Dear Friends,

Feliz Navidad de Baja California Sur!Merry Christmas from Southern Baja California!

It is a balmy 77 degrees today, and if it weren't for the smell of our live Christmas tree permeating the house, it'd be hard to imagine that Christmas was just two weeks away.(They import trees from WA and OR--imagine!)Growing up in PA, I still have trouble getting used to never seeing snow during December.

Like many of your pastors, David and I are seeing a lot of grief and pain stirred up in people's lives in the midst of the joy the Advent season also brings.We have friends and colleagues struggling with depression, terminal illnesses, loss over loved ones, troubled marriages, career choices, and addictions.All these issues seem magnified at this time of year.So we especially covet your prayers as we counsel and seek to give God's hope and peace to the people in these situations.And we encourage you to pray for your pastor and church leaders too!

Here are some specific situations we'd ask you to bring before God on our behalf:

Pastor Hernando, his wife Ana, and their 3 year old son David.Ana has been struggling with health issues for more than 2 years.She has a growth on her spine that needs to be removed.Their medical care is through the Social Security Hospital in La Paz because they don't have the funds for a private hospital.Twice she was scheduled for surgery on the mainland, and twice it was cancelled—the travel expenses are all out of their own pocket.We are now trying to arrange emergency medical assistance for them through a program M&M offers, so that she can have surgery at a Baptist hospital in Guadalajara early next year.

• Pray that the finances, travel arrangements, and surgery schedule will all come together in God's timing.
• Ana's parents both died young, so she has a fear that this will happen to her as well.Pray for her peace of mind and heart.

A woman who now attends Crossroads, our English Worship Ministry, has seen her husband, parents, best friend's husband and two dear pets all die in the last two years.She told us recently, "I still haven't cried."

• Please pray that we will have gentleness and great sensitivity as we minister to this woman.And pray that she will release her grief to God.Her pent-up grief is now affecting her physically, and she realizes this, so pray for emotional, physical and spiritual health.

We also ask for prayers for Dave and Jean, whose 18-year-old son was killed in a car accident two years ago.December 15th would have been his 20th birthday.As they still walk through the valley of shadows, they are also struggling with major decisions about their business.

• Pray for wisdom and healing.

Frani and C.E. Hibbs have been on a journey with brain cancer.All Fall we have been praying for C.E.The fact that they were able to come and spend Thanksgiving and part of December with their Christian family in La Paz, has been a joyful miracle for all of us.They fly back to Idaho on December 13 and C.E. has his second MRI on the 14th.We continue to pray for complete healing.Frani and C.E. have been wintering in La Paz for many, many years.They were part of our first Bible Study in 2000 and have been a constant source of inspiration and encouragement to us.

Our family will be flying to San Diego on December 28th to attend a Baja Missionary Retreat in CA. The Longs and the Barnes will be with us, as well as some colleagues from Valley Forge.After the retreat we'll spend 3 days with some of David's family before flying home.

• Please pray for safe travel, and also that this will be a time of renewal and refreshment for us.

Thank you for being our prayer warriors!For being our great cloud of witnesses!

God's love, joy, and grace fall from heaven, anointing your hearts, and guiding your paths.

David and Joyce Reed