Way-Late, December 2009 Update

Our "Way-Late, December 2009 Update"
And I mean, way late. For all of you that have been chomping at the proverbial bit to find out how we're doing, my apologies. As you might have guessed, December (and the beginning of January as well), has been fairly non-stop. I'll try to recap and let you be on your way.

School's out!
As a student, that was always fun to say ("School's out!") - as a teacher at a school, it is appropriate to add a couple of extra exclamation points to that statement, and to add a little emphasis as well (i.e. "SCHOOL IS OUT!!!"). Having said that, we're truly blessed to have spent such a big chunk of our time with some amazing young people. I hope they learn as much from us as we learn from them. We finished up a wonderful semester at the Bible College in mid-December and said goodbye to some wonderful graduates.

Off to the States!
Always funny to say/write this, but... it is nice to visit the United States of America. We are having a wonderful time with Christi's family and are happy to have a bit more time with them before we head back home. Having said that... the East Coast (for those of you that live on the West Coast) is stinking freezing right now. We were greeted the day after we got in with two feet of snow. Two feet of snow, for those of you that have n'er picked up a snow shovel, isn't as much fun as you might think it would be.

As nice as it has been here however, two days before Christmas, my Gramma Wilma (my dad's mom) went home to be with Jesus. I flew out on the 3rd; the memorial was January 4th in California, and it really was a wonderful time of remembering a truly remarkable woman. To say that she had a hard life early on is an understatement, but she has an amazing family that loved her so much and she made such a huge impact on so many people. She truly will be missed. Thanks so much to all of that you were praying for us - please feel free to continue to do so!

While in New Jersey, we've also had a great time catching up with people and connecting with some of the wonderful saints that take care of us as missionaries. Thank you all so much for all that you do for us.

The Next Chapter for the Foster Family
As many of you have already heard, this next semester in Vajta, Hungary will be our last. As you might recall, around this time last year, we were pretty much saying the same thing. Well, as God was in the process of shutting that door last year in Ireland, He was preparing a new door for us to walk through this year.

We'll be moving to Mansfield, England to assist at Calvary Chapel Mansfield, and see what else the Lord has in store for us, and England, in the near future. Our belief is, simply put, that God wants to see more Bible-teaching churches established in that great land. We are honored, humbled, excited, and wide-eyed to this new adventure that our King has for us. It was a very difficult conclusion to reach - we love what we do at the Bible College - but we know it is the right one.

Prayer Requests?
Yes. We do have a few, thank you very much.
Health. Ian has been sick this past week (bummer of a Christmas vacation), but it seems like he is on the mend.
Next Semester. We really, really, really want to finish strong (the plan is to head to England in late-June/early-July), and we do not want to leave anything undone.
Provision. As you might imagine, living in England will be significantly more expensive than living on-campus in Eastern Europe. Please pray that God provides for our needs in one way or another. We believe that He will do so.
Bryce & Bethany Heard. Bryce is the pastor of CC Mansfield and is currently teaching the Bible to several other groups of believers in several other surrounding cities. Please pray for them and their four girls as they continue the work and wait for some help.
My Bride. Christi will continue to teach the kids this spring (Leah and Kara, specifically), but the schooling format will be much more of a home-school type of fashion. The demands on her time are obviously much greater, but she's very excited about it and absolutely loves teaching our amazing kids.


All in all, 2009 was a great year. God has done so much for us over the past almost 6 years that we have been blessed to serve Him in Europe. We look forward to 2010 and I know that for me, what God is placing on my heart is fairly simple: "Take heed to yourself and to the doctrine" (1Timothy 4:16). We want to be good stewards of what He has set before us, and we want to bring honor to His holy name.

Thanks again - truly - for all of your prayers and support. It is all so greatly appreciated.

Until the next time,

All our love,

The Foster's
Jeremy & Christi, Ian, Leah, Kara, and Mikayla Ann