Volume 04| December 2020
Merry Christmas from Alaska!
Hello everyone and hope you are all doing well! We just celebrated our first American Thanksgiving in many years and even had family to celebrate with!  Our great-niece, Naomi, came in September and will be here until Thursday, Dec. 17th (which has come way too soon!) We have thoroughly enjoyed having her.  
Meet our niece, Naomi!
Naomi was scheduled to do a mission's trip this fall semester in Russia, but plans changed and she is now headed to Turkey in the spring. We have become her honored host home as she came to help out at SOAR and learn about missions ministry! She has been a big help to SOAR with mailings, building a fence, moving the offices and other random office duties.
Wendell works full-time at the SOAR office which is currently in the process of moving from rental office space to their new office space located at the Kenai airport. We have weekly staff meetings via Zoom and have recently been able to include the Russian SOAR missionary family that live in Chaplygin, Russia. It's been really great to connect regularly and laugh and pray together as a whole team. 
Heather spends most days at our house in Kenai, still trying to turn it into our home here in Alaska. She participates in the weekly staff meetings and has helped with the very large Stuff a Stocking mailing that happens every fall. Getting to know the local SOAR team has been very enjoyable. We have also enjoyed getting connected with a church and other missions located here in the Kenai & Soldotna area.
Stuff A Stocking
Currently, we are not able to get Visas and travel to Russia for the annual Stuff a Stocking project that happens during the Russian Christmas celebration in January, but SOAR will be ready to go when the borders open.  Some of the stockings this year will be distributed to local families who are very much in need of basics such as groceries.  Having local pastors in Russia to partner with helps to ensure that what goes into the stockings at Christmas is what the children or families are very much in need of.

But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people.

Luke 2:10 NIV
Cy has chosen to attend a small, local Christian school very similar in size to his old school back in Canada while Sadie chose to try homeschooling this year. A fun family outing this summer was all four of us getting our Alaska driver's licenses and permits at the same time! Cy also obtained his driver's license a couple of months later which was exciting as he would have to wait until 18 years of age to get the same license in B.C.  
We have so many things to be grateful for this past Thanksgiving (Canadian and American - we were twice as Thankful!) and we are especially grateful for all of you who pray for us and support us financially. May your family be blessed this coming year.  
Praises:
For those who have sponsored Stockings.

That Naomi was able to come and help this fall.

The fence at the new office is completed.

Prayer Requests:
Pray for our church partners as they complete plans to distribute Stockings in Russia & Abkhazia.

Pray for the children who will hear the Gospel during Stuff A Stocking in January.

Pray for moving the SOAR office back to the Airport.
Continue to settle into life in Alaska