February 2008

Now therefore, our God, we thank thee, and praise thy glorious name (1 Chronicles 29:13).  We certainly always have a lot to praise God for, but especially this month.  God has filled our calendar with meetings which has been a great encouragement and help to us.  Every day we travel moves us one step closer to the goal that God has for us.  We praise Him!

February has drawn our family closer to one another. We certainly want to thank thos e who have had a part in housing, feeding, and entertaining us this past month as there were many people involved in that process. We have had wonderful fellowship with our brothers and sisters in Christ and it never ceases to amaze us how great God’s family truly is. Deputation has not only been a time to raise both prayer and financial support, but also a time to form life long friendships. Thanks so much for the hard work that has gone into making our family feel so welcome and comfortable.

We continually covet your prayers in regards to the political situation in Venezuela. Politically things have become increasingly more unstable and it is not unusual to hear of more missionaries who have left the field.  The Lord gave us 1 Thessalonians 5:24 when we first started deputation and that has continued to be our mainstay during deputation.  In the midst of the turmoil, we still believe God wants us to continue our pursuit for Venezuela and over and over He has confirmed His direction for our life.  More than anything we want to honor and glorify God with our whole being.  We realize that God is bigger than any political leader or country and He is able to work, but we also realize the responsibility of God’s people to pray.  Please partner with us in prayer for this needy country.  Millions of Venezuelans have never heard of the wonderful relationship that they can have with Jesus Christ.  Deputation has been great for us in that we have learned to trust God in a whole new way. Deputation is simply basic training for a life of faith!

God blessed us in an unusual way this month and we want to take the time to praise Him for it. After returning home from a trip this month, I noticed a pool of red fluid accumulating under our van. As you can probably imagine my heart sank because my immediate thought was the transmission.  I called AAA and had them tow the car to my local mechanic and prayed and gave the situation to the Lord. I had to continually give it to the Lord, but when my mechanic called, God answered our prayers.  In stead of it being a transmission problem, it was simply a power steering tube problem and was fixed for less than $20. Praise God for His provision!  Without a doubt the situation could have been much worse.

Please continue to pray for our children.  Our desire is for them to come to know God at an early age. Samuel just turned three and we have enjoyed celebrating his birthday.  We especially thank the Hammer family in Jefferson City, TN who made his birthday so very special.  We stayed with this dear family at a missions conference and when we woke up on the morning of Samuel’s birthday, they had the table set with birthday plates and cups and a gift for Samuel. Many others friends and fellow missionaries brought small gifts to him and that made his day!  Samuel is a faithful little minister and takes his deputation jobs very seriously. Luke is our dedicated hugs giver and finds it very easy to show affection to any one in the vicinity.

Thank you again for your faithful prayer, financial, and emotional support.  Many of you have been great encouragements to us along the way and aided us in our ministry through your testimony.  God makes no mistakes and we have seen over and over again that He puts us right where He wants us right when He wants us there. 

Gratefully Serving our King,
Jason, Sarah, Samuel and Luke Sykes

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