January 2008

Dear Friends and Family,

It is good to give thanks to the LORD, And to sing praises to Your name, O Most High; (Psalms 92:1). We praise the Lord for a wonderful year end and beginning. January has started with a bang for the Sykes and we have our calendar filled with meetings, especially during the first quarter of the year. God has been so good to us by orchestrating the places that He would have us go on deputation. We have met many gracious and generous individuals and we thank you for your servant hearts and spirits.  We look forward to this year as we push closer to our goal of reaching Venezuela for Jesus Christ.

We had a wonderful time during Thanksgiving and Christmas with our families. With our schedule picking up more and more we are not able to visit with family as much, so we especially enjoyed the time during the holidays. My boys had an especially good time during the holidays as my father-in-law built them bunk beds for Christmas. These are not just plain bunk beds.  These beds have a complete barn facade on one end complete with lights in the windows of the barn for a nightlight.  The boys love their beds and we like having them in the same room.  We want the boys to be close especially with a language and culture change coming in the near future. We praise God for our two little blessings and we ask for your prayers as we desire to raise them to love and honor God.  We want our children to see the reality of Christian life and be a part of our ministry. Samuel already has jobs on deputation which he takes very seriously.  Please pray with us that we would see our children come to know Christ at an early age.

We covet your continued prayers for Venezuela. We keep in touch with some missionary families who seem to be doing well. They just had a wonderful Christmas time with the people and saw some decisions for Christ.  God’s heart is truly for these people, and we feel that He has made no mistakes in calling us to this field regardless of the current unrest in the country.  Please pray with us that He will continue to open the doors for the gospel in Venezuela and that He would continue to open doors for us as He has been so faithful to do. 

We thank you again for your faithful support both financially and prayerfully. We are convinced that it is the prayers of God’s people that sustain us. Thank you for your sacrificial investments in our lives.

God bless you and your families!
Jason, Sarah, Samuel, and Luke Sykes
Missionaries to Venezuela