2024 Newsletter 4

Show me, O Lord, my life’s end and the number of my days; let me know how fleeting is my life. – Psalm 39:4

It’s truly amazing how quickly a year comes and goes and as always at year’s end, we feel the need to evaluate how we spent our time. Did we serve faithfully? Have we been obedient to the Lord’s leading, and have we accomplished what He wanted us to do? The burden to reach the lost, and to encourage those who are discouraged is heavy on our hearts, and we commit ourselves again to doing what He has called us to. It is our heart’s desire to be found faithful.

Highlights from our past few months

• Our trip to Love, Saskatchewan for their Gospel Jamboree – it was our first time there and we met many new friends and supporters

• Attending the Sommerfeld and Bergthaler Ministerial Conference, where Diedrich was a guest speaker and Nettie shared with the Ladies’ group, as well as doing some singing.

• Singing at various local jamborees and churches, which is always a blessing!

• Receiving visits from fellow Plautdietsch missionaries from various places, including Paraguay. Its always so good to hear their stories and learn how we can better produce the resources they need.

• Continued involvement with the Low German church, now called Läwenswuat Christliche Jesalschoft (Living Word Christian Fellowship), and helping them move into their own building in Gnadenthal, Manitoba. It’s a huge commitment, being involved with this church and we are very blessed by this group of people and their commitment to provide a place where Low German people can worship and learn God’s Word in their own language.

• Our trip to Alberta to sing and speak at the Peace Recovery Center (a ministry to Low German couples to help them recover hope for their marriages)– Diedrich and Andrew were both featured speakers at this special reunion event, and we as a group shared in song at every session. It’s so good to see couples seriously committing their marriages to the Lord!

• Andrew and Deanna’s visit in September and early October—We always love the chance to do ministry together, and they did a great job helping us with some projects at home as well as helping out with the Low German church and Sinjstund. There are many more day to day things that have kept us busy, such as writing the Sunday School curriculum, devotion books, translating, writing and recording music, filling mail orders and so on. We are so grateful that we get to be involved in this ministry, and we know it’s only due to the faithful support of so many friends and supporters like yourselves. You may never know the impact that your support has here on earth, but please be assured that hearts are being touched and lives are being changed. We hear testimonials everywhere we go about how a certain song has broken through to their hearts and helped them come to the Lord, or how one of the devotional stories has cleared up some questions or doubts for them, or how a message preached by Diedrich, Andrew or Jason has been just what they needed to hear in that moment.So we thank you for your prayers and financial support. This work would not be possible without it!

It’s been a pretty busy summer and fall here at D’Friesens. Something kind of new for me was that I actually went on some of the trips this summer! I had not been travelling much the past few years due to some health challenges. I recently found out that I have celiac disease and it was causing me some real discomfort. Since adjusting my diet and some other lifestyle changes, I am feeling much better. Diet restrictions always make travel more complicated, but it worked quite well in the RV. It was really good for me to be able to see some of the new places the family was singing at and to reconnect with other groups that we’ve gotten to know at different events. I’ve also been working on learning more about taking videos and video editing, so I hope to be doing more of that in the future. I’m still keeping up with the picture editing for various D’Friesens book projects, singing with the family at events and helping in the Low German church as often as possible. Thank you, so very much for your continued support for this ministry. I wish you all a wonderful and blessed Christmas season.

This last summer was very different for us as we moved into our first house! July was full of moving, unpacking, organizing and fixing things up around the house. We also welcomed a puppy into our home which made things a little extra chaotic, but she has brought so much joy into our lives..I also underwent a surgery this summer shortly after moving. I live with multiple chronic conditions, and my health was getting harder to manage. This surgery has brought me to a more stable place, but we still have a long way to go. I spent most of August and part of September recovering and adjusting to a new routine. The remainder of my time has been full of my usual admin tasks, and I also had the pleasure of making the centre pieces and allergy friendly treats for the most recent fundraiser. As this year draws to a close, I am getting ready for a second surgery scheduled for just after Christmas. Although my health tries to hold me back, I have experienced God’s faithfulness and strength meeting me where I am.

This summer and fall flew by quickly! During this time we had a (not so) wonderful adventure involving water in our basement, including in my home office, so we spent a lot of our summer getting it repaired and functional. Aside from all the summer travels and local programs, I continued writing songs and arranging music for my Low German CD. I also started translating those songs into English, hoping to release an English CD of the same songs. The notated songbook is getting close to completion; I am editing and compiling all the songs now into book form! This has been an enormous task, and I’m excited to see the light at the end of the tunnel on it! Thank you all for your continued support and prayers, God bless.

Praise

• For the encouraging feedback from people impacted by the work we do
• A wonderful team of people to work with
• God’s continued grace and provision for all our needs
• That hearts are being touched and lives changed for God’s glory

Prayer

• For continued financial support to continue this ministry
• For physical strength for those of us struggling with health challenges
• That we will be faithful and have lives of integrity in accordance with the message we bring to the people
• Continued unity in the team
• Passion and joy to keep on serving

Thank you for your continued support! We hope you all have a Merry Christmas & a great start to the new year!