Dear Friend,

Exactly one year ago we moved to the shire of central England and celebrated our first Christmas in temporary housing. This year we will celebrate in our new home here in Little Haywood with Tom & Shelby, Ben, and Susannah. As we continue to unwrap the gift of 2024, Advent for us is a time of waiting, of preparation, of light, and of hope. We are reminded of God’s mystery, his goodness, the unfolding of his plan.

ADVENT IS A SEASON OF WAITING. For generations Israel’s prophets pointed to the coming Messiah, waiting, longing for their deliverer, creating a sense of expectancy. Reflect on the hymn, “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel.”

As you enter into each season of ministry, there’s the temptation to orient your desires toward doing large things in famous ways as fast and as efficiently as you can. But take note. A crossroad waits for you. Jesus is that crossroad. Because almost anything in life that truly matters will require you to do small, mostly overlooked things, over a long period of time with him. The pastoral vocation, because it focuses on helping people cultivate what truly matters, is therefore no exception. (Eswine)

We moved to England to join One Another Ministries expecting to help missionaries cultivate what truly matters – abiding in Christ in challenging ministry contexts, primarily through Marriage and Single Intensives. It didn’t happen immediately. In fact, the intensives still haven’t happened! It’s not what we anticipated. What has happened, however, are smaller, unexpected aspects of ministry that are harder to measure. At this crossroad, we now see how instrumental these “lesser things” have been. We see Jesus. He is preparing us.

ADVENT IS A SEASON OF PREPARATION. A time to ponder the events surrounding Christ’s birth, and to prepare our hearts, minds, and lives to celebrate God’s good gift of salvation in Christ. And we do this together – in community, in worship, in repentance and faith.

“Wait on the Lord” is a necessary word, for God often keeps us waiting. He is not in such a hurry as we are, and it is not his way to give more light on the future than we need for action in the present, or to guide us more than one step at a time. (Packer)

God knows what we need for each step and in his perfect timing. He is filling in the gaps of our calendar. Opportunities for virtual counseling and coaching. Representing One Another and networking at two major global conferences. And we returned to Romania where we continue to develop a dozen Marriage Intensive facilitators. These have been very encouraging. Still no Intensives on the calendar. But we trust the Lord is preparing us for what he will unwrap next. And he’s doing it in the context of local and global community.

ADVENT IS A SEASON OF LIGHT. “The prophet of the Most High will give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.” Mat 1:79

In December here in central England it is dark by 4:00p! It reminds us of how much darkness there is in the world. Which is why we pray earnestly to the Lord. Why the church sends out laborers into his harvest. Why we make every effort to care for those who help push back the darkness. To help them stay. “You are the light of the world.” Let it shine! Do whatever you can to help keep each other’s light shining, so the darkness does not overtake any of us. We need one another. And cross-cultural workers need as much light as they can get.

ADVENT IS A SEASON OF HOPE. As we look back to his first coming, we wait, eagerly expecting his second coming (Heb 9:28).

We are always in the season of Advent, because in this life we constantly expect Christ to return. So, while looking back, we eagerly look forward, with hope. God has good works that he has prepared for us to do among cross-cultural workers. Pray for those we are walking alongside and supporting, for the irons we have in the fire to collaborate with others like us, for our One Another team that is being built up for a new season, and for the new international director who begins Jan 1. And pray for our participation in the Shoulder to Shoulder conference in Jan, where we hope to begin the work of setting up Single Intensives. We do not know what 2025 will bring. But we do know the God of 2025, and beyond. He is faithful, and he is coming!

Thank you, First Alliance, for sending us, for praying for us, and for supporting us as our family of Jesus.

With much love in Christ, we hope for you a merry Christmas and a happy new year,

Thomas & Cheri Henry