Merry Christmas from Clay & Cheri Ford!

Transcription

1 Merry Christmas from Clay & Cheri Ford! Greetings, Dear Friends & Family! In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. December 15, 2018 We hope that this Christmas finds you rejoicing in God s love and light. December 21 marks the fiftieth anniversary the first moon-landing, so we decided to share part of that crew s message as they looked back at the earth. They chose to take turns reading Genesis 1. Astronaut William Anders began, We are now approaching lunar sunrise, and for all the people back on Earth, the crew of Apollo 8 has a message that we would like to send to you: And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness. In the darkness of space, the earth seemed aglow with life and beauty. They felt they had to worship the Creator who spoke light into darkness, created the world, and exulted over it being very good. Sin, however, came into the world, and Long lay the world in sin and error pining... til He appeared and the soul felt its worth! During this season, we are often surrounded by artificial lights. Yet, the coming of the Light of the world Jesus Christ is the main event. The astronauts gazed in awe at the earth s radiance reflected from the sun. Jesus, the Son of God, brings a spiritual radiance to our darkened souls. He offers His light to the whole earth. Let s not get preoccupied with what is artificial. Rather, let s remember what Christmas is truly about: the One who looked down from the highest heaven, who saw our lostness, and who chose to penetrate our darkness and lavish upon us His eternal light and life. Everything that was created received its life from Him, and His life gave light to everyone. The light keeps shining in the dark, and darkness has never put it out (John 1:3b-5, CEV). AS FOR THE FORDS, HERE ARE SOME HIGHLIGHTS: Chinese Community Church in Tierrasanta (part of San Diego): We never expected to be in a Chinese church, but Clay began as the interim pastor at Chinese Community Church (Tierrasanta, CA) in January. He will be finished there at the end of this month. It s been a great experience for us. We learned a lot while there, and they learned, too. There have been salvations, baptisms, mentoring, seminars. Clay absolutely loves putting on the chapel program for the children in the preschool. Cheri spoke at the annual women s tea. She also had a big birthday with a 0 on the end 30? LOL! Family and friends made it so special. Trips and opportunities: In April, we had a wonderful trip to Bedford, VA to see family. Mama Ginia (Clay s Mom) turned 99 this year. We went again in October. She is so lovely, and in her words, she s doing great! at all times. She still prays some very beautiful and powerfully anointed prayers for us. She is such a blessing in our lives in every way. We try to get back to Bedford, VA to see her and other family as often as possible.

2 In June, we had great trip to Green Lake, WI for our annual Green Lake Holy Spirit Renewal Conference. What a blessing that was! In July we left again for Green Lake for the International Ministries World Missions Conference. We and several others from our HSRM leadership served as the Prayer Team for this conference. Clay also led a workshop on the role of the Holy Spirit in transforming us to be salt and light in our world. More travels: Our next trip was in late July to Omaha, NE where Clay spoke at a men s retreat to the wonderful men of ABC Nebraska. What an awesome bunch of Jesus-followers they are! He also preached at the Second Baptist Church in Lincoln. After our second trip to Virginia in October, we had a lovely trip to MT in November for the HSRM annual Executive Committee Planning Retreat. Gorgeous country, but cold - It snowed while we were there. We also ministered at First Baptist Church in Livingston, MT. Billy and Denise: Billy has been the pastor of Bouquet Canyon Church in Santa Clarita, CA now for fourteen years. Both he and Denise work very hard in ministry for Christ and His church. Their congregation showed appreciation for their ministry by sending them on a sabbatical trip to Israel this year. Johnathan is doing well in the Air Force Academy. He will graduate next year. David is at Cal State Los Angeles, studying law enforcement. He wants to be a detective and graduates this year. Elizabeth will graduate from high school at or near the top of her class and is looking into colleges. She s interested in global studies. Benjamin is doing great in school and is quite an athlete. Katherine is as cute as she can be. Both Benjamin and Katherine were in their church Christmas play. All of our grandkids love Jesus, and what a blessing that is! Hannah and Gino: Hannah has been busy with her CDs and lots of worship leading. It s been fun to have her lead worship a few times while we we ve been at Chinese Community Church. She also loves her weekly ministry at an Alzheimer s care home. Gino is busy with his construction projects he really has his hands full! He and Hannah together are pursuing some exciting ministry and business possibilities. In Closing... We love and appreciate you so much! So many of you have given us joy and encouragement through the years. Thank you! We pray for God s great blessings in your lives in this Christmas season and throughout The times ahead, no doubt, will be challenging, with great opportunities amidst the storms. Praise God that we have Jesus our Lord, Savior, Rock, Refuge, Strength, Hope... JOY! He is the Lord of history, and the future will not take Him by surprise. He is working all things toward the establishment of His Kingdom and reign forevermore! Hallelujah! May the Light of life shine ever brighter in your hearts. But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, which shines brighter and brighter until full day (Prov. 4:18, ESV). HAVE A VERY JOYOUS CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR!! Much love and every blessing, Clay and Cheri Ford

3 Some 2018 Family Pics

4 Some Ministry Pics

5 Some Silly Pics