December Update

Dear Praying Friends and Family,

The Christmas season is in full swing here in Lima! Schools are wrapping up their classes and finals before the summer break, the weather is progressively getting warmer, Christmas lights and decorations are appearing on houses and in windows, and churches are preparing for special Christmas programs and events!

This week was our final week of classes at Fetzer! For the last couple of weeks we have been celebrating the "Fetzer Twelve Days of Christmas" with a different dress-up theme or activity each day. We have seen angels, Bible characters, Christmas presents, Ebenezer Scrooge, and even the Grinch walking around the school campus! This has been enjoyable for the students as well as the teachers. Friday brought us to the last day of finals, a Christmas party for the Elementary students and the final closing Christmas program for the school in the evening. The students did a great job preparing for and presenting various instrumental specials and the musical "A Peanut Butter Christmas". It is quite unbelievable that the first half of the school year is already finished! It has been a great experience to work with the children and other teachers. Even so, everyone is excited for Christmas/summer break!

Things are also quite busy at my church, El Manantial, as we get ready for special Christmas events! Today we are holding our "Christmas party" for the jovenes (youth group) which includes a Chocolatada. This is a fellowship where everyone eats paneton (a Peruvian version of fruitcake, only much more delicious than fruitcake!) and hot chocolate! We will also have some Christmas themed games and songs. Tomorrow evening is our church Christmas program. The children's Sunday school classes are singing, the Jovenes are presenting a short drama, and the adults will be singing several choir numbers. I will be involved with singing in a couple of small group ensembles and playing for the choir.

This time of year is so joyful as we celebrate the wonder of our Savior's birth. Celebrating Christmas in the Southern Hemisphere is always a different feeling. All of the normal things we North American's associate with Christmas, like snow, cool weather, coats, hats, and scarves, etc... are replaced with sunshine, summer weather, and trips to the beach. :-) It can be easy to fall into the trap of enjoying the Christmas holiday because of all the "warm, fuzzy feelings" that we associate with this time of year. Being away from all the typical "warm fuzzies" is a great reminder to me that those feelings are not at all what Christmas is about. At Christmas I celebrate the birth of Emmanuel, God coming to earth in the flesh to die for the sins of mankind. How thankful I am for the reminder of the true reason for the season! I pray that you all take time out from the busyness of the holidays to focus on the real reason we have to celebrate!

As we enter our two months of summer break here in Peru, please keep the following items in prayer!

1. My teenage girls Sunday School class. Please pray that there would be faithful attendance and many opportunites to invest in the girls' lives and point them to Christ.

2. Camp ministry- I will have the opportunity to help at a camp near Lima for three weeks during the summer. One week counseling for Junior High camp, the second week working at a camp for national pastor's and their families, and the third helping run VBS for missionary children at the BMM missionary camp. Pray for the preparations and for fruit to come from these weeks!

3. Further opportunities for outreach and service at my church and in the community. The summer break is a great chance to spend more time investing in people's lives since more of the day is freed up for ministry opportunities. Pray that I will use my time wisely and look for the opportunities that God presents.

4. Pray for God's continued guidance and direction as I seek Him about plans for the future.

5. Pray for growth in my walk with the Lord, and that my relationship with Him would always be my top priority.

Thanks once again to each one of you for your faithful prayers and encouragement. May God bless you as you celebrate the season of our Savior's birth!

Serving the Savior,
Heidi Robbins