Dear Friends,
As 2006 draws to a close, it is with mixed feelings we see it
go. It has been a year of ups and down. The ups mostly in the area of family
and ministry and the downs in the area of health issues. But God has been
faithful and gracious to us and with that confidence, the year ends on the
upswing as we move toward to 2007.
God has blessed us in many ways. Craig, Heather, Whitney and
Kara are doing well and extremely busy in their various ministries in Peru. Don's mom is doing as well as can be expected at almost 96. And Tim's business is up and running after months of down time. We have been able to help out with the Quechua ministry in Peru and saw the sale completed of the Wycliffe Translation Center in Huaraz to Mission to the World. It now becomes the MTW Quechua Training Center. We have enjoyed being able to work with the Rockwells in Huaraz and the Adams in Cochabamba, Boliva, even if from afar most of the time. We attended a number of mission conferences and visited with many of our long time friends and supporters in the various churches. We also had a really great time at the MTW Area Retreat in Panama, seeing our many Latin America colleagues with whom we worked for years.
Another blessing is that Don's heart problems have been successfully dealt with and he has been cleared to return to travel to anyplace our ministry might take us. It took a while but God has lead us to some great doctors here in our home area. We both feel well and are looking forward to traveling to Peru and Bolivia during the first three months of 2007. The MTW Center in Huaraz is going to be a challenge as a family is needed immediately to run and administrate the center. We plan to help out as we are able.
One big change for us is getting all our ducks in a row for retirement from career service with MTW. It was a strange feeling for us to put in letters of request to begin drawing on our retirement account rather than paying in to it as we have done for so many years. Questions are coming up we have not had to asked before. Will churches and individuals continue to support our travel account so that we can continue our ministry of helps and encouragement? Will our retirement funds stretch enough to allow us to make these ministry trips? What about Medicare, Medicare supplements, etc.? Boy, are we on new ground in these matters.
While we don't feel "old", when we see our granddaughter, Whitney, applying to colleges for admission, it makes us stop and think. People keep sending us e-mails about retirees, grandparents, and old people. Wait a minute! We aren't looking at things in that light, but rather at what God has in store for us to do this next year and the years to come. A change of status, yes, but not the idle life as some view retirement.
As the Rockwells look toward their overdue Home Ministry Assignment in the Spring, it appears we will be needed more in Huaraz to help with the Center and possibly summer teams. God has been doing some encouraging things in various Quechua families and individuals where the Rockwells have been ministering We don't want to see these advances lost while they are in the states. Please pray that God will raise up some other workers, both missionary and Quechua, to carry on during 2007 and beyond.
We want to wish each of you a very wonderful and blessed Christmas and thank you for being friends and partners in our ministry.
In the Savior's Love,
Don and Sue Gahagen