We hope that you had a lovely Thanksgiving with friends and family! Ours was memorable and different, as it wasn't celebrated with family but with new friends. It was a normal day of work for all living here in Canada but we were able to finish off the day with a feast, as we celebrated with a group of fellow Americans/missionaries from the States! Our hearts were full of thankfulness as we shared stories of how God has remained faithful in the last year. To top it off, the night ended with a fresh batch of snow. Below is a photo of all of us in our kitchen (not pictured are three more children)...everyone pitched-in with their favorite recipes/plates, Jason baked his first turkey, and it was a joyous occasion!
One
of the highlights of this last month, was that Jason was able to attend
the Fellowship National Conference in Toronto with several pastors from
Québec. It was a good time of fellowship with leaders across Canada
and getting to hear about what is going-on across the country. They
were also able to talk with other churches about the need in Québec. In
the following picture, AEBEQ (Québec division of the Fellowship)
members presented about the vision of the Antioch churches, with
reference to the church here in Saint-Jérôme being one of the newer ones
(the pastor of our church, Jacob, is next to Jason).
We also said good-bye to a missionary family who are on their way to Africa after learning French, here, for the last year. We were able to welcome them and a couple other families into our home for a meal together and a time of prayer for their next season/adventure in life. With the Fleur de Lys program taking place at our church, it is exciting and encouraging to be a part of making disciples in this province, as well as, being a part of the lives of those who are going out into the world!
Another highlight and great help of this month, was that Andréa's mom visited for a week. As always, the time passed too quickly but we enjoyed having her be a part of our daily lives, here in Québec. She was able to be a guest assistant teacher in Andréa's classes and, of course, be with Lydia as much as possible. The timing turned-out really well, as Andréa caught the same sickness that Jason had in October; thus her help was invaluable! One evening, Jason, Martine and Lydia took a trip to visit Andréa's Grand-maman (pictured below) and we also celebrated an early Christmas with Martine (Lydia opening her presents also pictured below).
Health-wise, Andréa has been doing, overall, better in this last month, in comparison to the previous two months. She continues to have UC symptoms but most of the pain has subsided and the symptoms have lessened/leveled-out to a new "normal". She went to Montréal General Hospital at the beginning of the month for some blood work and the results showed no inflammation and normal panels. Although this is encouraging, the next step from the side of the GI doc is to have a colonoscopy to see what is going on. Please be praying for wisdom and timing in all of this, along with continued relief of symptoms.
Our months/days continue to be filled with language classes for Jason, teaching classes for Andréa, pastoral meetings, mom's group and preparation, a weekly Bible study group, Bible Study Fellowship, mentoring/discipleship with individuals, greeting at church or helping with Sunday school and being a part of the lives of others.
We appreciate your prayers in the following ways:
We also said good-bye to a missionary family who are on their way to Africa after learning French, here, for the last year. We were able to welcome them and a couple other families into our home for a meal together and a time of prayer for their next season/adventure in life. With the Fleur de Lys program taking place at our church, it is exciting and encouraging to be a part of making disciples in this province, as well as, being a part of the lives of those who are going out into the world!
Another highlight and great help of this month, was that Andréa's mom visited for a week. As always, the time passed too quickly but we enjoyed having her be a part of our daily lives, here in Québec. She was able to be a guest assistant teacher in Andréa's classes and, of course, be with Lydia as much as possible. The timing turned-out really well, as Andréa caught the same sickness that Jason had in October; thus her help was invaluable! One evening, Jason, Martine and Lydia took a trip to visit Andréa's Grand-maman (pictured below) and we also celebrated an early Christmas with Martine (Lydia opening her presents also pictured below).
Health-wise, Andréa has been doing, overall, better in this last month, in comparison to the previous two months. She continues to have UC symptoms but most of the pain has subsided and the symptoms have lessened/leveled-out to a new "normal". She went to Montréal General Hospital at the beginning of the month for some blood work and the results showed no inflammation and normal panels. Although this is encouraging, the next step from the side of the GI doc is to have a colonoscopy to see what is going on. Please be praying for wisdom and timing in all of this, along with continued relief of symptoms.
Our months/days continue to be filled with language classes for Jason, teaching classes for Andréa, pastoral meetings, mom's group and preparation, a weekly Bible study group, Bible Study Fellowship, mentoring/discipleship with individuals, greeting at church or helping with Sunday school and being a part of the lives of others.
We appreciate your prayers in the following ways:
- Language classes: Andréa is finishing-off the last two weeks of teaching the two missionary families before their departure.
- Health: pray for Lydia's health, as there has been a lot of sicknesses going around and she's been exposed to many colds/flu.
- Christmas Season: that we can take time to rest and reflect on Christ, as well as, share about His birth with those who don't know Him yet.
- Friend: pray for a friend that Jason has been meeting with. He is searching and God is working in His heart.
Lydia
was ten-months old this last month and she is now crawling, walking
while holding on to things, and has six teeth! She's keeping us on our
toes and we are enjoying watching her personality come alive in new
ways.
We hope that you have a Christ-filled Christmas. You will be in our prayers over this season and we will be thinking of you as we celebrate from a far.
We are ever so grateful for your prayer and support in our lives!
For His Glory,
Jason, Andréa & Lydia Maul
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