January 31st!!!!!!!

Hi :)

"I will rejoice and be glad in your steadfast love, because you have seen my affliction; you have known the distress of my soul, and you have not delievered me ito the hand of the enemy; you have set my feet in a broad place".

That is a promise. WE know that our Lord will always, always keep His word.

"I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living! Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord!"

I know that times are hard. I know that everyone is struggling. There is so much wickedness and evil in this world. However if we look we will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Looking at the faces of the children in my Sunday School classes on Sunday was more than enough to convince me. Our Lord is good. His love towards us is good, His mercy upon us is GOOD.

"Blessed be the Lord, for he has wondorously shown his steadfast love to me, when I was in a beseiged city". When I read this the other day I think I laughed out loud. We arethe beseiged city. We are all holed up, trying to stay alive. The world, or our flesh, is trying to break down the doors, or put holes in our walls. They have flaming darts, ladders , even dinamite. But our Lord has joined us inside the city, through the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit bars our gates, fixes our broken down walls, and feeds us ammunition. For those of you who have seen Lord of the Rings, the Last battle came to mind. Our Lord is with us, fighting by our side. Helping us fight our very own flesh that is attacking our spirit. But you know what the diference is??? We already know the end of the story. Our God is victorious. He has already won the war. He has conquered the grave. He has shut sin up forever. So rest assured. The topic with my students the last several weeks has been this, "If we trust in God, He will take care of us". We've discoverd the struggle of Shadrac, Meshac, and Obed-nego. We've tried to imagine the walls of water that the Israelites saw while passing through the Red Sea. And yesterday we accompanied Daniel into the Lions' Den.After learning about Daniel we made lions. On one side they had happy faces and on the other side angry faces. Lots of fun.

The last several sundays we have had several new children coming in the Mornings. One of the them in hiding behind this lion! It is such a blessing to have them. They live across the street from where we hold the Sunday morning service. For years their parents and grandparents have been very hateful towards us and their cristian neighbors. We are praying that the Lord is softening their hearts. I know that the children are really enjoying their time with us on Sundays.

This last Sunday we got stuck after the morning service. The bus wouldn't start! So after about 3 horus of trying to figure it out Jerry came to our rescue. He towed the bus to the mechanics then took us home. We were home in time to eat, change, and get ready for the evening study! Hopefully the bus will be fixed by tomorrow!

Next Sunday is communion Sunday so everyone will be gathering at the Rancho! Hopefully we won't have anymore car trouble.

Carla will be taking over her Tuesday ladies study again starting this week. She's been on maternity leave. I'll go back to being chauffeur.

The fish have been doing well. We've been harvesting bunches of lettuce and bellpeppers. The rest of the plants seem to be doing well. However we have been battling with aphids quite a bit.

Dan has decided to sell our Suburban. He says it's about to head downhill real fast. So pray that the Lord will provide another 7 or 9 seater that we can take through the riverbed roads and won't guzzle as much gas as the big 15 passenger vans.

Please continue to pray for the congregation. The church here is struggling with discouragement just as much as everywhere else. More than ever we need the fellowship of our brothers and sisters in Christ.

I love you all. Please know that the prayer warriors of Rancho Maranatha keep all of you in our daily prayers. Stay strong in our Lord!

Chelsea Rae