Long overdue update

It's been a while since our last post. Here are some highlights of what we've been up to:

• On November 18th we were privileged to go on an all-day outing with the university's dorm students to a camp about an hour south of Monterrey. Ruth and I both spoke to the students. We count it a great privilege to get to know the students better and interact with them on a personal level.
• We celebrated Thanksgiving with a number of our "gringo" friends. We are very thankful for the team of dedicated colleagues that God has given us at UCLA.
• The first week of December we finished our normal classes for the semester in the theology program. We finished out the semester with a modular class taught by Jim West, retired missionary to Spain.
  
• On December 6th we left Monterrey for Pennsylvania to visit Ruth's parents and some of our supporting churches. It has been over three years since we visited many of our supporting churches and two-and-a-half years since we've been to Ruth's family's home. After two weeks in PA we will be returning to Texas to spend New Year's day with my parents. Lord willing we will be returning to Monterrey after the new year for the beginning of the spring semester.

Here's some prayer requests:

• Please pray for our students as they go home for the Christmas vacation.
  
• Please pray for our travel safety as we return to Monterrey. We are having some problems with the transmission on our van. Please pray that we will be able to make the 2,000 mile trip back to Mexico safely without any problems. Also, please pray that God will give us wisdom as we look for a new vehicle.
  
• Please pray for us as we begin the new semester. Each semester poses new challenges and undoubtedly this one will be no different.