November  25,  2010

Happy  Thanksgiving  Friends:

This week our thoughts have turned to family, home, and church back in the USA.  Thanksgiving is a special time when we can reflect on all the good that God brings into our lives. Mexico, like many countries, does not celebrate Thanksgiving, yet in our mid-week services the churches devote time for testimonies when we can  acknowledge and verbalize our thanks to God for the gifts, mercies, love and care that are bestowed upon us daily.  God’s gracious gifts have  enriched our lives and ministry in many ways during 2010.  And like you, all the blessings are too numerous to list but we want to share a few from the last few months.  We are so very grateful for:
 

• ...you,  our  friends, family, colleagues, and prayer partners who have sustained us and the ministry of the “Give Ye Them To Eat” program in south-central Mexico.
• …you, the individual donors and churches that have supported this ministry and the Hendersons as your missionaries, even as you faced your own economic challenges.
• ...the dynamic and dedicated GYTTE staff who serve God and neighbor by train rural families to take advantage of the resources God has placed within their communities to better their lives.
• …the hard-working volunteers and team members of the four work/study teams from TX, TN,PA, and KS,  who came to serve at the “Tree of Life” Training Center this fall, advancing the construction projects so more people can be hosted for courses, workshops and retreats.
• …the giggles, singing and learning of the children in the many churches using the GYTTE Vacation Bible School curriculum, The Time Machine, this past August.
•   …the heart-felt words and warm handshakes of the villagers who, together with GYTTE staff members, built their own fuel-saving, mud stoves and ovens as well as dry composting toilet systems.
• …the smiling faces and joyful voices of the twenty-three women at the “Tree of Life” Center this September as they participated in their week of classes in Basic Health to become community-based, primary health workers.
• …the example the Mexican people give us as they look for creative ways to persevere in the face of rising prices, loss of employment, natural disasters and random violence.
• …Terry’s life as today, Thanksgiving,  he celebrates his 65th birthday.
• …Muriel’s improved health enabling her to return to Mexico in September to serve with Terry and the GYTTE staff.
• …the many times we spotted the scorpions in our house before they targeted us.

There is, indeed, reason to be grateful!

In giving thanks, may you experience a blessed Thanksgiving,