Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

Another year has gone into history. It has been another amazing year for the Lord's work in Asia. Each year seems to outdo the year before. It is not us...it is the Lord and the work of the Holy Spirit. We get to tag along and be amazed once again at what He is doing. It is such a privilege to be a small part of what the Lord did this last year in Asia. More details will come later of the increase in the work on the mission field. We give God all the praise and glory for every soul rescued and every church planted.

May God bless you in the new year that is upon us.

Happy New Year!

The worst natural disaster in recent history in Asia.

This flooding has affected more people than the tsunami of 2004 and the Haiti earthquake put together. Over  1500 people have died and between 16 to 20 million people (that's roughly half the population of Canada) are homeless and have lost everything they had. One fifth of the counry is under water. Take a look at the GFA website to learn more and see photos. Please pray for these people and give as the Lord leads you. Pray that as these people are helped, they will also hear the gospel and receive Christ.  There is lots of water but it is not safe to drink. Children are beginning to get sick from drinking the water and dying. This could be the beginning of an epidemic due to the disease-filled water. Please pray!

The Traveller is home!

Dylan arrive home today at about 5:15 pm. The plane landed a few minutes late at about 3:48 pm. There was a group of us at the airport awaiting his arrival to greet him and Cassandra who was the other Canadian on the team. They bother looked very good and healthy. It doesn't seem yet that there is much jet lag. He has many stories to tell and many pictures and videos to show. I'm sure there will be some pictures to come.

3rd Quarter Send

The online version of the 3rd quarter SEND! is now available. It has some very neat stories and message from Bro KP Yohannan. There is also a very good song/video on page 5 (I think)...it's worth a listen.

God bless you! 

In the new house...

Our new address is 41 Battlefield Drive, Stoney Creek, ON  L8G 1V1.
New phone # 905-664-1131

We sure appreciate all the help we had with the move. Even the piano went into the truck without much trouble but getting it into the new house was not so easy. The only place it would go was in the sunroom.

We are still unpacking boxes and moving things around. I am frantically building a rabbit hutch for the bunny that Adina bought a week ago. We need to go and pick it up very soon so I need to get it finished. It's going good.

We are amazed at the grace and goodness of God in providing this house for us. We give Him the praise for bringing us into this house that fit us perfectly. HE is amazing!

Here are some pictures of the bunny and the hutch....

This is Penelope (Penny for short)

Yard Sale for Dylan's Trip to India

Friday afternoon and evening, we prepared for the ard sale. We prayed that the weather would co-operate and not rain. Well, we were amazed that even though the forecast called for rain, it did not rain. The sky cleared and some of us got a sunburn. Praise the Lord! He is in control of the weather. The sale was very much a success. Over $500 was raised!

Here are some pictures......

We enjoyed a barbequed supper!

We played some games.

The Sale...

Lots of stuff.....

 

Under the Sea

It is the big day for Adina. She turns 8 years old today. No need to use a car seat anymore. She got to got to church this morning without her car seat...exciting!!

Her mom enjoyed very much throwing her first real birthday party. The theme was "Under the Sea". Here are some pictures of the party.......

Database Training in Dallas, TX

Four of us from the Canadian office went to the Dallas office for training on our new database. We were there Sunday (May 23rd) till Wednesday (May 26th). It was actually 12:30am Thursday morning when I got to my house.

The training went very well. It feels like when we go live, we will be able to manage the system and continue to do the work the Lord has for us. It was a very worthwhile trip not only for the training but also for the fellowship with the believers there.

It was a great time...glory be to God!

The Birthday Girl!!!

It was Christine's birthday yesterday. We had a small party for her at her mom's with lots of little kids.

Here are some photos....

Jenny and Jessica made the "cake" to look like a garden.

Jessica and Luke

The Birthday Girl!!

Did you know....

GFA has our own YouTube channel. Watch and share ... http://bit.ly/9RD7CT

Please check out the videos...they are very thought provoking and challenging.

Some thoughts....Grace AND Truth.

I have been thinking about this verse the last couple of months and it's been a real challenge to me.

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.    John 1:14

This is something the vast majority of us struggle with....to be "full of grace and truth". I want to continue to grow in my Christian walk to be more like Jesus. This is one area that I struggle with but to be more like Jesus, we must be well balanced (if not full of) in grace and truth. 

