Enderle Christmas 2008

With so many things happening in our lives this past year, I figure you’ll only have the patience to read through the highlights of what’s happened to the Enderle family since last Christmas. Thanksgiving is generally a time to list blessings and accomplishments are commonly compiled when we prepare to enter a new year. So you can decide if this list is coming to you too early, too late, or at just the right time.

Lessons in Patience
After we had packed up our worldly belongings in Omaha last January, it seemed like an eternity before our visas arrived allowing us to move to Portugal. But that was only the introduction to a lengthy course on patience. At the end of September Missionary Bill Meier and I made a trip to Nampula to give our personal attention to our mission’s registration with the government of Mozambique. After making regular visits to the local office of Religious Affairs and assembling an impressive stack of official documents, we returned to Portugal without successfully registering the mission. Now we are working and waiting to submit a new set of documents that will allow us to apply for the registration. Since we need the mission’s registration before we can apply for our personal visas, we have no accurate estimate of when we will arrive in Mozambique.

Home Sweet Temporary Home
This delay reminds me of the many blessings for which we can give thanks while we remain in Portugal. You might be jealous of our amenable climate in Portugal. We’re also thankful for lives free of the stress of driving and keeping up with fluctuating gas prices. But we are especially thankful for our friends here who have shared our joys and challenges the past nine months. The Meier family is accompanying us on our meandering path to Mozambique and the


family of Pastor Artur Villares has been indispensable as our hosts. Transitioning to life on this side of the Atlantic would likely have been much more frustrating without the help and support of these two families.

Healthy Baby Boy
On the other side of the confusion from the language barrier and the delivery room urgency, we are able to pause and thank our gracious Father for the birth of a healthy baby boy on May 11th. It didn’t take too long to recover from the trauma of that day. And Angela also bounced back quickly from the delivery. Now Izaak is seven months old. We marvel at his development and enjoy the entertainment provided by our playing, talking, laughing, smiling, solid-food-eating little boy.

Guests and Visitors
We have been privileged to host three siblings, one in-law, and one set of parents so far during our stay in Portugal. We’ve enjoyed the opportunities to join them for some travels. But we’re still not sure if our guest planned ahead with the realization that Portugal is a much cheaper travel destination than Mozambique or if our families perceive more sightseeing opportunities in Porto than in Omaha.

Peace
Lastly, and most importantly, we count as our greatest blessing the peace which we have through the birth of Jesus Christ. Our world has plenty of doubts about the economy, politics, and future world events. There is so much that our small family doesn’t know about our future. That’s why it’s especially comforting and appropriately encouraging to take to heart the angel’s Christmas message: “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.” Luke 2:10-11

Merry Christmas,
Jeff, Angela, and Izaak Enderle