Jennifer Tibbetts

Dear Friends,

My apologies if you've been hearing too much from me lately.  Seems like we've had many significant events lately and we've really needed your prayers!  Many good events, some hard ones.  I came home from Alysha and Jacob's wedding feeling very tired.  I think I'm processing all the changes in our family and events that have happened over the past few months.  

I have so appreciated those of you who have written back recently.  Forgive me if I didn't respond to you directly.  I'm finding it hard to keep up at the moment.  Some recent things in our family and ministry:

* Thank you so much for praying for my friend Julie and her husband Wes.  I was grieved to hear from Julie on November 10 that "I had to make the hardest decision of my life this weekend and that was to let my husband of 36 years go.  Wes's family came and yesterday afternoon he was taken off life support and he passed a half hour later.  I'm heartbroken."  We talked a few days later and I sent her a gift of Dwell https://dwellapp.io/ - an app that reads Bible passages in a number of different voices and translations as well as collections of Bible verses on anxiety, peace, hope, forgiveness.  I pray that Julie will turn to God in this very difficult time.

* Nathan attended a retreat for Adult Missionary Kids a couple of weeks ago.  Please pray for him as he processes this, and for all 4 of my kids as they think through the joys and challenges of having grown up cross-culturally, with a number of moves and goodbyes over the years.

* Today I met with the Ladies' Bible study I facilitate as we started studying the second half of Mark at the beginning of November.  This group has been a great joy and encouragement to me.  I feel like this inductive study has pushed me deeper into understanding this part of God's Word and how it applies to my life.

* Recently, Katherine, the church secretary, and I went out for lunch.  I pray for her to give her life to Jesus.  It has been neat to see her reading God's Word as she goes about her work for the church.  Another woman, Pat with her adult children Ashley and Jacob, boyfriend Jack and father Bob have been coming to our church recently.  This past Sunday I gave Pat two books "Victory over the Darkness" and "Bondage Breaker" as both of her children struggle with issues.  I think we all have brokenness in our lives and we need God's help to be set free, to not give Satan any footholds in our lives.  Please pray for Katherine and Pat's family.

* Matthew and Rachel are considering a new job which will entail a move to another state.  There are a number of big decisions, but also some amazing confirmation from God that this is His direction.  Please pray for them in this busy time and as they raise Graham.  They recently sent us this picture of Graham at almost 10 months.

* Recently, a family at church mentioned an interest in missions.  I brought 6 OMF prayer guides to church on the people of Laos, North Korea, the Hui of China, TCKs (MKs), etc. and 5 different families took them home.  How exciting to be able to encourage these folks to pray about the unreached peoples of the world.

* In the past few weeks, a number of the missionary kids at one of our OMF dorms in Chiang Mai were very sick.  They were in hospital and their parents were not allowed to visit.  Thankfully, they have all gotten well and are back at the dorm.  As my role is to oversee the 855 missionary kids in OMF, I was particularly concerned about this situation.

* This evening I will meet on Zoom with 2 OMF Child Safety Officers in a country in Asia to discuss how they will help protect the kids of the missionaries in their country.  On Wednesday evening, I'll join 4 OMF leaders virtually to discuss our Safeguarding Policy for Children and Vulnerable People.  Then on Friday morning, I'll join another group of OMF Advisors on Zoom to discuss how to help our missionary families in their education decisions and transition processing.

* My Thai friend Nuansee has recently gotten hearing aids and is regularly going to church.  She is being discipled by another Thai lady.  This Saturday I will take her to a free dental clinic being put on by a church in St. Petersburg as Nuansee has not seen a dentist in 30 years (!)

* Alysha and Jacob have been married for 1 month and are enjoying newlywed bliss :)  Jacob built a bunny cage and they are raising meat rabbits.  Alysha continues to work 4 days per week for Reid's family, providing care for Micaiah (age 16), Joel (age 9) and Jubilee (age 6).  Alysha does a lot of cooking and cleaning as well as helping with homeschooling.  The kids have had their ups and downs as they deal with the grief of losing their mom at the end of September.  I try to encourage Alysha with ideas on how to support the kids when we talk.  Here is a picture of the three kids taken at Alysha's wedding and at the top of this email is a picture of Reid and Liz's family taken a number of years ago which includes the older 3 kids (in their early 20s) as well as the mother Liz who died of cancer.

* Joshua and his wife Megan have now been married 2.5 months and are enjoying married life with 4 year old Natalie.  We are looking forward to the birth of grandson Michael who is due in January.  However, at Megan's doctor appointment yesterday she was told that Michael is a big baby and he may come early.  We have been praying earnestly that Joshua would be able to be there when his son Michael is born.  Josh is supposed to be deployed on his submarine from mid December for about 3 months, and when he returns to land, he is scheduled to go to out-of-state training for another 4 months.  We are concerned about Joshua and Megan being separated for 7 months of their first year of marriage.  Yet we are trusting God that He loves this family and knows what is best for them.  After Joshua's training, they will be moved to Guam as a family of 4 where Josh will be repairing submarines.  

* Starting in January, I will begin working a few hours per week as a Marketplace Chaplain https://mchapusa.com/.  In this role, I will go into a business and build relationships with the employees, be available to listen if they have struggles with co-workers or family, and share Jesus with them as God provides opportunity.  Before then, I need to complete about 15-20 hours of training.  I am excited to have the opportunity to build more relationships with non-Christians and would ask for your prayers as I seek to balance this with my OMF work and other responsibilities.

* Scott continues to enjoy pastoring his community as a security guard in the GreyHawk neighborhood.  We purchased 40 New Testaments and tracts for him to give out as Christmas gifts to the many people he has gotten to know at the rec center where he works.  Please pray that God will prepare hearts to receive these Bible portions and that they will read them.  We long for these people to come to know Jesus, especially at this time when many are looking for answers with the stress of Covid restrictions and mandates.

* Scott's dad Mike Tibbetts is selling his house of 50 years (!) and moving to live close to Scott's sister Lynne with her two kids and 2 great grandkids.  Mike's moving truck will move him out of Johnstown, NY on November 30 and hopefully the house closing will be around then.  He has already purchased a new home and has moved a lot of things down to Oneonta.  We are praying all goes smoothly and that Mike will feel at home in Oneonta.  (Scott's mom passed away in August 2020.)

Thanks in advance for your prayers - they mean a lot!  Your prayers for energy and good internal processing would be much appreciated.  I think I was living on adrenaline for about 4 months!  Let me know how to pray for you too.

Blessings,
Jennifer for the Tibbetts clan (which now has 13 members including unborn baby Michael!!)