Dear
Loved Ones,
Well, we missed the boat for a Christmas newsletter this year, so we are making it a New Year's newsletter! Such is life these days. ;-)
We have had a very fruitful year, and we come to its close with thankful hearts. Thankful especially for Jesus Christ and His life and His love which He has given us in abundance.
It has been a year of growth in many ways! Each of our children has grown, and our family has grown by one member. The reach of our ministry has grown as well, and we are thankful for each opportunity the Lord has given us, each door opened and each family reached with the powerful truths of His Word. And yet our greatest desire is to grow in truly knowing Christ... this is life!
As for family ministry, we had opportunities to do many parenting seminars in three states and so we spent quite a bit of time on the road! Besides parenting seminars, we also spoke at a conference and Elizabeth spoke to ladies groups several times as well. Fabio ministered at a men's retreat, helped to plan and organize three father-son camping trips, and there were various opportunities to share the gospel as we walked through life. We also started a home group in July with the goal of discipling families in a more “up close and personal” way than what we can do in a weekend seminar. It has been a very good time, and we are considering beginning a second group in this new year.
Beyond
what we have been able to do personally, the material we developed
has also gone ahead of us to Bolivia, Peru, Haiti and other parts of
Brazil! There have been pastors and leaders that “saw” the need
when they attended our seminar, asked for permission to use the
material and are speaking to families beyond our reach. We praise the
Lord for the privilege of being a part of His work in this way!
The children continue to be an integral part of our ministry, always traveling with us (which can be both grueling and rewarding!) Joshua is 12 now and besides his continued interest in reading, science and karate, he also became very interested in playing the guitar this year and is doing really well with it! He is starting to work for Fabio as his personal assistant, and with his earnings he is saving for an electric guitar.
Dominique is 10 years old and quickly becoming a young lady. She is also in karate and has many other interests as well, like making jewelry and various other crafts, singing and sign language, and is also my “right-hand woman” in the home. She loves to bake cakes and homemade bread and helps me quite a bit with meal preparation too. (She wants to work for Daddy to make some $$ too.)
Israel
is 8 years old and is saving to buy a bass guitar. He has also been
learning to play guitar this year and doing very well at it, but the
kids thought that if we were going to put together a “family band”
that we would need more of a variety of instruments, so he thinks he
would like to learn to play bass. ;-) He just earned his orange belt
in karate and continues to be an affectionate and easy-going fellow
most of the time. (He wishes he could work for Daddy too.)
Johann
is 6 and stays active and keeps our household interesting. :) He is
very athletic, so besides doing karate with his siblings, he spends a
lot of time going in circles around our house on his bike, jumping on
the trampoline and then into our little pool, repeat, repeat, repeat.
He is in first grade and is doing well learning to read, and is
“dabbling” in both guitar and piano playing. (He wishes he could
just get easy $$ from Daddy.)
Olivia is 2 now and will be turning 3 in March. She keeps us on our toes with her high-maintenance ways and keeps us in stitches with the new things she says each day. What a fun age! She just LOVES her new baby sister and (quite literally) smothers her with affection. She spends the rest of her time irritating her siblings by getting into their “stuff” – nail polish, lego creations, silly putty, markers, you name it. It is far more interesting than toys! (She doesn't care about $$ from Daddy. She just wants the stuff.)
And finally, our newest addition Annaliese Victoria, who was born on her big sister Dominique's birthday – October 29th, weighing in at 10lbs. She was two months old yesterday, and is doing great. We are so thankful for her easy-going temperament and healthy sleeping and nursing habits. She was born with a tongue tie, as Olivia was, but we discovered it early on and were able to have it operated on at one month old. She is doing great and gaining very well! And she lacks no manner of affection or stimulation with a household of doting brothers and sisters. (She doesn't know what $$ from Daddy is all about.)
Fabio keeps very busy with ministry and family. He finished up his second year of theological seminary this year, and Lord willing will be able to graduate the end of 2015. He is doing a Japanese course, and working on material for ministry for this coming year and beyond. He also has worked this year on an online side business with a friend of ours as a partner to add to our income, which has also provided an opportunity to teach and encourage the bigger kids to use various software and get paid for small jobs.
It was a year of seeing great impact in the seminars, conferences and services. We heard testimonies of restoration and the spread of the reach of the ministry.
It was a very busy year of celebrations and also challenges that provoked growth and also opened our eyes to humbly see where we still need to be transformed.
Overall, we do not see it as a year of difficulties but a year of experiencing God's love. That incomprehensible love that comforts, convicts, corrects, liberates and surprises us with good things. We believe that God gave us the name Annaliese, which means, in some translations, "Graced with God's bounty". May we all approach Him to experience that glorious and bountiful grace He liberated at the cross to abide in us!
“May mercy, peace and love be multiplied to you.” Jd 4
With Love,
Fabio
and Elizabeth
Joshua,
Dominique, Israel, Johann, Olivia and Annaliese
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