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Greetings from one who hopes winter is about over.
Our tropical blood is already having a tough time of things. William has been looking forward to Christmas trees
for some time now so we gave a list of things that had to happen before then, one of them being getting cold. A
few weeks ago when it got down to the low 70’s William bundled up and said "Mama, it’s cold! Christmas tomorrow?"
Furlough / deputation is going fairly smoothly and very quickly. Its hard to believe it’s already 1/4 over. We
are enjoying the benefits of a local support base, but will still have to make a couple of extended trips. I suspect
those days will be much longer than the rest of the year put together. William and Dalton usually tolerate "car-seat
prison" for an hour, but the 2 hours to Grandaddy’s is about the limit. I’m not sure any of us will be the
same after the trip almost to Chicago.
We’ve been very busy and are seldom home on week ends. I’ve been involved in a number of things and just got back
from a trip with a sheetrock crew that went to help a missionary in Cherokee NC. I’ve also been doing some paid
work. In addition to helping some fellow christians save a little money, it also serves to help replenish both
my tool supply and the reserve which helped make our first term possible.
Our schedule is quite full through the end of the year and we have scattered meetings through June. Now that almost
all supporters are scheduled, I will begin putting more effort into attempting meetings in hopes of new support.
While we don’t have an official estimate yet, it appears we have about 75% of "optimum". Though we have
found that we can survive on much less, there were times when the ministry was hampered and we felt strained or
unable to do our "share" in mission expectations. We’ve also had a modest increase in family size (100%),
and those diaper trees I planted simply refused to sprout -- though certainly not for a lack of fertilizer.
We’ve finally gotten the new prayer cards. I’ve included one in each letter. If you’d like more -- especially where
we’ve already been -- , just drop me a line and I’ll send as many as you like. Don’t be shy as I’ll likely have
a lot left over and they don’t do much good in a closet for four years. We still have many of the old cards left
(pre-kids) so if you can put any of those to good use let me know as well.
Please notice YOUR address on the front and verify that it is correct and the best place to receive mail. Many
addresses are changing to street names so notify the printer at the return address (or tmalpha@juno.com) so you
don’t miss any exciting chapters. Be sure to specify which mailing lists you’re on.
Please pray for northeast Brazil which is in a severe drought; perhaps the worst in 100 years. Pray also for "our"
church as the invited missionary has as yet been unable to sell his house and move to Fortaleza. Praise Him with
us in the continued good reports we receive concerning the work there.
Byron, Michele, William & Dalton
The Athas in Brazil
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