Dave and Donna .ca

Dear friends,

We are back in Johannesburg after nearly a month in Pakistan. We have come home with wonderful memories of our time in Pakistan and the confidence that the Lord used us to encourage others (at least that’s what they said to us!). Our trip began when we flew all night from South Africa and arrived near noon in Karachi on November 9. Joannie Wylie, kindly met us, loaned Donna several of her own Shalwar Kemises to wear and gave us our airline tickets to fly on to Ralwapindi. Our short stop in Karachi reacquainted us with traffic that no westerner can imagine. We find it an immediate incentive to pray! We flew into R.Pindi and were met by Anita Hayes and Joy, an elementary teacher from MCS (Murree Christian School) who had come to escort us up to Murree which is nearly 8,000 feet above sea level. There was only one close call (accident involving our van) on the trip up the mountain. We knew that many were praying for us. Portable Kerosene heaters helped us beat the winter chill in the school buildings as we spoke to students and staff a total of 23 times in the ten days we were there. There was good evidence of the Lord using us. Meeting individually school staff to talk and pray was a rich part of our ministry. Since the terrorist attack and death of 6 nationals on site, the directors of the school have taken steps to insure the safety of its students and staff. New guard towers, trained armed personnel patrol the site, as well as strict guidelines for leaving and entering the facility. One of the many highlights of our time at MCS was the Spiritual Emphasis weekend for a dozen senior students. Donna and I traveled down the hill to Islamabad for the two day retreat and back again after the weekend outing so that I could speak at the Sunday communion service held Sunday evening.

Following our time at MCS, Donna and I rode with Robert Carpenter (an American Conservative Baptist missionary) in his van on a toll road that is like no other motorway in the country. We made excellent time and arrived at our conference site on the Kinnaird property in Lahore about 5 hours later. Lahore was the Western capital of the Muhgal Empire in 1500s. Two great architectural marvels of this time remain; the Old Fort, and the Badshahi Mosque.

As Donna and I walked among these wonders with Elaine Eby, we could imagine the splendor of these bygone rulers, and witnessed the legacy of Islam left in their wake. It remains the religion of the people, we ourselves were moved to pray for the 150 million in Pakistan who do not know our Lord. The mosque now in use, holds up to 75,000 worshippers. Our guide informed us that a crowd that size recently came to this mosque to pray as they broke the Moslem fast at the end of Ramadan in late November. Our Mission conference in Lahore was another opportunity for Dave to teach and for both of us to visit, pray and encourage our mission staff.

At the end of the conference we traveled by plane from Lahore to Sukkor with a hair-raising aborted landing and a successful one on the second pass! This adventure almost made us forget the five hour delay in the Lahore airport. On the ground, Shikarpur was another 2 hour van drive in the dark. Our able driver dodged camel and donkey carts, overloaded trucks parked on the roadway, as well as vehicles passing with no room to do so. We spent the next few days in the enjoyable company of our staff who work out of the Women’s hospital. Due to a doctor and nurse shortage the hospital now operates as a day clinic, but prayerfully hopes to re-open soon. We were able to see many places in Shikarpur that we first encountered back in 1992 when our family stayed in Pakistan for 3 months.

Our journey continued with a trip back to Sukkur to the Rohri train station to board the Shalimar train to Hyderabad. The Wylies had gone up to MCS to see their son Josh, and were heading home via train so we were in their company for the trip.

Hyderabad, was our final stop where we visited more leisurely with the Wylies and the Gonskes. We witnessed God answer prayer for the Gonske family who had lost their important papers. Unusually, someone had contacted the Canadian High Commission with the found documents and in a few days they were safely back in the Gonske’s hands. This was an incredibly relief and clear intervention of the Lord!

A final blessing of God on our trip came after a five hour delay in Dubai. The problem was mechanical difficulty with the plane which was resolved for us by our being boarded on a new plane. Our new assigned seats were in business class and we traveled in pampered comfort for the final 9 hours of our trip!

Our daughter Ruth was at the airport to meet us when we arrived. She is accepted to volunteer at an orphanage in Johannesburg and will spend nearly a month with us before she starts in January. Of course there were tears in our happy reunion with Ruth and non-stop talk as we all shared our recent experiences in which we have seen the Lord at work.

Donna and I are so grateful for your prayers. We know that the gift of God to all of us through the Virgin birth of His son is the basis of our work. We hope that all of you will experience a fresh encounter with the living God this Christmas. What has gripped us with fresh impact is that not only is God immeasurably greater than we are, He is also more humble than any or all of us.

We are so glad to be in ministry with you as our team. Your prayers have risen to God on our behalf and we are happily at work so that the nations will know what we know; unto all of us is born a Saviour; Christ the Lord.

Merry Christmas, from our house to yours.

Dave and Donna

Prayer and Praise

1. Praise the Lord for an effective and safe ministry time for us in Pakistan.
2. Pray for needed workers at the Murree Christian School, the Christian Women’s Hospital in Shikarpur and for more Church planters in the Sindh province.
3. Pray for our ongoing research in South Africa re partnerships and ministry opportunities for FEBinternational.
4. Praise the Lord with us for unexpected financial support received this month. A great encouragement to us and validation of our ministry.
5. Pray that many would find Christ in Christmas this year, as His Kingdom advances through the witness of His people.

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