So the waiting continues as the results of my dissertation will only come in March. As my work has been completed, Annie began her dissertation in January. She is planning to finish within two years. In the mean time, we were involved in several other exciting things.

On the 2^nd of January, we both taught at a seminar for Sunday School Teachers from a group of churches called PMG Church. All of the PMG churches from the Trivandrum, Kerala area gathered for this training event. As far as I can remember, this is a first for us doing some “team teaching” outside of our local church setting. Their response was good, and of course, we hope it benefited them.

During January 5-11, we had the convention and graduation at Faith Theological Seminary. The convention lasts for the entire week, and the graduation was on Friday morning, with 85 students graduating. It is great to have watched these students develop spiritually, theologically, and as individuals during their time here.

The following week, our friends from the Delhi Vineyard came and visited us. Our acquaintance goes back to our first week in Florida (1992) as we were about to begin planting the Sunrise Vineyard Christian Fellowship. They stayed with us in our home in Kerala and visited a few of the Carecells and spoke at the missionary chapel at Faith Theological Seminary. On Sunday, he spoke at the church in both of the services. Their stay and ministry among us was a blessing to us.

Nathan has his final exams for the 9^th standard, and Sharon will begin her exams next week. For Nathan, he will be going on to the 10^th after his exams. This school finishes the 9^th early so they can begin the classes for the next year early. Their plan is to get them prepared for some major examinations that come up after the 10^th grade.

Please pray that we will stay faithful to the call upon our lives. Thanks for your prayers for us as we endeavor to be faithful in the work God has entrusted to us.

For several months now, my blogging has been on hold for quite a good reason. This is my fourth year working on a doctoral program with the University of South Africa. The time has come to finish my Dissertation. I am only 1/3 of the way on my writing. All the foundational work has been done, and it is just a matter of separating the time to write.

For those who might be interested, I’m working on the D.Th. degree in Old Testament. My focus is on the Pentateuch, specifically, I’m researching the five times that Jacob the patriarch has set up altars and worshiped. The title of my dissertation will be Canaanite Influence on Israelite Worship. I hope to finish by the end of February. Maybe afterwards, I’ll resume my regular blogging.

After my mother passed away, we all experienced a season of changes. Of course, that is expected, but this is my first experience of such drastic changes. We had planned before my mother’s death to move to the town where my wife and I work, but a few weeks after my mother’s death, my father changed his plans and decided to stay alone, and not come with us. This move has become ever more challenging because of his decision, but we had no choice. We were really wanting to take care of him till his passing also, as we did for my mother, but that may no longer be the case.

Our plans and expectations never work out as we desire, but God’s ultimate plan begins to unfold as we take each step. Thanks to all my 360 friends for all your prayers.

After two years of fighting cancer, my mother passed away on 26 March 2007.

She died peacefully in the hospital room while we were praying. The funeral will be

held in our home in Pathanapuram on Wednesday at 9am.

Mummy had a heart for God, and always shared that with others. While in New York, she

began a prayer group for ladies from numerous churches, and that prayer group still

continues. After coming to India, she was always involved in prayers. She was

constantly reading the Bible and other literature, regularly taking notes on everything

she read. Her father (my grandfather) had an impact on me and gave me a love for the

Scriptures, and she impacted us with her prayer life. She was always supportive of us

in the ministry.

She has gone to a better place, to be with Jesus. Thank you for your prayers.

Blessings,
Alexi, Annie, Nathan, Sharon

The story was told by Ernest Hemingway about a Spanish father and his teenage son. The relationship between the father and son was never smooth. In fact, the father considered the son as a rebellious one. After some time, his son, Paco (a common name for Spanish people), ran away form home. His father began searching earnestly to find his son. All his efforts seemed to be of no benefit. Finally, as a last hope, he sent an advertisement to the city newspaper, hoping that his son would respond to his father’s plea.

This was the content of the advertisement:

Dear Paco,
Please meet me in front of the newspaper office at noon. All is forgiven.
Love,
Father

Hemingway tells that on the next day at noon, there were 800 Pacos waiting in front of the newspaper office. They were all wanting to get forgiveness from their fathers. What a tragic image of the nature of people. We all face difficulties and burdens in our lives. For many, the solution of choice is to run. Often we run from people, circumstances, and responsibilities. Many are running, and they don’t realize it. They think that if they keep running, things will be resolved.

Just as the Spanish father put the advertisement in the paper, the heavenly Father spoke through the “Law and the Prophets” (Old Testament-Bible). Yet, when the people would still not listen, he sent his only Son to personally bring us the message. On Christmas day, two thousand years ago, Jesus came into the world to not only bring us the message of forgiveness, but also to provide the way for us. What an awesome thought to know that we have a Father in Heaven who is willing to give up everything, for us to know that he loves us and that he wants us to be in union with him.

This Christmas season, the message is clear – the heavenly Father says “please meet me at the cross. All is forgiven. Take it! That forgiveness is yours.
-The story compiled from the site www.gospelcom.net

When our children were small, we decided to make a change in the way our children prayed their evening prayers. Previously, their prayers were full of requests. They would pray “help Daddy, help Mummy, help Grandpa, help Grandma,” etc. We decided that this was too vague, and wanted to instill thankfulness in their hearts. By introducing thankfulness, we would then be able to easily lead them to praise at a later time. Then, their prayers changed to “thank you for Mummy,” etc. One day, as my son continued his prayer, he said: Thank you Jesus for toys, for our Pastor, for socks,” etc. This time, he just happened to put our pastor at the same level with his socks and toys.

At that moment, I laughed at his simple treatment of the things in life. It is good for us to thank God for every detail of our lives. He takes care of the details of our lives because of his love and care for us. Yet, we can look beyond the simple things in life and look to something great and awesome he has given us: The Kingdom of God. The Bible says that the Kingdom of God is not food and drink, but righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. The world is constantly looking for righteousness, peace, and joy in every place but the Kingdom of God. When these things are a part of our lives because of the Kingdom, they will remain with us. The joy, peace, and righteousness that the world gives us will vacillate depending on the circumstances, but the Kingdom of God will always continue. “Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our ‘God is consuming fire’” (Hebrews 12: 28, 29). The context explains that the things that can be shaken are the created things-the temporal things. But, the unshakable thing is the Kingdom-that we can be really thankful for. Since the Kingdom of God will last, our righteousness, peace, and joy will last.

Yes, let us be thankful for the little things in life-remembering that they are temporal. Look beyond those simple things to the unshakable Kingdom that we are receiving. There, we have righteousness, peace, joy, and the power of God which cannot be shaken. Thank you Jesus.

I look forward to your comments!