UPDATES FROM SHEILAH

BROOK and TARYN – are now both here in Spain! Monday they will begin a new month-long round of Spanish classes designed to equip them more completely for the challenging research task that they will be doing for our cluster! They continue with details of getting set up here in Spain and are meeting regularly now with Nolen to plan details of their work. Thank you for praying for them.

CARMEN – Please pray for Carmen as she hosts an extremely important get together for ladies from her neighborhood tomorrow, Monday the 3^rd! One more important step toward sharing Jesus’ love!

WOODSONS AND HALLS – Pray for these couples headed for London as they are now in intensive training for that work. They will arrive in Europe in late Summer.

SPIKES – Jim and Lori will be arriving in Barcelona prior to May 15!! Praise the Lord! Finally this wait is over!

CLUSTER UPDATE

- Taryn is walking, gaining strength and healing with speed which amazes her doctors. She will have one more week of training in March, and will hopefully join us soon afterward! Go Taryn!!
- Brook is adapting well to Spain and learning Spanish in an intensive course which meets daily. She is always looking for someone she can tell about Jesus. Go Brook!
- Pablo and Carmen are already building relationships, conducting Bible studies, meeting with church leaders in Madrid, and of course, telling all around them of their faith with their natural ability to shine for Jesus! So many open doors - pray for them to know which ones to enter!
- As team leader for our Madrid team, Gary and Julie are involved in research, both short and long range planning, and work on projects and materials. Pray for the Lord's wisdom and direction.
- Halls and Woodsons, currently in training, will be joining us later this coming Summer. Pray for this intense preparation.
- Spikes should be in Spain within the next few weeks. Pray that details of their move to Barcelona will be worked out quickly. They are already involved in planning for leading out in work with the Spanish speakers among the South American immigrants in Europe. We look forward to having them with us soon!
- Please pray for all of us as we prepare for sharing more and more the light of Christ's love! May we be in every way obedient to His guidance and prepared to spread His joy!

Brook arrives Monday!

Our Journey Girl, Brook Johnson, arrives in Europe on Monday! Please pray for her flight and for a smooth adjustment as she begins working with us in Spain. We are so thankful for her healing from the accident she and Taryn had while in Richmond. She will live with 2 other Journey Girls until Taryn arrives sometime in the Spring. We are excited to have her here and will be keeping her very busy until Taryn arrives! Once they are both here the girls will be traveling and researching in Western Europe. As always, thank you for your prayers! - Sheilah

Taryn is walking! (Written by her mother, Kristine)

Hello All...last Thursday Taryn began physical therapy and they began with her walking! It is humbling and amazing to see her walking again. It takes effort and is not easy. Her knees and especially her ankles are tight. But each day she improves a little more and feels more stable on her feet. She has PT Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. It wears her out right now but we know that it is only making her stronger. We've laughed that this reminds us when she was learning to walk as a baby...we'd hold out our hands for her to take hold as we walk backwards encouraging her to move forward. She uses a walker on her own to get
around in the house. She uses the wheelchair still if we go out to conserve energy and she just isn't that steady on her feet. When she is out she also has to wear large boots that brace her legs. We call them moon boots! You've each been such a huge part of her healing both physically and emotionally. She is getting better each day. Her jaw has healed nicely and all the hardware is now out of her mouth. This has made her so much more comfortable. Please pray that her healing continues to accelerate. Her goal is to make it to complete her job training in Virginia mid March. That is 2 months away and we can see that it is going to happen! Hopefully soon after that she'll be on her way to Spain. She posted a video of her walking on her blog: www.tarynaroundtheglobe.blogspot.com Again we are so thankful for each of you! Blessings Kristine

Good News From Betty Jo and Dan Hall

Praise for Betty Jo's recent good medical evaluation at the Mayo Clinic.
Praise for their son, Sam, passing his dental boards at the University of Mississippi School of Dentistry.
Praise and Prayer as they are in their final week in south Florida of "a time to keep (pack) and a time to throw away (or put in storage)" (Ecclesiastes 3:6).
Prayer as they participate in the Field Personnel Orientation at the International Learning Center (ILC) in Rockville, Virginia January 26 - March 25 and the Urban Life Institute (ULI) in Vancouver, Canada April 7 - July 28 in preparation for their ministry in the UK. They plan to arrive in London the first of August.

Jan. 2 urgent requests!

1. Pray for Taryn Blocker, our teammate who was seriously injured in a car accident while in training, to begin to gain strength and have a better appetite. Until a few days ago her jaw was wired shut. Pray also for complete healing for broken legs. We are praying that she will be able to finish training in March and come to the field shortly thereafter. She and her partner, Brook Johnson, are needed for very critical on-site research in Western Europe. Brook needs prayer for her Spanish visa paperwork to be expedited! She needs to get to Spain as soon as possible. Despite the accident and delays, both Brook and Taryn are still very committed to coming to work with the team here and feel a definite call to this task.

2. Please pray for Jim and Lori Spikes who, for reasons totally beyond their control, are having to wait much longer than normal for their visas to Spain. The Spikes are extremely important to the organization and implementation of our Diaspora cluster work in Western Europe.

3. The Diaspora cluster in its initial location in Madrid is at the point of final decision making in the starting of specific new church plants. Pray for God to lead in all aspects of this phase of our work. We praise God for His guidance and remarkable open doors! Pray for new contacts from Peru, Brazil, the Caribbean, and Argentina!

Check out Gary's pic of the cheery Christmas tree at the Plaza Sol!

Christmas is definitely in the air in Spain! And we get to celebrate here until January 6, the day of the Kings, celebrating the arrival of the wise men to see Jesus. This beautiful Christmas tree stands stories tall in the middle of the Sol Plaza in the center of Madrid.

Pachalians bring special language abilities to team -

Can you imagine walking through a crowd in Madrid and recognizing the South American country people are from just by the way they speak Spanish? Pablo and Carmen can do that! Native Spanish speakers with vast South American experience and years of work with imigrants in the US, they are just what THE doctor ordered up for our cluster. Nolen and I have decided that one of the best ways to improve our Spanish is to be around them. They are good Spanish coaches too!

Prayer needed for Spikes Visa process -

Jim and Lori Spikes, headed for Barcelona in January, opened their visa process at the correct time in the correct place, New Orleans - BUT - then that consulate closed its doors! Their process has been transferred to the Houston consulate and things seem to be moving s - l - o - w - l - y ! Pray that it will still be possible for them to make Spain in January. It wouldn't be fair for them to miss out on ALL the cold weather! Thanks for praying for their visa process to be facilitated!

Welcome Buddy and Lois Woodson!

The Woodsons join our Cluster with a background of missions in Chile and pastoring in Virginia. They will be serving in the Netherlands. Please pray for them as they prepare and seek the specific direction that their work should take. Buddy and Lois have two adult children, Dale and April, and a son-law, Tim. We look forward to having them with us in Europe early in 2010!