Our Need to Show Gratitude

A letter from Becky and Eric Hinderliter serving in Lithuania

December 2016

Merry Christmas!

Greetings from Lithuania.

Here’s a thought for Advent. Imagine John the Baptist as the star of the Christmas pageant. An Advent devotional Seeking God’s Face* imagines John the Baptist as the anti-Santa. An in-your-face type, no twinkle in his eye, issuing a cry to make straight the road, to prepare the way for the Lord. The devotional continues that Advent is a time of reflection, a time when we can feel out of sync with all the noise and busyness of preparations for Christmas. “Advent is a season of expectant waiting, tapping into the sense we have that all is not well, the longing for the world to be made right again.” During Advent we are advised to cultivate “a discerning eye, helping us to spot the sin that clutters our lives and notice the ways we need to be saved.” Echoes of John the Baptist’s cry, “Repent! For the kingdom of heaven has come near.” Such an Advent preparation—ridding our lives of the clutter of sin—will prepare us for genuine joy at Christmas.

The familiar hymn “O Little Town Of Bethlehem” reminds us of the sinful world we live in and our need, as meek souls, to make room in our hearts for the Messiah to enter in:

How silently, how silently
The wondrous gift is given!
So God imparts to human hearts
The blessings of His heaven.
No ear may hear His coming;
But in this world of sin,
Where meek souls will receive Him,
Still The dear Christ enters in.

Advent reminds us of our need to show abundant gratitude. We have much to be thankful for; to be a mission worker today is to be grateful…

• For 45 years of marriage. Mission is a partnership. We are sent out in pairs. We are loved and tightly held.

• For constant, stable, and meaningful 16 years of work with students who have entrusted us with the best part of their lives.

• For the release of prisoners we visited for years and for their reintegration back into society.

• For your prayers and all the cards and letters of support we received this year.

• For the visits of old friends and our son’s family, times of remembering and refreshment.

• For financial support of our mission work this year from 17 churches.

• For financial support this year from 23 friends and relatives.

• For this season of Advent, for the down time to reflect and remember where we are on our journey of faith, to collect our thoughts and express our gratitude and to remember why we are here—to witness to the Good News of God’s redeeming grace.

• And now for hope for what the future may bring. 2017 looks like a year of transition—of farewells and new beginnings.

We invite you to journey with us in 2017 with your continued prayers and your financial support to our designated mission account (DMS) at the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A). Our whole lives should be a prayer of thanksgiving for the grace upon grace we have seen in our lives—indeed, “From his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace” (John 1:16).

Eric & Becky Hinderliter