If you look around at different churches, you will find some are full of grace but lacking truth. Other are full of truth and lacking grace. One is not complete without the other. If you look at the story of the Samaritan woman (John 4) at the well that Jesus talked to with "truth and grace" in mind, you will see that Jesus used both. He, being a Jew, actually spoke to this woman and then revealed himself to her and offered her "living water". He is displaying grace here with truth. When she asks for this water, Jesus sort of changes the subject and tells her to go get her husband. He purposefully makes this detour to bring out her sin. This is the truth about her. I believe the result is blessing. She accepted Jesus as her Messiah and went into the city and called everyone to "come see a man that told me everything that I ever did." 

It would be a very interesting and beneficial study to go through the life of Jesus-in the gospels-to see how He lived out "grace and truth" and thereby impliment that more in my life.

I hope you will be challenged by these thoughts as well...to grow more and more like Jesus in grace and truth.

SOLD!!

The offer was confirmed on our house when we found a house to buy on Wednesday evening. Our offer was prsented 10:00am Thursday and we got news around 10:45 that the offer was accepted. We are excited to see how the Lord led us away from the houses that we were not supposed to get, protected us from making big mistakes, and leading us to the right house. We are praising the Lord, not because of the new house, but to see how He led us all the way.

We will be moving June 23rd to 41 Battlefield Drive, Stoney Creek. All help is welcome.

It says: SOLD...to very nice people.

I wonder if they say that on every sold sign or if it was made especially for us. Hmmmm?

Exciting News!!

We are the proud owners of a new house. The Lord is good and faithful!It is located in Stoney Creek on Battlefield Drive. It is a beautiful, wel-maintained house and property. We are so thankful to God for His guidance. We do appreciate all the prayers for us during this time of circles and roller-coaster life.

House hunting...again!

If we can find a house by Saturday, our house will be sold. The people that put the offer on our house 3 weeks ago resurfaced and put in a new offer without conditions. Their closing date of June 23rd is pretty much set and can't be moved. Their mortgage approval from the bank expires right around then. So that date is not flexible at all.

We are still seeking God's will in this. If we find a suitable house by Saturday, we move; if not, we will probably stay put for now.

Keep praying! Thanks!

Christine's email

Well, we have come full circle. Two full circles to be exact!

Since everything had fallen through on the two houses, the selling and buying of them, we were beginning to feel that we were to stay here. Many of our neighbours were sharing how sad they were to have us leaving and we were realizing that our lives here were having an impact on this street. And also it took making a step forward to have us realize how good we have it here, our mortgage is affordable etc. So, that circle took us to the point where we had almost called the agent to come take the sign off OUR yard!

Wondering what the second circle is?

We sold our house last night.

To the same people who wanted to buy it three weeks ago. No conditions.

Well, no conditions for them.

BUT.....

We would have only seven weeks to find a house and move out of this one. Count 'em.....seven.

Did I mention that we have sold our house? Well, actually to be more acurate, we have until Saturday to say yes or no to this offer. Our agent says that we will not get a better offer, if we do even get another. (which is beginning to look doubtful. Apparently there are 90 to a 100 new listings everyday. The market is saturated and is in the buyers favor)

Our big question is.....anyone have God's email, phone or fax number? We need a direct call / answer!! :)

So we are asking you to pray and ask God to give us peace AND clear direction. We could use it!!

Thanks! We appreciate you, our family in the Lord!

Love and blessings,
Christine, on behalf of all us Harris'

All is quiet

We had about 4 showings last week but nothing this week. All is quiet...no showings and no offers. We are resting in the fact that God is in control. It is comforting to know that the selling of this house and the purchasing of another house is all in His hands. No warries!

A good conference

I went to a conference at West Highland Baptist Church last Saturday. The conference was put on by the Gospel Coalition. Check out their website. The topic was "the centrality and functionality of the gospel". The gospel is as much for the believer as it is for the unbeliever. The gospel should impact every area of our lives. One piece of wisdom I got from the conference was; "never listen to just 1 teacher or preacher-that will make you a clone...and not a good one at that. Don't listen to 2...that will make you confused. Listen to 40 or 50...that will make you a well-rounded and grounded christian."
So...on this website, there are numerous audio and video messages to listen to. I have not listened to much of them yet but if Saturday was an indication, they should be good.

