Dearest Friends,
A TIME TO REMEMBER
This has been a wonderful year! We saw the Father open doors to places that surprised us. In January, I was in Lebanon working with Syrian refugees. I also had a chance to share with very poor Lebanese children and encourage our Christian brothers and sisters. I carried 6 suitcases of gifts for the children that were used to open doors for ministry. The end of January, I traveled to Switzerland and spoke at an international church with adults and young people. I hope to give them a vision of what God is doing with children around the world. February found me in Nepal, working in remote areas telling Buddhist and Hindu children how they could trust in Jesus. Incredible doors opened as a result of the work of Tika Ram Baral, our puppet director. We provided many Bibles to women who would never have owned one except for your generous gifts. We also delivered over 400 coats, as well as the funds for our puppet team to buy a generator and a projector to show the Jesus Film in distant villages.
In March and April I went to Ireland and Northern Ireland. During Easter week, I worked with the band Reality and our puppet team, God’s Handiwork, to share with people who were on spring vacation. Then I traveled to Turkey, working in both Istanbul and Ankara. This was a very sweet trip as I had the joy of telling many Muslim women and their children the story of Easter. I met and worked with Turkish and American believers who risk everything so children can know about God’s love. We trained our first puppet director named Muhammad and this gave us a puppet team among the refugees. On my way home, I stopped off in England and heard incredible reports from Ian Thomson who leads Bringing Good News. This is a wonderful ministry that The Agape Puppets partners with to reach children in areas of the world where we are not able to work. We have supported work in Pakistan, Sudan, and other countries that I can not name. Please visit his website at www.bringinggoodnews.org and if God leads, support this wonderful work!
In June, the entire team traveled to Peru where we worked in Nazca, Chosica, and in the mountains. Our director, Nemesio, is always a joy and a blessing. He has a vision for having a national puppet conference in Peru in 2017. In July, we traveled across 14 states, as we targeted children and teenagers who were in situations that put them at risk. We began in Georgia and did our last shows in New York. We also did a lot of work in the Gatlinburg area, Baltimore, and Philadelphia. We did programs in churches and caught up with many friends along the way. In August, we returned to Ireland to work with the band Reality and God’s Handiwork. We did street shows in Dublin, Galway, Limerick, and Tralee. This is always an exciting time because you never know who will speak to you on the street and what they will ask about Jesus.
I had planned to work in Albania in the Fall, but God closed that door temporarily. We have hopes to start a work there in 2017. In between all of these trips and across the Fall, we spoke in churches, reported to mission committees, and did more puppet shows than I count. God even opened doors for us to share in public schools! The celebrations around October 31st gave us many opportunities to do street shows for very large groups of children and their parents. This Christmas, we literally shared with thousands of children at puppet shows and through Christmas outreaches that I did at my home. This has been the best Christmas ever!
Please rejoice with us for all we have seen God do! Please pray for all the children, teenagers, and adults who have heard about Jesus this year. Ask the Father to give them great faith! Please thank the Father for His gracious provision. Please pray for us as we seek the Lord’s wisdom in knowing which adventures to pursue in 2017!
In Jesus, Linda for Kelsey, Drake, and Leslie