With the close of 2019, we have spent some time reflecting over the past couple years.
Missionary updates are often like people’s social media presence–only the positive things get shared. The last few years we have faced significant opposition, both personally and as a ministry. This has contributed to some health challenges, and often left us feeling bruised and discouraged. At times, we’ve felt a bit like this photo of Ethan sledding last week.
We know that God’s Word tells us there will be trials in life (and there have been!) and we continue to look for growth in our own lives as we go through them.
Looking back at 2019:
For our family, 2019 was a year of broken things being fixed/replaced around the house, as we replaced our shower, furnace, refrigerator, washer/dryer, and kitchen range. Yet despite that, we were grateful to see how the Lord’s hand worked to provide our needs over and over. The day before our furnace died in the coldest weeks of winter, and unknown to us, a supporter sent a cheque for $5,000–even before we had the need. This sort of thing happened several times, and we rejoiced in sharing stories like this with our children as we explained God’s provisions.
We continue to watch our family grow in age (kids are now 14, 13, and 11), height (2 are taller than Naomi), and wisdom. Our church has been a blessing to our family. Adelaine and Ethan are involved in a Scripture memory quiz club, Ellie and Adelaine enjoy the youth group, Naomi teaches a children’s Sunday School class, and Troy led the adult class during the Fall. Troy has also been speaking fairly regularly at a small country church, and has found that opportunity a blessing.
Other family highlights:
- Adelaine got baptized.
- Family camping trip to Jasper National Park.
- Visit from Troy’s uncle and aunt from BC.
- Troy was honoured to give the eulogy at his grandmother’s funeral during a brief trip to New Brunswick. She was a strong Christian, and it was good to reminisce and see many family members again after too many years.
From a ministry perspective in GoodSeed, we have seen many good things happen – reports from many around the world who are using GoodSeed evangelism and discipleship resources to reach many more. We will be sharing more of these stories in the months to come, but over the holidays, an evangelist in Kenya wrote:
“If you have never read The Stranger on the Road to Emmaus, please make it part of your 2020 vision.
There’s no single book that pays my ministry greater dividends than this book. I wish I could give it to every Pastor I know.”
Another highlight was the completion of a new book series aimed at sharing the gospel in our secular culture called No Ordinary Story. This is the third new resource GoodSeed has produced in the last two years, and we enjoy seeing these tools get shipped out each week.
Partnerships with other ministries led to the distribution of up to 20,000 copies of the Spanish translation of The Stranger in Central and South America, and the last copies of the 300,000 Story that Matters were given away in Malawi. We’ll tell you more about some of these exciting stories in a later ministry update.
Despite the difficulties of previous years, we look forward to a new year and the new opportunities it presents with hope. The Apostle Paul knew opposition, trials, and betrayals, not to mention his former life of persecuting the church, yet he wrote:
But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and reaching forward to what is ahead, I pursue as my goal the prize promised by God’s heavenly call in Christ Jesus. Philippians 3:13-14 (CSB)
We are encouraged in the Lord and are so thankful He has continued to sustain us in full-time ministry with GoodSeed. HE is faithful.
We would appreciate your prayers for us as we press forward with our plans for 2020 and beyond. We will be sharing more in the near future about these ideas and sharing stories from home and around the world.
Because of Christ,
Troy & Naomi