Greetings in the love, joy and peace of Jesus Christ!

At this year’s Thanksgiving spiritual retreat, we were blessed to have Pastor Lou Tamminga and his wife Jeanne here to minister to us from the Word. We were all refreshed by the encouragement, fellowship and worship. We are fewer than in years past, yet we are blessed to have this extended family here in the D.R., our “home away from home”, as well as a great team with which to serve. Here’s our team photo(missing the Van Tils):

As we work with our national partners, we see signs that the Lord has been establishing His Kingdom here in the D.R. through the faithful work of these ministries:

Ø COCREF, the Christian school program, continues to grow with over 4,600 students

Ø AAVI helped 158 farmers install soil erosion barriers, and 143 farmers plant fruit trees

Ø The Christian Reformed Church here has 600 people are involved in the new “Gospel of John Evangelism Project”, and over 300 in the Reformed Bible Institute.

Ø DesCo taught 385 adults to read and write, and gave 90 women small business loans.

We have seen increased leadership, maturity and vision in the spread of the Gospel in all these partners, and are thrilled to be a part of these exciting ministries.

We are looking forward to having Jesse back from Dordt College for a few weeks over Christmas. We have missed our first “fledgling” to leave the nest. He’s doing well at college. The rest of the family is doing great as well, looking forward to the Christmas break.

We appreciate the love, prayers and support of so many: these are the means the Lord uses to maintain us on the mission field. We ask for your continued prayers and support, since the higher costs of ministries and the expansion and growth of the work necessitate that we raise more funds. If the Lord so leads you, would you be able to increase your support?

Christmas blessings to you all, in that same love, joy and peace that Jesus Christ brought to the world.

Steve & Sandra Brauning