patriarchal culture it was the father’s absolute right to name his child.
He had complete rights over his children, and naming was a sign of control over
the family. The angel, however, takes that away. By refusing to let him name
Jesus, the angel is saying, “If Jesus is in your life, you are not his manager.
This child who is about to be born is your manager.” p 58
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| Aurélie and Éowyn |
Keller goes on to
talk about how, to be a disciple of Christ, you need to commit to denying
yourself. He says it takes courage. He also says it will lead to our true
identity and “a lifetime of adventure.” I like that! And we have certainly
found it to be true so many times, and I’m sure you have as well!
Today I was also
reading through some comments from Wycliffe leaders around the world. One of
them said, “When the Wycliffe Global Alliance changed, so that all
organizations became equal partners involved in the life of the Alliance, we
felt respected and valued.” This leader was referring to the decision made last
year by the 29 historical voting organizations of the Alliance. They chose,
unanimously, to end their exclusivity in decision making.
Whatever courage it might take for us to deny ourselves, when we are not our own to begin with, is small in comparison to what God sacrificed for us. And yet we struggle. It’s a good time of year to remind ourselves of God’s gift and God’s love and this amazing lifetime of adventure to which He has called us.
Part of our personal adventure this year was moving from Texas to Virginia! Thank you for praying us through this transition. We still have several years of house projects, some unpacked boxes (awaiting refurbished rooms), and some missing pieces. But we are finding much joy in our new location and new home! We have made some progress on projects. We are grateful that the lower cost of this house meant it was possible to get a new roof and new boiler (yes, radiator heat!) it desperately needed. We have also painted, planted iris, and are working on some kitchen remodeling (electrical and plumbing, plus sacrificing and shuffling cupboards) that will enable us to fit in a microwave and a dishwasher. One of the great things about this house is that it is in an ideal location for people in search of a holiday and eventually we will have plenty of bedroom space. So do consider a visit!
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| before | after |
More changes are
ahead. As of January 1, my role in the Wycliffe Global Alliance is changing.
I’ll be moving from Director for Strategy and Communication to Director of
Strategy. To be honest, I was not able to give much attention to strategy while
serving in Communication. But we finally have a very capable person to take on
Communication! You may recall me asking you to pray for Phil Prior and his
family. Keep praying for them as he is the person taking on my Communication
role. I will continue to serve on the Alliance leadership team and am looking
forward to this major new challenge of helping the Wycliffe Global Alliance in
its strategic journey. We’ve been taking a very new and different approach and
I’ll be sharing more about that with you in the future! It has already been so
rewarding to see how God is directing. I had come to the decision a month or so
ago that Phil was ready to take on Communication. But just before talking about
this with Kirk, our Executive Director and my supervisor, Kirk said he had
something to ask me. What he wanted to know was when I would be ready to move
into strategy fulltime!
Tom continues in his
role as webmaster for Wycliffe.net. Phil is his supervisor now and we are
looking forward to new things happening with the website and, we hope, some
eventual help for Tom! His workload is
way too heavy for one person and has been for a very long time. But he, too, is
loving living here in Virginia and dreams of getting a small boat once the
house projects slow down.
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| Winslow |
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| Jude |
We hope you are
enjoying a wonderful Christmas season with friends and family and pray for
God’s rich blessing on you in the coming year. We also want to take this
opportunity to thank you for your part in this ministry with us. We could not
do what we do without your support and encouragement. Thank you! We appreciate
you so much!
Susan and Tom Van
Wynen
