On Christmas cookies, theological education, and upcoming travels

Well, so much for updating the blog monthly this year. I think the reality is, though, that most of you keep up with us on Facebook anyway. I think our stats show that over 80% of clicks we get on this blog come from Facebook. However you found our site, please do forgive us for the infrequency. Nevertheless, it's good to look back at the end of each year and consider ways God has blessed.

Here's the whirlwind update using bullet points:

• Concrete Neighborhood ministry (adult Bible study, kids ministry) ended abruptly in late April. Long story short, our partners up there were mad that Cameron wouldn't give them money without any accountability and told us to stay away. While sad, this allowed us to focus on other ministry areas and we now count this experience as a blessing.
• Faith at Work beta test went well in Timisoara in mid-May, and we had great feedback for future work among Romania's business community.  
• Fun time in the US for a few weeks in July. We spent one week with Cameron's family in Maryville, TN. After that, Cameron took a PhD class at Biola University in California and Jessica and Sara spent time with Jessica's family in Charleston, West Virginia.
• Seminary teaching continues to go well and several students even led others to faith this year! Cameron will be adding a second class next fall: Intro to the Spiritual Disciplines.
• Jessica started teaching English at the University of Bucharest. She was quite on the fence about starting it at first, but she loves it and is happy to be teaching again (she taught high school math before we moved to Bucharest in 2012).
• Cameron has been more intentional the last few months of going out weekly to share the gospel with people in the park. He does this with another missionary friend named Jonathan.
• Sara turned one on October 13. We had a big party and somehow fit 35 adults/children in our living room.
• Faith at Work seminar in Bucharest again in early November. Everyone was encouraged and hungry for more.
• Thanksgiving was a blast this year. We actually had two Thanksgiving dinners - one with another family on Thanksgiving Day (Bonus: Cameron caught the first half of the Detroit Lions game!) and the second with our church small group. 
• For Christmas, we hosted an "Elf" party last week, attended an impressive concert at the local Catholic church last night, are attending the Christmas service at the International Baptist Church on Saturday, and are hosting friends for Christmas Day. Cameron is loving all the Christmas cookies/brownies, and Jessica allows herself one every now and then. 

Our biggest announcement is that we will soon be coming to the US for six months. We'll fly into Atlanta on February 1. A Southern Baptist church in Kingsport, TN, is letting us stay in their mission home during our Stateside time. So Kingsport will be our base, but of course we will be doing a lot of traveling. More details to come.

Craciun fericit tuturor! Merry Christmas to you all!