Dear Praying Friends,
Second Corinthians 9:15 Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift.
Once again weare drawing to the close of another year. The Lord is good and we rejoice together that He has met each need.
*It has been especially encouraging to see Alvina and Kendric grow in the Lord.
*We praise the Lord for changes regarding the jail. I have been able to go back to my previous Bible study on Thursday evenings. It is much quieter with fewer interruptions. Please pray for Blair’s salvation. I spoke to him for an hour.
*On November 4th our annual harvest dinner provided a great time of fellowship
*Emily and Louise have been teaching the Sunday school class together and are encouraged to see some new faces.
Our children have been busy keeping up with their schoolwork as well as splitting and stacking wood for the winter. Emily (17) is in her senior year but looking ahead to graduation and college. She hopes to pursue a major in women’s church ministries. Emily’s love of history, farm animals, and cooking also keep her busy. We lovingly call Zachary and Hannah (13 and 12) “the twins” because they are only 17 months apart in age. They have certainly grown and keep us on our toes with their antics. At this point in time Zachary is interested in studying weather or cooking (he makes a great omelet!) He enjoys Willie, his cocker spaniel. Hannah still has her sites on learning Mandarin Chinese and going to China as a missionary. Her sheep herd has grown to 8. She also manages our 30 laying hens. Sharon (10) talks about becoming a medical missionary but blood and needles make her queasy! So perhaps she will pursue just the missionary aspect instead. She has always been a busy outdoors type of girl. Esther (7) is enjoying first grade and doing well with reading. In spite of her high-strung tendencies she does a great job at cleaning and organizing. Heidi turns 3 years old on November 26th . There is no doubt she has been a joy. She had us all giggling the other day when she pretended to carry an alligator around the house that she supposedly found in the coat closet!
Please pray for:
*The Native American children who come to our church services: Malachi, Whitney, Quentin, Quincy, Sire, Sage, Gregory, Jeffery, Sydney, and Kendric
*Please pray that we can be an encouragement to LaVonne. She was serving a 7-year prison sentence, but is due to be released in March. She plans to live with Alvina until she readjusts. Louise has been writing to LaVonne for over a year.
*Please pray for a decrease in vandalism in the McLaughlin area. Thank you for your prayers and giving. We appreciate each one of you.
In Christ’s Service
The Pikes
The following portion of the letter is an update from Alvina who came to know the Lord on November 23rd 2005. It has been a blessing to grow together in Christ with her.
Hello Again! It has been a wonderful year since I have put anything on paper for you. I am doing fine and the Lord has been very generous with his blessings throughout the year.
My husband, Kenneth has quit smoking and I am very grateful for this because of health problems. We are both diabetic and he strives to maintain control of his glucose level. He has also developed COPD and must use a nebulizer when he gets short winded.
The most exciting thing that has happened is that the judge signed an early release for me so I am no longer on probation. This is a great blessing, but at the same time I ask for continued prayer and support that I will maintain my sobriety and not let Satan get a hold of me. I wish to thank all of you who have been praying for my family and me and greatly appreciate your kindness and friendship in Christ.
The one most important thing is that the Lord helped me make it through the loss of my son, Sylvan. June 23rd was the one-year mark since his passing and we had a wonderful memorial dinner in his memory. Our daughter, Starla had her 25th birthday on the 22nd, so we combined both events and everything went well. I invited Pastor Pike and his family, Louise’s parents, and missionary helpers Marlin and Delores Hitz, who were visiting at that time. These people made the day so much more special and helped me understand my son’s death better.
I thank the Lord for the Pike family and the other people I have met through our church. I thank the Lord for all of you out there that have been keeping my family and me in prayer. I thank the Lord for the opportunity I have to worship in freedom, knowing that in parts of our world today, this is not possible. I especially thank God for sending his son, Jesus Christ to die on the cross for my sins and for giving me the Holy Spirit for guidance.
I pray the Lord will bless all those who have been an encouragement to me and have been supporting my efforts to live for Christ through prayer. I pray the Lord will be with our church, that we may be an encouragement to others and be able to share the Gospel with more people in our area. I pray the Lord to watch over the Pike family and give them strength to continue their work for Christ in our area. These things I pray in the precious name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
If you would like to write to me I would enjoy hearing from you.
Thank you.
Alvina Howard
