Merry Christmas!

“...we saw His Star... and have come to worship Him.”

— Matthew 2:2

Christmas Greetings to all our Family and Friends

Jesus

is the

Light

of the world.

When we know the One who is Truth and Light, our lives are brightened with comfort and hope and peace. Peace that is profound. A soul that is settled. Life eternal - rich and free. A home in heaven. A best friend in Jesus.

May we all desire to walk in the light of Jesus Christ allowing His love to empower us by His Holy Spirit to live victorious lives for the glory of God.

At this time of year, we celebrate the birth of our Saviour - born to deliver us from our sins.

“No more let sin and sorrow reign,
Nor thorns infest the ground.
He come to make God’s blessings known
Far as the curse is found!”

As this year closes and we anticipate a new year and a new decade we praise God for His faithfulness and gracious goodness to us. We thank him for each of you as well. Your prayers and financial support are what enable us to shine the light of the gospel into the Kingston area prisons. We thank you and praise God for you!

We wish you a bright and beautiful Christmas and may God richly bless you and your loved ones as you celebrate His birth.

Love,
Robert and Susan

Update from Les & Sharon

Dear WBC family,
We know you see us here all the time but we felt we needed to communicate the following:
Sharon and I are so grateful to be a part of WBC and appreciate the financial and prayer support we receive , without which we could not continue.

Our ministry, for those who don't know, mainly consists of three areas:
* Seniors bible studies and events in residences and at WBC.
* Spanish preaching and a variety of contacts which the Lord opens up in Spanish either personally or by Internet.
* Pastoral Care team and other activities at WBC.
It seems we are busy enough to stay "out of mischief" as we say in this area.

We wish you all a wonderful Christmas and New Year serving the Lord together!

Lovingly,
Les and Sharon Frey

December Update

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ at WBC,

This is a good time to wish you all a very blessed Christmas season and a Happy New Year at the same time, as it is coming closer very quickly, unbelievable how time flies. But the main reason for writing is of course to let you know how much we appreciate your continued prayer and practical support, for which we are so thankful. Words fail to express our deeply felt appreciation and we can only ask the Lord God almighty to bless and reward WBC for their help. We are in the last years of our lives and wonder at times how much time we have left, but in the mean time we continue to rejoice in the Lord and seek to serve Him as best as we can with the physical limitations of age. I am speaking in Cambridge this Sunday and, Lord willing, will be speaking here at WBC on Sunday, the 29th of this month. I am very much looking forward to that and would appreciate your prayers for the Lord’s blessing. Marina is quite weak much of the time and can’t do very much, but she still has contact with Belgium and other folk. Lord willing, we hope to have our family, children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren from Belgium and England here sometime next year. 

Loving greetings,

Richard and Marina.

Update from Guayaquil

Dear Wallenstein family,

Wow, the months have been flying by without us realizing it!

Thank you for faithfully praying for us and supporting us as we serve down here. It is such a comfort to know we have such a large community behind us.

We recently had the privilege of accompanying my parents (Jessie) and brother to Mexico for the dedication of the recently translated Tepehuan New Testament - the indigenous language of the people my parents worked with. For some time, I have wanted to show Raúl where I grew up and this was the perfect opportunity. We both came away from the trip greatly encouraged by the work happening there. (We also might have put on a few pounds from all the tacos we ate!).

Now as we settle back into normal life again, we are looking forward to several things and we would like to ask you to pray with us for them. Firstly- for the busy Christmas season. December is always a rather hectic month in the sponsorship office. Thankfully we have some extra help this year and things seem to be on track. Please pray that the school’s Christmas party would be an encouragement to the students and a great reminder of why Christmas is important.  Pray too for the church as we will be spending 4 weeks really focusing on the meaning of Christmas. It is exciting to see the church growing a deeper understanding of this time of year and the opportunities it provides for reaching out to people.

Secondly, we are excited to announce that, Lord willing, a little one will be joining our family at the end of April. We are hoping to have the baby in Canada so please pray that everything would go smoothly planning and paperwork wise so that we can spend a few months with you up there!

Thank you for praying with us!

Jessenia and Raúl

Back at Work: Please Pray

Help Students' Friends Know Jesus

For this update, we're doing something a little different. Hannah has asked the girls that she is discipling to share where their friends are at spiritually. And then we want to ask, would you be able to pray for them? If we can help train students to share their faith, imagine how many more people can hear about Christ and see Him lived out than if we just tried to share our faith on our own. Please read below and pray with us:

*non-christian names have been changed
Hannah H (Discipleship Group Leader)

*Mandy - suffers from extreme anxiety. Just broke up with her long time boyfriend. Trying to find stability in life again. 

Anastasia (Prayer Coordinator)
*Darren: to return to the faith, to be healed from the emotional and mental trauma that plagues him, to not seek love in those who only have so limited amount of love to give but again seek Christ and trust the Lord amidst his pain.  That the devil will not steal this one away from God (please). 
*Kayla: That God would reveal to me how to love her and will begin to work on her heart and equip me to love on her the way He would have me. That her pride be broken and she be freed from the lies that she cannot be more than a mental illness (that she strongly identifies with)

Katherine (Evangelism Coordinator)
*Katelyn and Sarah: both are quite closed to talking about Christianity even though they are very good friends of Katherine and knows that Jesus makes a big impact in her life. Pray that their eyes would be open to the truth of the Gospel, that they would recognize their need for a Saviour, 
For Katelyn, that she would come to see God as a God who loves her and welcomes her and wants to hear from her, and for Sarah, that she would see that God isn't scary or weird, but that life with Him is exciting and free, and not rule-oriented or "religious". Katherine is staying with Sarah and her family for 4 months next year during a co-op term. 

Top: We had a Jesus Week booth where we asked people what they believe about Jesus and Christianity
Below: We had a UW women's event talking about singleness, dating & marriage

Trevor Back at Work

Thanks so much for those of you who faithfully have prayed for me (Trevor) over the past number of months. The first few months of this year were probably the most difficult of my life. Yet, by God's grace, I have been steadily recovering from my mental health crisis since I was released from the hospital in mid-April. It has been a team effort! My family, church family, counselling, recovery groups along with your support and prayers have helped me to come to a place where I can now gradually return to work over the next couple of months. Currently, I am working on a couple of short-term projects as I seek to find a more permanent role that is a good ministry opportunity for me and for the Kingdom. Please pray for wisdom and the Lord's direction!

Lastly, below are a couple of recent pictures of Amelia. One as we helped her Grandpa to rake and the other of her first time skating! Thanks so much for your continued partnership in the gospel.