Give thanks in all circumstances for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.
- 1 Thessalonians 5:18
The verse above is one that is pretty easy to memorize and quote, but at times can be pretty difficult to live out. 2020 has been a year like no other in my lifetime. In a year like this it is very easy to lose focus on the fact that we serve a loving, all-powerful, all-knowing, ever-present , sovereign King who is leading us. Guys, sometimes he leads us to green pastures and still waters, and then there are times He leads us right through the valley of the shadow of death. Remember this though, He always leads us in the path of righteousness for His name’s sake.
I must admit that there are days I lose sight of this and dwell on what I see on the news or social media. Thankfulness and trust are replaced with worry and fear. Last Tuesday was one of those days. I was spinning many different scenarios in my head about our nation, our world, my family, and TREC. You know… dwelling on the “what ifs” instead of the Great I AM! Later that day I had a video conference call with two of our partners in Cuba. Cuba is in the middle of a huge food shortage and many of the Cuban people are doing without food so their children can eat. Our brothers and sisters in Christ there are not excluded from this crisis. As I was talking with my brothers they said this: “We are so thankful for the food shortage in our country. It is difficult, but we now have more time to fast and pray.” I am thankful that these men helped me refocus on truth.
I am thankful for 2020 and the life lesson I am learning in the midst of this year. Our God is on His throne & His will is going to be done. He has called us for a time such as this. I am thankful to be part of His work and thankful He has included each of you in this work as well. We press on! “I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:38-39) Go, Fight, Win,
- Jeff McFarland
A Message from Nepal
Sanjeep sent a video to us, it was of a woman crying and talking in Nepali and I couldn’t understand what was going on. I’ve added a picture that I captured from the video (sorry if it’s not 100% clear) and I asked Sanjeep to explain what was happening, this is what he said:
Bhisum Vujel (the woman in the picture) is very happy. Sometimes she is shocked, “Is this my house?” Sometimes she cries and sometimes laughing. Life is full of misery, sometimes starving without a meal, sometimes starving to death. Sometimes your house is gone. Yes, now this woman is crying remembering the past saying that now she will get a good house. Your help has turned these tears of sorrow into tears of joy. Thank you for your support here. There are still some families in this village in similar grief. With your little help, you can turn these tears of sorrow into tears of happiness and give a smile!!! Thanks for the help here brothers and sisters, and thank you so much for believing in me to work with you. Thank you.
- Sanjeep
We all thank YOU for believing in us. Different parts of the body working together, each with his/her own unique gifts and abilities, advancing the Kingdom. Thank you for being a part of TREC.
The end of the year is upon us (thank goodness, huh?), and even though times have been difficult, we have not stopped. We are so thankful for this time to help our friends and partners minister. To see the Lord go above and beyond what we imagined. We’ve been a part of providing boots and Bibles for porters in the Himalayas, we ran into a few roadblocks with shipping boots from China during Covid. Despite this, we are still pursuing this ministry. We had a pastors conference and were able to equip 65 pastors in central Cuba, we’ve built new homes, bought farm equipment, fed many, many hungry people in Nepal and Cuba, and updated our website.
If you’d like to receive this newsletter, click here, and subscribe. You can also give and make year end donations through the website or you can Venmo donations to [email protected]. Of course, you can still give by sending checks to P.O. Box 242205 Montgomery, AL 36124. We are looking forward to traveling in 2021 and have many missions planned and much to do! We’ll update the website as soon as we get some definite dates. Blessings this Thanksgiving season!