Christmas Greeting 2014

Maligayang Pasko!  Merry Christmas!

It is that time of year again, when we reflect on all of our past events and blessings of this year that is quickly coming to a close behind us.  2014, in particular, has been full of blessings, moments to remember, new challenges, much creativity, new perspectives, and great adventure; but with a bit of sadness.  We will begin our review of how we personally feel blessed as we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, who was the greatest gift the world has ever received.

But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people; for today in the city of David there has been born for YOU a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.

Luke 2:8-11 NASB

This was our first Christmas in the Philippines. It was quiet and rainy.  We tried to make sure that we spent time doing the things that we always do at Christmas even though it was just the two of us.

We started out with an extensive look at the story of Jesus' birth.  We read the accounts in Luke and Matthew.  Then we read pages and pages of commentary about that scripture.  The commentary said that Jesus was born to die...at the appointed time.  It also said "If you are walking in God's will then you are immortal until your work is finished."  It was referring to Jesus and His ministry, but it applies to all of us.  There is no safer place to be than in the center of God's will.  We feel blessed to be here serving with Threads of Hope doing His will.  We don't need to worry about anything because we are in His hands.  In our absence in the States He is taking care of our kids, family, etc.

We also worked out, took a walk on the beach, made a cheese cake and started a puzzle.  We talked with some friends who are taking a family holiday here from Faith Academy in Manila.  We closed the night with a long skype call with my sister Pam in Colorado, and started the 26th with a long skype call with our sons, Ben and Will (and Sydney) after they returned home from Grandma's house for the Christmas feast.  We gave out some Christmas gifts and received some as well.  It was a nice Christmas.

We came here to help Pastor Al, Ate Marina and Jojo.  Our job was to take over the bracelet making business with all of it tasks and take over the books for the church.  Our presence here frees them up to be able to shepherd their flock of people better and to host guests and events like AWANA meetings or holiday celebrations or weddings.  They seem to handle large groups of people with ease and grace.  Hospitality is not our gift, so we are very thankful that it is theirs.  We made this little video clip for North Pointe Church in Iowa. We thought you would appreciate the message. It is very short and sweet.

We recapped the entire year inside of one paragraph per month in a separate blog post.  If you would like to read it,it is named "A Review of 2014".

If you would like to read more about the other purposes God has revealed to us for being here go to our blog post entitled "God Reveals His Purpose--The Lives We Are To Touch".  We are honored to be helping the people showcased in that post.

We also have another post that includes an overview of the diversity in the lives of the Filipinos.  It is called "The View from the "Thoughtful Spot"-Beauty and Poverty".

 We would say the year has been very productive here, like our previous 4 years of working with Threads of Hope but the location is very different.  We have continued many of the tasks we were doing in the States with the books and business systems.  As long as we have internet we are good to go anywhere in the world.  When we return to the States over the summer we will continue to carry out our normal tasks for Threads of Hope, but we will be adding a few things as well.  There are festivals we will attend in order to continue to spread awareness about Threads of Hope and raise support for ourselves.

We will also be visiting with current and prospective supporters while raising more support so we will be able to return to the Philippines to continue our work here.  We are about 80% funded currently.  So, if God has laid it on your heart to help us financially for the year 2015, there is still time to get a tax deductible gift in before 2014 ends.  We are about $10,500 below our annual budget. We feel blessed to be supported and prayed over by each of you.  We can't do this without you.

You can donate online by going to www.firstloveinternational.com and rolling down until you see the DONATE button and click on it. Click on Support a Missionary or Ministry. Enter Philippines as the Country, Full-time Missionary and the Work Type and Marsh for the Name.  Our name will appear. Follow the prompts from there.  Call the support number if you have any questions.

There is also another MAJOR project scheduled for the summer we think.  Both of our sons are planning to move out of state relatively soon.  Therefore, our house will be unoccupied.  We are praying about whether to sell it or rent it.  It is a beautiful property with nice landscaping and big trees.  We are trying to decide how much time needs to be dedicated to that project in order to accomplish that task before we return to the Philippines while taking into account all of the other things we need to be doing over the summer.  The answer to that question will determine when I return.  Jim would stay behind until May or June.  So your prayers about that subject would be greatly appreciated.  Any ideas you may have in that regard would be very welcome.  We don’t want the house to sit empty, and we would be interested in other ideas regarding renting short term as well. We have no mortgage on the house, so that is a huge blessing.

One of the things we appreciate greatly is Skype.  It helps us stay in touch with people and makes it feel like we are right there with them.  Those 8000+ miles just disappear for a while.  We are thankful that God sent us to the other side of the world as missionaries during a time when technology is great and phone calls are free.  Our skype address is jim.julie.marsh if you  would like to catch up with us via skype.  We are 14 hours ahead of Central Standard Time.  Technology is yet another blessing.

If you would like to  contact us, you can do so by sending and email to jijumarsh@gmail.com.   May God's blessing be upon you as we start a new year.

We look forward to hearing from you.  Also please let us know if there is something we can be praying about for you.

We send you warmest wishes for 2015.

Julie and Jim Marsh