Christmas letter

The Woods

December 2008

Dear family and friends,
Merry Christmas! We hope that you are well and enjoying the holiday season.
Our lives have been filled with some significant changes during 2008. Change involves mourning the lost past and looking with hope to the opportunities that the future holds. Here is a quick recap on these changes in our lives.
The beginning of 2008 was filled with much prayer and deliberation in our home as we decided on a career change. This was not a mid-life crisis type of change but an opportunity to reach further out in our passion to see people embrace the love of Jesus. March marked our acceptance as Missionaries to Scotland. On the last Sunday of April, Vince resigned as the Pastor of Immanuel Presbyterian Church after 14 and a half years of service. We had seen much change in this congregation during our tenure and we pray that she will keep her focus on reaching the world for Christ.
In April, we also sold our house. We are so thankful that the house sold quickly in the midst of a declining market. We moved into a friend’s vacant home as a temporary measure. We needed time to get our bearings in the midst of the myriad of changes we were facing and our friends needed help remodeling the house. It was a match made in heaven. On December 12 we will move into our new apartment. (Please note our new address.)
In August, we packed up a small U-Haul trailer and drove to Chattanooga, Tennessee where Patrick began his Junior year at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. Pat is majoring in Music Theory and Composition. He found jobs at a local music store and working on the stage crew at UTC. This change has been dramatic and good in his life.
Back in Mesa, Michael began his Sophomore/Junior year at a charter school named Heritage Academy. After 10 years of homeschooling, Michael is excelling in this new environment. He is the starting point guard on the JV basketball team. He loves making new friends and finding opportunities to talk about Jesus in this new venue.
Robin is adjusting to an empty house during the days along with the pleasure of running Mike to and from school. She has been diligent to run the administrative aspects of our mission as she prepares our home for an overseas move. In addition, she is trying to build relationships with some of the women on our Scotland team while she also meets with several ladies here in Mesa. Hopefully the next few months will find Robin with brush, paint and canvas expressing herself with artistic flair.
Vince is trying to raise a support team in the States while recruiting members to join us in Scotland. In addition, he is overseeing the current members in Scotland. He
travels a lot just now but enjoys promoting missions in the churches where he is privileged to speak. He has developed a basic strategy for the work of MTW Scotland. Of course this will be adjusted somewhat when we discover more of the needs of Scotland.
We find that the past has taken from us much that we mourn losing. We loved our time with small sons whom we could direct as they discovered their call from God. We have left behind the wonderful experience of leading a congregation to reach out in the name of Jesus with love to a dying world. We no longer rest in the house we called home for six years. Truly the past swallows many joyous times.
And yet the future is filled with such bright hope. Patrick has heard the Lord whisper his name. He is busy pursuing that high calling with great confidence that God will be with him. Mike is listening to God and preparing himself to follow exactly where Jesus calls him to go. We have left a rich ministry and full baskets of fruit in Mesa with full assurance that even greater fruit awaits the picking in Scotland. The future is filled with hope because Jesus said, “All authority is given unto me in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make disciples…”
On the first Christmas God was so thrilled with the birth of His Son that He sent an angelic choir to Earth to sing. Remember their words which describe Jesus’ will for His creation, “Peace on the Earth and good will to men with whom He is pleased.” We truly want all of us to experience the hope that those words convey.
We hope you have a very happy Christmas and a New Year filled with hope.
In Jesus’ love,


Vince, Robin, Pat and Mike

And your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt; you shall raise up the foundations of many generations; you shall be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of streets to dwell in. Isaiah 58:12