December 30, 2022
Ending a year
This is the last newsletter of the year. In the middle of this year, the name of the newsletter, and just about everything else about it, was changed, as was our church’s website. It was a year of many births (up to six, depending how you count), and appropriately, a renovated nursery. But this is just two of the new and renewed things that we as a church experienced this past year. But our year, with all its ups, had its share of downs. One of which was the tragic loss of a daughter by two of our missionaries, James and Rachel Tang.
James and Rachel serve in the Covenant church in Ethiopia and South Sudan. Their ministry is challenging in that region, but their personal lives have been challenging as well. Their son Ben died in 2020; their daughter, Nyawuor died this year; and recently Rachel’s sister in Australia died. While in Australia, Rachel was evidently caught in flood waters and was infected by a virus which caused encephalitis. This resulted in multiple seizures and led the doctors to put her in a coma to quiet her seizures while they attempt to treat them. Rachel is in ICU in Australia, and her condition is precarious. I spoke with Rev. Tang recently and he urged us to pray for Rachel and the doctors who care for her. May we do so, and pray for Rev. Tang as well. He has had a tremendous load to carry these past two years, and now carries it without his wife as a support. Let us pray she will return to his side soon.
We do not know what the future holds. We are much better at looking back. So I end my second year as your pastor, feeling very good about all that God has done and is doing in our church. We have much to be thankful for, and at the same time, much to accomplish for Christ’s sake within our church family and within our neighborhood. We are in this together. For this I am very grateful.
A joyous Christmastide and happy new year to you all.
~ Pastor Todd
P.S. I will be presiding over the meeting of the North American Academy of Liturgy in Toronto this coming week. Pastor Steve is available in case of an urgent matter. In the case of an emergency, please contact either Steve or me.