Merry Christmas from the Shirleys
Let me begin this Christmas letter with a little confession -- this is actually my Thanksgiving letter. It’s early Thanksgiving morning, and I’m awake. As I lay in bed wishing I could sleep in a bit in celebration of the holiday, I began to think about all the wonderful things I have to be thankful for and I just couldn’t help and get up and begin to write them down.
Even though we have suffered some personal losses this year, our God has proven that He truly is El Shaddai, the God who is More Than Enough. Our investments that we had saved for our personal living expenses took a serious nosedive along with the rest of the economy; however, we found that what was left was elastic enough to stretch so that it covered all our needs. My father passed away in May, however, I was blessed that several of my international trips in the few months prior to his death took me through Atlanta, and I was able to take long layovers so that I could have a few precious days with him during his last year with us. Jeremy was in a very serious accident which totaled his car. The highway patrol at the scene said that was a miracle that he came out alive; however, he didn’t suffer a scratch!
Teach All Nations experienced its best financial year yet, even during a recession that caused several of the major ministries we know of to seriously cut back in order to keep expenses equal to income. Instead of cutting back, we actually greatly expanded our work this year. In fact, this year has taken us to nine countries on four continents: Haiti, the Dominican Republic twice, Belize, South Africa, Australia, Togo, Nigeria, Thailand, and Mexico. In addition to the teaching conferences we held in these nations, we were able to make arrangements in several of these countries to have our books translated and published in their local languages. We feel that international publishing may be a major focus of our ministry during the coming year. In addition to her part on the various mission trips, Peggy has continued her prison ministry and cell group, published her first book Women for the Harvest, and held her first Daughters of Destiny conference.
All of us in the Shirley family thank you for your love, prayers, and support. We wish you a merry Christmas and a happy new year.