Dear Faithful Friends;

I (Darla) arrived back in Europe at the Vienna Austria Airport on Christmas Eve Morning 1/2 hour ahead of schedule!  This in itself was God's mercy as the Cleveland Hopkins Airport in Ohio stopped operations only hours after I departed due to the ice.

It was great to be together for Christmas, even jet lagged. I was so thankful to God for that blessing.  I hit the ground running arriving home around noon and Christmas Eve with our teammates early that evening.

Ana spent all of Christmas day by my side helping me in the kitchen prepare our Slovak traditional fish dinner, though we avoid the carp and prefer salmon.

Ana- the chief, and Vic, and Dominic did a great job managing a hectic holiday schedule.  They welcomed me home with everything in order and a bouquet of flowers

My time with our daughter,  Kayla and and new grandson, Kennon was very precious and I did my best to give them all of my time. (Sorry to the many of you that I did not see while in Ohio) It was such a healing time too for our mother-daughter relationship, which was a great answer to years of prayer. God is so faithful! Kayla is so comfortable with being a mom; she does such a great job, having two little siblings when she was young probably helped a bit, but she also has such a nurturing gift!
 

Our students Maja and Lucy joined us for a game night tonight and we took time to pray with them.  Maja will have a birthday on January 11th and we continue to pray for a spiritual birth for her life.

Yesterday we attended the ballet to see one of our student's perform in the "Nutcracker".  We experienced a miracle from God as we searched to give her flowers after the performance but could not find her anywhere.  I felt so sure in my heart that we would find her and we could congratulate her and give her the flowers.  Vic said "let's go to the main bus station and see if she is there?" I was so amazed that as I walked to the terminal I saw her sitting all alone waiting on her bus to come.  I called to her and she looked at me speechless!  I gave her the flowers and big tears came to her eyes.  It really was such evidence to me how God can lead us and direct us in impossible situations.  Who would of thought in this BIG city we would ever find her after she left the theater.

The next two months we will be spending time with our teammates helping them process the decision that each of them need to make about whether they will return to teach next year at CS Lewis or return to the United States.  Also we are working through this decision as well.  In February we will be heading up a spiritual renewal retreat for our team.  The final decision date is March 15th.

In January, the Leadership Discipleship Group I have been a part of since 2007 will conclude and then each lady will form her own group of women to disciple; my friend Nada and I are partnering, and we are praying for women to invite to our study. Nada is also a part of the Moms In Touch prayer group at Narnia.

Also these winter months give great opportunity

to meet with students over a warm cup of tea. We want each meeting to gain spiritual ground and bring those we are with one step closer to knowing Jesus.

Please pray for:

• Maja-a spiritual birth, and Vic and I to be very intentional in the time we spend with her and Lucy.


• God to lead Nada and I to women who truly hunger and thirst for God's Word


• Conversation with students and colleagues to point to the Cross and the Word of God to flow from our lips in those meetings.


• A guest speaker for the spiritual renewal retreat in February


• Teachers (including us) in the decision making process-seeking God's will for our lives.

Thank you so much to the many of you who gave love gifts to me personally while I was in Willard and those who gave financially to our account making the whole trip possible. There were so many meaningful acts of love shown that made the trip very special for me, like tickets to the Ladies Christmas Gathering, and friends treating me to breakfast, lunch, and supper, and coffees!, a friend sharing her afternoon and her jacuzzi with me. A friend helping me box and ship all the gifts that many friends and family sent with me that would not fit in my luggage. Thank you for the very special gift of the use of a car, and for all the warm hugs, times of prayer with me, and encouragement I received while there with you. I was TOTALLY overwhelmed by everyones' extension of love.

In 2009 may you see and follow God's direction in all aspects of your life and understand His mercy and grace in a new way so that you can't help but tell everyone about Him!

With Love and Gratitude!

Vic, Darla, Dominic & Ana