Off to India

This dude, Dylan, is off to India in July. He is quite excited about it. He is working on getting a letter sent out and raise the funds needed to go.

A picture speaks a thousand words

We have numerous Bibles in our homes and in this country and yet millions of people don't have the Bible in their own language. (Display by Wycliffe Translators at Toronto Missionsfest)

Toronto Missionsfest

Last Saturday, April 17, Christine and I went to the Toronto Missionsfest. We spent the day at the GFA booth along with four volunteers. I was so amazed at how many people still have not heard of Gospel for Asia. I believe because it was held at the east end of Toronto, it attracted a mostly different crowd of people. Lots of great conversations and contacts and nearly 900 books were handed out for free.

Back where we started

It seems we have come full circle. We thought our house was sold 4 days after listing it but we don't know what has become of the buyers. They are supposedly trying to get financing but there has been no communication between them and us. The time period is well past for them to get financing so as far as we know, that has fallen through.
We also thought we had bought a new house but having a poor septic system and not selling our house, we will not be buying that house either. So...we are back where we started. We are thankful to know that our great God is in control. In that, there is peace.

Not sold yet

No sale yet. The buyers still have not gotten their financing arranged yet. In the mean time, our house will be showing again and as a matter of fact, we have another showing tomorrow. The Lord is definitely in control. Sure better than me being in control!

Great Weekend

Sunday morning we all went to West Highland Baptist and heard a message from Brother George Verwer, founder of Operation Mobilization. He talked some about his own faults and failures and still being used of God in spite of his short-comings. He has written a proverbs which he hopes to add to the Bible. :-) "Where 2 or 3 believers are gathered together, sooner or later there will be a mess."

Christine and I had a great weekend in the Stayner area. I share at the Creemore Baptist Church what god is doing in our lives and what God is doing at GFA. I showed some pictures and shared our trip to the village of Banswara, Rajasthan, India. It is so good to see the pictures again for ourselves and be reminded again of all we seen and experienced.

I will update you tomorrow on whether we are homeless or not....

Not the right one

The septic system inspection happened this morning at the house on Trinity Church Rd. We are very glad we had an inspection done before the deal was done. The septic system was in rough condition and was totally saturated with water. It was fine for 1 little old lady living there but if the 6 of us moved in there, it wouldn't know what hit it. It is awesome to see the Lord directing us in all of this.

Our house hasn't sold yet either. We are meeting with our realtor at 3:00 to give our purchasers an extension-til Monday-to get their financing together. We will also sign the release so the other house can go back on the market.

An awesome GFA video

If you haven't watched it yet, please take 15 minutes and watch it. It is amazing how much these brothers pack into one day. Click here to watch "A day in the life of a mobile team". Be Blessed!

The waiting game

Yesterday, we put in another offer on the house on Trinity Church Rd and found out last night that it was accepted. We have some conditions to clear before the purchase is finalize but the people buying our house has not cleared their conditions yet. They are having trouble getting financing from the bank. So, we are waiting and waiting....they have till Friday or the everything falls apart. This is out of our control but it is in the Lord's hands. Whatever He wills is what we want. He can and will shut the door on this deal if we are not to have this house. Whichever way it goes, we will praise Him. Please pray for the Lord to continue to direct us and that we would be sensitive to His leading. Thank you!

House Hunt

We have not looked at a lot of houses but the Lord has led us to a house near Binbrook that was listed the same day as we listed our and we feel from the Lord that this is the right house. The lot is 75' x 300' and the house has been well-maintained. So, we put an offer on the house after looking at it today for the second time. The offer is $20,000 lower than the asking price so we are praying that they will accept that as the Lord wills.

Our House is Sold

Last Saturday (March 27/10)we decided to put our house on the market. Last Wednesday night, it sold having been listed for only 4 day. We are thankful to feel the Lord leading and showing Himself in all of this. We know He has a house for us in a more country setting.

Destined to Soar

Brother K.P. Yohannan has written a new book which is now available for purchase or you can click here and download a PDF version of it for free. It is an easy read yet encouraging and challenging for us to be all that we can be for the Lord.

Our House

Yesterday, we put the house on the market and tomorrow we have our first showing. Things are moving quickly, it seems. Continue to pray for God's wisdom and direction for us.

Great Video-Tears of the Saints

Please take some time to watch this video. It's very challenging and moving. The harvest is so great and the labourers so few. It's called "Tears of the saints".