Jennifer Tibbetts

Merry Christmas!

It has been a good year for the Tibbetts Family.  Our God is so faithful to provide and care for us every day. 

Scott continues to enjoy pastoring Faith Evangelical Free Church of Louviers.  He worked his way through Hosea and now he is preaching through Ephesians.  Every 6 weeks or so, someone in our church or community preaches for him which gives Scott a break and a chance to focus on some other things.  Scott is thankful for supportive, faithful elders.

I enjoy working at OMF, and having the opportunity to encourage and support field missionaries.  Probably, my favorite responsibility is coming alongside missionaries on Home Assignment to assess their financial support and budgeting to make sure they have the finances to return to the field.  This gives me an opportunity to also talk about parenting, ministry and other aspects of missionary life, and sometimes to share some of our experiences from working in Thailand.

Scott and I are also thankful for opportunities to share about Jesus in our neighborhood and develop people in our church.  Scott has worked with a man in our church to become a new elder recently, and he has also brought two new men into the worship leading rotation.  This year a couple of women have dropped out of my morning Bible study – one due to increased work hours.  I pray that God will continue to work in their lives.   I continue to meet with 3 women in 2 Bible studies.  Much of my prayer and energy goes into neighborhood relationships. 

I have gotten away from sending regular prayer letters about my work with OMF since so much of what I do is administrative.  Our OMF office is important to continue keeping missionaries on the field just like base camps for the military are essential to keep people on the frontlines.  However, it’s hard to keep finding something to write about! 

Recently, I’ve been feeling the need for people to pray alongside me with the outreach I do in our town.  I would like to send prayer updates and know people will pray with me.  If this is something you would be willing to do, please email me at sjtibbetts@gmail.com and let me know!

Matthew and Rachel continue to live and work in Tyler, Texas.  Matthew is excited to start a new role as Sales & Training Coordinator at his company (Express Employment) on January 1.  Rachel continues to work in Human Resources at Sky Ranch, a Christian camp.  She is looking forward to transitioning into Real Estate sometime in 2018.  We’ll get to meet a newer addition, a dog named Oreo, when Matthew and Rachel visit us Dec 30 – Jan 4.

Joshua is almost finished with his Navy training after 1.5 years.  Scott attended Josh’s graduation from his second training school in South Carolina in July.  Josh moved to Saratoga, New York in August and has liked the area a lot.  Throughout the fall, Josh took a lot of bike rides and enjoyed the beautiful scenery.  He has also really enjoyed not having to live in barracks for this season.  He rents a house with two other guys, and makes his own meals.  We’re glad that Josh can be with us Dec 30-Jan 8, before returning to finish up and graduate January 26, and then be deployed to work as a Nuclear Tech on a submarine or aircraft carrier in March.

Nathan is a senior at University of Portland (Oregon), studying Computer Science.  This is his second year as an RA which seems to suit him well.  Nathan is beginning to put out feelers for a job starting next June – he is open to working anywhere in the country and would like to pay off his school debt quickly.  Last summer, we were thankful that Nathan had a paid internship in Denver which gave him good experience, and time with us.

Alysha finished her senior year of high school in May (and her graduation had to be postponed a day due to a late snowstorm!)  Over the summer, she raised market goats and ended up winning Grand Champion at county fair.  Alysha also worked as a nanny for two boys ages 9 and 13.   She started at Lamar Community College (SE Colorado) in August studying Equine Business Management.  Alysha has really enjoyed riding a borrowed thoroughbred named Ben, learning lots of horsemanship skills, as well as taking business classes.  Her current plan is to complete a 2 year Applied Associates and then start a Dairy Goat business, selling milk and products made from goat’s milk (like soap). 

A sadness for our family this year was losing our dog of four years in October.  Mika was a wonderful dog especially for Alysha, but all of us enjoyed her.  Mika suddenly ended up with a bladder blockage that could not be cleared, and because she was in a great deal of pain, we felt we needed to put her to sleep.  Alysha is a great animal lover, and is finding it hard to be without animals at this time.  (In the last year, she had 9 chickens, 4 ducks, 3 rats and 1 dog!)  But we try to encourage her that soon she will be able to establish a home and have animals again.

Though we have not lived in Thailand for 6 years, my heart often goes there and I pray frequently for the Thai as well as missionaries who serve them.  Recently, I found out that Phetchabun province (directly north of Lopburi where lived 8 years) is experiencing a revival.  People are coming to Christ daily, new house churches are forming weekly, and dozens of Thai are being baptized monthly.  The outreach and discipleship is all being done by Thai people – amazing!  Please praise God and pray with us for His work to continue!  If you would like to read a report about the Phetchabun revival, let me know and I’ll email it to you.

I always enjoy receiving Christmas cards (email or snail mail) with newsy updates this time of year to catch up on friends and family.  Hope to hear from you!

Love,

Jennifer and Scott with Nathan, Joshua, Alysha, Matthew & Rachel