Christmas ya bwino (Merry Christmas) 2013!

Dear Friends and Family,    
 

27 years ago, God opened my eyes to see my sin as forgiven ‘in Christ’. Over the years God has graciously given me life, health, my wife, three daughters, a ministry and hope for the future. Today I am far more convinced of the sufficiency of God’s grace, but I am just as dependent upon that grace as when these lyrics first made sense to me at Christmas 1986!

Merry Christmas from the 'Stoms Family'.

“...Christ, our Saviour was born on Christmas day
To save us all from Satan's power when we were gone astray
O tidings of comfort and joy, Comfort and joy”

Romans 7:24–25a What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?  Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!

Romans 8:1 ...there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,

We really appreciate your prayerful support over the past year. To a large extent our lives run on the prayers of our supporting friends, family and churches. It has been great to visit our home churches here in the Pacific Northwest and we hope to be able to visit more as we finish out our year furlough. It has also been good to meet stateside with some of our friends that we normally see in Malawi such as the Mortons, Martins, Robbins, Willsons and Braseltons. Being able to spend time with grandparents is also a big treat.

For the most part we have been busy preaching and making missions presentations where possible. It is nice to take a break from the stress of missions and reflect on things, though life in America is really not that restful. But we have been able to see some beautiful Northwest sights such as the Oregon and Washington coasts, Leavenworth, Snoqualmie Falls and the Olympic peninsula. This past Friday, the girls got to make a snow man and that was a dream come true for them. Also, we’ve been enjoying our ‘cozy’ accommodations in Woodinville and are thankful for our gracious ‘landlords’, Lan and Pat Petrick.

Clara and Katherine were so excited to see snow!

As we look to the future we are optimistic and are looking forward to seeing how the Lord will guide us. We feel like things are changing for us so we are asking that the Lord give us his vision for our ministry. In the meantime we will be homeschooling our daughters, spending time with old friends and partnering churches. We’ve made some new friends and we’ve been getting some good counsel from the Thomsons from Bellewood Church and from the Reeds with Action International.

As we move into the New Year, we will continue to speak at churches and small groups when possible. We welcome your invitations to speak at various churches and small groups. Please join us in prayer as we make the following requests known to God!

1)    That God will give us peace as a family and clarify our vision for ministry.
2)    That our children will excel in their homeschooling environment.
3)    For opportunities to speak at various churches and small groups.
4)    That we can build our team of ministry partners.
5)    That we can communicate with our ministry partners better (updates, blog, website).
6)    That God will provide for all our financial needs as a family.
7)    To produce the ‘Chichewa Story Bible’ and for the ‘Storyrunners’ training’ in Orlando.  

Christmas ya bwino (Merry Christmas),

Jay, Laura, Clara, Katherine and Lauren Stoms
Go ahead and befriend us on facebook.

Direct Contact: jaystoms@hotmail.com;
http://africanbiblecolleges.net/staff/profile.php?source=malawi&id=13
https://africanbiblecolleges.net/onlinegifts/?13

To make a tax-deductible donation see the above links or mail your check in care of Jay and Laura Stoms to:

African Bible College

P.O. Box 103

Clinton, MS 39060