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As often happens when it’s time for the Olympic Games to roll around, inspiration and lessons from the Lord, follow. In particular, this time around, I’ve been learning the value of ‘just keep going’. Some of my absolute favorite winter Olympic sports, are biathlon and cross-country skiing. I suppose because they require so much dedication and commitment, which I find to be inspiring. But another sport I’ve grown fond of, is something called ‘Snowboard-Cross’. It’s an event where 6 snowboarders at a time, all race down a hilly and winding course, to see who will get to the finish line first. The race has been described as ‘NASCAR on ski’s’. Snowboard-cross is a wild and woolly race, and lots of things can happen. One person can be at the front, with a huge lead, while others have fallen down in the back, and are seemingly out of the race. Suddenly, the leader might wipe out, taking others with him/her, and the person in the back, who was super far behind, comes to the forefront, and wins the gold medal. Over the years I’ve watched this sport, I’ve seen this happen several times. It’s kind of amazing. I’ve seen the same thing happen with Biathlon, or Cross-Country skiing. I watched a race the other day, where a guy got tangled up with some other skiers at the start of the race, almost completely out of it. But he persevered, and with amazement, everyone watched as he ended up slowly chipping away, and finally winning the whole race!

You can probably guess where I’m going with this, right? But to bring it into our day to day lives, we are often struggling, big-time, with a wide variety of obstacles. In our case, there have been a myriad of things in the last couple of months, that

have been difficult. Family stuff, ministry stuff, physical stuff, friends in need, all have meant a great deal of digging in and trying to stand firm. When I watch these feats of human endurance, I am encouraged to just “KEEP GOING”. These sporting events, are only a metaphor for life, in general. Winning a gold medal is only a temporal thing. But the day to day life we endure, and the way we manage our faith in the Lord, is what truly matters. When I read verses such as II Timothy 2:5 “And also, if anyone competes as an athlete, he does not win the prize unless he competes according to the rules”, I am reminded to keep plugging away. Our ‘competing according to the rules’, is to remain faithful. Verse 13: “If we are faithless, He remains faithful; for He cannot deny Himself.”

These words bring me great comfort, in a time of upheaval. We pray that they will comfort you, as well. If you’re going through the fire, just keep going..… Ephesians 6:13
“…and having done everything, to stand firm…..”

We love and value YOU!!! May the Lord bless you and keep you, both now and always,

Love Wayne & Carol

Prayer points:
Wow, where do we start this month.

pray for our family, as we still need to see healing come, including Franki June.
pray for Carol’s re injured/sprained ankle.
pray for VOB, as we make some recent needed adjustments among food collection efforts.
pray for worship gathering on Muckleshoot reservation (Wash.State) 1st weekend in March.
pray for ongoing Mexico work, and continued favor with border crossings.
prayer need for some added admin & other responsibilities on Wayne’s plate.
Pray for additional finances needed for ongoing worship event travels to Native American reservations.

A blast from the past of us from one of our honeymoon breakfast photos in Gatlinburg Tennessee.

Wow, this month marks the 200th issue of our newsletter. Some of you have been on our mailing list since the first issue, when we left North Carolina for full time ministry, 22 years ago in January 1996! Not only that, but also this month we just celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary, which is even harder to believe. We were able to reflect on all of this, as we drove across this great country of ours (AGAIN – how many times we have lost count) to visit family for the holidays. We hope you had a great Christmas and HAPPY New Year!!

Miguel, Peter, Wayne & Flora at Campamento de Fe.

Hope Restored Can Go A Long Way

On a recent visit to Campamento de Fe, (Camp of Faith) where a dear sister, Flora (in photo above), takes care of a dozen or more men who need medical attention, we got to hear an awesome testimony from Miguel (below). Our friend and VOB supporter, Peter, went along with Wayne, and got to hear Miguel’s story, first hand.

Miguel at Campamento de Fe, where he went from being a patient needing medical care, to sticking around and helping serve the others needing care.

Around 8 or so years ago, Wayne, along with Vicente, was at Camp of Faith when Miguel had first arrived. He had 2 broken ankles, 2 wrapped wrists and a bandage on his neck – all from 3 different attempts to take his own life. He had cut his wrists and neck artery previously, and jumped from a high level in a final effort. Thankfully, the Lord spared him each time, waiting for this moment He was going to encounter Miguel. Vicente and I prayed for and with him, bound the spirit of death, and declared hope and life over him. I saw, before my very eyes, his transformation into freedom.

As he told this story to us again, upon this visit 8 years later, he spoke over and over about how much he did not want to live back then. And then he said, with a big smile, “ASK ME NOW!”

Wayne praying with the group of other residents in Flora (and Miguel’s) care.

“Let Compassion Reach it’s Destination” Kathleen Dillard

Worship Corner:

Carol will be attending some key leadership meetings with a round table of Native American leaders in February. She will report on that in the next couple issues.

Pray for great connections.

Also please pray for open doors, as we work on several worship projects around the country, scheduling for the coming year.