Christmas been and gone.

Christmas passed... We had a good day. Psator Colin Lewis came and preached for us in the morning. Some people who usually come were ill, which was a shame, but attendance was still higher than usual.

On Boxing day we went to Reading. I must admit that I do not really like Christmas the way it is done in England. I love Dutch Cristmas, where Christmas is like a Sunday, a special day where you go to church twice, where you do not get presents to distract you etc. A day for God, to focus entirely on Christ's coming into the world. But we did have a nice time, it was good to see Richard's family.

Because of the holidays thoughts and wiorries about the school seemed to have been pushed to the background, which is good. It is nice to have a break, to know that there is nothing one can do! The relief of having a building is still there, and I feel I can relax a bit now. The building is in Hatherley, at the back of Alma Road, for those of you who know Cheltenham. It is now a flashy building, but it has a waterproof roof on, toilets, heating and a kitchen. So it is perfect for us, and it is in a quiet spot. I think the childrem were a little disappointed as they expected a school in a palace. Alas for them. An old scout hut will have to do, at least for a while. Who knows what God will provide next?

We have had some more money from Holland, which will pay for the first bill. Iwas so thrilled! I was expecting 170 euro, as that was what was written in the email I had. Then the magazine stated we had had 582, 50 euro. Together with the money from Holland we had already received that makes about 600 pound... I'm so grateful!

Now we need to find some preachers in the Cheltenham area who are prepared to take our chapel session, once a forthnight. There are many good preachers around in Cheltenham, so I pray that the right person will come on the right time! I am excited about it, and I hope many people will keep on praying for the school. Especially for more christian families to join the school, as soon as we are registered. We have 2 space at the moment, before we are registered. I pray another family will come and join very soon.

Also, pray that churches will let us contact them about the school, and allow us to come and speak to them, or to display some information about the school. We just would like the churches to join us in this. our ultimate aimis for a pastor in Cheltenhamto take over the school, so we can start a school in eastcombe, once we have our building back. But thatwill be a long proces, I think. At the moment we have to do what God asks us to do. To serve Him, regardless of the outcome, just as we serve Him in eastcombe, even though people here seem harder than rock, and are not interested in the Gospel at all. Jan has given out 500 ETs, all the houses in the village, and many given out to people personally. But only one man came, sad at heart and lonely. We were glad he came! But how sad the days we are in, that nobody seems to want to hear the Gospel of life! But we keep spreading seed, and praying for the people in the area.

Pray that the churches will be more open to outsiders, that they will be more willing to share the Goespel with strangers! Pray that we will be bold and loving, and that God will give us the right words to speak! Pray for more workers in our church, so that we can start a Sunday school at last, and that there will be more people to help during the week with the teenagers and children.

Well, the year is passing by quickly! It is exciting to wait and see what God will do in this year! He has been very good to us in the past year, I know we can trust Him in the next, however hard and dark it might seem now...