Time for an update on what has been going on in our lives. The first bit of news is BIG!

Our sovereign God caught us all by surprise when we learned in July that his good plans for us include a fifth child! We thought that four children were more than enough, but no we really are expecting yet another, probably in March. Having broken the news to the rest of the family and thought things through, we realise that we need to find a house with a bit more space. We have put our house on the market this week, so please pray with us for a buyer. We can’t afford to pay much more for a different house, especially considering that the total costs of moving now amount to around £15000 – half of which is tax. We don’t have any significant savings, so our mortgage will need to increase substantially. Apart from moving, we will also need to change our car before the baby is born since we currently only have a six seater. We really would appreciate your continued prayers particularly for Margo in the pregnancy, but also for the whole family as we go through lots of change again.

Luke's first day

• Paul’s trip to the US in June was helpful for his IT work and Margo survived without losing her sanity. AIM’s new online personnel placement system which we have been talking about for so long is finally close to being launched. AIM’s reorganization into regions is going well, but we would appreciate prayer for the upcoming International Council meetings.
  
• Christopher took his French GCSE a year early and achieved an excellent A* grade. He is now beginning year 11 and will take about a dozen more GCSEs next summer. He and Emma really enjoyed attending a Christian event called Creation Fest in Devon with their cousins. Emma begins year 10, her first year of GCSE courses.
• At the other end of his school years, four year old Luke was very excited to begin at Holy Trinity Primary School last Tuesday. He was very tired by the end of the week but is very happy to go each morning.
• Eliana, our little two year old whirlwind continues to keep us all laughing and on our toes as she rushes around the house organising and disorganising everyone and everything. Keeping things in a state ready for prospective buyers to view the house is a big challenge!
• We took our car through the channel tunnel and drove down through France for a relaxing family holiday in Spain with Margo’s parents and her sister’s family. While we were there Margo reached the big four-o milestone! ... (continued)
  

•   The country is slowly beginning to get back on its feet politically and economically after the years of being divided, but there is still considerable tension as things move towards a presidential election. Pray with us for continued stability and a willingness to set aside the selfish and divisive attitudes which led to the original conflict.

•   Carlos has continued working on translating Mark’s gospel. Pray for good progress on this work and for Carlos and his family as they struggle to live on a very limited income.

• The UEESO church (originally started by UFM) has created its own translation department and is particularly focusing on several languages of the Kru language family including Bhete of Gagnoa. SIL is working closely with this “Kru Initiative” providing technical and financial help. If you want to help meet Carlos’s needs and other work on Bhete translation and literacy, you can give through Wycliffe (http://www.wycliffe.org.uk) designating your gift as being for the “SIL Côte d’Ivoire Kru Initiative”.
• Eliezer organized a camp for more than 100 young people with the objective of helping them see the importance and value of their mother tongues. Schooling in Côte d’Ivoire is almost exclusively in French and many young people grow up thinking that local languages have little or no value. Many participants in the camp went away with a new passion for their own languages and a desire to learn to read and write them.

We continue to give thanks to God for all of you who pray for us and provide for us through generous giving. May the Lord bless you too even if his blessings come as a surprise.

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